Media Winner of the Week: It’s Petraeus’ war now as hopes are pinned on general

Stinging from a slap at his administration by the team of Gen. Stanley
McChrystal in Rolling Stone magazine, President Barack Obama quickly
tapped the hero of the surge strategy in Iraq to take the reins of
precarious coalition effort in Afghanistan.

Gen. David Petraeus agreed to a technical demotion going from
U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla., to the front lines in Kabul, but came out on top in the news cycle.

{mosads}In a relatively short time period, Petraeus went from the derisive
“General Betray Us” — as liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org called the
general in a full-page New York Times ad in 2007 — to being selected
by Obama, whose presidential campaign was endorsed by MoveOn, to
improve what CIA Director Leon Panetta called Sunday the “harder,” “slower” than anticipated situation in Afghanistan.

Petraeus doesn’t have a lot of time as the U.S. drives toward a July
2011 deadline, hotly debated by many Republicans, to begin withdrawing forces from Afghanistan. And many
Democrats on Capitol Hill are frustrated and taking heat from the anti-war flank as the conflict creeps toward its tenth year.

MoveOn, meanwhile, took the “Betray Us” pages down from its website
Wednesday after Obama announced Petraeus would replace McChrystal.

For Obama, it was a swift and decisive pick that earned plaudits from
the right and left while rapidly quashing the scandal that revealed a
disturbing disconnect between the military brass and commander-in-chief
on a key foreign policy platform.

For Petraeus, who stood silently over Obama’s shoulder in the Rose
Garden as the announcement was made, it appeared as no less than the
noble thing to do in a time of need. The sense of admiration over the
general assuming his latest role was undoubtedly heightened by
Petraeus’ last media exposure: collapsing at a hearing less than two
weeks ago from what he said was dehydration.

And though much has been speculated over his presidential ambitions —
in March he visited Saint Anselm College, site of numerous presidential
debates, though he’s denied he’s shooting for higher office — it’s
nearly impossible to view this as anything less than a military man
answering the call of duty, and walking into what could be the
challenge of a lifetime in the process.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), on “Fox News Sunday,” seemed to sum up the hopes of Congress: “I think we put all of our eggs in the Petraeus basket at this stage.” No pressure.

Petraeus, if confirmed as expected after an Armed Services Committee
hearing Tuesday, intends to review the rules of engagement in the face
of mounting casualties in Afghanistan. But the
general who swept into the news cycle like a bereted crusader capped
off the week by going back to the basics: honoring Gold Star mothers
and Purple Heart recipients in upstate New York on Friday and giving
the commencement speech at his alma mater, Cornwall High School.

The hit-makers: Afghanistan elbows out BP

The Rolling Stone article led to the BP disaster — still gushing as hurricane season threatens to make matters in the Gulf worse — being
sidelined as lawmakers were pulled onto shows to discuss the way
forward in Afghanistan. Hits included the trio of Sens. John McCain
(R-Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who
quickly followed up Wednesday’s resignation announcement with a press
conference asking for a shakeup of the “completely dysfunctional”
civilian team in Kabul.

McCain hit Fox Business’ “Imus in the Morning” on Thursday and NBC’s
“Meet the Press” Sunday. Graham hit “Fox News Sunday,” and Lieberman
hit Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor” on Thursday.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services
Committee, held a presser of his own Wednesday, where he brushed off
the “dysfunctional” assertion and backed the pick of Petraeus. Levin
then went on “Face the Nation” Sunday to assert that Petraeus could bring together the military and civilian components better than McChrystal.

Other Afghanistan hits included
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) on PBS’
“The Charlie Rose Show” Thursday, Armed Services panel members Sen. Jim
Webb (D-Va.) on MSNBC’s “Hardball” Thursday and Sen. James Inhofe
(R-Okla.) on CNN Thursday, and House Armed Services Committee member
Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) on MSNBC’s “The Ed Show” Friday.

Petraeus was No. 14 on Google search Wednesday, outpacing “general
mcchrystal” at No. 16 on Tuesday. Proving there’s no advertising like a
burger summit, Ray’s Hell Burger hit No. 12 Thursday and was a breakout
term on Yahoo search after Obama took Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
there for some all-American grub. Rounding out political searches,
former Vice President Dick Cheney hit No. 12 Friday after being
hospitalized again.

And gone from the airwaves this week was BP CEO Tony Hayward after his
media disaster of a yachting weekend. BP put a Houston-based VP on the
air as the face of the claims process, sending searches for the
unassuming, bespectacled “daryl [sp] willis bp” into Yahoo breakout
status.

Oil spills into politics

Florida, clearly fearful of the hit to tourism, is trying to remind us
via a plethora of travel commercials that there are still beaches not
covered with muck and worthy of a summer vacation.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) has stepped up his effort to remind us
that bureaucratic red tape is hampering his efforts to avert
environmental and economic devastation in his state.

The governor was arguing last month that federal foot-dragging had
stymied plans to fortify sandy barrier islands and take other steps to
defend against encroaching slicks.

“We need more local decision-making authority,” Jindal told ABC’s Jake
Tapper at the end of May. Earlier this month, Jindal was slamming the
decision of the Coast Guard to keep oil-vacuuming barges idle.This past
week, Jindal was on CNN twice, the second time lauding a federal
judge’s ruling against the Obama administration’s six-month moratorium
on deepwater drilling.

“I have got no problem with a pause,” Jindal told Anderson Cooper on
Wednesday. “But listen to some of the suggestions our own delegation
has made to them. …Listen to the experts.”

On Thursday, Jindal continued his offensive on the government’s
response to the spill, rallying oil workers in Houma, La., while
slamming the moratorium as dangerous to jobs. On Friday night, Jindal
vetoed a bill directing money from the state’s spill fund to coastal
parishes, saying BP needed to pay the municipalities directly, and
vetoed legislation requiring his office make public all records
relating to spill, saying it could hurt the state in future litigation
with BP.

Jindal told the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in April, “I
am not running for president of the United States of America.” Never
say “never,” never say the year to which you’re referring, never say VP nod.

No respectable politician wants a disaster that wreaks havoc on the populace to
catapult his or her political capital. But media winners and losers
being part of the natural fallout, Jindal has made favorable moves in
crisis before: When Hurricane Gustav was bearing down on his state in
2008, the rising GOP star skipped the Republican Convention in St.
Paul. Gustav caused nowhere near the destruction of Hurricane Katrina,
and Jindal didn’t suffer the criticism that befell his predecessor,
Gov. Kathleen Blanco (D).

Jindal, a former House member, is joined by other Republicans in
governing the Gulf Coast states, but has been notably sharpest in his
criticism of the administration’s spill response — and he isn’t likely
to tone it down anytime soon.