So says Slate press critic Jack Shafer.

There's a slight problem with his piece, and that's his claim that the Beltway press corps is just naturally inclined to be tough on new presidents. That when the campaign winner arrives in Washington, D.C., the established press is, traditionally, just itching to shift into its hyper-skeptical mode.

Writes Shafer [emphasis added]:

The press corps works to hold the president accountable for what he does and extra hard to hold him accountable for what he does not do, a territory so vast and encompassing that foraging journalists assigned to the beat can never hunger for a story. Everything and nothing become fixings.

Because the press worked so hard to hold then-new president George Bush accountable in the winter of spring of 2001, right? Only somebody who thinks the press did a stellar job during the last eight years and who refuses to acknowledge the press completely rolled over for Bush, especially in his first term, would cling to the naive notion that the Beltway press treats all incoming presidents with deep skepticism.