Bill Clinton in the wilderness
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As the vote was counted in last month’s South Carolina primary, Bill Clinton’s outsize personality and controversial statements were looking more and more like a liability.
The former president is still working hard on the campaign but -- at least for a spell -- he has slipped out of the news.
According to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, Hillary Rodham Clinton’s hubby “registered as a significant or dominant newsmaker” in only 2% of stories Feb. 4 to Feb. 10, compared with 18% when South Carolina was in play in late January.
The group found that John McCain figured prominently in 42% of campaign stories during February’s first full week -- not surprising given that he established his front-runner status in the GOP presidential race then.
But the leading Democrats got their fair share of the spotlight: The coverage figures for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were 41% and 40%, respectively.
-- Don Frederick
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