POISONING BUSH'S PRESIDENCY.(A)(EDITORIALS)

"So you can look me in the eye and say that you are a president committed to cleaning up the environment?" NBC's Matt Lauer demanded of President Bush last week. Is it any wonder that media bias during Bush's first 100 days is clear even to the Project for Excellence in Journalism?

The Project for Excellence in Journalism is not exactly the Media Research Center's kid brother. It is an establishment outfit, known for liberal earnestness. So its conclusion reveals the overt character of the problem.

"Contrary to Democratic complaints, George W. Bush has not gotten an easier ride from the American media in his first 100 days than Bill Clinton did in hisfamously rocky start," writes the group. "Despite a very good first month, Bush's coverage was actually less positive than Bill Clinton's eight years ago.

"In print, Bush had a much harder time than Clinton on the opinion pages. Half of all editorials have been critical of him, while 20% have been positive," it reports. "Clinton fared much better. Only two in 10 editorials were plainly negative, while more than 40% were positive."

The study finds that the press cast Clinton as a man of the people during his first 100 days, but cast Bush as an alarming ideologue.

In this light, Bush's emergence from his first 100 days as a popular president is no small feat. He is reaching the people even as the media undercut him.

This is not to mention the permanent campaign that many Democrats are wagingagainst him. Still enamored with Clinton's slippery and unbridled partisanship, Democrats such as Tom Daschle hammer away at Bush with the same level of regularity as their breathing.