Barack Should Tell Hillary To Go Fox Herself

Today Hillary agreed to enrich Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes by going on their air and debating for the democratic nomination. Please, Barack, don't join her in the mud. It's a trick. You will come out looking so much better if you don't fall for it. They'll spin it, as Ailes has in the past, with a ridiculous "if you can't face Fox News, then how can you face Al Qaeda." You should laugh at that. If the Clinton folks start to parrot that lunacy, then they show themselves for the fear mongers we're now (sadly) starting to see them as. By refusing to meet her there, you don't look scared, you look principled. You look strong. She obviously feels she needs the debate to stop your momentum. If so, then she'll agree to meet you on a more credible network. If she doesn't, then let her go on alone. Karl Rove, the Fox Networks newest hire, can lob her softballs. It'll be a love-fest.

Comments

[TruthLives]

Well Mr Obama, you're the uniter, you're going to bring the republicans along with you and make this a bi-partisan country for your "dream"... now you don't want to face them in a simple debate...

[marignymitch]

Faux Noise, aka GOP tool, is a pathological mouthpiece for Republicans. It's sick; I'm talking about you, Hannity, Bill 'Falafel' O et al. It's icky sick.

Considering the nonstop bashing from Faux the Democratic cadidates agreed they wouldn't let themselves be used by News Corp. by debating on their network. They decided not to legitimize an illegitimate 'news' organization.

Clinton should stick with the agreement. (And the agreement concerning the primary vote in Florida and Michigan too.) She's obviously desperate. I hope Obama has the integrity to resist the bait. It's a trap.

[Henry2008]

This would be an excellent opportunity to sell himself to the Republicans. He says that he can get their votes.

[CitizenFace]

This is a long post. I apologize. If you don"t want to read through, just check out my idea in the last paragraph.

I'll start by saying that I feel it is a poor decision for any democratic candidate to debate on Fox News. Most reasonable observers will determine that Fox News is highly slanted toward the GOP. I'm not sure how much this needs to elaborated upon, but I should think that at the very least we can agree that a great deal of evidence suggests that this is the case; even if such evidence were inconclusive, the prevailing opinion--particularly among Democrats--is that Fox News is illegitimate.

Now then. There are several arguments I've heard repeated here and elsewhere in support of a Democratic debate on Fox. Let's have a look-see.

"If you can't face Fox News, then how can you face Al Qaeda?"
Ailes" statement is an exaggeration; however, it is a clever one because it is so easily repeatable and it just SOUNDS like a logical statement (if... then...). None of our candidates, Democrat or Republican, are unable to "face" Al Qaeda. To say so seriously would make me question your intelligence. Ailes' statement would make more sense if he had compared himself to, say, Iran or Syria. Bush has made clear that he won't "face" those countries in diplomatic discussions until certain preconditions are met. So I disagree with Ailes' assertion that Fox is more like Al Qaeda than Iran.

The Democrats unwillingness to debate on Fox indicates that they are afraid of Fox/Republicans.
Like the argument above, this is just a fallacy. If one concedes to my original point that Fox News is biased, then the Democrats' previous agreement not to debate there is reasonable and based not out of fear, but out of common sense. The fact that, as many here have pointed out, the candidates are willing to appear on Fox for interviews indicates that they have no phobias of the network. Really, people. Who's afraid of the big bad Fox? Hey, that"s catchy. Use it.

[bethinCary]

HRC running low on funding compared to Obama.

She just wants to get the free PR that comes with a debate-that's why she wants one a week.

Sen. Obama should keep to his method that's worked for him for most of his career-grassroots, shaking hands one by one.
It's worked so far-why stop now?

[NABNYC]

A debate would have a lot more legitimacy, and certainly a much more intelligent viewing audience, if they scheduled it for the cartoon network, and aired it on Saturday morning when all the pre-schoolers are home.

[wsblake]

Why do you think Murdoch, Ann Coulter and Limbaugh seem to be critical of McCain and are claiming they would even support Hillary ? Because on substantive issues- the war, tax cuts, globalization, immigration policy- there is not a dime's worth of difference between the leading R and D candidates. A vote for Hillary is as good as a vote for a Republican- 2008 will basically be win-win for Republicans. Progressives only shot was Obama- and that is disappearing.

[Perrier007]

The "frontrunner" as Hillary calls herself, would never seek out to debate the runner-up. This is desperation on the Clintons' part to sucker Obama into providing opportuinites for THEM.

[KoolBreez]

Barack should announce that he can not contribute to a partisan propganda channel.

[robeson]

Obama should reject Fox unless Homer Simpson or Peter Griffen are the moderators. Those two are clearly the intelligentsia of the Fox network.

[Hufffan]

EVERY DEMOCRAT supporting either Hillary or Obama needs to watch these two brief videos and pass them along!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=xq8aopATYyw

http://youtube.com/watch?v=AMfUajhL24I&feature=related

[HighBeam]

Sen. Obama has been on Fox news at least two times that I have been able to find. I guess that doesn't count. He is just afraid that Sen. Clinton will put another beatdown on him in another debate.

[itsnotmyfault]

The sole purpose of Fox news is to make money. For a long time, too long, propping the Bush administration and relentlessly hammering the Dems of every stripe was a money making proposition for them. Believe it. Murdoch has one agenda and that is profit. Ailes has one agenda, profit.

For self serving purposes the Democrats should go on Fox, to appeal to their large and very specific audience. It will be meaningful in the general election. And it may help transition Fox to a recognition that there is money to be made supporting Democrats, for a change of pace.

I had read an interesting statistic that in the general news, Fox had performed at measurably the least biased, most neutral of all the major news outlets, particularly as they covered issues of the national economy and the Iraq War. They more than make up for it in their shrill commentator shows. But there is untapped potential and it is all driven by the filthy lucre.

It was a real nose biting face spiting decision to ignore Michigan and Florida in the primaries. Oddly I believe those states might be important in the general election,so what are those in the Democratic leadership thinking. Don't do the same thing with the evil Fox network. Instead strategize to take advantage of their reach.

[Simone]

No Democrat should appear on Fox News - ever. And that includes Obama. Hillary haters are such hypocrites, holding her to a different standard than their own candidate.

I guess Obama will have to Fox himself since he appears on Fox News.

[elkabong]

We could help Mario Cuomo in his efforts to have a REAL debate. You know, one where the candidates get at least half an hour on each of the most important issues we face.

It's only Hillary's supporters biased rationalization that she is more substantive than Barack when neither has been subject to the kind of debate Cuomo has proposed. Both candidates have, thus far, declined his invitation.

At the very least, I want to begin mounting pressure for McCain and whomever Democrats choose to engage in far, far more than 2 minute platitudes and 30 second, talking-point rebuttals, no matter how badly the corporate media (and the candidates) want to sell it.