Sort of. Tragically prolific uber-hack Howard Kurtz leads off his
media column today talking about an alleged upswell in liberal pundits who are coming out in favor of Dean. As usual with Howie, the facts don't exactly support his position. He names only Molly Ivins and William Greider, neither of whom is exactly in the D.C. insiders' Kool Kids Klub. There's way more counter-evidence: Dionne, Cohen, Kristof.
But Kurtz did at least admit a key fact about the 2000 campaign: "When Al Gore ran . . . I can't think of a single political pontificator who passionately argued his cause. The discussion was all about his wardrobe and his wife-kissing . . ."
What worries me is that this pattern will continue this year. It sure looks like it, as the moderate/liberal pundits hold Dean to a much higher standard than they do Bush, and as they do everything in their power to avoid appearing partisan. God forbid.
Of course, Kurtz gets the following wrong: "The lack of media cheerleading for Gore reflected the ambivalence that even many Democrats felt about the man, which was reflected in the photo-finish he failed to win."
Um, no. Gore got more votes than Bush. It was the Beltway Heathers who didn't like Gore, not the voters of America.