Michele, Not the Media's Belle
I've spent the past 24 hours viewing and re-viewing Chris Wallace's Fox Sunday Morning interview with Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann -- in particular, the 30-second segment where he asks the just-announced GOP presidential hopeful if she's a "flake".
See for yourself:
Wallace has since apologized for the insult; Bachmann rejected the olive branch.
Here's what bothers me about this sordid little affair (and, for the record, I'm not exactly a Bachmann booster).
1) It demonstrates the sloppy crossover from what's said in Georgetown and Cleveland Park salons on Saturday nights to what passes for conventional wisdom on Sunday morning news show. You just know that Washington high society detests the likes of Bachmann -- too brash, too folksy . . . to paraphrase the Princeton recruiter in "Risky Business", she's "just not Ivy League". You'd expect this from the other Chris -- Matthews -- and his Sunday acolytes. To see Mr. Wallace pick up on the buzz at a Sally Quinn dinner party is disappointing, the say the least.
2) If you watch the entire interview, you see Wallace has a hard time constraining himself -- at several points, he interrupts Bachmann. It's not quite Palin Derangement Syndrome, but it does beg the question of what is it, about outspoken conservative ladies, that so unsettles reporters?
3) Perhaps most disturbing of all, once again we're faced with the question of why is it that spirited conservatives inevitably are media-lumped into one of two categories: deranged, or devoid of intelligent thought? It wasn't so long ago that Ronald Reagan was a Eureka College know-nothing (even though this 1957 commencement address at his alma mater shows the Gipper was a thinking man); George W. Bush was a dimwit who somehow stumbled his way throw Yale and Harvard Business School. Palin and Bachmann? Nuts. I don't recall Hillary Clinton being asked point-blank in 2008 if she was a virago. Joe Biden didn't exactly light the world on fire at Syracuse. Of all the eloquent Brits he could plagiarize, he went with . . . Neil Kinnock?
How's that for sane judgment?
Bachmann has legitimate challenges in the months ahead, beginning with the question of whether a Tea Party favorite can amass a larger coalition of traditional Republican primary-goers -- a reversal of 2010 and GOP candidates trying to add on Tea Partiers.
But to start the process by having to state whether she's compos mentis? Hardly fair and balanced, and a pretty sad commentary on how the inside-the-beltway crowd tries to drive the campaign narrative.
- Comment (37)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (3)
- Pages:
- 1
- 2
- Pages:
- 1
- 2
Comments :
Re: Michele, Not the Media's Belle
What I find particularly peculiar here is that Chris Wallace served up such a warm, friendly interview to Sarah Palin a few weeks ago and fawned over her in a post-interview rundown with a panel of pundits, but seems a hostile here with Bachmann. It's inconsistent behavior, and thus the explanation that Wallace is unsettled by outspoken conservative ladies doesn't work for me.
Oct '10
Re: Michele, Not the Media's Belle
I watched the interview and was surprised how combative and snooty Chris Wallace acted. Bachmann handled herself well, except for the defense of the Ryan plan, which she fumbled around a bit. Paul needs more media prep sessions on his Medicare reform plan.
My word of advice to Michelle would have been to laugh at Chris Wallace’s question. Respond with a deflective sense of humor, such as “I would have to live 5 additional lifetimes to achieve the number of gaffe’s Vice President Joe Biden has achieved,” or “I am slightly behind President Obama’s gaffe count, but I still have 57 more states to visit in my campaign.”
Also, it may not be a mistake for Bachmann to have a frosty relationship with Foxnews, especially when dealing with the rest of the media. Ed Rollin’s crafty politics of not explicitly accepting the apology from Chris Wallace could play well with independents in New Hampshire, too.
Edited on Jun 27, 2011 at 11:38amJul '10
Re: Michele, Not the Media's Belle
I can understand where Chris Wallace is coming from. As I noted in this post, there's just a certain undefinable loopiness to the woman at times. (Mind you, I've contributed to her Congressional campaign).
I think Wallace was trying to get her to speak to that perception. But I also think he was unwise, given the venue, to do so.
Re: Michele, Not the Media's Belle
So, Diane, are you suggesting that Chris Wallace is . . . a "flake" in that his approach to conservative women is inconsistent? :)
Maybe, after trying to give Jon Stewart a a hard time the previous week, he felt the need to send the pendulum in the other direction and go after La Bachmann.
I think Fox is in an uncomfortable spot, in the bigger picture. Give a contract to Palin, does it affect how aggressively you go after her? Because you've had a past working relationship with Newt, does that really justify his repeat appearances on Hannity and Greta trying to explain his unexplainably awful campaign?
Edited on Jun 27, 2011 at 11:44amRe: Michele, Not the Media's Belle
The video is a forgery. Fox is run by the Republican party and would never join the MSM attacks against a conservative.
Jul '10
Re: Michele, Not the Media's Belle
Breaking news: Michele Bachmann, speaking in Waterloo, Iowa, confused John Wayne with John Wayne Gacy.
Oops.
Re: Michele, Not the Media's Belle
Kenneth: Breaking news: Michele Bachmann, speaking in Waterloo, Iowa, confused John Wayne with John Wayne Gacy.
Oops. · Jun 27 at 11:20am
That is indeed pretty unfortunate.
May '10
Re: Michele, Not the Media's Belle
Look, Chris is his father's son - both of them. Because his parents were divorced, Chris and Mike had no real relationship until he was 14. He was raised by Bill Leonard, an executive with CBS News. (In one of those bizarre multi-marriage family relationships, the stepfather would be the boss of the biological father. Leonard served as president of CBS News from 1979 to 1982.)
He is also pure Ivy League, a Harvard man. In 2006 the Washington Post revealed that he was a decades old registered Democrat.
Now, any surprises here?
Re: Michele, Not the Media's Belle
Kenneth: Breaking news: Michele Bachmann, speaking in Waterloo, Iowa, confused John Wayne with John Wayne Gacy.
Oops. · Jun 27 at 11:20am
Kenneth joins the MSM.
Do you really think she confused the two? She was talking about John Wayne the actor the whole time.
He lived close enough to Waterloo for people there to lay claim to him - I'd bet my bottom dollar he had enough contact with the City for them to claim him.
Bruce Springsteen didn't grow up in Asbury Park and only lived here for a very brief period. But the whole world thinks he is "from" here because of his connection to the City.
I'm willing to bet we can name a variety of celebrities who are claimed by places they have only a fleeting connection to. The old "George Washington slept here" comes to mind.
This is a cheap and fabricated criticism by the reporter.
I expect to see it on the evening news for the next two weeks.
Edited on Jun 27, 2011 at 11:30amJan '11
Re: Michele, Not the Media's Belle
Well, to be fair, Wallace himself said that he's a registered Democrat ... because he lives in DC. DC is like Maryland. The place is so overwhelmingly Democrat that Republicans have no chance in the general election. The only time anyone gets a chance to express themselves on any issue is during the primary, so that's why you register as a Democrat.
I was surprised because Wallace is usually pretty fair, but that question wasn't.
May '10
Re: Michele, Not the Media's Belle
Kenneth: I can understand where Chris Wallace is coming from. As I noted in this post, there's just a certain undefinable loopiness to the woman at times. (Mind you, I've contributed to her Congressional campaign).
I think Wallace was trying to get her to speak to that perception. But I also think he was unwise, given the venue, to do so. · Jun 27 at 11:11am
The question was quite legitimate, it could have been presented more warmly, and especially could have been handled better by Bachmann, who needed a sense-of-humor transplant.
But if you recall the September 2008 debate over TARP, when everyone else was talking about substantive macroeconomics issues, Bachmann was in front of every camera she could find yelling about Wall Street bailouts at the top of her lungs. Whether you agreed or disagreed about the policy, her presentation back then was shallow and flaky, as was the 30,000 deaths comment. More homework and depth on a much broader range of issues is desperately needed.
The Examiner, not at all hostile to our viewpoint, gently points out the problem of transitioning from bullhorn to serious in a race against Obama.
May '10
Re: Michele, Not the Media's Belle
She did not confuse the two and to infer that is wrong. She was misinformed on Wayne's birthplace, which is Winterset, Iowa, not Waterloo. She messed up on Hollywood trivia. You're implying that she should be up on serial-killer trivia, too? That's not what I look for in a Presidential candidate.
Jul '10
Re: Michele, Not the Media's Belle
EJHill
She did not confuse the two and to infer that is wrong. She was misinformed on Wayne's birthplace, which is Winterset, Iowa, not Waterloo. She messed up on Hollywood trivia. You're implying that she should be up on serial-killer trivia, too? That's not what I look for in a Presidential candidate. · Jun 27 at 11:33am
She clearly did not do her homework.
At the presidential level, "the dog ate my homework" doesn't cut it. If you're going to assume John Wayne's mantle, get...it....right.
Jul '10
Re: Michele, Not the Media's Belle
I am torn. There's a lot to like about Bachmann. But I think the tendencies Duane Oyen is talking about are troubling, as is her proclivity to make embarrassing rookie mistakes. I believe these, together, may make her unelectable against Obama.
It's a flawed field out there, folks.
Jul '10
Re: Michele, Not the Media's Belle
Palin is a Fox analyst, Wallace would have been flayed alive if he'd given Palin the same treatment.
Edited on Jun 27, 2011 at 2:25pmApr '11
Re: Michele, Not the Media's Belle
Bachmann is being Alinskied. Romney the MSM darling is not. Cain is being Alinskied.There are signs Perry is being set up to be Alinskied. Palin, of course, was mega-Alinskied. Time will tell, but I think she may turn out to be too big and too tough to be successfully Alinskied. It has nothing to do with logic, truth, virtue or accomplishment. It is simply the politics of personal destruction which works very well much of the time. “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes” as Mark Twain said.
"Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. In conflict tactics there are certain rules that [should be regarded] as universalities. One is that the opposition must be singled out as the target and 'frozen.'...
"...any target can always say, 'Why do you center on me when there are others to blame as well?' When your 'freeze the target,' you disregard these [rational but distracting] arguments....
"One acts decisively only in the conviction that all the angels are on one side and all the devils on the other." (pps.127-134)
Saul Alinsky
Jan '11
Re: Michele, Not the Media's Belle
In fairness, Palin isn't running for president (yet?). And while Wallace definitely came out swinging, it doesn't bode well for Bachmann if she feels she can't get a fair interview on Fox News.
Sep '10
Re: Michele, Not the Media's Belle
Chris Wallace seems like a lightweight to me, whereas Brit Hume doesn't. Wallace is very, announcer-y. It seems like some at Fox are overly concerned now with being seen as "fair and balanced" ironically. I'm tired of the argument, and I think Fox is flubbing it badly.
Fox is trying to be too cute by half. Their ratings aren't because they report so well and so fairly, it's because the other networks are so insulting to anyone who isn't a partisan Democrat.
Because their audience skews right as it naturally would, they pander to that audience at some level. It is clear that Fox is a corporate concern first, and that muddles the "fair and balanced" meme because they are pandering to their core audience.
I think it is safe to say that Fox, being a corporation, will survive quite well under a Huntsman or an Obama. I get the sense that Wallace wasn't willing to go after Palin because she is a popular Fox contributor, and Wallace can compensate for being fair and balanced by taking it out on Bachmann.
Re: Michele, Not the Media's Belle
Now Drudge is in on it. Here is his full headline:
Confuses John Wayne's birthplace with John Wayne Gacy's...
NO SHE DIDN'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gacy wasn't born in Iowa.
Oh forget it. The SS Media Misinformation has set sail and my guns are too small to sink her.
Edited on Jun 27, 2011 at 12:47pmJul '10
Re: Michele, Not the Media's Belle
Tommy De Seno: Now Drudge is in on it. Here is his full headline:
Confuses John Wayne's birthplace with John Wayne Gacy's...
NO SHE DIDN'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gacy wasn't born in Iowa.
Oh forget it. The SS Media Misinformation has set sail and my guns are too small to sink her. · Jun 27 at 12:47pm
Edited on Jun 27 at 12:47 pm
Look, to clarify: we know Bachmann knows the difference between John Wayne and John Wayne Gacy.
Her confusion was to associate John Wayne with a town where he'd never lived - but John Wayne Gacy had (and had been convicted of homosexual assault).
She tried to bask in the glow of John Wayne and stumbled in the effort. Her bad.