George Stephanopoulos – The (New) Manchurian Candidate

As published on Parcbench on 15 December 2009

Before our eyes, we are watching the rise of the latest Manchurian Candidate: George Stephanopoulos.

By taking his new job at Good Morning America from Diane Sawyer, Stephanopoulos inches closer to his Extreme Media Makover.

You have smart, educated, young idealist named George, son of a Greek Orthodox priest. Cherub-face, wide smile and handsome looks in hand, Stephanopoulos opposed the supply-side policies of President Ronald Reagan. Young George began his career straight out of Oxford as he fought for liberal ideals. He joined the presidential campaign of Michael Dukakis in 1988 and was the floor man for House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt afterwards. He remained with Gephardt until 1992 when he joined the Clinton Campaign.

The 31 year old wunderkind rode the political rails right to the White House. He worked alongside power players like James Carville and David Wilhelm. Not bad for the starry-eyed idealist.

Though Dee Dee Myers was the Clinton White House secretary, as the new Communications Director, Stephanopoulos was often considered the ‘de facto’ press secretary as he bypassed Myers and briefed the press corps. However, in his naive, overzealous fashion, he made some miscues which preceded his move to Senior Advisor on Policy and Strategy. President Clinton knew he had a valuable asset in Stephanopoulos, but brought politico David Gergen in as Communications Director and let young George incubate for a while.

After the 1996 election, Stephanopoulos was quickly scooped up by ABC and his  rise to mainstream news began with his appearing on This Week as a panelist in 1997. The original show launched in the sixties was Issues and Answers hosted by veteran journalist Howard K. Smith. The show transitioned into This Week with David Brinkley in 1981 as Brinkley left NBC for ABC. George Will, Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts were panelists. The addition of Stephanopoulos raised more than a few eyebrows about the journalistic credibility of the network. Though John Kennedy’s former press secretary, Pierre Salinger, was also an ABC contributor, George was in the inner circle at This Week. Until 2002.

ABC decided that the Sam Donaldson/Cokie Roberts co-host format of This Week was aging, so they turned the reins over to the youthful Stephanopoulos. This was an obvious move to further soften his partisan history for a seemingly moderate one. While Tim Russert maintained a good margin of journalistic purism at NBC’s Meet the Press, Stephanopoulos was allowed to do what he for the Clinton White House: play spinmeister.

There is a distinct struggle for media dominance between DC and New York. Washington has been known for decades as the Star Chamber for all things political in media, but for Stephanopoulos to complete his training and ascend to the top spot, he has to win the Monday-thru-Friday viewership. By taking the GMA position, Stephanopoulos will be the heir apparent for ABC’s network anchor chair when Sawyer one day leaves. After all, Katie Couric and Charles Gibson are the latest network anchors who cruised from AM to PM, soft and fluffy pieces to hard news. The path has been blazed and George must do his time.

Stephanopoulos will remain at the helm of This Week until a replacement is named, though he would have like to keep both jobs. However, he will assume the position of chief political correspondent so he can stay close to hard news and his Washington connection. Think of it like Obama not wanting to part with his beloved Blackberry.

As for ABC, will Arianna Huffington be tapped to succeed Stephanopoulos? Is Markos Moulitsas taking Huffington’s spot on the panel? It may sound insane, but ABC is no stranger to this type of controversy. The far-left is just sending it’s latest ideologues to assume mainstream positions.

Here is my concern: will Stephanopoulos ever really become one of ‘the most trusted anchors in America’? It is this same George that engages in a 20 year ritual – a daily call Stephanopoulos participates with fellow Clintonistas James Carville, Rahm Emanuel, and Paul Begala. The Politico reported that the call was ” a street-corner bull session between four old friends who suddenly find themselves standing once more at the busiest intersection of politics and media in Washington.” I’m sure that this symbiotic relationship has nothing to do politics, policy or talking points. Um hm.

Stephanopoulos may be a Manchurian Candidate in the making, only this time, it has been done before our eyes. Perhaps, for a purpose.

The prediction that I have made since Obama ousted Hillary from the Democrat primaries may be in the making: one day, when the Obama shine is lost, Hillary will abandon good ship Barack and announce the “See, I Told You So – Hillary 2012 (or 2016)”. And who is on track to become one of the Big Three anchors around the same time? Boy George.

Sure, it sounds like a longshot but stranger things have happened.

Good luck at the new job George. Take heart, you are now only one step away from the Big Show.

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Political junkie Michael Fidanza is the host of The Armchair Energist Show on RFC Radio and can be heard at 11am-noon ET. His website is www.ArmchairEnergist.com