Despite the remarkable similarities between the circumstances surrounding the resignations of two Senators named Bob, because one was a Democrat and another a Republican, Dan Rather did not cover them equally.

Both senators Bob Packwood (R-Ore.) and Bob Torricelli (D-N.J.) were dogged for three years with ethics questions, from 1992 to 1995 for Packwood and 1999 to 2002 for Torricelli. Each senator was severely admonished by the Senate Ethics Committee, and in the end, in order to avoid impending doom--expulsion from Senate for Packwood, defeat by a Republican challenger for Torricelli--each decided to throw in the towel. Packwood resigned from the Senate while Torricelli resigned from his reelection campaign.

In spite of the almost parallel stories each man lived, there is no similarity in the coverage Rather awarded to each. While Rather jumped on the Packwood allegations, reporting them the day after they debuted in the Washington Post, he shied away from the Torricelli story and refrained from reporting on it until 2001. Then there's the sheer number of stories devoted to each, 22 stories stories on Packwood, 3 stories about Torricelli. Both men's scandals were widely covered by less-biased media outlets.

On November 23, 1992, Rather ran his first story on Packwood, and it included an allegation from a woman:
"I could tell within five minutes that he was not interested in the speech, and he started chasing me around the table and grabbed me and kissed me. And at that point, I really went into shock."

After devoting 22 stories, some about a personal diary and its lurid contents (full transcripts available), Packwood announced his resignation. Rather announced his leaving on September 7, 1992, in a story that ended with correspondent Phil Jones complaining that Packwood would still get "benefits and an annual pension of about $90,000 a year:"
DAN RATHER: After a quarter century in the United States Senate and three years of trying to fight accusations about sexual and other official misconduct, Senator Bob Packwood of Oregon today gave up, gave in, and said he is getting out of the U.S. Senate. The Oregon Republican, one of the Senate's most knowledgeable veterans, resigned under fire rather than face an almost-certain vote by his colleagues to expel him. In a moment, we will talk live with Senator Packwood. But first, CBS News correspondent Phil Jones, who first broke the Packwood resignation story this afternoon, has the details.
PHIL JONES: Senator Bob Packwood came to the floor today to end his three-year political nightmare.
Sen. BOB PACKWOOD (R-Ore.): It is my duty to resign. It is the honorable thing to do for this country, for this Senate. So I now announce that I will resign from the Senate, and I leave this institution not with malice, but with love. Good luck. Godspeed.
JONES: Earlier today the Ethics Committee had literally unloaded on Packwood, even weighing the evidence--40 pounds.
Sen. MITCH McCONNELL (Ethics Committee Chairman, R-Ky.): These were not merely stolen kisses, as Senator Packwood has claimed.
JONES: They counted every page--10,145.
McCONNELL: There was a habitual pattern of aggressive, blatantly sexual advances.
JONES: The committee report accused Packwood of deliberately altering and destroying relevant portions of his diaries.
McCONNELL: If this were a criminal court, Senator Packwood would likely receive 10 to 16 months in prison.
JONES: In fact, the Ethics Committee voted to refer all its evidence to the Justice Department.
Sen. BARBARA MIKULSKI (Ethics Committee member, D-Md.): By any standard in any workplace in the United States of America, he would have been fired, and I voted to fire Senator Packwood from the United States Senate.
JONES: Eighteen instances of alleged sexual misconduct were cited. One Oregon campaign worker said Packwood grabbed her ponytail and gave her a big wet kiss with his tongue in her mouth. She did not smell or taste alcohol. After a physical struggle, the Senator said, "If not today, someday."
Today there were hugs on the Senate floor. It was OK. Bob Packwood knew he didn't have the votes to block expulsion. So after a quarter of a century, he leaves the Senate with all the benefits and an annual pension of about $90,000 a year. Dan.
RATHER: Phil Jones, thanks.

Rather devoted a huge chunk of the day's program to discus Packwood's resignation, not so with the short piece about Torricelli's. While Rather focused on what the accusers had to say in covering Packwood's scandal, he focused on Torricelli's denunciation of his accusers.

Prior to a story about Torricelli's plan to step down, Rather had reported the allegations only twice during the three years, and John Roberts, while substituting, had mentioned them once. All three CBS reports put Torricelli in a favorable light:

On June 5, 2001, Rather reported on "what he [Torricelli] sees as a Republican-motivated and -led criminal investigation of him could lead to yet another change of power back to the Republicans."

A June 22, 2001 story by Roberts told how "the Justice Department today rejected Senator Robert Torricelli's request for a special counsel to investigate Torricelli's finances. The New Jersey Democrat had claimed the department's own investigators were politically motivated to get him so Republicans could retake control of the Senate."

For the January 3, 2002 news, Rather announced that "a three-year federal investigation of U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli ended today with prosecutors deciding against any criminal charges," and that "investigators will now send their findings to the Senate Ethics Committee." In January Rather decided to report that Torricelli had gotten off the hook as far as going to jail. But on July 30, 2002, the Senate Ethics Committee made headlines when it "severely admonished" one of its own for accepting gifts from David Chang while making "official actions of benefit to Mr. Chang." This time neither Rather nor any other anchor mentioned it on the CBS Evening News.

On the day Senator Torricelli announced he was dropping out of the campaign, Rather once again had the report focus mostly on things other than the charges, telling how the Republicans "have spent millions in the past month running attack ads against Torricelli." The last sentence by correspondent Jim Axelrod is a partisan flashback from two years ago, "Republicans say they'll fight it [a name change on ballot] in court. Having determined the president last election, the courts could end up deciding control of the Senate this time around." The emphasis of the report is more on politics than ethics:
DAN RATHER: Good evening. Just weeks before Election Day the U.S. political landscape has suddenly shifted in the Republicans' favor. With control of the Senate hanging in the balance, Democrat Bob Torricelli of NJ today suddenly dropped his reelection bid, dogged by ethics charges and sliding in the polls. Republicans who have spent millions in the past month running attack ads against Torricelli, said it's too late and any attempt to change names on the ballot will be challenged in court. Democrats now control the Senate by a single seat. And an election with many hot, tight, and nasty races could now get even uglier, Jim Axelrod reports.
JIM AXELROD: Five weeks from Election Day, Bob Torricelli could deny reality no longer.
Sen. BOB TORRICELLI (D-N.J.): It is the most painful thing I have ever done in my life.
AXELROD: Polls showed him 13 points down to a political unknown campaigning on mostly one issue. DOUG FORRESTER (Republican candidate): I'm Doug Forrester, the guy running against Bob Torricelli.
AXELROD: And Bob Torricelli knew he was finished.
TORRICELLI: I am a human being. And while I have not done the things I have been accused of doing, I most certainly have made mistakes.
AXELROD: Torricelli's problems started when a supporter, David Chang, pled guilty to making illegal campaign contributions. Chang said he'd also given T hand-tailored suits, a Rolex watch, rugs, TVs, and jewelery. The Senate Ethics Committee reprimanded him.
TORRICELLI: I want to apologize to the people of New Jersey.
AXELROD: And Torricelli said he was sorry. But his early summer lead had vanished.
CHUCK TODD (The Hotline): Republicans successfully made the case that he did not, justice had not been served.
AXELROD: Holding just a one seat advantage in the Senate, Torricelli's withdrawal touches off a high-stakes scramble for Democrats. With so little time and so much ground to make up, a big name like former senator Bill Bradley might be their best hope. But it appears more likely tonight Democrats may have to go with a little-known congressman to keep control of the US Senate.
TODD: We elected a wrestler a governor of Minnesota in '98. A dead guy won in 2000. At this point this seems par for the course the way our campaign politics is these days.
AXELROD: But there's no guarantee Democrats can legally make a substitution on the ballot the deadline may have already passed and Republicans say they'll fight it in court.
Having determined the president last election, the courts could end up deciding control of the Senate this time around. Dan?
RATHER: Jim Axelrod, thanks.
--Dan Rather and Jim Axelrod on the CBS Evening News, September 30, 2002.