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06/15/2003 Archived Entry: "Outrunning bad press."
Outrunning bad press.
We've seen it again and again during this administration's reign - right from the start, regarding the 2000 election, in fact.
There was controversy, there were bad feelings, there was bad news on the horizon for those who tossed a national election into the lap of a partisan Supreme Court. When the questions started to pile up, the administration started running away from them. It turned into a race between the administration and the bad news that chased them. For administration insiders, it became a matter of maintaining their game face and weathering the swirl of bad news.
They won that particular race.
Since December of 2000, that race has been run again and again - over September 11, over Homeland Security and Ashcroft's Crusade Against Freedom, over tax cuts, over WMDs. So far, they've got a pretty good record for running from bad press - no one in the media has been able to (or has bothered to) lay a glove on them.
It's been a helluva streak. But ask the LA Lakers- they'll tell you that every winning streak comes to an end sooner or later, no matter how strong the team or how savvy the coaches. A winning streak spawns complacency, an attitude of invulnerability. And when that attitude settles over a team, even a modestly determined opponent can exploit it.
Will the race against bad WMD news be the one that this administration will finally lose? Hard to tell at this point - even though the questions regarding our being lied into war persist, the administration has mastered the art of ignoring bad news until it goes away.
But if this one doesn't do it, something inevitably will. No one can outrun bad news forever, not even George W. Bush. It's just a matter of time.
Replies: 2 people speak up
Well, the missing WMD (combined with some shady dealing in the Cabinet) have become a government crisis in both Aus and the UK, and may bring down both governments. That might get some press attention.
Posted by Melanie @ 06/15/2003 08:42 PM NY
I fear that the WMD issue (while it might bury Blair) is already ancient history in this country of amnesiacs. It turns out that Operation Iraqi Freedom was really about "liberation."
Now Sen. Lugar and the administration are talking about the possible use of the US military against Hamas. And if that isn't enough of a distraction, there's the growing student unrest in Iran.
Quick, anyone remember Mohammed Mossadeq?
Posted by Metropolitan99 @ 06/15/2003 09:05 PM NY
