The problem?
They decided to let Fox News host it. Now all hell has broken lose.
First the Gleaner ("Nevada Dems getting outfoxed?") discovered it, than Matt Stoller on MyDD ("WTF?"), followed by Kos himself at Daily Kos ("Dimwit Nevada Democrats").
So, the Nevada Democratic Party had to defend itself. Myrna at Reno and its Discontent got a statement from party spokesperson Kirsten Searer:
“FOX News’ viewership in Western states and across the country does not always get to hear directly from Democrats in an unedited and uninterrupted fashion. The August debate in Reno will allow the Democratic Presidential candidates to speak to the Fox audience who may be hearing from them for the first time for ninety minutes unfiltered and directly.”
“The Nevada Democratic Party and the Western Majority Project believe it is critical for Democrats to engage people, especially those who have heard too little from Democrats in the past. We believe the more people hear from Democrats, the better chance a Democrat will win the White House in 2008.”
Apparently, this reaction didn't go over well with the big shot bloggers. The reaction ranged from calling it "lame" (Kos) to Chris Bowers at MyDD now going into "Action" mode and set up an email form at BlogPac. This follows an announcement by MoveOn.org to take action against the debate. Myrna has the lowdown on that:
I just spoke to Adam Green of Moveon.org which is planning a campaign against Fox News’s pose as a legitimate news agency. They see the upcoming Democratic debate sponsored by the Western Majority Project and the Nevada State Democratic Party is an opportunity to put pressure on the state party and other new organizations and are going to time it with a YouTube video by Robert Greenwald called “Fox Attacks Obama.”
In a rather shocking move, Green wants to include Nevada liberal bloggers in this campaign, or at least let us know what the plans are so that we can help as we see fit. I sure hope someone tfrom the state party is reading this…..you might want to brace yourself.
Interestingly, none of the big shots at Daily Kos and MyDD have called Harry Reid a "dimwit" or called on him to cancel the Fox News debate. They don't even seem to be able to find this prominent quote by Sen. Reid - who basically runs the Nevada Democratic Party - in the debate announcement press release:
In making the announcement, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said, “This is more great news for Nevada. I'm happy FOX News will be a partner for the August presidential debate. Western issues will be a major focus of this debate in particular. With FOX News as our partner, candidates will have an opportunity to not only speak to Nevada voters, but voters across the West who will be instrumental to electing a Democratic president in 2008.”
This is the SECOND paragraph for crying out loud. Naturally, I have to agree with the Gleaner and Myrna that the person to go to is Harry Reid. So far, Kos and the guys at MyDD seem to be afraid of that.
UPDATE:
The action email by BlogPac does include the following paragraph at the end of the page:
By clicking submit for this campaign your message will be sent to Nevada Democratic Party Chair Todd Collins, Nevada Speaker of the Assembly Barbara Buckley, Nevada State Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, U.S. Representative Shelley Berkley, and U.S. Senator Harry Reid. Your name will also be added to the BlogPac email list. You can unsubscribe at any time.
So, there actually is a mention of Harry Reid and they are targeting him, though only as part of a group. And how the Representative from Las Vegas has more to say about a debate in Reno than the Senate Majority Leader who announced this deal just escapes me.
UPDATE 2:
Well, there seems to be a sudden turnaround in the non focus on Harry Reid. Kos just published a post headlined "Hey Harry, look at what Fox did the last time they hosted a debate":
MoveOn is joining the effort, while local blogger Myrna thinks Harry Reid should get pressure, as Nevada Dems won't do anything without his approval.
...
Good point. I'm on it.
Cheers to him!
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