Joe Scott 3: The Body Politic

Otis Chandler

28 February 2006 |permalink | email article

The Los Angeles Times produced an epic tribute Tuesday to honor Otis Chandler, its legendary publisher who inherited a stodgy family jewel in 1960 and, for the next 20 years, transformed a parochial, right of center, broadsheet into a major American paper.

If a Pulitzer Prize is awarded for obits, the draft filed by the late David Shaw before his death Aug. 1, and Mitchell Landsberg, who re-wrote the text and did additional reporting, qualifies ñ and not just because the farewell runs 13,500 words.

It’s a candid, revealing piece - warts and all ñ about the tumultuous history under three Chandler publishers, starting with Harry Chandler, Otisí grandfather; Norman Chandler, his father - and very influential mother, Dorothy ìBuffî Chandler. How Otis followed an unexpected path as a maverick to remake the paper over 20 years with top talent, often to the displeasure of many family members, is riveting.

That the family, majority Times Mirror stockholders, sold out to the Tribune Co. in 2000, and Otisí disenchantment with its management leading to his praise for the merger, is covered in unvarnished detail.

For a city with so little understood history, the obit is mportant to educate a new generation of readers, and for newly arrived editors and reporters to grasp in the wake of Tribune-mandated buyouts which cost the paper valuable institutional memory.

It was refreshing for many of us who remember the Otis era to see the Timesí former Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Paul Conradís soaring eagle tribute on the op-ed page. Conrad, love him or loathe him, made these pages sizzle. It’s no longer true.

Red-Flag Port Warning Ignored

27 February 2006 |permalink | email article

A just released Dec. 13 intelligence assessment by the U.S. Coast Guard of Dubai Ports World and its United Arab Emirates owners raises new questions about the White House deal.

ìThere are many intelligence gaps, concerning the potential for DPW or P&O assets to support terrorist operations, that precludeî the completion of a thorough threat assessment of the merger. ìThe breath of the intelligence gaps also infer potential unknown threats against a large number of potential vulnerabilities.î

The Coast Guardís red-flag warning was completed just over a month before the six-port deal received government approval Jan. 17, with W. out of the loop. Before a bipartisan uproar, the deal was to become effective this week.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Senate Homeland Security Chairwoman, asked, ìHow could there not have been the 45-day investigation thatís clearly required by law?

Is it any wonder that W.ís approval ratings have reached an historic low?

Arnold’s Makeover: Is It Credible?

26 February 2006 |permalink | email article

Arnold Schwarzenneger was elected as a bipartisan reform governor. But the defeat of his special-election reform initiatives last fall places his re-election prospects in jeopardy. Wounded, with a 35% approval rating, can he still snatch victory from defeat?

After pandering to the right wing, the makeover Republican is headed back to the center where his winning margin in 2003 came from Democrats and independents. Over the weekend he addressed a state GOP convention in San Jose with delegates unhappy with his hiring of liberal Democratic strategist Susan Kennedy as chief of staff and strategist.

Aping the late Democratic Gov. Pat Brown, he again pitched his $222 billion infrastructure package to rebuild roads, schools, waterways and flood systems ñ calculated to help him regain support from constituencies he lost last year ñ while asserting a traditional GOP boldness ìto take the people forward.î

On NBCís ëMeet the Pressí Sunday, an ebullient Schwarzenegger refused to say heís running as a Bush Republican but rather as an ‘Arnold Republican’ to serve everyoneî - asserting the state is better off than four years ago.

On an ominous note, his biggest convention applause line was not about borrowing billions to rebuild the stateís public works. It was mention of conservative Sen. Tom McClintock, his main GOP 2003 opponent in the recall campaign. That McClintock, a candidate for lieutenant governor, disagrees with Schwarzenegger on many policies demonstrates just how much the governor needs 80% of the party vote to win. The governor said he has it now, but MTP moderator Tim Russert correctly said it is just 66%, to an inaudible reply.

Schwarzenneger trails two Democrats, state Treasurer Phil Angelides and state Controller Steve Westly; women are skeptical about him; and Bushís unpopularity hurts him with Democrats and independents with Latinos, in a switch, leaning heavily Democratic in early polls.

The governorís has also hired two White House operatives, Matthew Dowd, who engineered both Bush presidential wins, and Steve Schmidt, the former media ìartillery shellî for Dick Cheney and Samuel Alito. Badly trailing multimillionaires Angelides and Westly in fundraising, the governor has Sen. John McCain, the champion of campaign finance reform, headlining a March 20 dinner. Head table seating with the incumbent starts at 100 grand.

Schwarzeneggerís best hope may be a Democratic donnybrook that will leave the winner vulnerable. Ironically, often contradictory reporting by the print media and quotes from academic pundits suggest the Democratic contenders inspire little passion. That said, the governor is not an even-money bet today.