James E. Mueller is associate pro- Media • Politics MUELLER Tag Teaming the Press, James E. fessor of journalism at the University of Communication, Media, and Politics Mueller’s lively account of the evolu- North Texas. Series Editor: Robert E. Denton Jr. tion of the press relations of Bill and TAG TEAMING Hillary Clinton, spans the period that begins with the couple’s earliest stu- dent political activism in the 1960s and continues through Hillary’s run THE PRESS for the White House in 2008. Based “A lively and revealing account of the odd dance between the media and largely on interviews with the jour- the First Family of politics and press relations. With fascinating anecdotes TAG TEAMING THE PRESS HOW BILL AND HILLARY CLINTON WORK nalists who covered them, the book and sharp insight, James E. Mueller pulls back the curtain on Bill and Hillary explains how the most powerful politi- cal couple in America learned to han- Clinton’s mastery of media relations. Read Tag Teaming the Press and you’ll TOGETHER TO HANDLE THE MEDIA dle the media—an indispensable skill understand: This is how the Clintons do it.” for the twenty-first-century politician. —Wayne Slater, writer for the Dallas Morning News and coauthor of Bush’s Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential Mueller shows that the Clintons honed that skill through years of interacting “As a former Arkansas TV journalist who quite often was the target of the with journalists—as campaign work- Clinton wrath, I found Tag Teaming the Press a thoroughly enlightening ers, as candidates, and as candi- dates’ spouses. He also makes clear report of what it was like when Bill and Hillary were in their ‘formative’ that it is the latter category that makes stages as far as their attitudes toward the media and the First Amendment the Clintons unique among American were concerned. Temper and patience, anger and schmoozing—it’s all political couples. At various times in here to see, warts and all.” their more than thirty years in politics, For orders and information —Mel Hanks, Fort Hays State University Bill and Hillary have fulfilled a number please contact the publisher of roles for each other in dealing with ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. reporters, including lightning rod, bad A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. cop, good cop, and schmoozer. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200 Lanham, Maryland 20706 Mueller examines each of these roles 1-800-462-6420 and discusses how the Clintons played Cover image: AP Images/Henny Ray Abrams them—sometimes winning, sometimes losing, but always well worth watch- ing. Based on thorough research and written in an engaging style, Tag Teaming the Press is a valuable resource for students of media and ROWMAN & politics and an informative read for LITTLEFIELD ISBN-13: 978-0-7425-5548-8 anyone who cares about American ISBN-10: 0-7425-5548-8 democracy and the role the press 90000 plays in it. 9 780742 555488 JAMES E. MUELLER TagTeamingthePressDJ.indd 1 5/30/08 11:56:27 AM Tag Teaming the Press Communication, Media, and Politics SERIES EDITOR:ROBERT E. DENTON JR., VIRGINIA TECH This series features a broad range of work dealing with the role and function of communication in the realm of politics, broadly defined. Including general aca- demic books, monographs, and texts for use in graduate and advanced under- graduate courses, the series will encompass humanistic, critical, historical, and empirical studies in political communication in the United States. Primary sub- ject areas include campaigns and elections, media, and political institutions. Communication, Media, and Politics books will be of interest to students, teach- ers, and scholars of political communication from the disciplines of communi- cation, rhetorical studies, political science, journalism, and political sociology. The Millennium Election: Communication in the 2000 Campaign, Edited by Lynda Lee Kaid, John C. Tedesco, Dianne G. Bystrom, and Mitchell McKinney Strategic Political Communication: Rethinking Social Influence, Persuasion, and Propaganda, Karen S. Johnson-Cartee and Gary A. Copeland Campaign 2000: A Functional Analysis of Presidential Campaign Discourse, William L. Benoit, John P. McHale, Glenn J. Hansen, P. M. Pier, and John P. McGuire Political Campaign Communication: Principles and Practices, Fifth Edition, Judith S. Trent and Robert V. Friedenberg Reelpolitik II: Political Ideologies in ‘50s and ‘60s Films, Beverly Merrill Kelley New Frontiers in International Communication Theory, Edited by Mehdi Semati The Rhetoric of Redemption, David A. Bobbitt Women’s Political Discourse, Molly A. Mayhead and Brenda DeVore Marshall Towel Snapping the Press: Bush’s Journey from Locker-Room Antics to Message Control, James E. Mueller Politeness and Political Debate, Edward A. Hinck, Shelly S. Hinck, and William O. Dailey Tag Teaming the Press: How Bill and Hillary Clinton Work Together to Handle the Media, James E. Mueller Tag Teaming the Press How Bill and Hillary Clinton Work Together to Handle the Media James E. Mueller ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Plymouth, UK ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.rowmanlittlefield.com Estover Road Plymouth PL6 7PY United Kingdom Copyright © 2008 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Mueller, James E., 1960– Tag teaming the press : how Bill and Hillary Clinton work together to handle the media / James E. Mueller. p. cm. — (Communication, media, and politics) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN-13: 978-0-7425-5548-8 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-7425-5548-8 (cloth : alk. paper) eISBN-13: 978-0-7425-6392-6 eISBN-10: 0-7425-6392-8 1. Clinton, Bill, 1946– —Relations with journalists. 2. Clinton, Hillary Rodham— Relations with journalists. 3. Journalism—Political aspects—United States. 4. Press and politics—United States. 5. Presidents—United States—Press coverage. 6. Presidential candidates—United States—Press coverage. 7. President’s spouses—United States—Press coverage. I. Title. E886.2.M84 2008 973.929092’2—dc22 2008005770 Printed in the United States of America ϱ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. For our parents: H. E. “Jim” Mueller, Lenore (Swan) Mueller, James A. Hays, and Emily June (Van Horne) Hays Contents Acknowledgments ix 1 Tag Teaming the Press 1 2 We to They 11 3 He Wants to Please 27 4 She Wants to Control 47 5 Azalea-pink Rage and the Book of Accounts 69 6 Tag Team: Enter the Secret Weapon 85 7 Tag Team: Enter the Rock Star Surrogate 103 8 Knee-jerk Liberal Press or Republican Noise Machine? 123 9 How Could You Prepare for Washington? 147 10 Get Used to It 167 Selected Bibliography 191 Index 197 About the Author 207 vii Acknowledgments Because of her illustrious career covering the White House, Helen Thomas is one of the most recognizable journalists in the world. She is also one of the most gracious. I’ve interviewed her for two books, including this one, and both times she returned calls promptly, answered questions forthrightly, and imme- diately granted a request for permission to use her quotes in the books. (This is a big deal in book publishing but something a lot of reporters are suspicious of because they routinely interview people and print their quotes with no more request for permission than a simple: “I’m a reporter, can I talk to you?”) In one conversation, I asked Thomas for advice on getting interviews from reporters. She said to be persistent and remember that journalists spend their lives interviewing people, so they realize they should cooperate when other writers want to interview them. Unfortunately, not all journalists share her sense of obligation, making me extremely grateful to Thomas and the other busy people who gave me their time to talk about their experiences with Bill and Hillary Clinton. In alphabetical order, I want to thank Steve Barnes, Max Brantley, Dennis Byrd, Ernie Dumas, Ron Fournier, Paul Greenberg, Carol Griffee, Tom Ham- burger, Mel Hanks, Cragg Hines, Kathy Kiely, Carl Leubsdorf, Pat Lynch, Mike McCurry, Dick Morris, Rex Nelson, Bill Plante, Wayne Slater, Bob Steel, Helen Thomas, Douglas Turner, and Chris Usher. It was great fun to lis- ten to their stories, and I hope I did them justice. The main disappointment I had in writing this book—aside from the usual lament that a writer never has enough time to research and write—was the number of journalists I attempted to interview who were indifferent, uncoop- erative, or just plain rude. Some never responded to repeated queries for an interview, some strung me along before ultimately deciding not to talk, and ix x Acknowledgments others said they didn’t talk about the Clintons when they in fact had been quoted in other articles or books about the Clintons. One journalist refused to grant written confirmation of permission to publish quotes after the second draft was done, necessitating lengthy rewriting to pull those quotes. (I must admit that two journalists agreed to be interviewed but were not because we could not arrange a mutually convenient time, for which I take the blame.) A certain amount of that type of difficulty is to be expected when conduct- ing interviews.