The Snooze Strategy

Why did Clinton Press Secretary Mike McCurry begin today’s press conference with a State of the Union preview on the exciting topic of pension reform? To distract the carnivorous press corps, giving it something meaty to write about other than his tortured nonanswers? Hardly. McCurry is smart enough to realize that would never work. Chatterbox suspects his goal was simply to conduct a briefing so boring the networks would stop their habit (which began yesterday) of interrupting their regular programming to cover his appearances live. The trick seems to have worked. CBS, for one, cut away from the briefing after 20 minutes.