The Nevada Democratic Party is invoking the name of Howard Dean, the national party chairman, in defending against attacks from the left over plans by "right-wing mouthpiece" Fox News to host the state party's presidential candidates forum.
"Believe me, I am all too aware of the challenges associated with FOX. And this is not an endorsement of FOX," state party chairman Tom Collins said in an e-mail this weekend to Nevada Democrats.
"But Howard Dean has taught us through his 50 state strategy that it's best to stand up and fight everywhere, even in places and among audiences whose opinions may differ from our own," he said, referring to Mr. Dean's plan to challenge Republicans in their strongholds such as Mississippi and Utah and thereby drain some of their resources from swing states.
"We have an opportunity to showcase our strong field of presidential contenders directly and unfiltered to FOX viewers who include Democrats that we need to re-engage in our party to both grow our party and to win the election," Mr. Collins said.
"In Nevada, like the rest of the country, FOX is the highest-rated cable news network, and the debate is being fed to their affiliates throughout the West," he said. Our candidates will reach more people there than they otherwise would have."
He assured Democrats that the state party also planned a Nov. 4. debate on CNN and a forum Wednesday hosted by ABC and George Stephanopoulos.
The left-leaning MoveOn.org began circulating a petition Friday asking the Nevada party to drop Fox from the forum, saying Fox is "a mouthpiece for the Republican Party, not a legitimate news channel."
-- S.A. Miller, Capitol HIll correspondent, The Washington Times
Comments (1)
Its all well and good to say that FOX News is the "mouthpiece" of the Republican Party ... now, the way I count it, that makes it one against four ... ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN are all but "mouthpieces" for the Democrat Party. So, what the left really wants is NO dissenting media viewpoint and to have a complet lock on the whole of broadcast and internet news media. That would certainly make it a lot easier to elect Hillary or Obama in 2008, wouldn't it? As for me, I would prefer a REAL hero to lead our nation, and at the last check, only Mr. McCain fits that description.
Posted by Kirk | February 26, 2007 7:32 PM