Politics 88 : Dole Says He Was Victim of Negative News Coverage

Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.), embittered by his unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination, declared Tuesday that he was a victim of negative news coverage that focused on “gossip and nit-picking” instead of important issues.

Dole’s harsh critique of his campaign press coverage came in a speech on the Senate floor on the day that his former rival, Vice President George Bush, was expected to sew up the GOP nomination by winning the Pennsylvania primary.

The former presidential contender, who dropped out of the GOP race on March 29, said the news reporters who covered his campaign demonstrated a liberal, anti-Republican bias and a strong preference for meaningless or misleading campaign trivia.

‘Ultra-Insiders Game’

“What I witnessed generally on my own campaign plane was an aircraft filled with reporters who became each other’s best audience,” he said. “It was an ultra-insiders game of gossip and nit-picking that turned presidential campaign coverage into ‘Trivial Pursuits.’

“Preconceived notions, pre-written stories and premeditated cliches were all confirmed regardless of the facts. And if there was a nice soap opera campaign story out there, it would be kept on the spin cycle for a good week or so.”

Throughout his campaign, Dole was dogged by stories about turmoil in his campaign organization as well as allegations that money in his wife’s blind trust had been invested for the personal benefit of the trustee. While reporters focused on these matters, according to Dole, they failed to inquire about his positions on the major issues facing the nation.

“I just wish I was hounded on the federal deficit as I was on my staff,” he said. “I just wish I was interrogated about American agriculture as I was about fund raising. I just wish my voting record were as thoroughly scrutinized as were my wife’s personal finances.”

Acknowledges Mistakes

Dole, whose reputation for nastiness was reinforced by his frequent attacks on Bush during the campaign, acknowledged that he made some mistakes while seeking the nomination. He won in only three states: Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota.

“Did Bob Dole run a perfect presidential campaign?” he asked. “No, I did not.”

He nevertheless asserted that his complaints against the news media were supported by a recent study conducted by USA Today, which found that only 20% of the network television coverage of the 1988 presidential campaign has been devoted to issues.

In addition, Dole said that USA Today found evidence of a bias against Republican candidates, which he blamed on a trend toward liberalism in most newsrooms.

“In my judgment, reporters try to be objective, but try as they do, they just can’t help but see the world through liberal-colored glasses,” he said. “Maybe it’s all the result of the Vietnam years, or Watergate fallout, or some kind of generational distrust of Republicans.”

Detailed Questionnaire

Dole singled out the New York Times for special criticism, recalling that the paper sent him a questionnaire in April, 1987, asking him to provide his driver’s license, marriage license, high school and college transcripts, military and medical records, a list of friends and a waiver of his “privacy rights.”

He said the resulting New York Times profile of him was “better suited for one of those supermarket tabloids than it was for such a distinguished newspaper.” The questionnaire was later withdrawn after extensive criticism.