Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

January 05, 2007

PR Stunts: Good for Dems, Bad for Repubs

Anyone who either watched the swearing-in ceremonies of Congress yesterday, or read about them later, saw Nancy Pelosi surrounded by her grandchildren and even holding the infant one as she directed the goings-on from her lofty perch of newly-minted House Speaker.

This publicity stunt, showing Pelosi as a caring mother and grandmother as she steps up to one of the most powerful positions in our government, is as (to borrow a phrase from Michelle Malkin) as snort-worthy as it gets. And the press, of course, absolutely ate it up.

But who remembers when President Bush donned a flight suit and landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln in May of 2003? Crimsonfisted, a commenter on Newsbusters.org, does:

Why am I reminded of Green Helmet Guy? She is BEYOND the pale. I am willing to stand to be corrected, but what conservative has this kind of chutzpah? George Bush in a flight suit, big deal. He was once a pilot, a VERY good pilot as I recall reading and the press was all over him for that.

It's interesting how the MSM was quick to question the flight suit photo op, yet gushed over a similar stunt by Pelosi.

*Bush was a trained, highly-skilled pilot during his years with the Texas Air National Guard, despite his not having seen action in Vietnam. It's an undeniable part of his past.

*Pelosi was once a stay-at-home mom who brought up five children. It's an undeniable part of her past.

Being a war veteran is not a requirement for running for the office of president. Yet Bush was criticized for "only" being in the Reserves during Vietnam.

Being a stay-at-home mom while one's children are young is not a requirement for becoming Speaker of the House; nor is being a grandmother. Yet Pelosi is fawned and fêted for her service to her family...indeed, Charles Gibson of ABC News announced that Pelosi is "taking care of the children and the country." (She'll definitely be taking care of the Democrats for the next two years, that much is certain.)

If the MSM would only admit it's liberal bias, I wouldn't complain as much. It's the "unbiased" label that is consistently disproved that really gets my goat.

Similar publicity stunts; dissimilar reactions by the press