“There is an old Vulcan proverb: Only Nixon could go to China.”
Spock nailed it. Sanders has unquestionable socialist cred, so he could break the ice with Fox and not be called a sellout.
Good. There’s nothing to lose with these appearances. May be nothing much to gain either, but I don’t see where these town halls are damaging. A debate, with Fox Host X in the driver’s seat. No. But this kind of thing? Why not?
Someone hasn’t heard the story of the scorpion and the frog.
There’s still nothing to lose.
This could be interesting, Fox viewers could hear a candidate talking without selective editing and without Hannity 'splaining that what they really said was double secret code for i hate america.
The Bernie Effect: Klobuchar Set For Town Hall With Fox News In May
Good for her.
(I suppose people can call it “The Bernie Effect” if they really, really want to.)
Right now, Barr’s essential nullification of the Mueller Report has put Dems at a position different than it would be had the Full Report come out in early summer like it should have.
FULL Report.
Trump’s team is very good at nullifying junctures in which Democrats should have been ascendant . Take the Gov. shutdown. All attention on the Trump Wall and a tardy start of Nancy Pelosi’s entrance as Speaker of the House.
Trump, his lawyers, henchmen, Russian allies all are aware of all the dynamics of manufacturing public opinion.
My view of this battle is that we are engaged with a foe which is weaker but extremely unscrupulous, inventive, tenacious and savvy w/r/t public opinion management.
And, yet, Trump cannot break the 40s in terms of approval…which tells me that he will ultimately fail. For those of us who derive a “high” in feeling gloomy, this is a perfect time…but your high will not last.
The Full Mueller Report will come out
Trump’s scandalous activities will be revealed, along with those of his crew and allies
I’d like to see the breakdown of that big audience. Not so sure most of them were regular Fox viewers.
Democrats should be reaching out to everyone with a populist message…a real one, not the fake one that Trump out forward. The average person, even conservatives, is going to put their pocketbook and family concerns first, and Trump and the Republicans have shown that they do not have the average American in mind. If the Democrats go in there with real policies, and can handle the “you’re a socialist baby murderer!” BS that will be flung at them, they will pierce the bubble for at least a few people.
I don’t think Fox should get to run a Democratic debate until they show they aren’t a propaganda arm of the Republican party, but this does no harm to the Democrats (anyone who is going to vote against them for being Democrats won’t vote against them more) and may just get through to a few conservatives that then start questioning Republican policies. And, the reluctant ones that vote for Trump despite the racism and hate may feel comfortable enough to vote for the Democrat, or at least not from Trump, if the Democrats can get through. It worked in 2018, it should work now.
I think Bernie believes that the Fox News audience are potentially “his kind of people.” Take away the racism and xenophobia, and he might be right. He’s certainly relatable in terms of age group. IIRC, the average age of the Fox audience is around 66. And these folks are fine with the limited socialism of social democracy as long as only the “right people” benefit. Krugman has been covering this phenomenon recently.
For Amy, whose campaign is struggling, I’m of the opinion that this is a clear case of “any publicity is better than no publicity.”
Yea, I guess so. Though both Buttigieg and Eric Swalwell (before announcing his own candidacy) have already been interviewed on Fox. So maybe we can call it the “Buttigieg-Swalwell Effect”?
I wish that Mueller’s Report had not been sabotaged for this reason. The landscape has been altered by cheating.
When outlaws in suits rob, this kind of thing happens. Rick Wilson said that Barr is the most dangerous man in America. If America were the size of Austria I would agree. It is not.
Barr is the most dangerous man in the world.
Senator Sanders will start to lose his halo as the unbought principled socialist savior of America. He needs to raise money big time. Will be interesting to see next months donations. If they spike be assured he will be back on Fox!
Same here. They would have to be hand-picked if they were, and I got the sense that it was a more random group. Does anyone know how that worked?
Anyway, I think the only thing these Fox town halls are doing is providing a chance for Dem candidates to raise their profiles with other Democrats. I don’t think it will make a lick of difference in “reaching out” to the regular Fox News viewership. I know a couple of them. Nothing… absolutely NOTHING they see in these town halls will change their minds away from voting for Trump. They’ll see this as just another media circus, if they watch at all.
Yes Senator Klobuchlar has nothing to lose. Not much to gain but nothing to lose.
I’m still a little (more than a little) disappointed in her rollout and subsequent uninspiring whatnot.
The ratfucking that got to the forefront the “disgruntled former workers” who made Amy a meanie did not help at all.
Not at all.
Yes. Remember those odd campaign trips Trump took to Michigan and Wisconsin just before the election? There were post-election reports that Trump’s data people detected some voters in those places who were Bernie supporters that wouldn’t pull the lever for Hillary. Trump went to get some TV coverage in hopes of getting a few of their votes. It worked.
“Fox News Channel continues to produce highly informative and respectful town hall events, delivering record viewership and providing a platform to all candidates,”
“The DNC announced earlier this year that it wouldn’t partner with Fox News to host primary debates for Democratic candidates this year following a report in the New Yorker that revealed the network spiked a story about President Trump’s hush payments to a porn star during the 2016 election because Rupert Murdoch wanted Trump to win the election.”
