Who’s Afraid Of The Big, Bad Fox?
Wow. When the Boston Globe publishes a slam against the Democrats you know the knives are out. The subject is the candidates who are so afraid of Fox News that they refuse to appear in a debate on that network (co-sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus). Columnist Joan Vennochi absolutely blasts the candidates who are following the dictates from the far left and praises (rightly, I think) Joe Biden for his strong stance on the issue.
IF YOU can't face the bad boys of Fox News, how can you face the bad boys of Iraq or Iran?
The Delaware senator and presidential candidate said he will participate in a Fox News Channel debate in the fall , despite demands from liberal groups like Moveon.org that he back out of it.
That leaves Biden, former senator Mike Gravel of Alaska, and Representative Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio as the only three Democrats committed to attending the forum scheduled for Sept. 23 in Detroit.
Even the event's cosponsor, the Congressional Black Caucus, isn't lure enough for five other Democrats who are running for president. Senators Hillary Clinton of New York, Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, and Barack Obama of Illinois, and former senator John Edwards of North Carolina, and Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico have all turned down Fox.
Note that Clinton didn't turn down Rupert Murdoch — whose media empire includes the Fox News Channel — when he threw a fund-raiser for her Senate reelection bid. That was symbolism she couldn't afford.
"For me, it's basic. I get elected because the African-American community supports me. . . . To say no to them, I don't get it," Biden said.
Besides, Biden added, he goes on Fox "to be the other voice. . . . To fight back. I'm tired of Democrats not fighting back."
Edwards, the first to back out of the debate, is the only candidate to give an official reason. His campaign said Fox programming tilts too much to the right.
So now, he and the other presidential candidates aren't just tilting to the left. They are genuflecting.
Down on your knees, can't you hear the Soros calling?…… Not as good as the old carol. This is really a hard, hard beating.
Assuming a down-on-their-knees position may feel good for the moment. But in the long run, it only gives the right wing fodder to use against the Democrats' quest to regain the White House.
This marriage to left wing advocacy groups will hurt them in the general election — the GOP will make sure of that. In 1988, George H. W. Bush taunted Michael Dukakis as "a card-carrying member of the ACLU." In 2008, the Republican presidential nominee will taunt his opponent as a puppet of Moveon.org.
Yup, pretty much. The candidates have provided the club with which to beat them. All at the behest of the farthest left elements - those with an agenda that will not fly with the general electorate. And they will not be able to use the old models any longer. Candidates used to run to the wings for the primaries and toward the middle for the election. In the age on the internet, all those panders to the fringe will not be forgotten and will be brought up again and again (that applies to Republicans as well, by the way). Vennochi is right here - or should we say 'correct' so as not to scare the Democrats?
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Pajamas Media — Monday, 4 June , 2007 @ 11:30 am
By Guy Zino, Tuesday, 5 June , 2007 @ 9:26 pm
That the Democrats would not consider being questioned by Fox because it leans too far right in their view is tantamount to not being willing to open a dialogue with someone who does not agree or disagree with you. Their level of arrogance is really beyond the pale. I mean,off the “arroganceodometer”. It is, frankly, beyond my comprehension that they could even remotely consider this type of thought in their universes!! That it would even enter their minds since they want to be the President of “all the people”!
This is truly shameful behavior and I find it hard to believe that any person with any personal integrity would not feel truly humiliated upon being found out by others that this was his or her strategy for winning the hearts and minds of their fellow citizens.