Perhaps the Dem candidates are so afraid of being the "devastaties" that any excuse to duck a debate is considered a good one.

Since the object of a debate is to argue your positions against those of your opponent(s), the only thing these Dems have to fear is that they have to defend their past positions and 'solutions' of current issues.

Hillary would be on the defensive about her votes on the war, from attacks by Obama and Edwards. Edwards would have to defend his 'Two Americas' mantra against Obama and Hillary. Hillary, Obama, and Edwards would have to defend their lackluster Senate careers from Dodd, Kuchinich, etc.

The only thing they have to fear from Fox, is that more people would hear them on the defensive from members of their own party, than the number of people who watch CNN or MSNBC.

There is something missing from both this display of debate cut and runnin' and Edwards previous edition:

Where the hell is the Congressional Black Caucus?

Granted they are only the "sponsors" and they can just take their "debate ball" to another network/cable outlet it just strikes me as odd they have remained totally silent.

Maybe with Obama dissin' both Fox and the CBC they will pry their usually loud oral cavities open.

hermie:

The only thing they have to fear from Fox, is that more people would hear them on the defensive from members of their own party, than the number of people who watch CNN or MSNBC.

You act as if the debate if aired on ANY other network than Fox wouldn't provide clips and Youtube video for every broadcast outlet on the planet.

Dream on. Each and every misstep, "botched joke" and lie would be repeated everywhere and for days, if not weeks!

For most candidates, the fewer people actually finding out what they're all about, the better.

"they don't dare cross them."

Listening to their constituents sounds rather democratic and might be the thing to do if they want to get elected.

The only station the Republican debates belong on is the History Channel.

AB:

Listening to their constituents sounds rather democratic and might be the thing to do if they want to get elected.

What constituents would that be?

Are you talking those that identify themselves as democrats and active members of that party?

If so I'd very much like to see what led you to that conclusion.

OR... are you admitting the Nutroots and moveon.org are in fact located smack in the center of the party and NOT to the far, far left of it?

This sets a very serious precedent. The dimmers never think past their present action. Now, it will be okay to blow off debates for whatever reason. It is not democracy to have a private issues related group with money to dictate what they candidates should do. Dimmers hate Halliburton for allegely doing that with Cheney and GW, but when MoveOn does it, it is okay. How about that? So pathetic and predictable. ww

Adrian, that sounds OK. I like the History Channel. They occasionally get things right, and their mistakes usually aren't a result of bias, but sensationalism.

By the same token, can we keep the Democrats restricted to Comedy Central?

J.

"moveon.org are in fact located smack in the center of the party and NOT to the far, far left of it?"

YES EXACTLY!!! (It's nothing to "admit to" btw).

Jay,

Comedy Central for the Democrats' debates?

That is okay, I guess, but wouldn't the Fantasy Channel be a more appropriate venue?

N.B. The Connecticut Senate seat might have been a "secure" Dem seat as long as Lieberman was in it, but historically, it has swung back and forth from Democrat William Benton to Republican William Purtell to Democrat Thomas Dodd to Republican Lowell Weicker to Democrat Joe Lieberman.

These egomaniacal frauds succumb to the very ignorant idiots(move on, kos) they have created. Rather pathetic however it was a necessary evil on behalf of a desparate democrat party sinking further into irrelevance. Now democrats must cower in fear of not only the truth by way of honest reporting , asking real questions that matter (calling them on their lies). They also must bend to the will of their infantile base demanding they not put themselves in the position to called on those lies.

Yet they will conceal these facts by creating or shall I say resurrecting the spin and paranoia of one Hilary Rotten Clinton's "VAST RIGHTWING CONSPIRACY". Blame it on some dreamed up fantasy that some boogey man is out to get them or they can just do what has been working as of late and "BLAME IT ON BUSH". What comic relief it is and they are not even trying.

Adrian,
Thank you for laying out your position. It is good to know, from a contextual standpoint, that you believe Moveon et al to be "center left".

BTW, listening to their voters is always good, but a dead end strategy. To win elections, AND to grow ther voter base, they must reach outside of the party faithful.

A brilliant move by (apparently) the Democratic Party leaders. Put the "Fox is a Republican tool" debate before the general public while the the Republican party is unpopular.

Even non-news junkies will be apprised of the controversy as backstory to each debate. And once something is pointed out, it seems to become more noticeable.

Plus boycotting the boycotters at Fox is too irresistable for any political hardballer worth his mitt. The best Fox ang the RW blogs can do is suck it up and not whine.

Adrian Browne, Move on and the nutroots are not something to be ashamed of????? Only if you are part of the American Communist party could you actually support an organization bought and paid for by a billionaire that has vowed to destroy the government of the United States. I thought even the nutroots (aka democrats) were part of the current government. MY mistake. Voting for your own destruction and the death of their families seems to be a democrat party habit these days. (Ref: 100% support of the enemies that have sworn, to some rock in the east, to kill us all.)

I thought this involved only the dhimmi males that wanted to treat the women in America the way Islamic animals (men) treat the women in countries they control until Peeeeloshi showed her love for the enemies. Evidently they all have a death wish and want to take everyone with them.

Honest reporting is to Fox what humility and wisdom are to GWB. Personally I'd rather the Dem candidates weren't skipping the debate; I think they have more to lose than to gain by doing so. That said, there may be some wisdom in avoiding the "fairness and balance" of the administration's personal PR outlet. There's very little legitimacy to Fox News, they are the People Magazine, infotainment network, drawing their viewership from the National Enquirer/tabloid/30 second sound byte crew who can't get enough of Anna Nicole or the next latest missing white woman.

HT to JT:

I believe Al Gore might be better on the SciFi channel, but the rest of those clowns would have a permanent set next to Bill Maher and own the Comedy Channel. There's a few professional Republican politicians that might do better there as well. I'm non-partisan on this issue.

"The best Fox ang the RW blogs can do is suck it up and not whine."

Whine? What planet are you on? This is fricken hilarious! What comedy. Democrats are doing stand up comedy and don't even know it. Clueless lot they are. They have tea with terrorists who would like nothing more than to cut their heads off yet are affraid of the most honest NEWS NETWORK in the Country. Maybe it's not FOX they fear but rather them hanging themselves with their own words or lack there of. Simply put, liars fear being called on their lies. That's all they have to say, the American people will understand.

bryanD[elusional]

Plus boycotting the boycotters at Fox

So... just what has Fox boycotted?

"Honest reporting is to Fox what humility and wisdom are to GWB."

Don't be so grumpy Groucho, Just because GWB is a "TWO TERM REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT". Look at the two imbecile frauds the democrats picked to lose.

"So... just what has Fox boycotted?"

The only thing he could be talking about but will never admit is the democrat perpetual fraud. Why can't FOX just lob some right over the plate like Spittle Face on Softballs.

"By the same token, can we keep the Democrats restricted to Comedy Central?"

I was thinking more along the lines of fear.net.

I love to watch these people freak out over one, I repeat one, news channel. And it happens to be the most popular, which tells me they're not so mainstream as they claim to be.

marc, Vermont, France, Disneyworld on O'Reilly.

Editorially, the British Opposition parties. Anti-PRC news. Security and Prosperity Partnership and the Transnational Highway.

Who? and what?

Oyster. "fear" is the modus operandi of this whole administration.
Even they realized how pathetic it was to put 300,000,000 people on Orange Alert time and again. File it under "whatever happened to...?"

"I love to watch these people freak out over one, I repeat one, news channel"

"Freak out" is not the correct term. "Damage". The word is "damage".

(You Bushies need to express yourselves in a not so maniacal way. If Rob's arms were wings, he'd be at 30,000 ft, elevation. Scrapiron would have drilled himself to China.)

Hmm.. Fox News is the most watched news channel and the Democrats are, apparently, afraid of Fox News.

What possible conclusions can one draw ?

+The mainstream Democrats aren't nearly so mainstream as they'd like to believe ? (as someone previously stated)
+The Democrats are incapable of handling scrutiny from media that isn't in their pocket ?
+The Democrats realize that the less people know about them the better off they are ?
+...

Syndicated radio talk show host, Neal Boortz (who urged honestly urged his listeners to support Air America and even donated money himself) had curious little piece about why 'Liberal' talk shows fail when 'Liberals' are overrepresented in the print media outlets...

boortz.com/nuze/200704/04092007.html#liberals

The gist of his point is that they're unable to stand up to scrutiny of the audience (there's always someone smarter than you no matter how smart you may be). Perhaps this is the same reason that they're now "Fleeing Fox News" ?

Fox is the most watched cable news show. American Idol is the most watched TV program. If it's all about numbers, why not have the contestants, er, I mean candidateson AI. Who will be voted off next?

Another conclusion for _Mike_'s list:

The democrats are justifiably leery of a network that has it has its mouth firmly attached to Bush's rectum claiming it is "fair and balanced".

Fox is fair and balanced, because it reports not only the negative for republicans BUT the negative things for democrats as well. That's why you guys can't stand it. You are use to the MSM covering your asses for you and Fox won't go along with that.

Anyway, anything that makes the democrats look like the whiny sissy babies they are, is fine with me.

The democrats are justifiably leery of a network that has it has its mouth firmly attached to Bush's rectum claiming it is "fair and balanced".

What's the basis for the Democrats fear ? It's my understanding that the Democrats are fleeing from live, unedited debates.

"Hmm.. Fox News is the most watched news channel and the Democrats are, apparently, afraid of Fox News."

"What possible conclusions can one draw ?"

One conclusion is that you're an uninformed partisan joker who probably watches way too much Faux News. Check the ratings, pinhead. News programs on ABC, NBC, CBS, etc. stomp the crap out of Fox News.

The Democratic candidates are doing the absolutely 100% correct thing by boycotting Fox's debates, and the press this story is getting is letting the world know that Fox News is not a legitimate news organization - but is instead just a right-wing propaganda machine.

Yes, it's a popular right-wing propaganda machine -- but let's see what happens to those ratings over the next six months...

reaping what you sow, baby -- reaping what you sow...

If the Nutwitz have this much control over a Democrat imagine a Democratic President.

The clear answer the the debate issue is simple --let Al Jazzeera hold the debate.

I have an honest question for all of you right of center people posting here

If Air America Radio offered to host the republican presidential debates should republican candidates participate or boycott?

Careful righties this is a trick question.

The dim candidates avoiding Fox are fools. But then again they are dims. MoveOn.org and the rest of the the nutroots are simply proving once again tons of money and a good organization can get you media exposure, but if the product is a dog, it won't sell. Playing to the far left almost guarantees a primary victory in a number of states but can only result in a defeat in the general. The CBC has no love for Fox but are sufficiently grounded in reality to know that Fox for all its shortcomings has by far the largest number of viewers in cable TV. Which is also telling of the other cable networks. The CBC has made the simple logical conclusion ( a logic that escapes the sophisticated white commie) that the best way to get the voting public (and cable viewers vote at a much higher rate than non viewers)is to get them exposure on the network with the highest number of viewers.
So if the dim candidates who's lips are firmly planted on MoveOn's and Kos's butts pass on Fox so be it. Next March they will be gone. What will be interesting is if the dims finally weed out the far left trash and select a candidate that is really capable of attracting the average American voter.
So far the only thing the dims really have going for them is absolute ineptnes of the Republican Party.

Everyday I suspect more and more that BryanD is the author of Bush's previous Iraq policy....