1995 Sen. Alfonse D'Amato has never won a Congeniality Award from the national media. His annoying tendency to get re-elected no doubt disturbs the many New Yorkers who are responsible for delivering our national news. Add to that his role in retiring media hero Mario Cuomo, and his determination to investigate the Clinton finances from his chairmanship of the Senate Banking Committee, and you have a man the media would enjoy bringing down. So when Senator D'Amato mocked Judge Lance Ito on a radio show, sporting a Japanese accent the judge does not have, the network news pounced, reporting this as a scandal of real substance, a two-day story.
Gaffes are a powerful tool in the hands of the national media.
The CBS Evening News made the gaffe its number one story January 27. Armey wields enormous power over all kinds of legislation, including laws that deal with discrimination and civil rights. What Mr. Armey says matters. No network considered it news that night to report a liberal Democrat had labeled the GOP as Nazis. The Lewis outrage was not a one-time occurrence, but a recurring theme of the Democrats that's yet to spur any media scrutiny.