Semantics: When is a terrorist a terrorist?

The front page of my Seattle Times has an article headlined "Survivalist Rudolph to admit 4 bombings." The article goes on to say he will admit to the deadly Olympic bombings. What I want to know is why is this guy a "survivalist?"
If he'd had dark hair and dark eyes and been from any middle-eastern country, or maybe even been from any country except ours, we'd be calling him a terrorist.
Is he getting described with the romantic and attractive word "survivalist" because even though he's a raving demented bomber, he's also an American conservative who counted a lesbian bar and a family planning clinic among his targets? Because his targets are the very same ones as this administration, only they're using money and political pressure and he used explosives?