Kevin Drum highlights this aside in Michael Wolff's Vanity Fair bit on the Libby trial:
The one constant I've observed, in 27 years as an on-again, off-again political reporter, is that Republicans return reporters' calls and Democrats don't. ... [Message control] is part of the DNA which makes Republicans return a reporter's calls -- and not grudgingly but eagerly (in contrast, you should hear the impatient and dismissive tone of the Democrats when you call them up).
Is that right? Michelle Cottle once wrote a piece about how Democrats were too chatty with reporters, whereas Republicans control their message by refusing to open up, thereby depriving journalists "of all those juicy, catty, insidery quotes that make campaign process pieces so delicious." Maybe they just do it in a more soothing tone of voice, but by all accounts, modern-day Republicans--those in the White House especially--treat the media as an enemy and stay pretty tight-lipped. Who's Wolff talking to?
P.S. While we're at it, here's Michelle on Wolff himself.
--Bradford Plumer