Christine O’Donnell Following Palin/Angle “Avoid The Media” Strategy
Earlier this week, I noted that Sarah Palin had advised Christine O’Donnell to “speak through Fox News.” Well, it looks like she’s taken that advice to heart:
Delaware GOP Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell has backed out of an appearance tomorrow on CBS’s “Face the Nation” with no explanation to the network.
“They just emailed us and said she needed to cancel,” said Mary Hager, “Face the Nation’s,” senior producer.
O’Donnell’s abrupt cancellation comes after scores of stories have emerged about extreme comments she has made in the past about issues ranging from condom usage to human brains being inserted into mice.
Frankly, I don’t care about the masturbation, or the mice brains. I do, however, care about whether or not she might have violated campaign finance laws. Apparently, she doesn’t want to face the hard questions on that topic.
Update: It’s now being reported that O’Donnell has canceled her Fox News Sunday appearance as well:
WASHINGTON – Christine O’Donnell, the tea party darling whose Republican primary win in Delaware’s Senate race shocked the GOP, has canceled her appearances on two national news shows.
O’Donnell had been set to appear on “Face the Nation” on CBS and “Fox News Sunday.”
Campaign spokeswoman Diane Banister told The Associated Press on Saturday that O’Donnell canceled so she could attend previously scheduled events, including a Republican picnic Sunday in Delaware’s Sussex County, where she received key support.
Banister says O’Donnell would love to appear on the shows in the future.
She should. Politicians who dodge the media ought to be held to account.
This behavior should be more troubling to more people than it is. The sad part is that it is a bonus to a lot of voters, who think it is sticking it to the “lamestream media” rather than what it actually is: being unwilling or unable to function in a non-friendly environment.
It will be interesting to see if candidates try to get away with this during the 2012 cycle.
Let’s face it, Palin, O’Donnell, Angle, and others of their extreme ilk are people who cannot afford to have their agendas made public. They are as hollow as their soundbites and all running away from the media does for them is illustrate their incompetence and willingness to use deception to garner votes. This flurry of whack-jobs running for important national office from the right may just finally prove that “yes, you can underestimate the intelligence of American voters.”
<She should. Politicians who dodge the media ought to be held to account.>
LOL, I’m sure a far left blog like OTB has Christine O’ Donnell’s interest at heart. You pooh pooh the bearded marxist’s trip to Kenya as if it’s a non story, while pushing every angle on the Rep Candidate from Delaware as if her views are a threat to your way of life.
Going on a show sympathetic to Democrats like Face the Nation so she could be hijacked by a far left host such as Bob Scheiffer wouldn’t do her much good at this point. Everybody knows your Dems are floundering, getting obliterated in places like Ohio and PA, and needs sympathetic journalists like Scheiffer, David Gregory, Amapour et al to carry their water and minimize the rout this November. The LAST thing Ms O’Donnell should do is go a show like Face the Nation and get bamboozled by an idealogue like Bob Scheiffer – Like what he pulled aattacking John Boehner’s smoking last week.
You try to come across as reasoned and balanced here at this blog; But you are not balanced at all. Just another blog way out on the far left fringe who ignores the foibles of Dem candidates.
Wow–who knew that the standard for “far left” were so lax.
In other words: we aren’t hardcore cheerleaders for the GOP and hence, are “far left.”
@ Taylor
Wow–who knew that the standard for “far left” were so lax.
In other words: we aren’t hardcore cheerleaders for the GOP and hence, are “far left.”
When you start calling Obama on his non-appearances at press conferences and such, (you know, the non-access that even the liberal press is complaining about?) then maybe you can try and fool a few more people into thinking you are “impartial.”
Until then, have fun in the echo chamber.
@ ganpaagravy
Let’s face it, Palin, O’Donnell, Angle, and others of their extreme ilk are people who cannot afford to have their agendas made public. They are as hollow as their soundbites and all running away from the media does for them is illustrate their incompetence and willingness to use deception to garner votes.
Funny, coming from a supporter of “We’ll- have- to- pass- it- to- find- out- what’s- in- it” Madame Pelosi. Along with Mr. “Healthcare Reform-will-reduce-the-deficit” Obama. Yeah, y’all have a real issue with people who are hiding their agendas from the public, huh? Sure you do.
You mean like when I wrote this post as Obama was approaching the one year anniversary of his last press conference ?
Just because I don’t worship at the altar of Sarah Palin and her asinine anti-intellectual “Mama Grizzlies” doesn’t mean I’m a liberal, you know. I’d just love it if the conservative movement had more William F Buckley’s and fewer Sean Hannity’s.
And this would constitute an ideological litmus test in what way? This strikes me as silly.
And, for the record, not an Obama example, per se, but: http://www.poliblogger.com/?p=12413.
> I’d just love it if the conservative movement had more William F Buckley’s
I know how you feel. But the Jeneau’s of the world can’t read more that 2 paragraphs of Buckley or a comparable thinker without developing acute brain strain, so they opt for the mental midgets that populate the WWF meets the National Enquirer world of the tea party…
Taylor you are so left you cannot even recognize it. Scoff all you want but read the comments here. No matter what you call yourself. Smooth Jazz nailed it when he called this site far left. Coons is a marxist and you do not care. Why no interest in what Coons has done on the job??? His record is public (debt). Just how is the budget of the county he administers? You and Mataconis been to Kenya recently?
@ taylor
And this would constitute an ideological litmus test in what way? This strikes me as silly.
No one is calling for a litmus test. The litmus test that most of the moderators are failing here on OTB – if the wish to be considered as observant rather than partisan – is the litmus test of impartial ( or at a minimum somewhat equal), treatment of like issues between Democrat pols and Republican pols.
You and Doug post topic after topic highlighting what Doug euphemistically calls interesting (and almost invariably negative) points about Palin, Angle, and now O’Donnell. I think we’re up to about 12 articles now on O’Donnell over as many days. And almost every “interesting” point which you boys highlight has abundant examples of equal – and often worse – behavior exhibited by Democrat politicians who are currently in office. Who are currently up for re-election. Who actually have power to act out their “interesting” views and positions. But very obviously you’d rather focus on conservative folks who aren’t even elected yet.
In defense of this you and Doug point to a bare smattering of articles that are not about Republicans, as if writing any of these at all somehow makes your treatment of issues even handed. I have no problem in the slightest with partisan and biased viewpoints, and stacking the deck grossly to the Democrat side by giving them a virtual pass on their “interesting” views and positions. I make no bones about my partisan position in the other direction. But don’t try and sell yourself as even-handed while you’re doing it. The effort is far too transparent.
So, no. Not a litmus test. A observably poor track record, noted after visiting this site steadily for about 4 months now.
I can’t speak for Steve, but were it not for the fact that Palin, Angle, and O’Donnell seem to be committed to writing the book on how the run for office while making a fool of yourself, I probably wouldn’t be paying so much attention to them.
Wow–who knew that the standard for “far left” were so lax.
The new standard is anyone who isn’t an utter Dittohead lamely mouthing right wing cliches like “lamestream media” is a leftist.
Some readers who don’t like the content or comments should probably go elsewhere. It isn’t like it’s hard to find the stuff you like. Coming around and bitching constantly and attacking the authors is stupid and annoying.
Pug,
Apparently some people only want to be exposed to ideas and opinions they agree with. I find that rather sad and pathetic.
@ anjiin
But the Jeneau’s of the world can’t read more that 2 paragraphs of Buckley or a comparable thinker without developing acute brain strain
I love you too, anjin 🙂 By the way – I simply adore the way you spelled my moniker; if you say it with a French accent, it sounds really, like, sophisticated …. or something.
Ahhhhh. Pug and Mataconis are triangulating to scold me for my complaining. That’s so cute. And ineffective. Mataconis your problem is that your not expounding ideas in your articles on Republicans – you’re either denigrating or deriding, usually with a touch of mis-direction ( like your topic about Palin telling O’Donnell to speak through FOX). Have I not made that clear enough for you?
Tell you what Mataconis. You provide a list here for everyone to see with two categories, divided by political party, showing how many articles you’ve written on OTB over the last 60 days. One category is for articles where a Republican is identified in the subject leader, the other is where an identified Democrat is in the subject leader. Let’s see how “even-handed” you have been.
Surely you must have these articles at your fingertips – you wrote them. Please include the actual topic header which identifies the subject so that we can tell the “flavor” of the topic headline. If. looking at this list, you have been anywhere close to equal then I will publicly apologize for wrongfully accusing you. I will apologize on every topic you start so that everyone should have a chance to read my apology.
And if you are wrong, then please refrain in the future from trying to shrug my objections aside as a “sad and pathetic” inability to listen to other ideas. Fair enough?
Juneau,
We have a search feature, use it.
As for the rest, I’m not under an obligation to provide you with a balance that suits your taste.
Aye, that’s the rub.
@ Mataconis
As for the rest, I’m not under an obligation to provide you with a balance that suits your taste.
As close to an admission as I’m likely to get…. thank you.
<Pug, Apparently some people only want to be exposed to ideas and opinions they agree with. I find that rather sad and pathetic.>
Cut the BS. You are only fooling yourselves. No one is asking you to be “cheerleaders” for Palin, Angle, O’Donnell and the rest of the “wacko” crowd. Let’s all be up front about this: You are a far left blog covered in sheeps clothing and weasel words.
It is obvious you don’t have the “All Repubs are Evil” bomb throwers and editorial policy such as Daily KOS, Think Progress, Huffington Post, Hullabaloo, et al, but you are a far left blog nonetheless. It is obvious in the content here and whose “foibles” you choose to cover. Chris Coons has raised taxes in Newcastle County 3 times after promising not to do so and express sympathies with Marxist idealogies, but not a peep from this site. What he said in his 20s is off limits but everything Ms O’Donnell said in her 20s is fair game.
Like I said, this blog is fooling no one. You are not radical leftists, but it is obvious where your sympathies lie and who you are cheering for.
That, of course, raises the question as to whether anyone is trying to fool anyone. The notion that this is a “far left blog” however is simply ridiculous on its face/demonstrates an utter lack of understanding of left/right mean both in a general sense and specifically within American political vernacular.
Speaking only for myself, I write about what interests me at the moment (the very nature of the blogging enterprise). The fact that O’Donnell’s win has turned the DE race from a sure-thing GOP seat to almost certain Democratic seat is interesting. And if you don’t think O’Donnell isn’t the more colorful candidate vice Coons, you aren’t paying attention.
If one wishes to have copious blog posts written about Coons there is an easy way to have that: go start your own blog.
Further, that she, Palin and Angle eschew the media is interesting and telling.
Comrads Taylor and Mataconis stand exposed…
So Smooth, what are you rocking out to today? Is it Kenny G or Michael Bolton?
Actually, that’s not even the standard these days. Surely Karl Rove qualifies as a “hardcore cheeleader for the GOP” and even he’s not pure enough these days.
That said, I have no idea why you guys are feeding these trolls. Anybody who calls this site “far left” deserves to be ignored.
Final note: even though I’m left of center, I welcome the comparisons between the Palin / Angle / O’Donnell / Jan Brewer press strategy and that of Obama’s. I’m disappointed that he’s limiting his press availability so much. It’s a very bad precedent. Frankly, Palin and crew have every right to point out that they’re not dodging the press any more than our President is.
Well, Bob Schieffer may have a liberal dent, but he is not an aggressive interviewer. Joe Miller went there: he looked pretty articulated and intelligent. Even the guys at MSNBC aren´t questioning his sanity or intelligence.
I would never vote for someone that is afraid of Bob Schieffer.