Making Mistakes, Part 2
Ouch. Yesterday, the Opinion Journal blasted the decision by Democratic presidential hopefuls to pull out of a debate that was set to run on Fox News. Today, the Chicago Tribune, not exactly a hotbed of rabid conservative thought, reams them yet again. And they come to the same conclusion that I did: this does not make the candidates look presidential. Instead it makes them look fearful and easily led – or pushed – around. Not exactly what the voters look for in a president.
But let's be clear here. Clinton, Obama and Edwards weren't going to be debating Fox News journalists. They would have been debating each other.
Candidates often feed scoops to favored reporters. They crave the friendly questions and the soft focus that help them appear to be commander-in-chief material. But here's what candidates look like when they attempt to choose which reporters are worthy to question them: fragile, egocentric and frightened of tough questions.
That's not how a prospective president of the United States wants to come across.
Are there unfair questions? Sure. Do journalists on Fox — and elsewhere — get stories wrong? Of course. But Clinton, Obama and Edwards aren't running for board seats at the Mosquito Abatement District. They're running to be the most powerful leader in the world. They shouldn't dodge questioners who aren't handpicked and pre-adoring.
Ouch. You have not heard the last of this issue, I suspect. The media is getting a bit tired of the hard left the Democrats are taking and are beginning to push back – hard. A few more "victories" like this for the left may be more than the Democratic party can recover from.
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The Thunder Run — April 11, 2007 @ 8:32 am
By Rustmeister, April 11, 2007 @ 7:49 am
I have to grin when someone puts out “Why don’t the Republican candidates debate on Air America?”
I think to myself : “Because they want an audience.”