Battlegrounders
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MICHIGAN: IT WORKED [Henry Payne 10/28 11:00 PM]

In its September 27 issue, Newsweek magazine reported that Kerry’s new management team of John Sasso and some ex-Clintonites planned to go on the attack. Their new strategy? “Kerry is betting that the hard truths of Iraq will. . . undercut Bush’s image as a war leader. Kerry now intends on spending - Newsweek has learned - the closing week of the election on Bush’s war.”

But, added Newsweek, “Kerry’s show of strength depends heavily on the news.” Bad news, that is.

One month later and right on cue, The New York Times and CBS News opened this final week with a Monday “October Surprise” bombshell charging that the Bush Administration was responsible for 380 tons of missing explosives in Iraq. The Kerry campaign picked up the media gift and ran with it.

Knowing Kerry’s final week strategy, the Times/CBS story assist to the Democrat’s campaign gave the
“perception of impropriety” (to use a favorite journalistic term) at best, or a deliberate effort to intervene in a presidential campaign at worst. Given the partisan history of the two news organizations in the 2004 campaign, the latter explanation certainly seemed credible.

In Michigan, the story has had the desired effect.

The question of Bush’s competence in dealing with the dangerous munitions has dominated the news – demonstrating the still formidable power of liberal Big Media. After polls showed Bush pulling ahead of Kerry last week, the story seems to have halted the president’s momentum. A new Detroit News poll Thursday showed Bush trailing by five.

The liberal Detroit Free Press, Michigan’s largest paper, headlined its Page 1 Thursday coverage of Bush’s rally of 30,000 faithful at the Pontiac Silverdome with: “Bush and Kerry trade jabs about lost explosives.” In this radio town, local news radio stations have led all week with CBS and ABC reports on Bush’s bungling - as has Michigan Public Radio. Even the conservative talk shows of Beckman, Hannity, and Limbaugh were forced to cover the “Bush lost explosives” story – if only to debunk its flimsy evidence.

Thanks to its media wing, the Kerry campaign’s strategy of undermining Bush’s Michigan strong suit — his ability to lead on national security – is right on schedule.