3fer: Huckabee, Woodward, and Broder: Unmasked!1

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http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=0f9a4c7e-8215-47ca-8847-4beeaf747b8e

The New Republic

Bad Huck

by Gabriel Sherman
The unhinged correspondence of Mike Huckabee.
Post Date Wednesday, December 19, 2007

.... ...Reporters recall Huckabee as combative, even malicious, in response to critical coverage. He was known to attack reporters, fire off scathing e-mails to newsrooms, and complain to editors about probing questions. "I was just astounded at how vindictive he was," says Joan Duffy, who covered Huckabee for The Commercial Appeal of Memphis in the '90s. "He took it all so personally. . . . You're either with him, or you're a mortal enemy." ....

And, in his meteoric ascent in the polls this past month, Huckabee has not only managed the press but mastered it. In December, The New York Times' Gail Collins dubbed Huckabee a "guitar-strumming, good-humored populist." Hendrik Hertzberg of The New Yorker wrote of his "curiously unthreatening" demeanor.

It could be that, when it comes to media relations, Huckabee is finally in good hands. But talk to enough reporters who really got to know him, and you begin to suspect that his curiously unthreatening demeanor may not last. ....

Many reporters who have covered Huckabee believe his reticence to answer critical questions is a result of his experiences as a Southern Baptist leader. When Huckabee faced scrutiny, he exuded an infallibility that frustrated reporters. "He has a religious thing going on and usually thinks he's in the right," Brummett says. Rob Moritz, a reporter for the Arkansas News Bureau, recalls that Huckabee retreated from tough questions into moral certitude: "During the ethics questions, he would tell reporters, 'I don't see a problem here. I can lay my head on the pillow and get a good night sleep.' " ....

As Huckabee endures increasing scrutiny, some in the Little Rock press corps wonder when his churlishness will catch up with his folksy national image. "He's charming," Moritz says. "He's a back-slapper. He's quick on his feet, tells great jokes, and sets up his speeches with funny lines." But, he adds, "He has such a thin skin, we've all been waiting for the hard hits to occur." ....



http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/people/capitalcomment/5966.html

Dana “I May Have No Friends Left” Milbank Lampoons Locals

By Harry Jaffe

The Post columnist takes a close (and rather unflattering) look at "the archetypal Washington Man" in his latest book.

Milbank’s dissection of Post icon Bob Woodward might delight most but infuriate a few—including Woodward.

“The man who brought down Richard Nixon is Potomac Land’s authoritative choragus,” Milbank writes. Then he strikes: “When he broke the Watergate story in the 1970s, he was seen as an ‘adversarial’ writer, working without access to the most powerful figures. Over time, however, he became the choragus most often favored by the powerful as an outlet for their own tales.”

Milbank says Woodward’s book trilogy on George Bush begins with a “bold and confident president,” but by his third tome the same president was “ignorant and crude.”

Why? Milbank quotes Woodward: “I found out new things.”



http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1207/7459.html

Frank Rich bashes political reporters

By: Michael Calderone

.... Speaking of “Washington’s gatekeepers,” Rich has peppered columns the past few months with jibes at “Washington wisdom,” “Washington’s conventional wisdom,” and “Washington logic,” along with the “Beltway’s narrative,” the “Beltway establishment” and the “Beltway journalistic establishment.” ....

And in Sunday’s column, Rich was more specific, writing that “commentators” covering Romney’s speech — specifically Time’s Mark Halperin, and the Washington Post’s David Broder — played up the event’s historical significance, while giving the Republican candidate a “free pass” in not raising questions about the church’s now-discarded discriminatory racial practices. ....

In digging through the Times archives, criticizing Halperin seems to be an anomaly for Rich, who has used Broder as a Beltway punching bag for years — “Washington’s bloviator-in-chief,” from a January 1999 column, is one of several unflattering references.

“He’s on my case,” Broder said, speaking of Rich. “But that goes with the territory.” ....

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