Mike McCurry was one of my favorite press secretaries (right behind Ari and the Snowman), so it is interesting to hear what he has to say about the man he served..."Bill Clinton tried to practice the politics of inspiration." The reason many of his goals could not be accomplished, McCurry added, remains tied to his scandalous presidency.And let's talk about all the oldies but goodies while we're at it:
The explosion of the Internet and partisan media networks, he said, also heavily changed Clinton's time in office because of a new concentration on scandals. Clinton, McCurry said, frequently remarked that when he assumed the presidency in 1992, there were 50 web pages on the Internet. By the end of his second term, there were approximately 50 million.Couldn't have said it better myself.
McCurry noted that these electronic news sources — typified by the Drudge Report — ran through a serial list of crises and scandals that marked Clinton's time as president, including gays in the military, "White House sleepovers," Paula Jones, Monica Lewinsky and Clinton's impeachment.
"This was the press' focus day after day," he said. "There was an inability to change to more substantive topics."
This new focus of national press coverage, McCurry said, is the reason the media is still dysfunctional today.
This brings back many a memory...
H/T: BizzyBlog
