Published: Saturday, November 7, 2009
White House wants Dem analysts to stay off Fox, sources say
WASHINGTON — At least one Democratic political strategist has gotten a blunt warning from the White House to never appear on Fox News Channel, an outlet that presidential aides have depicted as not so much a news-gathering operation as a political opponent bent on damaging the Obama administration.
The Democratic strategist said that shortly after an appearance on Fox, he got a phone call from a White House official telling him not to be a guest on the show again. The call had an intimidating tone, he said.
The message was, “We better not see you on again,” said the strategist. An implicit suggestion, he said, was that “clients might stop using you if you continue.”
White House communications director Anita Dunn said that she had checked with colleagues who “deal with TV issues” and that they had not told people to avoid Fox. On the contrary, they had urged people to appear on the network, Dunn wrote in an e-mail.
But Patrick Caddell, a Fox News contributor and former pollster for President Jimmy Carter, said he had spoken to Democratic consultants who said they were told by the White House to avoid appearances on Fox.
Caddell said he had not gotten that message himself from the White House. He added: “I have heard that they’ve done that to others in not too subtle ways. I find it appalling. When the White House gets in the business of suppressing dissent and comment, particularly from its own party, it hurts itself.”
In urging consultants to spurn Fox, White House officials might be trying to isolate the network and make it appear more partisan. A boycott by Democratic strategists could help drive the White House narrative that Fox is a fundamentally different creature than the other TV news networks.
White House officials appear on Fox News, but sporadically and with their “eyes wide open,” as one aide put it.
David Axelrod, senior adviser to the president, appeared on Fox News Channel this week to talk about the results of Tuesday’s off-year elections. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also appeared on the network this week.
Still, the White House has taken an aggressive stance toward Fox. When President Barack Obama appeared on five separate talk shows one Sunday in September, he avoided Fox.
Last month, Dunn told CNN that Fox was, in effect, an “arm” of the Republican Party. “Let’s not pretend they’re a news network the way CNN is,” she said.
As the dust-up played out, Fox’s senior vice president of news, Michael Clemente, countered: “Surprisingly, the White House continues to declare war on a news organization instead of focusing on the critical issues that Americans are concerned about like jobs, health care and two wars.”
Fox’s commentators have been sharply critical of the Obama administration. After the president won the Nobel Peace Prize, Sean Hannity, who has a prime-time show on Fox, said he got the award for “trashing America.”
Don Fowler, a former Democratic National Committee chairman, said: “This approach is out of sync with my conception of what the Obama administration stands for and what they’re trying to do. I think they’ll think better of it and this will be a passing phase.”
The Democratic strategist said that shortly after an appearance on Fox, he got a phone call from a White House official telling him not to be a guest on the show again. The call had an intimidating tone, he said.
The message was, “We better not see you on again,” said the strategist. An implicit suggestion, he said, was that “clients might stop using you if you continue.”
White House communications director Anita Dunn said that she had checked with colleagues who “deal with TV issues” and that they had not told people to avoid Fox. On the contrary, they had urged people to appear on the network, Dunn wrote in an e-mail.
But Patrick Caddell, a Fox News contributor and former pollster for President Jimmy Carter, said he had spoken to Democratic consultants who said they were told by the White House to avoid appearances on Fox.
Caddell said he had not gotten that message himself from the White House. He added: “I have heard that they’ve done that to others in not too subtle ways. I find it appalling. When the White House gets in the business of suppressing dissent and comment, particularly from its own party, it hurts itself.”
In urging consultants to spurn Fox, White House officials might be trying to isolate the network and make it appear more partisan. A boycott by Democratic strategists could help drive the White House narrative that Fox is a fundamentally different creature than the other TV news networks.
White House officials appear on Fox News, but sporadically and with their “eyes wide open,” as one aide put it.
David Axelrod, senior adviser to the president, appeared on Fox News Channel this week to talk about the results of Tuesday’s off-year elections. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also appeared on the network this week.
Still, the White House has taken an aggressive stance toward Fox. When President Barack Obama appeared on five separate talk shows one Sunday in September, he avoided Fox.
Last month, Dunn told CNN that Fox was, in effect, an “arm” of the Republican Party. “Let’s not pretend they’re a news network the way CNN is,” she said.
As the dust-up played out, Fox’s senior vice president of news, Michael Clemente, countered: “Surprisingly, the White House continues to declare war on a news organization instead of focusing on the critical issues that Americans are concerned about like jobs, health care and two wars.”
Fox’s commentators have been sharply critical of the Obama administration. After the president won the Nobel Peace Prize, Sean Hannity, who has a prime-time show on Fox, said he got the award for “trashing America.”
Don Fowler, a former Democratic National Committee chairman, said: “This approach is out of sync with my conception of what the Obama administration stands for and what they’re trying to do. I think they’ll think better of it and this will be a passing phase.”
Comments
(