Bill Sammon, Washington Examiner White House Correspondent, spoke with conservative bloggers today at The Heritage Foundation about his latest book, “The Evangelical President.”
The book received significant attention last month when it revealed Bush’s prediction for a Hillary Clinton nomination and that he was giving her advice on how to alter her language to allow proper handling of the war if she is elected President.
Sammon makes the claim in his book that Bush has three enemies: foreign adversaries, the Democrat Congress and the mainstream media. Sammon said he asked Bush if he believed there was a liberal bias in the media, to which Bush replied he noticed “a trend” that those who covered him did not necessarily support him.
Speaking of blogs and alternative media, Sammon said Bush “applauded the rise of blogs as part of the press,” especially with the rise of some military blogs where soldiers can give detailed accounts of their actions. Sammon said the rise of the alternative press is “not entirely coincidental” in corresponding with the Bush presidency.
“When Bush took office, CNN was the undisputed ratings leader,” he said. “Now, Fox News destroys…”
As a conservative Republican evangelical, Bush knew he would not get covered as well in the mainstream media and that is partially why there has been a rise in alternative media to cover him more adequately, Sammon said.
Sammon mentioned that he (Sammon) is a registered independent and much of his work is similar to that of Fox News – relatively conservative but more fair and balanced than the rest of the news media.
“We all hyperventilate over what happened 10 minutes ago…and lose sight of the bigger picture,” said Sammon of the obsession with getting immediate reaction and response to events of the day.
He mentioned that reporters often “give things more ink” when they want the story to be true, even if it is not. He also touched on the left wing obsession with Al Gore, who recently won the Nobel Prize. Every time Gore makes a move, reporters headline with questions of a possible run for the Democratic nomination.
To this, Sammon said the reason Gore will not run is because, “he knows he can’t win,” adding that “[he] will never have higher esteem than this moment.” Sammon said the media is waiting to jump on Gore if he gets in the race and therefore, he won’t.
