The White House is about to launch a "hit back" campaign against the Democrats,
according to Dana Bash of CNN.
The Columbia Journalism Review notes:
Bash filed a CNN.com piece previewing the "'campaign-style' strategy" that anonymous "top White House officials" told her they are developing "in response to increasing Democratic allegations that the Bush administration twisted intelligence to make its case for war." The "hit-back," as Bash's anonymice called the strategy, will apparently commence in the coming days.
The CJR thinks that the mainstream media will be complicit in this attempt to boost Bush's polls and damage surging Democrats who have
finally found a message that resonates with most Americans. Details on the flip.
CJR continues, and notes an unintentional revelation in Bash's story:
The anonymice . . . detailed for Bash the . . . top talking points (pre-war intelligence was faulty, but it was not manipulated; everyone was working from the same intelligence; here are some quotes from Democrats talking about WMDs as if they existed).
"Telegraphing the beginning of a communications effort is a tactic the Bush team has used in the past, especially when it comes to Iraq," Bash wrote. Or, put another way, I, along with my colleagues in the press, have been used in the past to preview assorted White House public relations plans and talking points.
And I'm told -- and I'm telling you -- that I and my colleagues in the press will be similarly used in the near future. Or, in Bash's own words: "it is unclear which administration officials will participate in this 'aggressive' response, which senior officials indicate will be unveiled in interviews and other public events." (Emphasis ours).
This will be a major test for the mainstream media, especially cable outlets. Knowing what we all know now about Judy Miller, and Plamegate, and having witnessed firsthand the administration lies and spin during and after Katrina, will the Corporate Media allow themselves to be used by the White House again? I think that this is an even more reliable way to test the strength the Bush adminstration is right now. If they are as weak as they appear, and as we all seem to think they are, the media shouldn't play along this time.
Bash says,
White House officials are determined to reverse President Bush's poor poll showings on the topics of Iraq and "honesty and trustworthiness."
Yeah, good luck with that, White House. "Go ahead, Jeff."