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Who has “The Best Political Team on Television”? For viewers of a certain cable news network, the answer should be obvious.
In the run-up to Election Day, the above self-congratulatory phrase has been used ad nauseam by CNN, a network that certainly believed all the loving things its mama told it in its youth.
The phrase — which appears to have first been rolled out by Wolf Blitzer on The Situation Room April 21 — pops up in 325 Nexis transcripts from the past six months. But it draws 50 transcript hits from just the past week, when the phrase has been used on-air approximately 116 times.
“Blitzer, Cooper, King, Zahn and Dobbs. No, it’s not a law firm, it’s just the marquee members of the best political team on television,” American Morning anchor Miles O’Brien said Monday morning, promoting the network’s “election eve special” last night.
The slogan is often presented as self-evident. “As you know, CNN is your election 2006 headquarters with the best political team on television,” Betty Nguyen reminded viewers Saturday. “As everybody knows, Bill Schneider’s part of the best political team in television,” Carol Lin said the same day, while Blitzer informed Situation Room fans Monday afternoon that “Candy Crowley, as all of our viewers know, is part of the best political team on television.”
Beyond its “marquee members,” the squad boasts a large supporting cast who has been deftly applauded in conjunction with CNN reports and commentary, including White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux, national correspondent Bob Franken, faith and values correspondent Delia Gallagher, and “political analysts” Bill Bennett and J.C. Watts. (Turn to the full-page ad on A7 of today’s New York Times to see pics of 28 team players.)
Whatever its makeup, the team is a talented and versatile bunch. Its “expert analysis” (or, at least, promotion of same) has been woven into financial news, Gerri Willis’ Open House, and Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s House Call, and has popped up in the context of civic encouragement (said Gupta this weekend: “Be sure to vote this Tuesday. And afterwards, turn on CNN. Our own Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Lou Dobbs and Paula Zahn, they’re all part of the best political team on television”) and sports metaphor (Blitzer on Late Edition Sunday afternoon: “And it’s the bottom of the ninth and the battle for Congress. We’ll explore the parties’ game plans with the best political team on television”).
CNN’s robotically-repeated catchphrase is best delivered, we think, with a dose of self-deprecation.
“We invite you to tune in to CNN’s coverage of the election on Tuesday night with the best political team on television,” Jack Cafferty said on In the Money this weekend, as a black and white lineup of Blitzer, Cooper, Zahn and Dobbs appeared on screen. “There they are, the four horsemen and -women of the apocalypse.” (His cohorts breaking out in laughter, Cafferty added, “I may be fired immediately.”)
But for the final word we turn to an on-the-mark exchange between CNN anchors Betty Nguyen and T.J. Holmes early Saturday morning.
After Nguyen played up CNN’s prime time election night coverage (featuring, by chance, “the best political team on television”), Holmes added: “Yeah, and then CNN’s election night coverage continues with a special edition of Larry King Live. … You can hear from the winners and the losers across the country plus expert analysis, again, from the best squad, the best political squad on TV.”
“Well, did you — did you have any question about that?” Nguyen asked her audience. “I mean, if not, we will continue to tell you.”
And tomorrow, we will tell you whether, on Game Day, The Best Political Team on TV yielded for viewers anything beyond an irritating marketing tagline.
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