Bill Schneider is a well-known media personality based at CNN; he has been described as "one
of the country's leading political commentators" (by his employer, CNN), "the nation's election-meister" (Washington
Times), and "the Aristotle of American politics" (Boston Globe). Schneider
has been affiliated with several hardline policy institutes, including the neoconservative-led American
Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Stanford-based Hoover
Institution (quotes cited in "Anchors and Reporters: Bill Schneider," CNN).
In a 1997 report on the efficacy of rightist media campaigns, the National Committee for Responsive
Philanthropy cited Schneider as a case in point: "As journalist Lawrence Soley observed in 1990,
think tanks have created their own 'research' journals to help mask 'the academic anemia' of their
own researchers. Noting that these 'journals bear names that closely resemble those of legitimate journals,'
Soley states that they have produced what appears to be impressive credentials for their policy staff.
At the time that Soley wrote, AEI's [Bill] Schneider, for example, had published 16 articles in the
Institute's Public Opinion, but not a single article in Public Opinion Quarterly, a
respected journal of social science published since 1937. Yet, Soley states, Schneider became one of
the most 'sought-after' political pundits, appearing 72 times on network news programs between 1987
and 1989. He also served as a regular political commentator for National Public Radio's 'Morning Edition'
during the same time period."
At CNN, Schneider serves as a regular commentator on U.S. politics for CNN's program Situation
Room, typically providing glib analysis of election issues and inside-the-Beltway politicking.
At AEI, which provides a biography of Schneider though no longer lists him on its Scholars and Fellows
page, Schneider provided frequent background articles on the prospects of political candidates. For
example, in a September 17, 2004 article (one of the last articles by Schneider posted on AEI's website),
Schneider discussed the potential impact of the Iraq War on the then-upcoming November presidential
elections. He wrote: "Voters whose top concern is Iraq favor John Kerry (56 to 40%). Those whose
top concern is terrorism overwhelmingly favor President Bush (87 to 13%). Bush's issue, terrorism,
has pushed Kerry's issue, the war in Iraq, aside. The handover of authority in Iraq at the end of
June apparently had exactly the effect that the White House intended: It made Iraq seem like less
of an American problem. Republicans used their convention to argue that Iraq is part of the war on
terror. Nobody talked about weapons of mass destruction. But several speakers linked Iraq to 9/11.
'Do I forget the lessons of September 11 and take the word of a madman,' Bush asked, 'or do I take
action to defend our country?' Denouncing Kerry's criticism of the pre-emptive war in Iraq, Vice
President [Dick] Cheney said, 'He declared
at the Democratic convention that he will forcefully defend America after we have been attacked.
My fellow Americans, we have already been attacked.' But not by Iraq, critics respond."
Similarly, in an article published by the National Journal and AEI in October 2003, Schneider
opined that Arnold Schwarzenegger "carried 56% of the voters who said personal qualities were
more important than issues in deciding their vote. What personal qualities? Focus, determination, discipline—the
same qualities that create a successful bodybuilder or enable a poor immigrant to make it big in America.
Those are leadership qualities that voters found missing in [Gov. Gray] Davis. Schwarzenegger's election
is a signal: Times are tough; voters want change; outsiders are in. That may be why two Washington
outsiders in the Democratic presidential race are attracting the most interest. A former governor of
Vermont and a retired general with no electoral experience. Davis and Bush are in different parties,
but what Davis was selling is what Bush will be selling next year—continuity. Schwarzenegger's message
of change could be just as much a threat to Bush as it was to Davis."
Schneider coauthored the 1987 book The Confidence Gap: Business, Labor, and Government in the Public
Mind with Seymour Martin Lipset, a well-known social scientist who in the 1970s was considered
one of the first neoconservatives because of his ties to the hardline wing of the Democratic Party
(see "Obituary: Seymour Martin Lipset, Theorist on American Uniqueness," International
Herald Tribune, January 4, 2007). According to blurbs on the book provided on the AEI website, " Lipset
and Schneider document the American people's dramatic loss of faith in their institutions and leaders
during the 1960s and 1970s but noted that public opinion continued to support the American system.
The book's new material takes account of the apparent increase in optimism during the Reagan years.
This new buoyancy applies mainly to government, the authors show, while confidence in the private
sector remains low. "
When he's not busy with punditry, Schneider takes on speaking engagements sometimes seemingly outside
the realm of his regular field, such as a 2002 keynote address to the California Lodging Industry Association,
a 2002 talk at the Federation of American Hospitals conference, and a 2004 address to the County Executives
Association.
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Affiliations
American Enterprise Institute: Former Resident Fellow
Atlantic Monthly: Contributing Editor
Los Angeles Times: Former Contributor
National Journal: Contributing Editor
Brandeis University: Visiting Professor (2002)
Boston College: Visiting Professor of American Politics (1990-1995)
Council on Foreign Relations: International Affairs Fellow (1979-1980)
Hoover Institution: Senior Research Fellow (1977-1979)
Harvard University: Associate Professor of Government (1972-1979)
Education
Harvard University: Ph.D., Political Science
Brandeis University: B.A.
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