Oh but they are crumbling at Fox News. There's this little sordid episode, for instance. After challenging the wildly popular Democratic mayor of Salt Lake City to a debate on Iraq and impeachment, Sean Hannity has backed out of the debate and tried to foist it on Anderson.
Conservative talk show host Sean Hannity has claimed on his syndicated radio program that Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson is putting up roadblocks to get out of their proposed debate.
But it is Hannity who is balking, and here is the proof, based in part on e-mails between Anderson's office and Hannity's staff that I obtained through an open records request:
* Hannity said on his radio program Monday: "First, he [Anderson] said he wanted a joint press conference instead of a debate. If it's just a press conference, I might as well just send a video."
* But here is a March 12 e-mail from Eileen Lofrese, Hannity's producer, to Patrick Thronson, Anderson's communications director: "For the sake of bipartisanship I think it is best to refer to this as a 'Joint Press Conference' and not a 'Debate' and I will relay that to all parties intending on broadcasting this educated and civilized forum for the voicing of opinions and conflicting viewpoints."
* Thronson responded: "Mayor Anderson cannot agree to any other format than a structured debate format, with a moderator. Mr. Hannity has repeatedly expressed his desire for a debate on the Iraq War and impeachment, not a 'press conference.' We are mystified as to why he has now apparently changed his position." Lofrese then apologized and said the misunderstanding was her mistake.
The whole Fox News charade is coming apart. According to Mark Mellman, surveys he did showed that the audience of Fox News is the single most Republican voting block in the country. People like Sean Hannity (whose spokesperson refers to bipartisanship when discussing a debate with a Democrat... hmmm) are unwilling to confront their opponents or follow through on their public commitments out of fear their bluster will be exposed. And Democrats have moved out of their 1990s induced torpor, bringing a new hard-edged attitude that we are right, they are immoral fools, the public is sick of them, and calling Fox News Republicans out is a productive strategy.
Hopefully we can be done with the Fox News fight at some point soon. I hadn't realized the depths to which the Democratic establishment is still split over the news channel, and how productive an open debate can be. Hannity is worth understanding as a public figure. He is an important Republican surrogate, and his attempts to lie about this debate and about Rocky Anderson are a tremendously weak cover to the role he and most Repulbican leaders played in operating as lackeys for Bush.
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