11/03/00 10:00 a.m.
The DUI Feeding Frenzy
Talking Bush, America, and the press with media critic Larry Sabato.

By Kathryn Jean Lopez, associate editor-------lopezk@ix.netcom.com

arry Sabato, a professor at the University of Virginia, is author of Feeding Frenzy.

Kathryn Jean Lopez: What do you make of the feeding frenzy that has been developing since last night?

Larry Sabato: The American press has no sense of proportion. They just don't. The news and the newspapers are covered in World War III type size. This is a 24-year-old event. Honestly.

I can't speak to the origins of it — it is obviously suspicious. I think Bush was right to point that out to people. It is possible that the young reporter who I watched on Nightline last night — who did a very unimpressive job of explaining what happened — just stumbled across it. It's also possible that I am the next pope. The Gore delegate, who is a lawyer, who just happened to have this file on Bush…it is suspicious.

We don't know what the facts are, but it is almost irrelevant. If people have any sense at all — and, of course, millions of people have no sense — they'll simply disregard it, whatever their view of Bush. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to vote against George W. Bush — this isn't one of them. This is stupid. This is another reason why people hate the press.

Lopez: Having said that, will this be the lead all weekend?

Sabato: Oh, of course, last night I thought it was World War III. CNN cleared the decks and all the talk shows were focused on it, analyzing it — whether Bush spent a night in jail, which he didn't, and so on. It is just unbelievable. Who cares? And, there is just no sense of proportion — not just in the press, but in large parts of our population there is no common sense — none.

Lopez: How will this play out in terms of votes on Tuesday?

Sabato: Well that is the great imponderable. I can tell you one thing: However the election turns out, this will be one of the explanations for it. If Bush wins, there was a backlash, Republicans and Independents were furious at these last-minute smear charges that didn't matter, and they turned out in droves. If he loses, that explains for the pollsters why their polls were wrong.