As I wrote yesterday, political columnist Bill Shipp has retired from the journalism game and has apparently written his last column. Another veteran columnist who'll soon be pulling the ripcord is Jim Wooten of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who will be departing the environs of 72 Marietta St. on June 30 (although he will still contribute an occasional column from time to time).
I've known Jim since the early '70s, when he was a metro staff reporter
for the Atlanta Journal, and always considered him to be a
better-than-average journalist. He knew how to dig up a story and he
also had some flair in his writing style.
Wooten eventually moved up to the AJC editorial page as a columnist and for many years provided his conservative take on Georgia politics. Unlike Shipp, who raised hell with both parties as he continued to crank out his columns, Wooten became less of a journalist and more of a public relations spokesman for the Georgia Republican Party. You could always tell what the Republican Party considered to be its main talking points for the week, because they would inevitably be regurgitated in Jim's columns.
Wooten's decision to become, in effect, a party flack was a sad loss for journalism, although I suppose it turned out to be a good arrangement for the GOP.
Where you could really see the corrosive effects of partisan cheerleading on Wooten's work was in the predictions he would boldly make about this or that political candidate. I am attaching some examples of his predictions below - they show how badly a pundit can misread the political landscape and completely miss the fact that the American electorate is being dramatically realigned.
On Feb. 24, 2008, Wooten wrote: Why be invigorated by the prospect of running against Obama? Simply this: He will talk himself into trouble -- and may very well talk himself out of the White House. Obama is a truly gifted orator. But he's been reassured of that so often, and his rhetorical skills have taken him to such heights, that he's grown much too comfortable with his eloquence. He'll say too much. He'll get caught up in the beauty of his argument and get careless.
From his May 14, 2008 column: Barack Obama's inability to sell himself to voters across the country who fit the demographics of the West Virginia Democratic voter will sink him in November. Once past race, he is the standard-issue liberal Democrat that the nation rejects repeatedly.
From his Aug. 3, 2008 column: This is clearly a race John McCain can win. For months, I've thought Barack Obama has a problem he's incapable of overcoming. He doesn't know when to quit talking. He's really not disciplined, especially when he's before a like-minded crowd. And he is arrogant. As we saw through the Democratic primaries, he does not wear well. It's infatuation at first eye-lock. But then, when the potential partners start sizing him up for long-term commitment, the flash fades.
From the Sept. 14, 2008 column: Obama will lose because with less than two months remaining voters won't be able to get comfortable with him. He can't stay on message and he can't avoid sending signals that interfere with the message when he does. McCain, on the other hand, has been superb going back at least to Obama's European tour. Mainstream America is comfortable with him and, with Palin's selection, conservatives who had their doubts are onboard. The GOP is energized and suddenly an unwinnable election is reversed.
Also from the Sept. 14, 2008 column: Barack Obama knows it. The election he had in the bag is slipping away. The selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate has so thrown him off stride, as it has most other Democrats, that all the momentum he had has vanished. He's getting panicky advice from everywhere. He intends to launch more and sharper attacks, abandoning any pretense of a new and different, more civil campaign. Democrats know something, and desperation is setting in.
The day after Wooten published that Sept. 14 column predicting Obama's defeat, the Wall Street financial community began its epic collapse and Obama took a lead over McCain in the polls he would not relinquish.
As these examples show, there are some columnists who should probably try to avoid making predictions. They can come back and embarrass you every time.
Wooten eventually moved up to the AJC editorial page as a columnist and for many years provided his conservative take on Georgia politics. Unlike Shipp, who raised hell with both parties as he continued to crank out his columns, Wooten became less of a journalist and more of a public relations spokesman for the Georgia Republican Party. You could always tell what the Republican Party considered to be its main talking points for the week, because they would inevitably be regurgitated in Jim's columns.
Wooten's decision to become, in effect, a party flack was a sad loss for journalism, although I suppose it turned out to be a good arrangement for the GOP.
Where you could really see the corrosive effects of partisan cheerleading on Wooten's work was in the predictions he would boldly make about this or that political candidate. I am attaching some examples of his predictions below - they show how badly a pundit can misread the political landscape and completely miss the fact that the American electorate is being dramatically realigned.
On Feb. 24, 2008, Wooten wrote: Why be invigorated by the prospect of running against Obama? Simply this: He will talk himself into trouble -- and may very well talk himself out of the White House. Obama is a truly gifted orator. But he's been reassured of that so often, and his rhetorical skills have taken him to such heights, that he's grown much too comfortable with his eloquence. He'll say too much. He'll get caught up in the beauty of his argument and get careless.
From his May 14, 2008 column: Barack Obama's inability to sell himself to voters across the country who fit the demographics of the West Virginia Democratic voter will sink him in November. Once past race, he is the standard-issue liberal Democrat that the nation rejects repeatedly.
From his Aug. 3, 2008 column: This is clearly a race John McCain can win. For months, I've thought Barack Obama has a problem he's incapable of overcoming. He doesn't know when to quit talking. He's really not disciplined, especially when he's before a like-minded crowd. And he is arrogant. As we saw through the Democratic primaries, he does not wear well. It's infatuation at first eye-lock. But then, when the potential partners start sizing him up for long-term commitment, the flash fades.
From the Sept. 14, 2008 column: Obama will lose because with less than two months remaining voters won't be able to get comfortable with him. He can't stay on message and he can't avoid sending signals that interfere with the message when he does. McCain, on the other hand, has been superb going back at least to Obama's European tour. Mainstream America is comfortable with him and, with Palin's selection, conservatives who had their doubts are onboard. The GOP is energized and suddenly an unwinnable election is reversed.
Also from the Sept. 14, 2008 column: Barack Obama knows it. The election he had in the bag is slipping away. The selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate has so thrown him off stride, as it has most other Democrats, that all the momentum he had has vanished. He's getting panicky advice from everywhere. He intends to launch more and sharper attacks, abandoning any pretense of a new and different, more civil campaign. Democrats know something, and desperation is setting in.
The day after Wooten published that Sept. 14 column predicting Obama's defeat, the Wall Street financial community began its epic collapse and Obama took a lead over McCain in the polls he would not relinquish.
As these examples show, there are some columnists who should probably try to avoid making predictions. They can come back and embarrass you every time.
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