Wash. Post's Kornblut repeated notion of “Clinton fatigue,” provided no evidence

In an April 30, front-page Washington Post profile of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-NY) pollster and campaign consultant Mark Penn, Post staff writer Anne E. Kornblut claimed: “While not her [Clinton's] campaign manager in name, Penn controls the main elements of her campaign, most important her attempt to define herself to an electorate seemingly ready for a Democratic president but possibly still suffering from Clinton fatigue.” However, Kornblut did not provide any evidence that American voters “suffer[] from Clinton fatigue,” either in the past or currently, beyond recounting an anecdote in which former Vice President Al Gore was said to have questioned Penn about “Clinton fatigue” during his 2000 presidential run.

Kornblut reported that during his 2000 presidential run, Gore asked Penn, who was Gore's pollster at the time, if there was “any evidence of this 'Clinton fatigue' that people kept talking about.” Kornblut continued that Penn's “flippant response” -- " 'I'm not tired of him,' Penn replied. 'Are you?' " -- was “the final straw for Gore, who had long been wary of Penn and concerned that his real loyalty was to [former President Bill] Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton,” and soon after the meeting, Penn was fired. Again, Kornblut did not provide evidence to support or combat the notion that the public had “Clinton fatigue.”

As Media Matters for America has previously noted, in an April 17 Washington Post article about fundraising reports from several presidential candidates, including Clinton, staff writer Dan Balz claimed: “Among Democrats, a sense of 'Clinton fatigue' has led some major fundraisers to reassess with whom they want to align.” The phrase “Clinton fatigue,” despite appearing in quotes, was not attributed to anyone cited in the article, and Balz did not provide any additional information to support the notion of “Clinton fatigue.” Additionally, though Balz reported that Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) first-quarter fundraising was “anemic,” he did not raise the possibility of “McCain fatigue.”

In another April 17 Post article, staff writers John Solomon and Matthew Mosk reported that “some” Clinton donors “cite fatigue after more than a decade” of various fundraising efforts for the Clintons -- but they did not quote any donors claiming to be tired of the Clintons. Solomon and Mosk added: “Most [Clinton donors], though, blame the defections on the enthusiasm generated by the upstart campaign of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).”

Media Matters also noted that, in a March 29 article, USA Today failed to challenge political psychologist Stanley Renshon's false suggestion that the public's views of the Clinton and George W. Bush presidencies are comparable and his claim that the public suffers from “extraordinar[y]” Clinton “fatigu[e].” USA Today reported that according to Renshon, “the Clinton and Bush presidencies have been 'extraordinarily fatiguing' for Americans, who may be seeking 'a somewhat calmer presidency.' ” In fact, according to USA Today's own polling, Bill Clinton's approval ratings remained in the 50s and 60s through most of his presidency; in the wake of the 1998 impeachment proceedings, Clinton's approval rating jumped to 73 percent. The article also reported that Clinton's current approval rating is 60 percent and that "[i]n the USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, 71% said he was a good president -- more than double Bush's 34% approval in the poll."

From Kornblut's April 30 Washington Post article:

It was fairly simple, Mark J. Penn said calmly to Vice President Al Gore, reporting the findings of an exhaustive survey he had conducted in the early stages of the 2000 presidential campaign. Voters liked Gore's policies. They just didn't like Gore.

Gore laughed, according to people who attended the meeting. He had heard that before. But the vice president, worried about the effect President Bill Clinton's scandals might have on his campaign, had another question for his pollster: Was there any evidence of this “Clinton fatigue” that people kept talking about?

“I'm not tired of him,” Penn replied. “Are you?”

It was a flippant response -- and the final straw for Gore, who had long been wary of Penn and concerned that his real loyalty was to Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. His senior advisers agreed, regarding Penn as arrogant and controlling, someone who pushed the boundaries of his job by dispensing strategic advice rather than simply interpreting data. Shortly after the meeting with Gore, Penn was fired. One of the party's most prominent pollsters sat out the presidential campaign, but he signed up that year with a familiar face making her inaugural run for office in Penn's native New York -- Hillary Clinton.

Eight years later, it is Clinton who is running for president, and Penn, 53, is her chief strategist. While not her campaign manager in name, Penn controls the main elements of her campaign, most important her attempt to define herself to an electorate seemingly ready for a Democratic president but possibly still suffering from Clinton fatigue.