Yet that's exactly what NBC did on this morning's Today show. Remember how during the 2000 primaries John McCain traveled around the country on his "Straight Talk Express" bus, beguiling reporters?
As Katie Couric interviewed McCain this morning, what legend appears at the bottom of the screen? The utterly uncritical:
"Straight Talk: How Can US Secure Iraq?"
You can't pay for advertising like that!
Katie threw a couple more bouquets John's way.
Asked why he had said that he had "no confidence" in Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, McCain explained that a reporter "asked me a direct question and I gave him a direct answer."
Gushed Katie: that is "so refreshing."
Hard to imagine Couric would have been similarly 'refreshed' if, say, during the impeachment hearings a Clinton administration official had said he had "no confidence" in Bill Clinton.
Katie ended the interview by flacking for McCain's new book, "Character is Destiny" [and how's that for a self-serving title, by the way?].
Couric enthused that it is "a terrific book for people of all ages." Gee, Katie, will it provide many hours of enjoyable reading, too?
Once again Today proves the adage that to be accorded respectful MSM treatment, all a Republican has to do is take shots at the Bush administration.
