Bush Reaches Out to Press Corps
By Jeff Gannon
Talon News
November 9, 2004
WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- Ever since Sen. John Kerry conceded the presidential election to him, President George W. Bush has been reaching out to those who opposed him. Last week in his victory speech, he called for Democrats to join with him to move forward on Social Security reform and tax simplification.
In a hastily called press conference on Thursday, the president declared that he was reaching out to the White House press corps and invited their questions. A subdued group of journalists asked about personnel changes in the Cabinet and which agenda items might take priority in the second term.
Talon News asked White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan to explain the outreach to a press corps that is supposed to be a non-partisan group. He suggested that the president was making a "tongue-in-cheek" comment.
McClellan downplayed any friction between the White House and the press corps when he said, "The media certainly has an important role to play in keeping the American people informed about the decisions that we make here in Washington, D.C."
When Talon News pointed out that the press corps seemed at times to be pursuing stories that aided Bush's opponent, McClellan replied, "There will be plenty of analysis of the media and critiquing of the media, I'm sure, going forward. And I'll leave that to others to get into."
He added, "The president has great respect for the job that the press does."
But the conduct of the media in the recently concluded election has been one of the biggest stories. In particular, the use of forged documents by CBS in a news report on the president's National Guard service and an 11th-hour story by the same network in coordination with the New York Times that focused on explosives that went missing 18 months ago has been cited by some as evidence of bias or partisanship.
Members of the journalism establishment grumble about the "demotion" of Hearst columnist Helen Thomas, 82, regarded as the doyenne of the White House press corps. For decades, Thomas had been given front row seating at presidential press conferences and always asked the first question. That tradition ended when George W. Bush became the chief executive. Now Thomas often finds herself relegated to the back rows and never called on to pose a question.
But she still holds sway in the Brady briefing room where her theater-style seat in the front row bears her name. All other seats are identified by the news service. Even though Thomas writes only an opinion column for the Hearst News Service, she still leads the daily assault on McClellan.
Thomas has been extremely critical of the Bush administration and the president.
She has been quoted on several occasions as saying, "This is the worst president ever. He is the worst president in all of American history."
Last week, Thomas delivered the keynote address at the 9th Annual Women Venture Conference in Minneapolis, where she suggested Bush feared her journalistic prowess.
She said, "He's still afraid of me. He can't take my questions. Mine are very simple."
With his comment about reaching out to the press corps, the president might be reviving the notion of creating a "new tone" in Washington that would bring some civility to political discourse, something that failed miserably during the first term. But by all accounts, the White House reporters don't appear to be reaching back.
I have to admit that my gonads start their ascension at the mention of Helen's name, but not for the reasons that she thinks. She should be stirring a cauldron in MacBeth.