IN 1960, when a Wall Street Journal editorial dinged Richard Nixon for something, JFK said “That’s like L’Osservatore Romano criticizing the Pope.”
Chris Wallace on Fox News today asked Rick Davis, McCain’s campaign manager why (1) the campaign was so negative and (2) so much of the negative stuff was misleading. Wallace had his facts handy, even including a graphic from the Tax Policy Center. Davis shucked and jived.
Then Wallace nailed Davis again, on McCain’s having voted with Bush 95% of the time. Davis shucked and jived some more.
Then Wallace nailed Davis again on the Ohio airport deal, and Davis set a new Olympic record for shucking and jiving. I guess he wasn’t expecting L’Osservatore Romano to criticize the Pope.
I’m hoping this will give reporters at non-Republican networks license to ask some of the same tough questions.