President Bush had a "serviceable" visit to the Land of Enchantment Wednesday, offered one R analyst, but "it was nothing out of the ordinary" and left questions about whether the Prez has a second act in store here or whether what you saw Wednesday is all you get. The 10 p.m. TV news did not mention the visit until five minutes into their broadcasts, signaling that the stopover was ho-hum.

"I don't see how he reached out to 'La Gente,'" (the people) opined veteran NM broadcaster and ardent Dem Mike Santullo. "They really need to put him in a more open forum to get his message out. This event appealed to his base, but how is he going to win with just that?" Mused Santullo who covered his first Prez battle back in 72'.

Even though partisan, his point is well-taken. The TV shots of Bush could have been taken anywhere and contrasted severely with all the local color Kerry generated in his NM weekend tour. KOB-TV's Neil Simon, reporting from ABQ International, told me only two of the 11 people in the heavily screened crowd who got to ask questions of the Prez actually asked anything. Instead, they offered him words of praise, not exactly the stuff of high political drama, or the passion undecided voters are waiting to hear.

There was one meaty question from the audience. It came from Sherolyn DeSantis, a longtime Republican and leading anti-domestic violence advocate, who wondered about the Prez's program to halt such violence. Good question, but has DeSantis made her thoughts known about the case of fellow Republican and State Rep. Rory Ogle who faces wife-beating charges? It's nice to question the Prez, but what about the hard choices that need to be made right here at home?

The Bush event had the aura of a cursory visit, not the feel of a hot political battle. But it is a battle. And NM is trending Kerry. If the Bushies have any rabbits to pull out of their hat, they better start pulling them the next time they come back to town. This was not an opening night act.

KNIPFING'S TAKE

Veteran NM TV anchorman Dick Knipfing, who has covered elections here for forty years, weighed in with some thoughts on campaign 04' when I visited KRQE-TV Wednesday to do some on-air analysis on the Prez's visit.

Knipfing said he's waiting for the polls after Labor Day to get a good fix on how the state is going. "I'd like to see the one the Journal does." He agreed that this being a Dem majority state a seemingly unified D party represents a threat to the Prez's re-election chances here.

The NM news dean also posed this question: "Where is Richard Romero?" He pondered the Dem congressional challenger's absence from the NM airwaves in July and August saying, "I think if you are going to unseat an incumbent you really need to use those months" to set the stage.

GOP Rep. Heather Wilson has had a free ride all summer and the latest word is there will be no Romero TV anytime soon. A Dem, who shares Knipfing's view, did tell me that the so-called "527" independent groups will start hammering Heather in September. But with early voting set to begin October 2 the Romero forces are hoping the old saying "better late than never" rings true come November.

ANCHOR ETHICS

Meanwhile, the role of NM TV news anchors has been called into serious question in a hard-hitting piece by the ABQ Tribune's Shea Andersen who had the eyebrows rising when he reported that three ABQ TV anchors gave glowing introductions of Big Bill at the Guv's border conference in Santa Fe. One of them went as far as to say that Big Bill "led New Mexico to one of the most dramatic economic turnarounds in U.S. history."

It's not something you would see old-timers like Knipfing do, but apparently the managements at the TV newsrooms see their anchors more as 'personalities' rather than objective journalists. Andersen was so surprised by the outpouring of anchor endorsements that he asked if they had been paid by Big Bill. No, they hadn't, but to make matters worse, or at least more controversial, he was told the anchors read from scripts provided to them by the Guv's office! Hey, maybe Big Bill press flak Billy Sparks can write the 10 p.m. news too!

WANTED: TV NEWS REPAIRMAN

Such an event would be unheard of until recently. But there's a lot that used to be unheard of that is now commonplace, isn't there? The news personnel are not ultimately responsible. It's the management of the news divisions at the stations. Isn't anyone there asking the right questions?

Knipfing shook his head in wonder and bemusement when we discussed the 'Anchors For Big Bill Committee.' But what could he say? The story is like a trip to the Twilight Zone.

Of course, for the Guv it was another in a long line of media coups. You can't fault him. He's a politician doing his job and is going to push the envelope as far as they let him. But why are "news" organizations letting him? First, he started collecting reporters by giving them jobs. Now, he doesn't even have to pay for the praise. As they say in TV: "What's wrong with that picture?"

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2004
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