Newsweek‘s major campaign story for the April 26 issue, “The Gospel according to George,” plays along the Bush is “strong-but-stubborn” story line. As Campaign Desk outlined last week, this thesis appeals to reporters on two counts: It’s obvious, and it conveniently captures both the perceived pro’s and con’s of Bush in one handy phrase. Almost any evidence can be molded to fit into handy-dandy one-size-fits-all categories of this sort; for example, this week, Newsweek hauls out the much-used mold to explain Bush’s spiritual beliefs. Howard Fineman and Tamara Lipper write, “There it is, encapsulated in prime time: the Bush campaign, presidency and world view. This is a president who often would rather preach than answer questions — or ask them. He leads and runs unapologetically on faith … ‘Here I stand,’ Bush seems to declare. ‘I can do no other.'”
Fineman and Lipper offer another take on the “strong-but-stubborn” narrative as they describe Bush’s approach to Iraq: “Iraq has been a harder slog than the White House said it expected. No weapons of mass destruction have been found. But Bush, invited to admit mistakes, steadfastly declines to do so. Nor has he fired anyone.”
Eventually, the reporters do branch out from the safe “objectivity” inherent in the pro (strong)/con (stubborn) description of Bush to warn that “the president’s advisers need to be careful what they wish for.” As troubling news from Iraq continues, they say, it “might lead some voters — beyond the pews of the faithful — to wonder who really is ‘wrong on defense.'”
While the head honcho receives the usual spotlight in Newsweek, his sidekick steals the show in U.S. News & World Report. Kenneth T. Walsh authors a profile of Vice President Dick Cheney that reads eerily like the script for Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous,” the cult film that champions the 1970s rock band “Stillwater” (as told through admirer-turned-reporter William Miller). In this case, Cheney stands in for Stillwater and Walsh takes on Miller’s role. At times Walsh reverts from groupie to reporter to make it clear that the softer image which he partly buys into was sold directly to him by Cheney’s image handlers. To begin, Walsh discloses, “Traveling with the secrecy-obsessed Cheney is a rarity for the media, but a handful of reporters, including one from U.S. News, were invited along on his Asia jaunt to get a closer view of the vice president as the presidential campaign begin.”
Before sharing anecdotes of Cheney’s conversations about Sumo wrestling and baseball with the Japanese Prime Minister, as well as Cheney’s more-than-cordial exchanges with his entourage aboard Air Force 2, Walsh informs the readers that “More surprising, Cheney up close is not the ideologically rigid cardboard cutout portrayed by critics and the late-night TV stand-up guys … he came across as affable, thoughtful, reassuring, and almost totally lacking in pretension.”
Walsh concludes, “White House strategists apparently believe that softening Cheney’s tough-guy image might be just what the doctor ordered.”
As for Time, its top 100 most influential people issue overshadowed any relevant campaign news. However, it might be worth mentioning that both Bush and Kerry found themselves on the “Leaders & Revolutionaries” list, along with the likes of Osama bin Laden and Billary.
–Thomas Lang
Thomas Lang was a writer at CJR Daily.