Wednesday, October 06, 2004
The Pilot Strikes Back
You've most likely already seen this, but I just wanted to make sure that it got out to everybody.0 comments
The Pilot Newspaper (Southern Pines, NC) - ‘Senator Gone’ Quip Puts Pilot in Spotlight
It's a truism that incumbent officeholders miss votes and speeches at their jobs when they are campaigning for re-election or higher office.
But George Bush doesn't seem to need much time at home in the White House, either. In the last two years alone, I think I'VE spent more time in the Oval Office working on policy than he has.
Edwards Returns to State After Debate: ‘Senator Gone’ Quip Puts Pilot in Spotlight
BY MATTHEW MORIARTY: Staff Writer
The eyes of the national media unexpectedly turned toward The Pilot after Tuesday night’s vice-presidential debate.
During the debate, Vice President Dick Cheney attacked Sen. John Edwards, who grew up in Robbins, on his senatorial attendance record. Cheney included the barb, “Your hometown newspaper has taken to calling you ‘Senator Gone.’ You’ve got one of the worst attendance records in the United States Senate.”
Late Tuesday night and Wednesday, phones rang in The Pilot’s office as reporters from the Los Angeles Times, Editor and Publisher magazine, The New Yorker, The Associated Press and The News & Observer of Raleigh called to check the vice president’s words and interview the author.
The comment became the subject of post-debate analysis on 24-hour-news channels like CNBC.
The Pilot did criticize Edwards in a June 25, 2003, editorial entitled “Edwards Should Do His Day Job.” The editorial suggested that Edwards should do a better job of being on hand for Senate votes while still running for president.
“During his 30 years in Washington, Jesse Helms was known as Senator No,” the editorial said. “Four and a half years into his first term, John Edwards is becoming known as Senator Gone.”
The editorial also included a response from the senator’s staff that said Edwards had a much better record of attending votes than did several other senatorial presidential hopefuls. His staff also said that Edwards didn’t miss close votes where his absence could make a difference.
According to Web site statistics at www.thepilot.com, the vice president’s comment has generated enormous interest, with 21,296 unique visitors to the site by late Wednesday night. The number is more than six times an average day. There had been 4,387 unique visitors by 1 p.m. Thursday.
The Associated Press distributed an article clarifying the statement from www.thepilot.com to news organizations such as National Public Radio. Cheney’s comment also gained steam on talk radio and Internet political blogs.
Editor Steve Bouser wrote the editorial.
“It’s an unfortunate fact of political life,” he said. “If you’re in Congress and you run for president, you are going to miss lots of important business. It is a fact of life. We were just giving him a gentle nudge to remind him that some folks back home were asking whether he was neglecting Senate business while campaigning around the country.”
Bouser pointed out that The Pilot never itself called Edwards “Senator Gone.” Specifically, the editorial said the senator “is becoming known as ‘Senator Gone.’”
“I don’t think it was at all accurate to say we have ‘taken to calling’ the senator anything,” Bouser said. “Remember, this was a one-time reference in an editorial that appeared 15 months ago.”
An editorial in Wednesday’s issue of The Pilot said, “It’s not every day that a non-daily paper in a small town gets mentioned in a nationally televised debate in prime time. But it happened to The Pilot Tuesday night.”
The editorial ended on a light note by saying, “Thanks for the plug, Mr. Vice President. We’re proud to count you among our readers.”
There was some confusion among the national media about which newspaper Cheney was referring to. He never mentioned The Pilot by name and may have gotten his information off a newsletter such as the one a simple Google search turned up from the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Cheney used the same language almost word for word.
Editors at The News & Observer briefly thought Cheney was referring to them when he spoke of Edwards’ “hometown paper,” until a quick search proved otherwise.
“We didn’t know who he was referring to,” said Rob Christensen, a staff writer for The News & Observer, who covers Edwards.
Christensen was preparing an article clarifying where the reference came from for the paper’s Thursday edition.
“It’s not that important,” he said. “It’s a matter of curiosity, really.”
Edwards has several places he could call his hometown. He has lived and practiced law in Raleigh for many years. He was born in South Carolina and grew up in Robbins, where his parents, Wallace and Bobbie, still live. Robbins is the town he speaks about when on the stump and even talked about growing up there during the debate Tuesday.
This flap is but one example of the sloppiness of Dick Cheney's approach to his debate with John Edwards.
His sending his supporters to George Soros' web site for issue clarifications was breathtaking. His claim that he'd never said "Saddam" and either "al Qaeda" or "9/11" in the same breath was inspired lunacy. His assertions that nothing illigal happened in the Halliburton offices while he was CEO were awe-inspiring. But, as it is for most of you, my favorite Darth-ism of the debate was Cheney's saying he'd never met Edwards when the Democrats had the pictures (and video) to prove otherwise. Oh my!
Do you think he's ever "met" George W. Bush?
Maybe it depends on what the definition of "met" is.
posted by Gotham 11:37 PM
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