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The Best Notable Quotables of 2000:
The Thirteenth Annual Awards for the
Year’s Worst Reporting
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Aiding & Abetting in an Election Theft Award
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First
Place
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"Here we will have possibly a bunch of
tax dodgers deciding the election."
-- Time’s Margaret Carlson on
Florida absentee ballots from military personnel, on MSNBC’s Imus in
the Morning, November 8. Florida does not have an income tax. (Carlson
later apologized) [64 points]
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"If it turns out that Al Gore wins the
popular vote nationally, there will be intense pressure in this country to
have him become the President. Most people think the guy with the most votes
wins. Recounts are as much an art as a science. You have experts,
consultants, who go around the country doing recounts. If the recount came
out on behalf of Bush and Bush had lost the popular vote nationally they
would go to court, there’d be another recount. It would become endless.
And the political pressure would mount very quickly to, to certify Al Gore
as, as the winner. Especially since you have a potential conflict of
interest here with the Governor of the state that is handling the recount
being the brother of Governor Bush."
-- Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter on NBC
in the early morning hours after election night, November 8. [50]
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"Secretary
of State Katherine Harris in Florida. As you know she’s a Republican, a
Bush supporter. Warren Christopher said yesterday that her, her decision on
this five o’clock deadline has the look of trying to produce a certain
result in the election. Do you think, and to use a rather crude term, that
her decision does not pass the smell test?"
-- Matt Lauer to Gore campaign’s Bill
Daley, Nov. 14. [35]
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"There is no question,
or very little question, that Al Gore won the votes cast in the state
of Florida. The question is: Will he win the votes counted? Look at
the statistics. In the rest of the state of Palm Beach County [that’s
what he said, strike "of Palm Beach County" to make sentence
accurate] Buchanan was strongest in the precincts where Bush was
strongest. In Palm Beach he was strongest where Gore was strongest
because they were right next to each other on the ballot. Even more
important, in the rest of the state Buchanan got the same percentage
of votes on the ballots as he did in absentees, in Palm Beach County
he got four times more votes on this butterfly ballot than he did on
absentees. Listen, if this race is counted fairly, Al Gore won more
votes in Florida."
-- ABC analyst and reporter George
Stephanopoulos on This Week, November 12. [34]
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"There’s an equal
number of Americans right now who worry that they’re being cheated
on the other side and to suggest that one side is culpable here and
not the other. There is no difference between what Bill Daley said and
what Jim Baker said. Both have declared an end to this election before
the process is finished. And Karl Rove is going out lying about
various things and somehow that’s acceptable. I’m sorry, you
cannot say there’s a difference in behavior here."
-- Wall Street Journal
Executive Washington Editor Al Hunt on CNN’s Capital Gang,
November 11. [26]
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Kiss
Me, Too, Al Award (for Gore Gushing)
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First
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"At the same time, he will have to
find a way to disassociate himself from the President’s extremely low
personal approval ratings. It shouldn’t be that difficult. Al Gore has
been perhaps the most active Vice President in American history, and there’s
not a hint of scandal associated with Gore’s personal behavior. So much
for logic."
-- ABC Nightline host Ted Koppel
previewing Al Gore’s convention address, August 14. [44 points] |
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"Let’s
talk about what they are now calling, Mr. Vice President, ‘The Kiss’.
You heard about ‘The Catch’ in that football game, this is ‘The Kiss.’
You really planted one on Mrs. Gore at the beginning of your speech there.
What were you thinking?"
"Were you trying to tell the American
people that you’re really a kind of emotional guy?"
"Well, after watching that kiss I know
how you survived 30 years, Mr. Vice President. Way to go! It’s nice
talking to you."
-- NBC Today co-host Matt Lauer to Al
Gore, August 21. [39]
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"You’ve spent a quarter century in public service and have worked on a lot of these issues, obviously have mastered a lot of the details of them. When you look across the stage, are you frustrated at all?"
-- ABC’s Terry Moran to Al Gore after the third debate, October 18
Good Morning America. [36]
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"This one [Winnie Skinner] was spontaneous and wow, is it resonating. It was a very powerful moment in that room and if you thought Tipper got the kiss treatment from the Vice President at the convention, she got five from the Vice President! And it wasn’t just political. I think most of us in the room thought that he and the entire room really were moved by her
very compelling story. There have been a lot of people we’ve seen out there who really struggle to pay for their prescription drugs, but her story really resonates."
-- NBC’s Chip Reid describing the woman who claimed she had to collect cans to pay for medicine, September 27
The News with Brian Williams on MSNBC. [36]
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Kosher Kiss-Up Award (for Lauding Lieberman)
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First
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"Democratic presidential candidate Al
Gore officially introduced his history-making running mate today, Senator
Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut. History-making because Lieberman is of
Jewish heritage and faith. The two started running right away. In their
first joint appearance they gave a preview of the Gore-Lieberman fight-back,
come-back strategy. Their message: They represent the future, not the past,
and they are the ticket of high moral standards most in tune with real
mainstream America."
-- Dan Rather introducing the Gore-Lieberman
ticket, August 8 CBS Evening News. [62 points]
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Runners-up:
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"Labor
might not be happy. He is a conservative Democrat and they probably don’t
agree with everything he supports, but, you know, Gore is a pretty
conservative Democrat."
-- NBC’s Claire Shipman on MSNBC’s Imus
in the Morning, August 7. [60]
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"Lieberman is a true
centrist, a moderate who can build coalitions. You know how the
Republicans in Philadelphia kept trying to show how moderate they
were? Well, this trumps anything the Republicans had to say."
-- CNN analyst Bill Schneider, August 7 Inside
Politics. [60] |
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"Today
Joe Lieberman had to go before the Black Caucus because there were members
of that caucus, the Congressional Caucus, who had some reservations about
his social conservatism. Did he persuade you and the others that he’s the
right kind of vice presidential running mate for this ticket?"
-- Tom Brokaw to U.S. Representative Jesse
Jackson Jr. during MSNBC’s Democratic convention coverage, August 15. [31]
Reality Check: Lieberman’s 1999 ratings. Americans for
Democratic Action: 95 percent; American Conservative Union: 0 percent;
National Taxpayers Union: 8 percent.
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