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The first Tuesday in November holds an off-year election in 2007 and marks the start of a year's countdown to Presidential General Election in 2008. Both ABC and CBS abandoned coverage of the breaking news of the day, leading off their newscasts instead with feature previews of the political year ahead. CBS concentrated on the primary season, isolating the key contests for each party; ABC looked forward to Election Day itself, isolating key battleground states. NBC also spent extra time on the campaign, kicking of its Making of a President series of candidate profiles with an interview with Rudolph Giuliani. The upshot was that the little attention was paid to the Story of the Day--the continuing political turmoil in Pakistan--amid campaign coverage that accounted for 33% (18 min out of 57) of the three-network newshole.

CBS used its extended campaign coverage as an opportunity to publicize its latest opinion poll standings in the two nomination contests (Hillary Rodham Clinton 51% v Barack Obama 23%, John Edwards 13%; and Rudolph Giuliani 29% v Fred Thompson 21%, John McCain 18%, Mitt Romney 12%,) before anchor Katie Couric told us that national polls mean little in a nomination contest, which is a "state by state" battle.

On the Democratic side, CBS' Jim Axelrod came to the same conclusion that ABC's Jake Tapper reached last week and NBC's Andrea Mitchell found earlier in October. Namely that the Iowa caucuses are "the best chance for Obama and Edwards to stop" Rodham Clinton. Reporting from Cedar Rapids, Axelrod found "new intensity" on the stump. A once-timid Obama is "not any more" and Edwards is "even sharper." Axelrod used the example of 2004 to claim that caucusgoers do not vote on the basis of issues--like "Iraq, the economy, healthcare"--but on "a candidate's electability." That is why John Kerry came from behind to win Iowa six years ago, Axelrod argued. Except that it turned out Kerry that was unelectable.

On the Republican side, CBS' Nancy Cordes portrayed the contest as "wide open" with five candidates still having a chance of being nominated. She acknowledged some differences on the issues--McCain seeks compromise on immigration and worries about global warming; Giuliani is pro-choice on abortion and tolerant of homosexual rights--but portrayed the difference in tactics as being decisive. Romney is running on early momentum, creating "high visibility" in Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan and South Carolina. Giuliani relies on winning the later, larger states, which reflect his nationwide lead in the polls.

Giuliani showcased an affable collegiality in his sit-down with NBC anchor Brian Williams. What does he think about Hillary Rodham Clinton? "I have great respect for her." What about his soon-to-be-indicted former Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik? "I personally have tremendous regard for Bernie and caring about him." What about Democrat Joe Biden, who diagrams every Giuliani sentence as containing a noun, a verb and 9/11? "I like Joe very much." When he heard Biden's joke "my wife and I just bowled over laughing." Giuliani embraced a maverick label: "I was an aberration when I was Mayor of New York…I was the first Republican in a generation." He could have underlined how much of an aberration he is in GOP circles if he had reminded us that he ran for mayor on the Liberal Party ticket. Perhaps he did not want to go that far out on a limb.

Andrew Tyndall 11/8/07 1:09:32 am

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