Pundits know how to coo:
Ken Rudin
Date: Tue Mar 11, 2003 12:07 pm
Subject: FW: Bob Edwards : have you forgotten Kucinich
I am the political editor for National Public Radio and in fact edited Mara
Liasson's piece on Howard Dean in Iowa. You should know that neither my nor
Bob Edwards' bosses work at the Pentagon. For one thing, if they did, you
wouldn't have heard 7-1/2 minutes this morning on Howard Dean. Second, we
did not say that Howard Dean was the only peace candidate ... certainly not
with Kucinich and Al Sharpton and Carol Moseley Braun also in the race. We
DID say that of the MAJOR Democratic candidates, Dean is the only one to
oppose the war. That leads to two points:
First, if you look at the polls, even at this early stage, Howard Dean has
made himself a MAJOR candidate. This is not my view, or Mara Liasson's
view, or NPR's view. It's the view of everyone who has been covering and
observing the race from the early states of Iowa and New Hampshire. Dean
started with no money, no recognition, and no organization. That has
changed. He has become a potent force, based on his anti-war rhetoric. We
are not saying that he will necessarily win Iowa or elsewhere -- as the
piece made clear. But in terms of "buzz" (which, granted, can be fleeting),
Dean has it. At this point, Kucinich does not.
Having said that, I confess I violated something that I've been preaching
since I came to NPR in 1991: We should not be in the business of repeating
the conventional wisdom regarding who the "major" or "leading" candidates
are ... especially given the fact that not one vote has yet to be cast. We
should leave the "kingmaking" to the voters. And so, we have changed the
intro to Mara Liasson's piece for the subsequent feed to reflect that.
I still argue that, at this stage, the progress of Howard Dean's campaign
far surpasses that of Congressman Kucinich's. But that doesn't make
Kucinich any less deserving of NPR coverage, and that too will come.
Sincerely,
Ken Rudin
-----Original Message-----
From: studywarnomore [mailto:studywarnomore@y...]
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2003 7:26 AM
To: Morning Edition; atc@n...; Wesat
Subject: Fwd: Bob Edwards : have you forgotten kucinich
--- In ohioleft@yahoogroups.com, "studywarnomore"
wrote:
Bob Edwards who for the most part has said what he
was told to say by his Pentagon bosses through Kevin
Close at NPR.. today said Howard Dean was the only
peace candidate.
Dennis Kucinich has a stronger peace record.
