Fox Spins on Edwards

[monmouth]

Found this on another message board I frequent. It's a little lengthy but funny. Fox does know how to spin....

John Edwards quits a debate, loses an audience, and threatens the real Dem base
Not bad for a man with "humble beginnings"

We've all heard that Democrat Presidential self-caricature John Edwards has stated his refusal to participate in an August 14 Dem debate in Reno. His campaign cites a scheduling conflict and FOX News Channel's "conservative" bias.

"There were a number of factors and Fox was one of those. We're already planning to participate in a jam-packed schedule of debates across this country ... we can't attend every single debate and forum," the campaign said in a statement.

I think it unlikely that he would flee from a debate because it is sponsored by the most viewed cable network in the United States. It might have an actual audience of more than the one or two regular Olbermann viewers. More likely, this was a scheduling conflict and the campaign saw a chance to pander to the extreme leftist fringe of the party's base.

Oh, that fringe. Here are Jake Tapper and Nitya Venkataraman opining in a "straight news" piece about their conclusion for Edwards's impetus:

Edwards was, in fact, responding to a gauntlet thrown by blogger Markos Moulitsas, founder of liberal website the Daily Kos, who asked the Democratic candidate pool "not to do a Fox News debate," rather "to debate in Nevada with another media partner.

Edwards didn't say this. Perhaps newsmaker Kos did, and we all know how those people feel about their own muscle, their ability to dictate politics and policy. Hey, it could be. Democrats are known to cower.

It is possible, however, that the Edwards campaign was pandering to these folks (from the CBS News/AP bit linked at the top):

MoveOn.org Civic Action says it has collected more than 260,000 signatures on a petition that calls the cable network a "mouthpiece for the Republican Party, not a legitimate news channel."

Or are they the same people? We could ask the folks at Buzzflash.

Good for Edwards, taking a stand while sitting. He has insulted by far the largest audience in cable news. Keith Olbermann will spit his praise from his MSNBC matchbox, but at the same hour, Bill O'Reilly will bloviate, belittling the Breck Girl to an audience thrice the size.

The Edwards peeps are telling us that he caved to a fringe. That is not Presidential, but maybe, in his heart of hearts, he's given up on that dream and is now looking for a nifty book deal. Or maybe a man of his magnetism could play Joe Wilson in an upcoming Hollywood biopic.

We could go on:

But in a letter posted Wednesday on the party's Web site, Democratic Party Chairman Tom Collins said Reid now shares activists' concerns and "has asked us to take another look."

Collins said the party would invite a "local progressive voice" to participate on the debate panel, which also would include a reporter from a local Fox affiliate, a national Fox News reporter and the moderator.

The party also invited the local Air America affiliate, a liberal radio network, to air the event live. C-SPAN will carry the debate after the Fox News broadcast and PoliticsTV.com to carry the live Fox News webcast feed on its site for one-time viewing, he said.

Oh, so Air America is still on the air? In America? That is bad news for children.

The Nevada Dems are not playing along with the fringe, though, as we learn from a letter posted to the Nevada Dems' web site Thursday:

Not all of us originally supported the idea of working with FOX, but many of us did because we know that a significant number of Nevadans - including Democrats - watch the network, and we want to use the opportunity of our early caucus to reach out to those viewers.

We all want to work together to unify our party, move forward and address the pressing issues that all Nevadans and Americans grapple with each and every day. Ultimately, that's the reason why we are all Democrats and why we care so passionately about the Nevada caucus.

We look forward to the August debate, when the Democratic presidential candidates will have the opportunity to reach out to voters in Northern Nevada and throughout the West as we focus on Western issues.

FOX and their affiliate get live coverage, with the Air America affiliate if they have the cash on hand to carry it, then it goes up on C-SPAN.

That cues the fringe (from CBS/AP):

MoveOn Civic Action spokesman Adam Green dismissed the offer as "a lame proposal that would have multiple Fox personalities joined by one lone Air America panelist. That's a rigged, unfair and unbalanced debate."

"The Fox debate should just be canceled and a more legitimate news source should be found," Green said.

MoveOn.org are the arbiters of such legitimacy, you know.
Garance Franke-Ruta at TAPPED has a new twist:

Later this week, the Congressional Black Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute plans to announce two debates in concert with Fox News, according to a source familiar with the negotiations, which have apparently been going on for weeks. The CBC Institute previously worked with Fox on a 2003 Democratic presidential primary debate in Baltimore.

"Both CNN and Fox have presented the Institute with two great proposals and at some point in the coming days we will be making an announcement," she said Candice Tolliver, a consultant working with the CBC Institute on the debates, adding that the Institute's plans are not final.

Okay, MoveOn.org and Daily Kos will now announce that the CBC Institute does not offer legitimate representation for America's blacks. I know some African Americans who would agree with that basic premise, but they are not Democrats and must be amused at the schism this thing might open within that party. The CBC Institute represents the real Democratic Party base. For now.

We're going to take a trip in time, to October 27, 2003 in Detroit, Michigan. That night, the aforementioned Congressional Black Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute and FOX News sponsored the aforementioned Democratic candidates' debate, with Carol Moseley Braun, Wes Clark, Howard Dean, Dick Gephardt, John Kerry, Dennis , Joe Lieberman, Al Sharpton, and… John Edwards. The debate took place, interestingly, in the Fox Theater, and here is the transcript. And this is from that transcript:

JOHN EDWARDS: Well, my view of leadership is standing up for what you believe in, Joe. I have stood up for what I believe in. I believe that Saddam was a threat that had to be dealt with; therefore I voted for the congressional resolution.

He has since, evidently, forgotten how to view leadership and to be a leader, and he has also lost his spine. He follows after and panders to a fringe.

Good luck with that film role, John, thought right now, I'd give the edge for the Joe Wilson role to Mike Myers.

[snowbear]

1. linkage?

[monmouth]

5. I'm sorry, it was posted on a bellsouth message board and no link was provided.

I shall look in the Freeper mess and see if I can find it.

[tblue]

2. HuffPo: Democrats Dump Fox

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/melinda-henneberger/dems-dump-fox-obama-comm_b_43060.html

Apologies if this is old news. I've been away from the computer all day. But isn't it about damn time and good for Moveon and just plain old democracy. Fux Noise is effed. So effin be it.

[snowbear]

3. Me too..

Been away from the computer..

for the link!

[EST]

4. Blind obeisance to ideology, especially in the face of

bland hypocrisy in that ideology, is certainly no virtue.

To a person capable of reading or listening with a zeal toward a careful, unbiased hearing, the glaring lack of sound reasoning and understanding becomes so obvious that it cruelly amazes me they can't see it, themselves!

They roll their shit into little balls and their uncritical following just snarfs it up and begs for more.