Dems, It's Time To Go Fox Huntin'

There's more to winning an election than a candidate defeating opponents. The other guy's media machine needs to be overcome.
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By Paul Begala

March 22, 2007 01:21 PM EST

As a loyal Democrat and paid commentator on CNN, I am hopelessly biased -- but at least I admit it. The folks at Fox News, on the other hand, are just as hopelessly biased -- and they deny it. While I openly admit that I love all things Clinton, think House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is strong and brave, see Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as Harry Truman reincarnated and don't believe George W. Bush would know the truth if it bit him on the ass, Fox insults our intelligence by feigning fairness.

That's why the Nevada Democrats did the right thing in refusing to allow Fox to pretend it is a neutral host for a Democratic debate. The more Fox is seen as "fair and balanced," the easier it is for the network to swift-boat Democratic candidates and propel misinformation into the mainstream media. Thank God Democrats are finally growing a spine and fighting back. No longer can Fox function as a Republican mouthpiece and expect us to put it on stage as a neutral news source. Like I tell my kids: NHD -- not happenin', dude.

To be clear, this is not a boycott, and it's not about Democrats being afraid to go on Fox. It's about how Fox is presented to the public when it voices its right-wing views. During the fight against Fox in Nevada, MoveOn suggested a co-sponsored Fox/Air America debate. Perfect. An avowedly progressive media outlet paired with the conservative Fox. The spirit of "Crossfire" lives. But MoveOn's compromise was not accepted, and ultimately Fox lost everything.

Looking forward, the victory in Nevada sends a powerful message to Fox: You're not going to be able to use Democratic debates to whitewash your right-wing bias the way Exxon green washes its reputation by buying off academics and PR flacks.

For Democrats, it sends an equally powerful message: Fight back; you can win. From its first days on the air, Fox News has smeared Bill and Hillary Clinton. And when President Clinton finally called Fox on it, the effect was electric. Across America, progressives were galvanized into action.

For those who need reminding of Fox's agenda -- using its "fair and balanced" credibility to smear Democrats and help Republicans -- here's the bill of particulars:

Fox News' founder and guiding genius, Roger Ailes, was the chief media strategist for President George H.W. Bush. When you have a Republican political consultant running a news network, don't be surprised if that network becomes a propaganda tool for the Republican Party.
After the 2006 elections, Fox Senior Vice President John Moody sent a memo to news staff instructing them: "Be on the lookout for any statements from the Iraqi insurgents ... thrilled at the prospect of a Dem-controlled Congress."
Robert Greenwald's film "Outfoxed" exposed 33 similar memos from Moody before the 2004 elections. On Bush: "His political courage and tactical cunning are worth noting in our reporting through the day." On Iraq: "Do not fall into the easy trap of mourning the loss of U.S. lives and asking out loud 'Why are we there?'"
Fox's Iraq coverage was so biased that a university study showed 80 percent of Fox viewers believed one of these three falsehoods: Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11; WMDs were found in Iraq; or most of the world supported Bush's Iraq war. Fox is entitled to its own opinions, but not its own facts.
Fox hired George W. Bush's first cousin, John Ellis, to chair its Election Night desk in 2000. Not surprisingly, Ellis spoke with Bush five times that night, and Fox was the first network to "call" Florida for Bush.
Fox identified alleged pervert and GOP Congressman Mark Foley of Florida as a Democrat.
Fox's headline when Lewis "Scooter" Libby was convicted on four of five felony counts was straight out of Pravda: "Scooter Libby Found Not Guilty of Lying to FBI Investigators."
Fox cited an Insight magazine report that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was educated in a Muslim madrassa. CNN sent real journalists to Indonesia, interviewed people, gathered facts and reported the news: Obama's school was public and nondenominational.
More Fox smears and misinformation are captured in the YouTube videos at www.FoxAttacks.com.
When Bill O'Reilly hosted James Carville and me on his program back in September, I urged Bill and Fox to stop living a lie. "Come out of the closet!" I yelled. "You all are conservative!" But O'Reilly was unmoved. "I don't believe it for a second," he said.

I do. Bill Clinton does. So does the Nevada Democratic Party. Sometimes the thing a bully needs most is someone to stand up to him.

Paul Begala is a political analyst for CNN and a research professor at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute. He was counselor to President Clinton.

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