THE ROLE OF A COLUMNIST: To begin to answer the question posed by yesterday's post -- whether it's possible for a columnist to be truthful and valuable despite being extremely partisan -- I'd like to first take a step back. What is the role of a political columnist? A pundit certainly could choose to be explicitly partisan, fully disclosing his intention to argue for his own political party. But I'm not aware of any columnists who have chosen that path. Instead they implicitly or explicitly claim to be independent observers of the political scene, and I would argue that they play a unique and vital role in our system precisely because they can be independent, offering informed opinions while standing apart from the two parties. That doesn't mean that they won't naturally favor one party over another because of ideological beliefs, but it should mean that they feel free to criticize their own party when necessary. A good analogy might be that the columnists play a role like that of Consumer Reports -- they are experts who offer independent guidance to help citizens make good decisions on the issues and on election day.
I propose an experiment: I will attempt to e-mail each of the pundits on the Lying in Ponds roster, asking whether they consider themselves to be partisan or independent. My prediction is that if any columnists respond, they will uniformly claim to be proudly independent.
| Author/ Affiliation |
Title/ Date |
words | PI | Partisan References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Cohen Washington Post |
Bravo, Ruthie 8 April 2004 |
889 | 100 | 1R- Believe me,: Limbaugh |
| Maureen Dowd New York Times |
The Iraqi Inversion 8 April 2004 |
888 | 90 | 18R-,2R= Maybe after: Bush It would: Karen Hughes, Bush, Condoleezza Rice And I: Donald Rumsfeld Even though: Bush administration, Rumsfeld Our troops: Rummy, Bush Paul Wolfowitz: Paul Wolfowitz Every single: administration Mr. Rumsfeld: Rumsfeld, administration Rummy also: Rummy, Republicans Dick Cheney: Dick Cheney Mr. Cheney: Cheney, Rumsfeld, administration The president: The president |
| Peggy Noonan WSJ OpinionJournal |
A Good Newscast 8 April 2004 |
1570 | 84 | 1D+,6D-,17R+,1R- McWethy: Peter,: Condoleezza Rice, Rice, Bush administration, Clinton administration Bottom line,: Bush administration, administration In a: Rice Rice challenged: Rice, the president, Bush administration All in: administration, Rice Friday morning,: Edward Kennedy, George W. Bush, Richard Nixon, Kennedy, John McCain McCain, the: McCain, Republican, Kennedy, McCain, Kennedy Kennedy said: Kennedy Said Chirac,: Harry Truman Jennings: Amazing: Rush Limbaugh |
| Molly Ivins Creators Syndicate |
The death of democracy 8 April 2004 |
932 | 80 | 1R+,9R- 04.08.04 -: Tom DeLay, Republicans, DeLay On Nov.: Republicans, Republican, Republican Texans for: Republican, Tom Delay One of: Republicans Lilly met: Republicans |
| Ann Coulter Universal Press Syndicate |
Deliver us from Democrats 8 April 2004 |
1172 | 77 | 17D-,5D=,3R+,1R= Deliver us: Democrats Hannity says: Bill Clinton The leaders: Democratic Party, George W. Bush, Bush, liberals Chamberlain's proud: Democrats, John Kerry, Bush, Democrats And speaking: Jimmy Carter, Carter, Carter Hannity then: the president, Carter In his: Carter And of: Carter, Carter, Democrat In addition: Carter, Democrats After Saddam: Nancy Pelosi, Dick Gephardt, John Kerry, Mr. President According to: John Kerry |
| Joe Conason New York Observer |
Bush's attack dog needs a new leash 8 April 2004 |
978 | 59 | 5D+,5R+,16R-,1R= Bush's attack: Bush 04.08.04 -: Bill Frist, Trent Lott, Karl Rove, White House In an: Frist, White House The Senator: Bush White House That was: Frist, Frist Within hours: Frist Unsurprisingly, a: Democratic, Bob Graham, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi On April: White House The Post: Frist If those: Richard Lugar, Republican, Graham, Pelosi, Lugar, Lugar Of Mr.: Frist, Lugar Unfortunately, Mr.: Frist, Frist Unless he: Frist |
| Thomas Oliphant Boston Globe |
Ted's take on Kerry's veep 8 April 2004 |
1149 | 55 | 18D+,10D=,3R+,8R-,3R= Ted's take: Kerry WASHINGTON --: Edward M. Kennedy, John Kerry After his: President Bush, Kennedy, Kerry ''Number one: administration, Kennedy Kennedy does: Kennedy, Kennedy However, he: Kennedy His point: Bush, Cheney, Kerry, Republican, Kerry Kennedy votes: Kennedy, Bush, Cheney In veep: Democrat, Kerry, John Edwards, Kerry, Kennedy, Edwards, Democratic, Kennedy, Edwards, Edwards Kennedy's other: Kennedy, Kennedy, John McCain Clearly, even: McCain, Kerry, McCain, McCain Nonetheless, it: Kerry, McCain, John Kerry, John McCain Kerry said: Kerry, McCain |
| David S. Broder Washington Post |
Time to Abandon Budget Band-Aids 8 April 2004 |
931 | 54 | 7D+,1D=,2R+,8R-,6R= Pay-go was: Republican There's been: President Bush, Democratic Congress, Democratic Congress, President Bill Clinton, Republican Congress, Clinton But now: White House, House Republican, Republicans, Democrats A similar: GOP, Republicans These conferences: Republican, Democrats, Republicans, White House Knowledgeable sources: George Bush One Republican: Republican Could a: House Republicans, Senate Republicans, Republican The Democrats: Democrats One of: Charles Stenholm |
| NYT Lead Editorial New York Times |
Friends Missing in Action 8 April 2004 |
854 | 40 | 2R-,3R= Americans watching: President Bush So far: administration, Bush This page: administration Mr. Bush: Bush |
| Robert J. Samuelson Washington Post |
Governing by Crisis 8 April 2004 |
1037 | 30 | 3D-,2R+,2R-,3R= Unless you're: Bush administration Until recently: Bush administration Clarke's right: President Bush, White House, Clinton administration, Sandy Berger, Clinton Even if: Bush Politically, perhaps: President Bush Sounds simple,: Bush |
| OJ On the Editorial Page WSJ OpinionJournal |
The Search for Answers 8 April 2004 |
1140 | 22 | 1D+,2D=,3R+,3R= BY BOB: BOB KERREY I believe: Tom Kean, Lee Hamilton Today's appearance: Condoleezza Rice The best: Clinton, Bush, Rice Mr. Clarke's: President Bush, the president |
| WP Lead Editorial Washington Post |
Mr. Kerry's Deficiency 8 April 2004 |
805 | 3 | 3D+,11D-,7D=,9R- Mr. Kerry's: Kerry RUNAWAY DEFICITS,: John F. Kerry, Bush administration, Democratic, Kerry, Bush, Kerry, Bush administration The major: President Bush, Kerry, Kerry, Bush, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry Indeed, Mr.: Kerry, Bush, the president, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Bush, Kerry, the president Mr. Kerry: Kerry, Kerry, Kerry Mr. Kerry: Kerry "We cannot: Kerry, Kerry |
| Thomas L. Friedman Inactive |
Are There Any Iraqis in Iraq? 8 April 2004 |
882 | |
|
| Jim Hoagland Inactive |
Stick With June 30 8 April 2004 |
997 | |
|
| Thomas Sowell Creators Syndicate |
Counting the costs: Part II 8 April 2004 |
792 | 0 |