Posted on 11/01/2009 7:11:53 PM PST by markomalley
Democratic pundit Bob Beckel has been under contract with Fox News for six years. And in the midst of the White House war against the cable network, some of his liberal friends think that’s six years too many.
They invited him to lunch the other day for an intervention: Why is Beckel — a true-blue Democrat who worked for Robert F. Kennedy and ran Walter Mondale’s 1984 presidential campaign — giving comfort to the enemy?
Beckel’s response: “I talk to more persuadable voters in a month than anybody on MSNBC and CNN talks to in a year.”
In the eyes of some of their party brethren, Beckel and other Democratic strategists and pundits who appear regularly on Fox News are traitors to the cause. Or at least gluttons for punishment.
And some of them feel that way, too.
“It sucks,” says Democratic direct-mail consultant Liz Chadderdon, a regular on the network. “It is very, very tough to be a Democrat on Fox.”
During an October 2007 hit on “The Factor,” Chadderdon referred to the detainees at Guantanamo Bay as “victims.” It was a verbal faux pas, and she knew it. But no sooner did she get off the air than she received a death threat — the first of a handful she says she’s received after appearing on Bill O’Reilly’s Fox show.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
I call bull on that. They are despicable. Just despicable.
Beckel hasn't persuaded one voter ever, except maybe that hooker he paid.
It’s always tough to be a Democrat when you actually have to defend your position. It is easy to be a Democrat when the “journalist” is your ally.
What a bunch of whiners.
Were those “death threats” from her Al Quaeda “victim” pals, just letting her know exactly what they thought about her calling them “victims”. Like “Who you calling “victims” sucker?”
“It’s always tough to be a Democrat when you actually have to defend your position. It is easy to be a Democrat when the “journalist” is your ally”
Pretty much.
I would like to see him go away myself. He is on way to much.
I have to give Bob some credit. He carries water for his DNC masters like no other and in an environment where you get called on your liberal BS.
Love the response that they think that Fox provides the most balanced reporting - left and right (and they are right). Try that on MSNBC. Now lately CNN has tried to get a more balanced effort - an occasional moderate (but no conservatives for gosh sakes), but at least they seem to be trying to get a balance. I doubt that they will succeed though since their overall effort is for Democratic ideas.
I guess that still leaves Fox as the most democratic - both sides presented, so who is left to complain? Okay, except the Democrats that expect one sided coverage only.
I don’t see why everyone is so bitchy about this article. I think it quite accurately points out why Dems appear on Fox - it serves their self-interest. Nothing wrong with that, that’s free enterprise at work. Politico is telling it like it is.
As for the death threats, who cares. If MSNBC actually *had* as many conservative guests on, I’m sure the Kos kiddies would be pulling all sorts of nasty stuff too. Not defending it (if it happened) but when you play in the big leagues you need to have a thick skin.
I like hearing from Beckel. I don’t agree with him, but he makes me think. And he is waaaaaaay better than Colmes.
Why do democrats appear on FOX? The answer is easy. Would you rather have stock options in Newscorp(owns Fox) or would you rather have stock options in GE (owns MSNBC).
If charter members,Bob Beckel and Juan Williams have been receiving Newscorp stock as part of their salary packages, they are very wealthy men right now.
Definitely better than Colmes, but have you noticed what a huge hulking MASS he has become? He seems so grumpy all the time, and I figure it’s because he’s just tired of being so darn FAT! (But that may just be a woman’s perspective on the whole thing...)
I dare say that Hannity, Beck, O'Reilly, and even Greta get more death threats in a week than Chatterdon has in her entire wasted life.
Are they effing kidding me? I have to watch MSNBC every day because some liberal I work with insists. Literally I watched that stinking lying network for 6 straight hours (2 days in a row) and DID NOT SEE ONE REPUBLICAN on.
It wasn't an accident, it was a Freudian slip.
People on the right like Beckel as a man. I knew Tony Snow and he really liked Beckel. He is REALLY out there though. His brother is Conservative and Hannity had him on the show along with Bob and his brother was brutal to him. It was kinda weird.
Bet this is why that wet noodle Colmes left Hannity.
Gee, for five decades or more it has been “very, very tough to be a Republican on the Lamestream News channels such as CBS, NBC, ABC ....”
“I get very positive but whispered reinforcement,” he said.
Davis made news during last year’s Democratic presidential primaries when he said that Fox was the fairest of the cable networks in its treatment of Hillary Clinton.
Leftists claim not to watch FNC, but do watch secretly.
Good for the brother.
“Would you rather have stock options in Newscorp(owns Fox) or would you rather have stock options in GE (owns MSNBC)”
ge. newscorp is all tv stations and newspapers. It’s the poster child for the dying dinosaur media.
ge is the biggest corporation in the world. bombs, jets, mri machines, appliances, you name it.
i would not touch a media property with a 10-foot pole.
I think there is some OSHA reg that covers that condition.
;-)
Didn't she claim that his check bounced?
Any one who remember's Beckel's threat to turn electors to Gore in the 2000 election is not interested in anything he has to say.
Bob’s brother is successful character actor Graham Beckel, whose appearance on Hannity blew Bob out of the water. It was poetic ~ the best Hannity moment EVER. “;^)
I enjoy Beckel as well, though I often disagree. I sometimes think he takes the stances he does on Hannity to get Sean’s goat and/or to fill the role of designated liberal opposition. I suspect he’s more center-left than the way out lefty he sometimes seems to be.
I also like Doug Schoen a lot. He reminds a bit of Pat Caddell, in that he’s a very nuts-and-bolts guy who approaches things as an analyst rather than a spinmeister.
Chadderdon is just painful to watch though. She doesn’t seem to understand the very issues she’s arguing most of the time.
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