Today, the Washington Post‘s Glenn Kessler goes bravely where no campaign journalist has gone before: into the minds of world leaders who listened to President Bush’s speech at the UN yesterday.
Swami Kessler writes:
President Bush’s speech before the UN General Assembly on Tuesday was the verbal equivalent of a “greatest hits” album, repackaging and summarizing the key foreign-policy themes the president has embraced in the past four years. He faced a tough audience — many of the world leaders listening are quietly rooting for the victory of his opponent in the upcoming election — but without apology or retreat, the president cast the war on terrorism as a defining moment that will usher in democracy across the globe.
[M]any of the world leaders listening are quietly rooting for the victory of his opponent in the upcoming election?
That’s one of those coffee-choking ledes that leaves Campaign Desk’s kitchen a mess.
We plowed on, looking for Kessler to identify any such world leader — or to at least quote someone who would.
No such luck.
We’re reminded, of course, of the flap back in March when John Kerry let slip that he’d met with “more leaders” who told him “You’ve got to win this. You’ve got to beat this guy.” As Kessler did today, Kerry chose to leave his cheering squad nameless. At the time, Secretary of State Collin Powell (who gets paid to know what’s on the minds of foreign leaders) offered this advice: “It’s an easy charge, an easy assertion to make. But if he feel it is that important an assertion to make, he ought to list the names.”
Sounds like good advice for journalists, too.
–Susan Q. Stranahan
Susan Q. Stranahan wrote for CJR.