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Attention span

To whom is America paying attention?

Ann Coulter, author of the best-selling book "Treason," appeared on Fox News' "Hannity & Colmes" on Monday night, in direct competition with the man touted as the hottest media figure of the week, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who was a guest on CNN's "Larry King Live."

Miss Coulter drew almost twice the audience that Mr. Dean did, according to Nielsen ratings -- about 1.5 million viewers. Mr. Dean had 804,000 viewers.

Some in the print and broadcast media, meanwhile, are intent on reinventing Mr. Dean's image "to disguise his liberalness," noted the Media Research Center (MRC) yesterday.

"Before former Vermont Governor Howard Dean can be painted as a far-left ideologue, the national media are coming to his aid, penning stories about how he's not only not liberal, he's really a conservative," noted MRC's Brent Baker.

This week alone, the MRC tracked such tactics on CNBC and NBC, and in the New York Times, The Washington Post and Time magazine.

Daschle manor

The Club for Growth, a tax-cuts advocacy group, began running a TV ad yesterday against Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, blasting the South Dakota Democrat for buying a $2 million home on Foxhall Road while opposing President Bush's tax-cut package.