mimi swartz, executive editor of
texas monthly, writes on op-ed piece for the
nytimes, examining in detail how everyone examined in detail a
wol's military service whenever he runs for office:
according to mr. bush, reporters conducted a thorough investigation of his time in the texas national guard when he ran against ann richards for governor in 1994, and again when he ran against al gore in 2000. the complete guard records, the president told tim russert on "meet the press," were "scoured."
this came as news to me, as i lived in and reported from texas during those times and feel that questions about the story -- mr. bush's life story -- linger 10 years after his first political victory. why they linger is a more complicated question, one that has as much to do with the press as it does with the president.
ms. swartz states that during a
wol's run for governor, ann richards' campaign backed off this issue because, after all, a
wol was not the only privileged son in that guard unit:
as patrick woodson, one of ms. richards's campaign consultants, told me earlier this month, "we were unofficially told that because of [sen. lloyd] bentsen's kid the guard thing was not on the table."
ms. swartz conjectures that al gore's people didn't want to press the issue too hard because gore's military service was less than stellar, and any talk of the vietnam war would remind people of bill clinton's total lack of involvement. and, more to the point:
some reporters got their information from time-consuming freedom of information act requests, others took what they were handed by opposition researchers -- in my experience, the unfortunate norm in most modern campaigns. if there was a release of documents comparable to the one made by the administration earlier this month, no one around here recalls it.
after giving
walter robinson of the bosglobe credit for being the first to really investigate this story, ms. swartz states wistfully (we can only project our own feelings here as to exactly how she would state it):
perhaps 2004 will be the year that details of george w. bush's time in the national guard -- indeed, his life in the early 1970's -- finally get filled in. this time around, there are certain factors that might put added pressure on reporters, editors and news organizations to complete the story. after all, the questions about mr. bush's service are being raised while we are at war and while the president is facing a genuine war hero as a potential opponent. maybe this year, 10 years after mr. bush's first political victory, the lingering questions will finally disappear.
cross-posted at the american street and our own freedom of information-filled blog.