Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Edwards refuses to participate in debate b/c of Fox News

An upcoming Presidential debate will be held in Nevada in partnership with Fox News. There will be a national Fox reporter as well as a local affiliate reporter and a representative from Air America has been invited as well. Bill Richardson has indicated his willingness to participate, Obama and Clinton haven’t decided, and Edwards has declined in large part because of Fox’s presence and the perception that they are too far right.

I won’t deny that Fox is too far right in the eyes of some. Mainly, these are the people of Moveon.org who want only one side (their side, the Left side) of any issue reported and only want progressive commentary on the airwaves. Obviously, they feel that giving a voice, any voice, to the Right should not be allowed – this is confirmed with their 250,000 signature petition. Basically, they want censorship. And THIS is the party of free speech?

As a viewer of Fox, I can say that the network is 100% fair and balanced. For every conservative opinion rendered, there is always a balancing left opinion (or at least there is an offer to have that opinion – many on the Left refuse to come on the network, which is strange when they complain that there isn’t enough Left representation). So, when looked at in isolation, Fox is fair and balanced. But, compared with CNN, MSNBC, NBC and CBS, then Fox is very much Right. Why? Because those networks are so Left that they’re losing viewers by the handful every day. Have you seen Couric’s latest ratings? How about Larry King? So put a Center network next to a Left network and the Center network will certainly look “too” conservative. That’s why Liberals hate Fox News, especially the crazed Liberofascists who hate traditional opinion being voiced in any media.

What’s funny about Edwards is that Fox News has the largest cable news audience in America. Week after week Fox dominates the ratings. Why wouldn’t a Presidential candidate want to get some exposure with that audience? The fact is, Edwards’ voting base is far, far Left and he knows he doesn’t stand a chance with the folks in the middle. And the idea of facing a Center-type moderator scares him because he knows he may be asked some tough questions, unlike the softball lobs that a Leftie may ask. In short, Edwards is simply a coward. But what else would you expect from a personal injury attorney?

Note: Since this post was originally written (last week, yes I'm a little behind) the debate in question was cancelled mainly due to lack of interest from the Democrat candidates. This is surprising to me, mainly because while I expect Hillary and Edwards to duck things like this, I held Obama and Richardson to a higher level of esteem. Personally, I think they both would have been willing to do this debate, but probably gave in to the party - still equally disappointing. This is also extremely concerning in that it shows just how much pull Moveon.org has in the Democrat Party. This is an extremely radical group that is dangerous for America and should not be a major influence in one of the 2 main parties. I think this is a HUGE mistake by the Dems and they risk alienating a lot of "purple" voters who enjoy and respect Fox News.

6 comments:

Dan Trabue said...

I'm undecided on this point. I wonder, though: Would you want conservative candidates going to a debate sponsored by MoveOn?

Allisoni Balloni said...

I have exactly the same question as dan.

I also like to point out that on Hannity and Colmes, where there is supposed to be a voice from both sides on every show, there is clearly only a voice from one side.

John Washburn said...

Obviously neither of you watch Fox or you would know better than to actually compare them to Moveon.org. That's not fair and it's quite dishonest.

Dan Trabue said...

So, you're saying that you WOULDN'T want a conservative to appear on a MoveOn debate?

Truth be told, I watch more Fox than I do visit MoveOn (which is rare in both cases).

I don't know all the details in this Edwards/Fox case, but my initial thought is that I would prefer that the Dems DO debate at the Fox event, and that both "sides" would debate at a MoveOn event as well.

I'd like to see more debates, not fewer. And, unless a moderator was doing something like giving one candidate more time than the other, I can't see why we wouldn't participate in debates, regardless of the sponsor.

Anonymous said...

"those networks are so left that they're losing viewers by the handful everyday."

While you are correct that CNN and Headline News are losing viewers (each down 7% in 2006), it seems that Fox News Channel is the biggest loser (down 14% in 2006).

MSNBC? It was the only cable news network to GAIN viewers in 2006 (up 8%).

Just wanted to clarify --Deano

http://nbcumv.com/release_detail.nbc/msnbc-2007131502-msnbcwasonlycable.html

John Washburn said...

Dan, I would have NO problem whatsoever with a Moveon debate, even if they tried to stack things against the GOP. The conservatives are right on just about every topic and the venue or the host won't change that.

Dean, thanks for pointing this out. It's interesting that Fox can lose twice as many viewers as CNN and others and still completely dominate the cable news ratings.