The Attack Man

Lebanon, N.H.

DAYS before the New Hampshire primary, the Concord Monitor had this to say about Bill Bradley’s campaign: “Bradley’s mistake, it is now plain, was to couple [his] message with a call for purity in political discourse. This is a noble aim for an ideal world. But the New Hampshire primary is the real world—a world, incidentally, that Gore, who has run once before, knows better than Bradley.” Bradley had belatedly tried to go on the attack, but “his distaste for doing so was apparent, and the attacks themselves were stale, half-hearted and general. He borrowed his sharpest words from others.” It’s not remarkable that the Monitor should suggest that Al Gore is good at playing hardball, or that Bradley isn’t. What is remarkable is that the Gore campaign itself distributed this editorial to reporters.

About the Author

Ramesh Ponnuru

Ramesh Ponnuru is the editor of National Review, a columnist for the Washington Post, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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Presidential Election

Lebanon, N.H.

DAYS before the New Hampshire primary, the Concord Monitor had this to say about Bill Bradley’s campaign: “Bradley’s mistake, it is now plain, was to couple [his] message with a call for purity in political discourse. This is a noble aim for an ideal world. But the New Hampshire primary is the real world—a world, incidentally, that Gore, who has run once before, knows better than Bradley.” Bradley had belatedly tried to go on the attack, but “his distaste for doing so was apparent, and the attacks themselves were stale, half-hearted and general. He borrowed his sharpest words from others.” It’s not remarkable that the Monitor should suggest that Al Gore is good at playing hardball, or that Bradley isn’t. What is remarkable is that the Gore campaign itself distributed this editorial to reporters.