By Karl Rove
Obama assails the media while Hillary Clinton figures she can duck them until Election Day.
Most politicians occasionally get upset at the media. But few demonstrate as much contempt for journalists as do Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Sometimes it appears theyd prefer a state-run media rather than a free press.
For example last week at a Georgetown University conference on poverty President Obama indulged in a favorite pastime: attacking Fox News (for which I am a political contributor). Mr. Obama asserted that stories suggesting the poor are sponges leeches dont want to work" are a constant menu" on the cable news channel. Of course that isnt true but how would he know? Does anyone believe Mr. Obama is a regular Fox viewer?
Nevertheless the president has attempted to delegitimize Fox since he took office. In an October 2009 CNN interview then-White House communications chief Anita Dunn said Lets not pretend theyre a news network." A year later in Rolling Stone Mr. Obama questioned the patriotism of all who work at Fox by saying the channel has a point of view that I think is ultimately destructive for the long-term growth of the country.
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It is unseemly for any president to offer such personal criticism of a news outlet. No other chief executive in the past 40 years has done it. This administration has also made extensive efforts to bypass the press altogether by holding news conferences less frequently than the last three presidents announcing news via social media restricting pool reporters access to presidential events and appearances and supplying video and photos shot by White House staff in lieu of giving access to news photographers. All of this to get Mr. Obamas message directly to voters without having to go through troublesome journalists.
Then theres Hillary Clinton. On Tuesday a super PAC supporting her called Correct The Record" stung by criticism that she had fielded only eight questions from the press since becoming a candidate April 12 released a list of 20yes 20!questions that she answered from voters. But these questioners were carefully screened in advance by her political staff so she faced hardballs like What were your policies that you have for children with disabilities?" or curveballs such as The insurance companies now do they compete across state lines?"
Correct the Record" reports that in return Mrs. Clinton asked voters 117 questions. These include such important queries related to the national interest as So how did you end up here?" and Why dont we start with you Brendan?" and my favorite When is your bowling alley open?" The super PAC said these gems showed Mrs. Clinton is displaying the qualities of a true leader.
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The Correct the Record" defense reads like a parody. It was so atrocious it may have had something to do with Mrs. Clintons taking six new questions from the press later that day after prodding by Foxs Ed Henry.
Yet she dodged the first question about the Clinton Foundations receiving foreign donations while she was secretary of state; ignored the second on whether we would be better off with Saddam Husseinin power; mentioned her granddaughter without answering the third on whether everyday people could relate to someone like her in the top 1; brushed off the fourth an inquiry about memos that longtime Clinton adviser Sidney Blumenthal sent her on Libya; and replied to the fifth and sixth about her use of a private server to handle official emails by saying nobody has a bigger interest in getting them released than I do." It was a tour de force of misdirection and insolence in less than five minutes.
Here then is a tale of two strategies. President Obama targets elements of the media; Hillary Clinton runs from all of it. He becomes indignant when questioned or challenged; she treats journalists as stalkers even though their questions are about public matters.
Both feel treated unfairly though in reality most reporters generally give Democrats and liberals more patience and less hostility than they do Republicans and conservatives. It is human nature to go easier on ones own kind. As a result when Mr. Obama assaults Fox News many elite journalists may be secretly cheering him on.
Both Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton want to avoid being held accountable yet the press is supposed to do just that. With a few significant and courageous exceptions reporters covering the president and the former secretary of state appear to have convinced themselves they cannot do more. What we are witnessing reveals much that is disturbing about the president and his pretender and about the practices of those who cover them.
A version of this article appeared May 21 2015 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal with the headline When Politicians Loathe The Press and online at WSJ.com.
