The Dem candidates will show whether they understand that the 2008 presidential race will be an exercise in asymmetric WAR, and that Fox will be one of the main weapons of the opposition. Any candidate who supports FOX by participating in a Fox special deserves Democratic supporter suspicion over his or her trustworthiness.
John Edwards is smart enough to understand that Fox is no friend to the Democratic party. They will probably, later in the campaign, use footage from the debate against any of the candidate-- to try to hurt them.
Edwards made the right move. He has stated that he will not participate in the ill conceived debate that Fox is supposed to moderate and broadcast.
That's right, and any Dem candidate who hands Fox the gift of a special media event deserves careful evaluation by any Democrat who wants presidential candidates who who think strategically and understand the role of the media.
Kudos to Edwards. He understands the enemy
Now, the other Democratic candidates need to make it clear that they won't participate in a Democratic primary debate on Fox-- at least the way Fox operates now.
When Bush took the Whitehouse, he gave CNN an ultimatum-- change the way they covered the Whitehouse or lose top tier access.
The Democrats-- Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Howard Dean-- should be riding herd on all the Democrats worth talking to-- setting policy that they speak to their friends.
Keith Olbermann on MSNBC should be doing the debate. He's the best friend of the Democrats, in the mainstream media. Fox has every right to take the positions and set the policies it chooses. The Democratic party has the right to tell them to go take a hike.
The right wing plays for keeps and they play rough. Their tactics are very similar to asymmetric warfare. The media is one of the most powerful weapons in asymmetric warfare. If the Dem candidates don't get that, they won't get what it takes to win back America, conquer terrorism and win the 2008 presidential election. It's time for the Democratic party to play hardball with the mainstream media, starting with the worst TV network offender-- Fox News.
Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, Joe Biden-- they should be rushing to be the next Democratic candidate, after Edwards, to refuse to participate in a Fox News presidential primary event-- in Nevada or anywhere else.
Let Joe Lieberman go on Fox News.
At dailykos.com, Markos Moulitsas, has posted some comments here, observing that the grassroots folks in Nevada are the ones with the most power to get the plug pulled on this event, and he references this:
Carson City Democratic Central Committee
RESOLUTION OPPOSING FOX PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
March 7, 2007WHEREAS, Fox News is not a neutral source of news – it’s a right-wing mouthpiece like Rush Limbaugh that smears Democrats and spreads blatantly false information; and
WHEREAS, Democrats granting Fox News the illusion of credibility would allow Fox to more easily “swiftboat” our 2008 candidates by pushing false Republican attacks into the mainstream media; and
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