King of the Hill
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BOB GARFIELD: From WNYC in New York, this is NPR's On the Media. I'm Bob Garfield.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: And I'm Brooke Gladstone. On October 6th, the White House announced that the president would be giving a major policy address on terrorism. All three cable news networks ran the speech in its entirety. When it turned out the president had nothing new to say about terrorism, and the event was just another stump speech, a Slate article suggested that the networks had been snookered into giving the president an hour of free ad time. Burned.
BOB GARFIELD: Live and yet don't learn. Early Monday morning, the cable news anchors told us to stay tuned for a significant speech by the president on the war on terror. So we did. And this is what we heard. [TAPE PLAYS]
GEORGE W. BUSH: The senator who claims the world is more dangerous since America started fighting the war on terror is the same senator who said that Ronald Reagan's policies of peace through strength actually made America less safe. [NEGATIVE CROWD REACTION] [TAPE ENDS]
BOB GARFIELD: MSNBC ran the president's speech uninterrupted for 43 minutes. CNN showed 36 minutes, and Fox 47 minutes. But equal time was the order of the day. At least on some cable channels. [TAPE PLAYS]
WOMAN: Want to take you now live to Florida where John Kerry now addressing another campaign rally. [TAPE ENDS]
BOB GARFIELD: MSNBC and CNN gave the Democratic nominee nearly equal time. "Fair and balanced" Fox switched him off after 9 minutes. But when it came to nuance, the president won hands down on all the channels. The media called his a major policy address while Kerry -- well, he was just campaigning.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Such are the advantages of incumbency, and if it works for the president, it works even better for politicians lower down the electoral food chain. Between the media and redistricting, challengers don't stand a chance, as WNYC's Bob Hennelly reports.
BOB HENNELLY: While the country deals with the tension of a potential presidential cliffhanger, incumbents in Congress, with very rare exceptions, are feeling pretty confident right now -- and why not? Irrespective of party in 2002, over 90 percent of them got re-elected, the highest percentage since 1954, backed by a more than 4 to 1 cash advantage over their Don Quixote-like opponents. [STEPS GOING UP STAIRS] In the second floor walkup campaign headquarters, there's not an empty folding chair. Back in May, New Jersey's Seventh District Democratic challenger, Steve Brozak, was off to an ambitious start. He left active duty as a marine lieutenant colonel, having served in Iraq. As a result of that deployment, Brozak, a Republican, decided to switch parties and run for Congress as a Democrat. Why? As it works out, to make locally the same kind of critique Senator Kerry was making nationally on the war in Iraq.
STEVE BROZAK: Here's the story. We went out there like a drunken gambler. This administration doubled up. They went out there and did it with too few people, without any planning, and they did it without any forethought to what would take place as far as the peace was concerned.
BOB HENNELLY: Just as Brozak, who has served in Haiti, Bosnia, and with the United Nations, aligns with the top if his ticket, his opponent, incumbent Congressman Mike Ferguson, makes sure there is no daylight between himself and President Bush.
MIKE FERGUSON: I have a very strong record of leadership in the Congress for the last four years of supporting our troops, supporting the families of our troops. They're showing incredible service and commitment and courage, and I certainly believe a political season is no time to be sending a mixed message to our troops.
BOB HENNELLY: Ferguson never served in the military. [VEHICLES PASSING] It's early evening in Summit, New Jersey --part of the Seventh Congressional District. Yes, the presidential election is being billed as the most important in a generation, and perhaps the most expensive ever. As for the over 400 races for Congress - the people's house - few have a clue. Christopher Suh, an enthusiastic President Bush backer.
CHRISTOPHER SUH: For Congress, I actually don't even know who's running at this point. [LAUGHS]
BOB HENNELLY: Voter Peter Robke has followed the presidential race closely, but farther down the ballot remains something of a void.
BOB HENNELLY TO ROPKE: Who are you going to pick for Congress?
PETER ROPKE: Oh! Let's see, who is the Congressman in my area? I think it's Forrester.
BOB HENNELLY: Where are you from?
PETER ROPKE: I live in Hunterdon County, in Clinton Township.
BOB HENNELLY: Or is it Ferguson?
PETER ROPKE: Ferguson. You're right. It is Ferguson.
BOB HENNELLY: Who's Forrester? A New Jersey businessman who's spent millions of his own money to run unsuccessfully for the Senate. These days he's been jamming the airwaves with ads and using automated phone calls like this one to get CBS's Dan Rather fired over his botched report on President Bush's Air National Guard service. [AUTOMATED PHONE CALL PLAYS]
DOUG FORRESTER: This is Doug Forrester, calling to ask for your support in our fight to retire Dan Rather. He is a classic example of liberal media bias. His use of CBS to support his own political agenda has got to stop. We need your help...
BOB HENNELLY: When it comes to not being able to name their Congressman, Suh and Ropke are not alone. Surveys indicate two thirds of Americans don't know who represents them. But in the New York market they can't escape conservative businessman Forrester who's not running for anything, yet has bought himself better name recognition than an incumbent member of Congress. Last time, hundreds of millions were spent to shape all the congressional races. Locally this time, thanks to 6-figure backing from the pharmaceutical industry, Congressman Ferguson built up a 2.6 million dollar war chest. He did get slammed with a 210,000 dollar Federal Election Commission fine for improperly using money from a family trust. Even so, experts say, he's got the race sewn up. Early on, challenger Brozak won a coveted shot to address the Democratic Convention in Boston, but ultimately did not convince national Democratic strategists that his campaign was worth being one of the handful of races they're investing in. He's raised just over 600,000 dollars. But in this 3-card monte where the house incumbents almost always win, the fix is in long before voters are poised to make their choice. Under the guise of satisfying the constitutional requirement of using the latest census figures to update house district boundaries, the process creates something else.
WOMAN: Good afternoon, Middleton.
WOMAN: Good afternoon...
BOB HENNELLY: Ingrid Reed, with Rutgers University's Eagleton Institute of Politics.
INGRID REED: After the 2000 Census, when we had to check and see that the districts are balanced equally so that, you know, each district has exactly the same number of people in it-- the two parties basically agreed that the division between 7 Democratic districts and 6 Republican districts made sense. So the district were shaped to be composed of basically Republican and Democratic voters that would assure that the incumbents would continue to serve easily.
BOB HENNELLY: Reed says that in addition to redistricting, a total lack of media coverage of the house races explains why, when it comes to voters and election time, it's like members of Congress have joined a kind of witness protection program.
INGRID REED: Congressional races are basically invisible, because it doesn't look like an incumbent will be challenged, and therefore will be voted out of office, the newspapers, television and radio simply have not been paying attention to these races. So, without a race, the voters don't learn anything, because they don't hear anything. And the media doesn't pay any attention, because nothing is happening in the race.
BOB HENNELLY: Reed's assessment is borne out in an Annenberg School and University of Wisconsin analysis of the 2002 congressional races on local TV news in the nation's top 50 markets. It found that across the country there was a paucity of news stories on these races, but at the same time, a major revenue windfall for the same stations which made millions selling paid political ads during the same newscast. [SOMEONE WALKING ON PAVEMENT, VEHICLE PASSING] So for challenger Brozak, without a lot of money and spotty local media coverage, it means hitting the pavement every day -- even a cold, dank one like this.
STEVE BROZAK: It's the only way that you can show people how-- how sincere you are about getting the job done. You've got to go out there and met them where they live.
BOB HENNELLY: Brozak wanted five debates, but he concedes he's happy he got one. Ferguson got TV ads in heavy rotation, while Brozak just managed to get a limited TV buy during the GOP Convention in New York. That set him back 50,000 dollars. No news organizations are even polling the race.
STEVE BROZAK: [...?...] congressman.
MAN: How are you, Steve?
STEVE BROZAK: Good. Good. Real good. Thanks.
BOB HENNELLY: In shiny black shoes and a black suit with a Marine Service lapel pin, the challenger looks like a Secret Service agent. He spots a group of parents and kids and a backyard swing set and makes a beeline with a flyer in hand.
STEVE BROZAK: And that insert is a little bit about me and--my background. I served in the military and was one of the reservists and also where I stand on the issues. This-- this flyer shows that New Jersey is 41st in homeland defense funding and Wyoming is number one. Have you thought about the election yet, or you're still thinking about it?
MAN: I'm still thinking about the election, actually, right now. I haven't made my decision yet, and honestly, I haven't got any information about you. But now I do, so--
STEVE BROZAK: Great.
MAN: -- so better to make a more informed decision than just going down there and eenie-meenie-minee-mo-ing.
STEVE BROZAK: Great. Well, again, I appreciate it.
BOB HENNELLY: Brozak remains optimistic and soldiers on door to door as night falls. He says there are 20,000 freshly registered voters in the district. It's just going to take a lot longer getting to each one of them, one by one, house by house. For On the Media, I'm Bob Hennelly.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: And I'm Brooke Gladstone. On October 6th, the White House announced that the president would be giving a major policy address on terrorism. All three cable news networks ran the speech in its entirety. When it turned out the president had nothing new to say about terrorism, and the event was just another stump speech, a Slate article suggested that the networks had been snookered into giving the president an hour of free ad time. Burned.
BOB GARFIELD: Live and yet don't learn. Early Monday morning, the cable news anchors told us to stay tuned for a significant speech by the president on the war on terror. So we did. And this is what we heard. [TAPE PLAYS]
GEORGE W. BUSH: The senator who claims the world is more dangerous since America started fighting the war on terror is the same senator who said that Ronald Reagan's policies of peace through strength actually made America less safe. [NEGATIVE CROWD REACTION] [TAPE ENDS]
BOB GARFIELD: MSNBC ran the president's speech uninterrupted for 43 minutes. CNN showed 36 minutes, and Fox 47 minutes. But equal time was the order of the day. At least on some cable channels. [TAPE PLAYS]
WOMAN: Want to take you now live to Florida where John Kerry now addressing another campaign rally. [TAPE ENDS]
BOB GARFIELD: MSNBC and CNN gave the Democratic nominee nearly equal time. "Fair and balanced" Fox switched him off after 9 minutes. But when it came to nuance, the president won hands down on all the channels. The media called his a major policy address while Kerry -- well, he was just campaigning.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Such are the advantages of incumbency, and if it works for the president, it works even better for politicians lower down the electoral food chain. Between the media and redistricting, challengers don't stand a chance, as WNYC's Bob Hennelly reports.
BOB HENNELLY: While the country deals with the tension of a potential presidential cliffhanger, incumbents in Congress, with very rare exceptions, are feeling pretty confident right now -- and why not? Irrespective of party in 2002, over 90 percent of them got re-elected, the highest percentage since 1954, backed by a more than 4 to 1 cash advantage over their Don Quixote-like opponents. [STEPS GOING UP STAIRS] In the second floor walkup campaign headquarters, there's not an empty folding chair. Back in May, New Jersey's Seventh District Democratic challenger, Steve Brozak, was off to an ambitious start. He left active duty as a marine lieutenant colonel, having served in Iraq. As a result of that deployment, Brozak, a Republican, decided to switch parties and run for Congress as a Democrat. Why? As it works out, to make locally the same kind of critique Senator Kerry was making nationally on the war in Iraq.
STEVE BROZAK: Here's the story. We went out there like a drunken gambler. This administration doubled up. They went out there and did it with too few people, without any planning, and they did it without any forethought to what would take place as far as the peace was concerned.
BOB HENNELLY: Just as Brozak, who has served in Haiti, Bosnia, and with the United Nations, aligns with the top if his ticket, his opponent, incumbent Congressman Mike Ferguson, makes sure there is no daylight between himself and President Bush.
MIKE FERGUSON: I have a very strong record of leadership in the Congress for the last four years of supporting our troops, supporting the families of our troops. They're showing incredible service and commitment and courage, and I certainly believe a political season is no time to be sending a mixed message to our troops.
BOB HENNELLY: Ferguson never served in the military. [VEHICLES PASSING] It's early evening in Summit, New Jersey --part of the Seventh Congressional District. Yes, the presidential election is being billed as the most important in a generation, and perhaps the most expensive ever. As for the over 400 races for Congress - the people's house - few have a clue. Christopher Suh, an enthusiastic President Bush backer.
CHRISTOPHER SUH: For Congress, I actually don't even know who's running at this point. [LAUGHS]
BOB HENNELLY: Voter Peter Robke has followed the presidential race closely, but farther down the ballot remains something of a void.
BOB HENNELLY TO ROPKE: Who are you going to pick for Congress?
PETER ROPKE: Oh! Let's see, who is the Congressman in my area? I think it's Forrester.
BOB HENNELLY: Where are you from?
PETER ROPKE: I live in Hunterdon County, in Clinton Township.
BOB HENNELLY: Or is it Ferguson?
PETER ROPKE: Ferguson. You're right. It is Ferguson.
BOB HENNELLY: Who's Forrester? A New Jersey businessman who's spent millions of his own money to run unsuccessfully for the Senate. These days he's been jamming the airwaves with ads and using automated phone calls like this one to get CBS's Dan Rather fired over his botched report on President Bush's Air National Guard service. [AUTOMATED PHONE CALL PLAYS]
DOUG FORRESTER: This is Doug Forrester, calling to ask for your support in our fight to retire Dan Rather. He is a classic example of liberal media bias. His use of CBS to support his own political agenda has got to stop. We need your help...
BOB HENNELLY: When it comes to not being able to name their Congressman, Suh and Ropke are not alone. Surveys indicate two thirds of Americans don't know who represents them. But in the New York market they can't escape conservative businessman Forrester who's not running for anything, yet has bought himself better name recognition than an incumbent member of Congress. Last time, hundreds of millions were spent to shape all the congressional races. Locally this time, thanks to 6-figure backing from the pharmaceutical industry, Congressman Ferguson built up a 2.6 million dollar war chest. He did get slammed with a 210,000 dollar Federal Election Commission fine for improperly using money from a family trust. Even so, experts say, he's got the race sewn up. Early on, challenger Brozak won a coveted shot to address the Democratic Convention in Boston, but ultimately did not convince national Democratic strategists that his campaign was worth being one of the handful of races they're investing in. He's raised just over 600,000 dollars. But in this 3-card monte where the house incumbents almost always win, the fix is in long before voters are poised to make their choice. Under the guise of satisfying the constitutional requirement of using the latest census figures to update house district boundaries, the process creates something else.
WOMAN: Good afternoon, Middleton.
WOMAN: Good afternoon...
BOB HENNELLY: Ingrid Reed, with Rutgers University's Eagleton Institute of Politics.
INGRID REED: After the 2000 Census, when we had to check and see that the districts are balanced equally so that, you know, each district has exactly the same number of people in it-- the two parties basically agreed that the division between 7 Democratic districts and 6 Republican districts made sense. So the district were shaped to be composed of basically Republican and Democratic voters that would assure that the incumbents would continue to serve easily.
BOB HENNELLY: Reed says that in addition to redistricting, a total lack of media coverage of the house races explains why, when it comes to voters and election time, it's like members of Congress have joined a kind of witness protection program.
INGRID REED: Congressional races are basically invisible, because it doesn't look like an incumbent will be challenged, and therefore will be voted out of office, the newspapers, television and radio simply have not been paying attention to these races. So, without a race, the voters don't learn anything, because they don't hear anything. And the media doesn't pay any attention, because nothing is happening in the race.
BOB HENNELLY: Reed's assessment is borne out in an Annenberg School and University of Wisconsin analysis of the 2002 congressional races on local TV news in the nation's top 50 markets. It found that across the country there was a paucity of news stories on these races, but at the same time, a major revenue windfall for the same stations which made millions selling paid political ads during the same newscast. [SOMEONE WALKING ON PAVEMENT, VEHICLE PASSING] So for challenger Brozak, without a lot of money and spotty local media coverage, it means hitting the pavement every day -- even a cold, dank one like this.
STEVE BROZAK: It's the only way that you can show people how-- how sincere you are about getting the job done. You've got to go out there and met them where they live.
BOB HENNELLY: Brozak wanted five debates, but he concedes he's happy he got one. Ferguson got TV ads in heavy rotation, while Brozak just managed to get a limited TV buy during the GOP Convention in New York. That set him back 50,000 dollars. No news organizations are even polling the race.
STEVE BROZAK: [...?...] congressman.
MAN: How are you, Steve?
STEVE BROZAK: Good. Good. Real good. Thanks.
BOB HENNELLY: In shiny black shoes and a black suit with a Marine Service lapel pin, the challenger looks like a Secret Service agent. He spots a group of parents and kids and a backyard swing set and makes a beeline with a flyer in hand.
STEVE BROZAK: And that insert is a little bit about me and--my background. I served in the military and was one of the reservists and also where I stand on the issues. This-- this flyer shows that New Jersey is 41st in homeland defense funding and Wyoming is number one. Have you thought about the election yet, or you're still thinking about it?
MAN: I'm still thinking about the election, actually, right now. I haven't made my decision yet, and honestly, I haven't got any information about you. But now I do, so--
STEVE BROZAK: Great.
MAN: -- so better to make a more informed decision than just going down there and eenie-meenie-minee-mo-ing.
STEVE BROZAK: Great. Well, again, I appreciate it.
BOB HENNELLY: Brozak remains optimistic and soldiers on door to door as night falls. He says there are 20,000 freshly registered voters in the district. It's just going to take a lot longer getting to each one of them, one by one, house by house. For On the Media, I'm Bob Hennelly.
Produced by WNYC Studios