Halperin's Legacy

Avowed Hugh Hewitt and Bill O'Reilly fan Mark Halperin, also known as the soon-to-be-former political director of ABC news, wants "more time to pursue writing." From ABC News President David Westin:

About a month ago, Mark Halperin came to me to say that he wanted more time to pursue writing – perhaps another book and possibly for a publication. We all know how valuable a member of our political reporting team Mark is, and he made it clear that he has an equally high opinion of ABC News and what we're trying to accomplish. So, we've worked out a new relationship with Mark that will transform him from our Political Director to our Political Analyst at least through the 2008 election. This will make it possible for us to continue to draw upon Mark's unparalleled political analysis and knowledge while at the same time giving him some new venues in which to use his talents.

As Political Director these past 10 years, Mark has groomed an entire generation of outstanding political reporters.

Gawd help us with that new generation. Let's review Halperin's recent "outstanding" political work. Here he is, with O'Reilly:

Mark Halperin, ABC Political Director and co-author of the new book The Way To Win, went on The O’Reilly Factor and agreed with Bill O’Reilly that members of the "old media" are too liberal and should "prove to conservatives that we understand their grievances."

When O’Reilly pointedly asked him if he believed major news organizations — including ABC — had a liberal bias, Halperin repeated the right-wing talking point that the media is trying to suppress Republican turnout. He told O’Reilly, "If I were a conservative, I understand why I would feel suspicious that I was not going to get a fair break at the end of an election. We’ve got to make sure we do better, so conservatives don’t have to be concerned about that."

Well, that's interesting, particularly considering what he wrote in his very own book.

HARRIS/HALPERIN (page 129): A number of members of the Gang of 500 are convinced that the main reason George W. Bush won the White House and Al Gore lost was that Gore's regular press pack included the trio of Katherine "Kit" Seelye (of the New York Times), Ceci Connolly (of the Washington Post), and Sandra Sobieraj (of the Associated Press).

Simply put, that's an astonishing statement--but it appears as a minor aside, buried deep inside a very long book. In this passage, Harris and Halperin--major press corps insiders themselves--say that some of their well-placed colleagues believe that George Bush reached the White House because of the work of just three Gore reporters!

Damned liberal media bias. No wonder Halperin had to go to such great and self-abasing lengths to ingratiate himself to the likes of Hugh Hewitt and Sean Hannity. Just for kicks, remember this?

...Halperin is very upset -- very emotionally distraught -- because Hewitt remarked both during and after the interview that he thinks Halperin is "very liberal." Halperin spent three hours in the interview desperately trying to convince Hewitt that he is on Hewitt's side, but that wasn't enough to win Hewitt's approval. Nonetheless, Halperin is willing -- actually, quite eager -- to go to still greater and more horrifying lengths to obtain Hewitt's blessing.

First, Halperin e-mailed Hewitt today to again try to persuade Hewitt that he is not a liberal. Hewitt didn't print the e-mail but wrote about it on his blog, and claimed that Halperin "asked that [Hewitt] apologize for the characterization and remove the description or post" in which he called Halperin "liberal." Hewitt also quoted Halperin's e-mail by writing that Halperin "considers the description a 'a serious affront to [his] professional integrity,' and requested that I "note [Halperin's] strong objection to [my] characterization." Unconvinced by Halperin's pleas both in the interview and again today that he is not a liberal, Hewitt rubbed the comment in Halperin's face again: "Not only do I think that Mark Halperin is very liberal, I don't think it is possible to conclude anything else."

In response, Halperin returned to Hewitt yet again, this time to request that Hewitt allow him to post a statement on Hewitt's blog, in which Halperin expressed how hurt he was that even after he agreed with almost everything Hewitt said during the interview, Hewitt is still calling him a liberal....

Here he is with Hannity:

HANNITY: So the liberal media does exist? The old media is liberal?

HALPERIN: We say it in the book, and we give examples. . . . I'm proud of where I work, where we understand that we've got to not be liberal, we've got to not be perceived as liberal. But the overall old liberal media covered that story in such an unfair way, and I think anybody who denies that just isn't paying attention.

Since he's stepping down to spend more time on his writing, I guess we're going to be subject to even more great insights like that from Halperin. Would that it would keep them out of ABC News. Given the "outstanding" political reporters he has "groomed" over the past decade, I'm not going to hold my breath.