Mullings A Political Cyber Column By Rich Galen

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Action Jackson Mets the China Syndrome

Wednesday, April 11, 2001

Jesse Jackson has offered to go to China to get the service members released. Good. Go. And stay a while. Go to Indonesia, too, for an extended visit. And maybe spend a few months in Thailand looking for people who want to get out.

Perhaps Mr. Jackson can see if anyone needs to be released in Bangladesh. Or, scoot through Myanmar and arrange for the return of that country's name - Burma.

If Al Sharpton, who has been lobbying the African-American community to be its new spokesman for all occasions, is serious, he should be actively raising money to get Jackson out of the country for a while.

Associated Press writers, Christopher Newton and Pauline Jelinek, wrote pieces reporting on a USA Today/CNN/Gallup survey which asked Americans about the China situation. In a story headed: "Strong Opinions About U.S. Apology" Newton wrote, "Just over half of respondents in a [Gallup] poll out Tuesday, 54 percent, said Washington should not apologize."

Farther down in the story he wrote: "In the new poll, 55 percent of respondents said they considered the plane's crew to be hostages."

Guess where in the Associated press stories on the Gallup poll and the Chinese crisis it was reported that 61 percent of those polled APPROVED of the President's handling? Or that 68 percent think the U.S. is NOT at fault?

Nowhere.

Both Mr. Newton, Ms. Jelinek and the entire editorial staff of the Associated Press missed these facts.

Reuters, for its part, got the 68 percent number into the 19th graf of its story but also decided not to pass the word along that Bush is getting high marks.

To see the Gallup news release and the other usual explanations, regrets, and apologies, go to the Secret Decoder Ring

The President's detailed budget was sent up to Capitol Hill yesterday causing the members of the American Society of Association Executives (there really is such an organization, here) to plow through the tables to see if the programs they are paid to protect have been funded or more importantly, if the programs they are paid to destroy have been funded.

Lobbying firms spent yesterday going over the tables as well. They, also, have two marketing approaches.
(A) If the client's favored program has been funded, the lobbying firm's retainer should be extended to ensure that number stays in through the appropriations process, or,
(B) If the client's favored program has been cut, the lobbying firm's retainer should be extended so the firm can properly work the Appropriations Committees' staffs to get the money put back in.

I certainly hope you've been taking notes as I've explained how Your Nation's Capital really works. This material may well be on your final.

For the most part the headlines in yesterday's major dailies were pretty fair. Some of the regional papers noted cuts which would harm their circulation area, but the national papers were more even-handed. Here are just a couple (there are more listed on the SDR):
Baltimore Sun (Print): "Bush's Plan may Hurt Maryland."
Boston Globe (Web): "Region Would Face Cuts In Key Areas, Officials Say"
Los Angeles Times (Print): "Bush Spells Out an Array of Cuts in His First Budget"
New York Times (Print): "First Bush Budget Proposes to Raise Aid for Education"
Washington Post (Print): "First Bush Budget Makes Modest Cuts"

Here's some really good news. Ethan Wallison, writing in Roll Call newspaper, has an examination of the split between the Left Wing of Democrats in the House and the Centrist Wing - a split which is widening and becoming more public.

The Left is being led by Bernie Sanders of Vermont who is listed as an Independent but is, in fact, an avowed Socialist.

The leader of the "New Democrats", Rep. Adam Smith of Washington State (no, relation, I believe) said, "I think the hostility [between the two wings] is legitimate. It's justified because we do disagree on pretty much everything."

Am I mistaken or is this split not being covered quite as much as splits in the Republican party - not just now, but ever?

I, for one, think the chat shows should make better use of Mr. Sanders. Bernie Sanders: The face of the House Democrats.

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