Day By Day

Friday, October 28, 2005

Kurtz on Pundit Power

Howard Kurtz writes in the WaPo:

Charles Krauthammer, David Frum, Bill Kristol, Laura Ingraham and their conservative colleagues didn't sink the Harriet Miers nomination on their own. But in the blink of a news cycle, they turned against their president, framed the debate and provided the passion that undermined her case.

It was Krauthammer who offered the White House last Friday what he called "the perfectly honorable way to solve the conundrum" by using a refusal to turn over Miers's internal memos as a fig leaf for withdrawing her Supreme Court bid -- which is precisely what she did.

"I guess she reads my column," the Washington Post and Fox News commentator said yesterday. "All that was missing was the footnote."

Read it here.

Aaarrgh! The smugness, the smugness! Conservative pundits spinning this as a great opportunity to join together with Bush to advance their agenda. Liberals are spinning this as the effective end of the Bush presidency. Neither comes close to being right, Bush will continue his moderate path and whatever temporary advantage one group or another has gained will soon be forgotten. Pundit power is largely illusory.


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