POWIP Piece of Work In Progress

Obama to Democratic consultants: Stay off Fox, or else!

Obama's War on Fox

I'm finally starting to understand what's taking the administration so long to decide on General McChrystal's troop request; they're too busy waging a "good" war against...Fox news!  Today's Chicago Tribune has a stunning story on the White House's efforts to intimidate Democratic political consultants from appearing as guests on Fox news programming:

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.
[snip]
One 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, who spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to run afoul of the White House. An implicit suggestion, he said, was that "clients might stop using you if you continue.''
[snip]
White House Communications Director Anita Dunn said Thursday night that she had checked with colleagues who "deal with TV issues'' and they had not told people to avoid Fox. On the contrary, they had urged people to appear on the network, Dunn wrote in an email.

But Patrick Caddell, a Fox News contributor and a former pollster for Democratic President Jimmy Carter, said he has spoken to Democratic consultants who have been told by the White House to avoid appearances on Fox. He declined to give their names.

Caddell said he had not gotten that message himself from the White House. "They know better than to tell me anything like that,'' he said.

Caddell 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.''

For the most Post-Partisan!, Ethical!, Transparent!, administration-EVAR! this is a pretty disconcerting revalation.  I guess it must be more of that New Kind of Politics! that Obama promised to bring to Washington, and on it's face appears to have a decidedly cliche Chicago flavor.  It sounds like the old Hollywood admonishment, "You'll never work in this town again!"

In addition to outlining the fecklessness of this latest strategery, Cap'n Ed at Hot Air also points out that it is self undermining; not simply because of the bad press it may generate, but because it also undermines the credibility of the networks on which those strategists do appear!  Doubtless, it may also serve to further increase the ratings of their target, Fox, even moreso than  their entire petty vendetta has already...

But that seems to be the signature of this administration's use of Smart Power!

Rocketman