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The unusual timing of the Republican Presidential candidates' debate in Michigan afforded it unusual prominence on the nightly news. CNBC, the financial news cable channel, sponsored the gabfest on economic issues, scheduling it to begin as soon as its daily coverage of stock market trading concluded. Thus the candidates' afternoon soundbites were fresh news for the newscasts. Naturally NBC led with its sibling network's event--but its two rivals found the debate newsworthy too, so it qualified as Story of the Day. CBS led with the Supreme Court's decision not to scrutinize the CIA's rendition-and-torture tactics. ABC chose the looming high cost of home heat this winter.

If freshness is an asset it is also a drawback. All three networks quoted a clash between frontrunners Rudolph Giuliani and Mitt Romney over "who was the better tax cutter and fiscal conservative," as NBC's Kelly O'Donnell put it. The former New York City mayor cited one set of tax-and-spend statistics, which the former Massachusetts governor dismissed as "baloney." The point of airing the exchange seemed to be to use the "baloney" bite rather than to establish its veracity. No network checked either candidate's facts before airing the claims.

ABC's George Stephanopoulos scored Giuliani as the debate winner: "He was helped by the focus on the economy…and the fact that social issues really were not discussed that much." CBS' Jeff Greenfield noted that Giuliani mentioned Hillary Rodham Clinton so much that she seemed to be "his running mate." Greenfield explained Giuliani's thinking: "He is telling the Republican base, particularly those who do not like his social positions: 'You had better nominate me despite your reservations, because it is me or her.'"

The other debate angle was that this was late entrant Fred Thompson's first appearance with his rivals since he announced his candidacy. "A little nervous," was how ABC's Stephanopoulos found him; CBS' Nancy Cordes heard "initial jitters." By the end Cordes concluded that "Thompson's plain-spokenness and broad themes--smaller government, states' rights--do seem to be resonating with voters." ABC's Stephanopoulos felt that Thompson "did do enough to answer critics who say he is not in command of the facts or has not been working hard on the campaign trail."

Thompson's first appearance on the public stage was as a 30-year-old lawyer in 1973 when he served as Republican counsel on the Senate committee investigating the Watergate scandal. ABC sent Brian Ross to the National Archives to comb through Richard Nixon's Oval Office audiotapes, enabling him to offer an outline of Thompson's evolving relationship with All the President's Men. "Dumb as hell," was the initial reaction…then "not very smart but at least beginning to play ball." Finally Nixon was told that "Thompson had agreed to secretly help under cut the credibility of John Dean," a key witness against his former boss.

Andrew Tyndall 10/10/07 4:53:10 pm

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