PBS' Lehrer, MSNBC's Shuster reported Rove's optimism about GOP chances in midterms, failed to note that's his job
SUMMARY: PBS NewsHour host Jim Lehrer reported without challenge or rebuttal that White House senior political adviser Karl Rove "dismissed Democrats' chances of winning control of Congress." MSNBC's David Shuster similarly reported without challenge that Rove "remain[s] very calm and optimistic about the election." But as CNN's Wolf Blitzer noted, Rove "ha[s] to say that."
During the news summary segment of the October 18 edition of PBS' NewsHour, host Jim Lehrer reported without challenge or rebuttal that White House senior political adviser Karl Rove "dismissed Democrats' chances of winning control of Congress," adding that Rove "told The Washington Times [that] Republicans may lose seats in both the Senate and House, but they will keep their majorities." Similarly, on the October 16 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, MSNBC correspondent David Shuster reported that Rove "remain[s] very calm and optimistic about the election" despite the recent congressional page scandal surrounding former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) and what The New York Times described as an "intensifying corruption inquiry" into Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA). Neither noted that Rove may have no choice but to convey optimism.
By contrast, on the October 18 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, after conservative radio host and CNN contributor William Bennett asserted that "Karl Rove seems to have the confidence ... that the Republicans will hold" their majorities in Congress, CNN host Wolf Blitzer replied: "Doesn't he have to say that, though?" Bennett replied, "Well, he does."
In an October 15 article on Rove's confidence that the GOP will retain control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections, Washington Post staff writer Michael Abramowitz reported that Rove's optimism was the result of a directive from President Bush:
Amid widespread panic in the Republican establishment about the coming midterm elections, there are two people whose confidence about GOP prospects strikes even their closest allies as almost inexplicably upbeat: President Bush and his top political adviser, Karl Rove.
[...]
The official White House line of supreme self-assurance comes from the top down. Bush has publicly and privately banished any talk of losing the GOP majorities, in part to squelch any loss of nerve among his legions.
From the October 18 edition of PBS' The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer:
LEHRER: In other news related to the midterm elections, the president's top political aide, Karl Rove, dismissed Democrats' chances of winning control of Congress. He told The Washington Times Republicans may lose seats in both the House and Senate, but they will keep their majorities. In economic news --
From the October 16 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:
SHUSTER: The Foley scandal continues to dog the GOP. Today, the House ethics committee heard more testimony about sexually charged contacts with pages. Several witnesses have testified they told Dennis Hastert's office about Foley well before the speaker said he knew anything. Meanwhile, Republican Congressman Curt Weldon is now under investigation for a million dollars' worth of government contracts obtained by his daughter. Today, FBI agents raided the daughter's home. And in a Jack Abramoff bribery probe, new emails released by congressional committees show that Republican Party chairman Ken Mehlman, while working at the White House, intervened on Abramoff's behalf. Six months ago, Mehlman suggested that he didn't even know Abramoff.
Despite it all, published reports say President Bush and Karl Rove remain very calm and optimistic about the election. The question is, does the White House know something nobody else does, or is the president heading towards a rude awakening? I'm David Shuster for Hardball.
From the October 18 edition of CNN's The Situation Room:
BLITZER: Bottom line: Who's going to win on November 7th?
BENNETT: Well, I don't know. Karl Rove seems to have the confidence, Wolf, that the Republicans will hold.
BLITZER: Doesn't he have to say that, though?
BENNETT: Well, he does, but you know, maybe he does know something.
"Well, he does, but you know, maybe he does know something."
Billy, speculation is not evidence. It's just as logical to say that Democrats say they're going to win, and that alone suggests they will. "Well, I don't know who's going to win the 1984 election. But at the Democratic National Convention they introduced Walter Mondale as the next President of the United States, so they seem confident". How hard would Republicans have laughed at that?
So it's obvious that Bennett wants Republicans to win, as we knew already. But this little exchange suggests that he has little reason to believe they will, and must know it.
But least Shuster provided the option that Bush was in for a rude awakening, and Blitzer asked the obvious question to make Bennett look like an idiot. Lehrer's segment was just pure stupidity.
"Well, he does, but you know, maybe he does know something."
That something would be the fact that hundreds of thousands of people have been purged from voter rolls in Ohio and surprisingly they are Democrats. Who knows what they are doing to electronic voting machines around the country.
I hope I'm proven wrong, but I think the Repugs will steal this one, too. If that happens, Rove's dream of a thousand year Republican Reich may be imminent. If the Dems can't win with all the Republican corruption, the disaster in Iraq and Bush's 33% approval rating, then we are living in a defacto one-party government.
I agree.
Why are the Democrats ignoring the situation of the past three, rigged elections. Do they expect it to be different this time?
Previous Poster (IP),
Rove knows that after November 7, the Republicans will hold zero, one, or two houses of Congress.
He has a verbiage campaign for each scenario. The dissemination of words will be through polititians, staff, Drudge, and the usual gang of talking heads.
Winning both houses will be a magnificent victory. Winning one house will be a magnificent victory.
Now here's the guess. If Rove loses both houses, will wispering turn to shouting about the faulty or rigged voting machines?
To make that work, he has to call it a lock now. He's getting his minions in line about the "something" they know.
one of the top R operatives to concede defeat before the election? The rest is pure speculation by the commentators, not in the area of lies or misinformation.
You miss the point entirely, Oscar, and I'm surprised. The point isn't that Rove should expect defeat, it's that anyone could relay his optimism as some sort of evidence of anything. To take his word at face value on this is disingenuous in the extreme, and that's what Lehrer did. It's pure intellectual dishonesty.
What I expect is that an experienced newsman would not present this as news, because it means less than nothing. It has no bearing on the state of the upcoming election at all. As noted, this is probably a setup for compaints about rigged votes if they lose, and Lehrer is just helping that cause. You can argue it's not misinformation, but it's clearly propaganda, and experienced media figures should know better.
was outing cia operatives.
I am optimistic that the big hog of a man Hastert will meet his political demise soon for protecting the ability of Republican pedophiles to prey on innocent little boys.
How much Hastert looks like a Vogon? Sorry...that's very shallow of me....sorry.
The face of a Vogon and the heart of a Dalek.
he is probably going to sneak the 51st state iraq in the back door on election day and claim fhe seats there because you all know those eternally grateful free iraqis will vote republican' for them the only issue is the sparkling wit infectious personality and boy band good looks of george likability polls off the charts bush
Yeah, he probably does know something--that the voting machines are fixed and Diebold is on their side. Hope it's not true but I wouldn't be surprised with Karl Rove.
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