 Union Leader, CNN uncritically reported McCain's criticism of negative ads
from Media Matters for America
January 09, 2008
A January 7 New Hampshire Union Leader article reporting on the January 6 Republican presidential forum uncritically quoted Sen. John McCain (AZ) saying of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney s television advertisements: "Look, these are attack ads. ... I don t think they work." But the article did not note what moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News had noted less than an hour before McCain s assertion -- that McCain had "actually launch[ed] his own attack ad." Additionally, during the answer quoted by the Union Leader, McCain himself noted a "response[]" to Romney: "We ve run an -- basically -- we responded once, but look, the message we re trying to give and I will continue to give is why I m qualified to lead." Indeed, as Media Matters for America documented in response to two January 5 Union Leader articles that also quoted McCain attacking "negative campaigns" without noting McCain s own negative ads, McCain s campaign has run a negative TV ad and posted three negative Web ads against Romney in January. Similarly, on the January 4 edition of CNN s The Situation Room, host Wolf Blitzer uncritically aired a video clip of McCain saying: "Governor Romney is running these attack ads. He tried the same thing in Iowa against Governor Huckabee and just got beat. People of New Hampshire are not going to be fooled by these negative campaigns and the ads that they re running." The panel, consisting of CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, CNN senior political analyst Gloria Borger, and CNN anchor Jack Cafferty, did not note McCain s negative advertisements, nor did Blitzer. While a January 7 New York Times article did not note that McCain had criticized negative campaigning while running attack ads, the Times did report that "the tone of Mr. McCain s advertisements -- and his attacks on opponents, arrows sheathed in jokes -- have grown more acerbic" than those in McCain s 2000 presidential campaign. The Times article also stated: This time, to make the same point about Mr. Romney, also a governor with no foreign experience, Mr. McCain has run advertisements on the Internet that show jarring images of terrorists in masks holding guns. One of his main television ads spotlights Mr. Romney s changing positions on some issues, and highlights an editorial in The Concord Monitor calling him "a phony." By contrast, Associated Press reporter Holly Ramer did note in a January 4 article that McCain was criticizing negative ads while running them himself: In a jab at Romney, McCain told New Hampshire voters not to pay attention to money and negative ads. Romney s campaign released a new Web-based ad Friday arguing that McCain has been in Washington too long and is not as conservative as Romney. "I know you are examining these candidates, and you can t buy an election in the state of New Hampshire you have to earn it," McCain said. "Tell the candidates you want positive ads. You want to know what their vision is." But McCain released another negative ad of his own Friday calling into question Romney s leadership and foreign policy experience. A spokesman for Romney responded by pointing out Romney s successes in ensuring security at the Olympics and building up homeland security in Massachusetts. From the January 4 edition of CNN s The Situation Room: BLITZER: McCain came in fourth, just behind -- slightly behind Fred Thompson in Iowa. But he s going to do a lot better in New Hampshire. Listen to what he said today. McCAIN [video clip]: Governor Romney is running these attack ads. He tried the same thing in Iowa against Governor Huckabee and just got beat. People of New Hampshire are not going to be fooled by these negative campaigns and the ads that they re running. BLITZER: Gloria, what do you think? BORGER: That s what you call a pre-emptive strike. I mean, he knows that he s going to get bombarded with these ads, and he s just telling the voters, "You re going to hear those terrible things about me, but you can t pay attention to them," reminding people that Romney is a bad guy, right? BLITZER: Although they say that in New England, in New Hampshire, the attack ads aren t -- BORGER: Work. BLITZER: -- as negative. They work, actually, much more so than in Iowa -- TOOBIN: They do. BLITZER: -- where everybody s really a nice -- nice guy. BORGER: [unintelligible] nice in New Hampshire. TOOBIN: You know, everybody attacks -- everybody attacks negative campaigning, but negative campaigning works a great deal of the time. It didn t work for Romney in Iowa. It may well work for him in Massach -- in New Hampshire, including over issues like taxes. I mean, you know, in some respects, Romney is right. It s not an attack ad to say that John McCain voted against the Bush tax cuts. That s a relevant factor. CAFFERTY: A fact, yeah. BORGER: Yeah, it s going to be interesting to see how Obama does this. I mean, if Hillary attacks -- Hillary Clinton attacks Barack Obama, what does Barack Obama do? Because he has run as the candidate of hope and all the rest. From the January 6 Republican presidential forum: WALLACE: And we are back now in the Fox Box in the campus of St. Anselm College outside of Manchester, New Hampshire, with the five leading Republican presidential candidates, and we resume our special candidates forum. Gentlemen, let s turn to national security. Governor Romney, you made a statement recently about foreign policy experience that raised some eyebrows and led John McCain, that mild-mannered man, to actually launch his own attack ad. Let s take a listen to what you actually said. [begin video clip] MALE ANNOUNCER: McCain opposes repeal of the death tax and voted against the Bush -- ROMNEY: -- State Department and pick out somebody who s been at the Pakistan desk, but if you want a leader and person who s led at critical times and in critical ways, I think I fit the bill. [end video clip] WALLACE: We had a little bit of a mix-up there, but you know what you said. [...] WALLACE: Let s turn to the campaign and the way it is being waged. Mitt Romney has run negative ads against Mike Huckabee in Iowa and now John McCain in New Hampshire. Let s see some of his greatest hits. MALE ANNOUCER [video clip]: McCain opposes repeal of the death tax and voted against the Bush tax cuts twice. McCain pushed to let every illegal immigrant stay here permanently, even voted to allow illegals to collect Social Security. FEMALE ANNOUNCER [video clip]: Mike Huckabee -- soft on government spending. He grew a $6 billion government into a $16 billion government, backed in-state tuition benefits for illegals, and granted 1,033 pardons and commutations, including 12 murderers. His foreign policy? "Ludicrous," says Condoleezza Rice. WALLACE: Senator McCain, back in 1988, [then-Senator] Bob Dole famously said to [then-Vice President] George Bush, "Stop lying about my record." McCAIN: Didn t do him a lot of good. WALLACE: No, it didn t, but I want to ask you: Is Mitt Romney lying about your record? McCAIN: Well, look, I -- these are attack ads. I don t think they work. But I m running a positive campaign. I wish you d have shown one of mine. It s worth -- it s -- ROMNEY: Please, please do. McCAIN: -- worth millions. ROMNEY: Please, would you put one of his on? Please do. McCAIN: But so -- look, I m running for president because I want to lead this country, and I believe I have the experience and knowledge and background. We ve run an -- basically -- we responded once, but look, the message that we re trying to give and I will continue to give is why I m qualified to lead. From the January 7 New Hampshire Union Leader article: [Former New York City Mayor Rudy] Giuliani said that as mayor, he barred Yassir Arafat and Fidel Castro from attending a United Nations celebration in New York, "and when a Saudi prince handed me a $10 million check and wanted me to use it as a criticism of American foreign policy, I handed that check back to him and told him what to do with it." Despite prodding by moderator Wallace, McCain and Huckabee refused to criticize Romney for his negative television ads against them in New Hampshire and Iowa, respectively. "Look, these are attack ads," McCain said. "I don t think they work," adding, "The people make the judgment. We respond. But, look, politics isn t beanbag, and we re moving on." Romney said overall, his message "has been very positive" and, "describing differences on issues like immigration or on commutations and pardons, I think it s important." Huckabee, who issued more than 1,000 pardons as governor, responded, "If you tell a half-truth as if it is a full truth, then it can become an untruth." From the January 7 New York Times article: Mr. McCain has nowhere near the resources he did in 2000. His once gold-plated campaign organization collapsed last summer, unable to raise the money needed to sustain it. Mark McKinnon, his media adviser, is putting together advertisements for Mr. McCain at cost -- allowing him to at least hold his own with his main opponent, Mitt Romney, on the air in the final hours of the campaign here. Eight years ago, Mr. McCain would send invitations to 20,000 voters to try to ensure a good turnout for an event; this time, his aides said, they could typically afford just 5,000 mailers. Some of his closest aides -- Mark Salter and Charles Black -- say they are forgoing paychecks for now. And the tone of Mr. McCain s advertisements -- and his attacks on opponents, arrows sheathed in jokes -- have grown more acerbic. That, his aides said, reflected the lessons he learned in 2000 after an embittering defeat by Mr. Bush in South Carolina; in that showdown, which pretty much ended his presidential hopes for that campaign, Mr. McCain refused to run attack advertisements responding to Mr. Bush. In New Hampshire in 2000, Mr. Bush took issue when Mr. McCain ran an advertisement saying, there is "only one man running for president who knows the military and understands the world." This time, to make the same point about Mr. Romney, also a governor with no foreign experience, Mr. McCain has run advertisements on the Internet that show jarring images of terrorists in masks holding guns. One of his main television ads spotlights Mr. Romney s changing positions on some issues, and highlights an editorial in The Concord Monitor calling him "a phony." And Mr. McCain s post-New Hampshire prospects, should he win on Tuesday, are if anything less certain than they were in 2000, when he left this state confident that he would beat Mr. Bush. He has barely any organization in Michigan, the next state to vote, said Saul Anuzis, the state Republican chairman there. Mr. McCain was forced to lay off all but one of his staff members because of his financial difficulties.
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