Politico 's Smith: Fox can now "confirm to its viewers" that Dems
 
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 11:38:06 -0400


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<p><b><em>Politico</em>'s Smith: Fox can now "confirm to its viewers" that Dems
are "cowards" </b></p>
<p><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200704100006?src=clip200704100006">http://mediamatters.org/items/200704100006</a></p>

<p>In an April 9 <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=clip200704100006&http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0407/Hillary_Wont_Do_Fox_Debate_Either.html">entry</a>
to his Politico.com weblog, <i>Politico</i>
senior political writer Ben Smith asserted
that Fox News can "confirm to its viewers that Democrats are
... cowards"
after Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton
(D-NY), Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), and former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) declined
to participate in a <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=clip200704100006&http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Mar29/0,4670,DemocratsDebate,00.html">presidential
debate</a> sponsored by Fox News and the Congressional Black
Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute. Smith wrote: "No
word yet from [Rep. Dennis] Kucinich [D-OH] and [former Sen. Mike] Gravel
[D-AK], or the other campaigns, or from Fox, which could presumably do an empty
podium hour and confirm to its viewers that Democrats are, in fact, the cowards
it&#39;s often portrayed them as. Sounds win-win to me."</p>

<p>According to Smith, his blog <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=clip200704100006&http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0107/Greetings.html">covers</a>
"the contest for the 2008 Democratic nomination and all that revolves
around it." Smith also frequently writes articles for <i>The
Politico</i> about the Democratic presidential candidates. As <i>Media Matters for America</i> senior fellow
Eric Boehlert <a href="http://mediamatters.org/columns/200703270005?src=clip200704100006">documented</a>,
Smith has written baseless and misleading articles alleging that "New Mexico Gov. Bill
Richardson&#39;s 2008 presidential campaign has been burdened by unusually public
discussion about his behavior with women," and that Obama has a
"Jewish Problem." </p>

<p>

Smith&#39;s entry was <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=clip200704100006&http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/data/2007/04/09/20070409_230913.htm">flagged</a>
by the Drudge Report, which, as <i>Media
Matters</i> <a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200703290002?src=clip200704100006">documented</a>,
has linked extensively to <i>The Politico</i>
since the publication launched less than three months ago.</p><table width="100%" style="background: #e8e8e8; 
border: 1px solid  #ffffff; font-size: 80%" cellpadding="1">
<tr>
<td style="border-right: 1px solid  #ffffff;" 
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</b> Contact: <br />
<b>The Politico</b></td>
<td valign="top">E-mail: <a href="mailto:tblake@thepolitico.com">tblake@thepolitico.com</a></td>
</tr>
</table>



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