The MSM will run the clips of Obama "lashing out" or "attacking FOX", just as they did when Clinton was on with Chris Wallace.

I fail to see any up side to this approach.

Greg, where is the Clinton response to his upcoming appearance? You have their response for everything else.

I'll save you the time:

"For a man who wants change, Barack is appearing on the very network that is synonymous with George Bush and his party. This calls into question his judgment and ability to be a leader, as I have NEVER appeared on the Fox News network. Barack should be ashamed. We don't think he's a closet muslim republican, as far as we know."

I'm not real big on his decision to go on Fox, but I'm willing to accept, begrudgingly, that Obama and some of the people working for his campaign MAY be smarter than me, and thus have thought this through and made the right move.

What's the saying about insanity? Doing the same thing over and over, but expecting something different?

Obama will go on Fox News. No matter how reasonable, sensible, and compelling he is, Fox (and CNN, MSNBC) will pick the most unflattering snippet, and play that over and over and over again.

He'll be fine.

Fox will do their usual crap, but coming on the heels of the ABC debate, it should have a diminished effect. The story isn't as compelling the second time around.

Gee, not long ago it was the Clintons who betrayed Dems by going on Fox. And just yesterday Fat Slob Uberman and his tedious gal thursday Madow were cluck cluck clucking over the very idea of any Dem going on Fox! Oh, the humanity!
Ooops! Guess they didn't get the memo...

For the rest of us it is just more proof, as if more were needed, of what a fraud Obama is.
A fraud and a liar, the ghetto hustler writ large.
And now that Wright is back in the news with a vengeance, this time blaming the media for his hate speech and blithely informing us that his boy Barack is just a politician saying what politicians have to say, well I guess Wright's a racist too!

Obama is going down. Thank god there are not enough AA and KosKids to give him the White House.
And if the Dems are suicidal enough to nominate him then the GE will be his grave and there will be dancing upon it.
Because best of all, the snot nosed progressives will be forced back into their loser closet for another eight years where they can get to work reorganizing their circular firing squad.
This is just beginning to get good!

Well he SURE as heck is smarter than ME, so I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he knows exactly what he is doing . . .

Well, good, I guess - maybe he'll actually get through to some of the idiots who watch Fox.

Keep talking - I suppose bigotry & ignorance are easier to deal with when they're out in the open.

He is being terribly naive. The "questions" will be long narrative "opening statements" such as:

"Sen. Obama, you have courted domestic terrorists like William Ayers for their political support. Ayers, of course, bombed American government builings, never repented, and on 9/11 said that the bombings did not go far enough. When questioned about Ayers in the last debate, you were very defensive and did not, in the eyes of many, renounce Ayers. In fact, you appeared to defend him by suggesting he was just a benign "English professor." Senator, do you regret your association with this domestic terrorist?"

By asking this kind of loaded question, the answer is almost irrelevant. How will he "take on" that kind of question -- if he answers it like he did in the deabte, the FOX headline is "Obama defends Ayers." If he attacks Wallace for having the temerity to ask the question, the FOX headline will be "Obama evades questions about ties to Ayers."

Get the point?

I honestly think that inasmuch as Obama froze Fox out for quite some time for smearing him with the Madrassah lie, that Fox probably is willing to meet some of Obama's terms. The reason I think that is because I think Fox knows he's going to be president and they want access just like every other news org.

The campaign played Fox already - pretty thoroughly.

Well, this seems OK to me.

Obama has said that he will speak to people even when they disagree; tell them what they need to hear instead of what they want to hear. He can do this again with FOX.

Also, with the Indiana primary around the corner it might be a way to reach their voters. It is an open primary in a red state -- some of the Dem primary voters watch FOX.

I might even watch.

Obama will do fine.
FOX will spin against him regardless of what he does.
The larger narrative for rational people will be:
Obama is not afraid to go into any neighborhood to speak for himself and promote his message.

IMHO, talking back to and "taking on" the media is not some capricious project -- it is indispensible for any Democrat who wants to win in November -- Obama can do it credibly.

Democrats have been complaining about Fox and their creepy cable cohorts for years -- be have to make a compelling argument to the American people that Fox (and CNN, etc.) shouldn't be controlling our political debates -- they are a central part of the corrupt, money-driven, gridlocked DC scene that Americans hate and want to change. They helped bring us Iraq, and there will be other disasters until we sweep them back to the margins where they belong.

My guess is that Obama is trying to egg on Fox to ask character questions (lies, hate, racism, patriotism) in hopes to turn these around. I actually hope they do as they'll hand him his head on a platter. His free pass as a Black candidate who people hesitate to criticize for fear of being labeled racist has its limits. Obama has had his 15-minutes of the audacity to shove racism, hate, unAmerican views, and lies upon the public. While it continues to feed the left-wing Obama Cult, I think he seriously underestimates that the rest of America is increasingly seeing him for what he is. Fox is least likely to accept what he spews and has an audience, small though it may be, to answer to.

Matthew
http://www.TheProblemWithObama.com

I am encouraged to read that Obama is lending his marginally respectable name to the support of the ratings challenged entertainment network that provides no programming of social redeemable value.

Perhaps he can defend his indefensible abandonment of supporting our constitutional rights during the Mukasey confirmation . . .

McCain-Clinton ’08

I am heavily leaning toward Obama as the Dem nominee, but this whole going-on-Fox thing makes me very uneasy. I appreciate his desire to take on a network bully, and I'm sure he will go in prepared....but the fact is he'll be going in to a scenario where he is at a distinct disadvantage. That's the problem that any liberal or any reasonable-minded person of any political stripe faces going on that network.

Maybe he has some ace up his sleeve - I sure hope so. If he's just going on to show that he's willing to go on, then I question his judgment. It's not that I think it would necessarily be a disaster, even if it doesn't go well, but it could be yet another ridiculous distraction.

This strikes me as a very bad idea. A fair number of moderates and independents buy into the Fox tag line of being fair and balanced and not being part of the liberal media. While most of us are smart enough to see through that BS, Fox's status as a uniquely defiant conservative media voice allows people to view that as "moderate" when compared to the mainstream "liberal" media.

If Obama gets really confrontational he's likely to convince moderates and independents that he's some wacky left wing communist.

You are being sarcastic right? It would take MSNBC ten years of sucking up to Obama, day in an day out, weekends included, to even come close to being as pro-Obama as Fox is pro-Bush.

After the ambush by ABC, how much worse can Fox be?

Plus, there are a disgusting number of people who *only* watch Fox. Maybe he'll reach a few of those. If he's in his full charm mode, it might do him some good. He's damned good when he can humor to poke holes in the silliness.

I suspect this is all part of his long game. He's got his eye on November, always has. He's run a smart campaign so far, so I trust he's got a good reason for doing this.

I think we will just have to wait and see what Obama has up his sleeve this time. Remember that Obama's methods have never been what we would like or even expect, however his methods have always worked for him.. or so it seems.

So let's just wait and see what method there is to his madness... just note that it will be interesting no matter what!

Cheers

Another melt down.

I hope he made deal to have it edited to clean it up after they crush him.

Reading some of the posts here I get the impression that some folks are scared to death of Fox News. I get the same impression that some of us here cower with the mere thought of the word ROVE.

Why should Obama need to try to hold his own on Fox? Why are we not expecting him to put the fox to rest in his usually calm and reposed style? Has he not put every kitchen sink that came flying through the air to rest?

Is he not holding Hillary and McCain by their throats and at arms length? Is he not the front runner by the greater support from millions of people like you and I?

So why are we wondering if he can make it through a session with FOX? Come on people, lets collectively expect Obama to put the fox to rest. Stop this cowering and rattling of teeth.

Maybe Obama is the fix for the FOX... is that so IMPOSSIBLE?

Well, this time, hopefully Obama has the "right answers" ready for the questions we all know will probably come up. My advice to Obama, become Huckabee-Light. Stress your faith and social justice, and leave Wallace speechless. Why? Because of this AP story how Evangelicals are leaving the GOP in part because of a redefinition of the Christian mission beyond just issues like abortion and homosexuality: " A study in February by the Barna Group, a firm specializing in researching data on religion and society, shows the dynamism of this upheaval. It found 40 percent of likely born-again voters planned to vote Democratic this year, compared with 29 percent who planned to vote Republican. And, perhaps most surprising, large percentages of born-again and evangelical voters remain undecided compared with previous election years.".

It found 40 percent of likely born-again voters planned to vote Democratic this year, compared with 29 percent who planned to vote Republican. And, perhaps most surprising, large percentages of born-again and evangelical voters remain undecided compared with previous election years.".

If the Republicans have lost the religious right, and I already thought they had because Bush didn't deliver - abortion is still legal, among other things - then wow.

Watch those damn electronic voting machines because this will be a rout at this rate and if it isn't, something's wrong.

It found 40 percent of likely born-again voters planned to vote Democratic this year, compared with 29 percent who planned to vote Republican. And, perhaps most surprising, large percentages of born-again and evangelical voters remain undecided compared with previous election years.".

If the Republicans have lost the religious right, and I already thought they had because Bush didn't deliver - abortion is still legal, among other things - then wow.

Watch those damn electronic voting machines because this will be a rout at this rate and if it isn't, something's wrong.

Why not. Everything that could possibly hurt Obama, no matter how scurrilous is now out there. He might as well go on and massage these negative stories now. If anything, it'll help him in Indiana a bit.

As much as I understood Obama's reasons and applauded them, I was never completely comfortable with a complete media blackout of Fox News. It's true that as a network, they are marginalized, but they still have an audience. Completely boycotting Fox News lets an entire network that is dedicated to a destructive ideological viewpoint push a message and an agenda with absolutely no input on that process. Plus it gives Clinton surrogates like Lanny Davis and Ferraro a place to spin and lie (looking at you Lanny) without fear of any kind of journalistic challenge.

At some point, Obama was going to have to acknowledge Fox, and I'd rather see it now than in the middle of the general when they're actively helping McCain with a swiftboat campaign.

McCain will start hitting the abortion high notes soon, don't worry, and all the Evangelicals will come running back to the Republican fold.

It is something though to think that some of these voters might actually vote on an issue besides abortion, gay marriage, etc....

Among his problems, he has got to stop saying "uh" especially at the wrong times. I have thought of him as a *really* powerful orator, but I have found him disappointing and, not filled with energy, lately.

He seems to say things like, "What I really need you to UNDERSTAND here is, uh... the thing..."

Hillary was so fired up in this last round at the end and he didn't match that. He may need a speech coach, seriously (maybe as a mere refresher). Never thought I'd say that. But it helps to get people fired up, without coming across as an empty shouting machine. Lately he hasn't had the right balance, I don't think.

...and the Obama camp's reply to this:

"And who's campaign strategist is now being used on FOX News promos saying what a great network it is?"

I trust Obama's wisdom on this one. Since we are in the heading toward the "basketball primaries" (IN and NC), let's hope he hits nothing but net.

Yep, head off to that "TheproblemwithObama" site...all kinds of really profound revelations. Why, we learn that Obama is a racist and hater of whites! And other amazing stories . Well, mainly opinion, of course. Wonder when we'll see the 527 Ad about Obama not voting for the death penalty for minors.....it's been airing for a day or two, you guys are slow. This might be a Clinton supporter site, but more likely just wingnuts who hang out at redstate.com. But the Repubs do have a problem - John McCain has a whole lot of skeletons in his closet, which is why he desperately wants to not overuse the 527 Slime Machine. Oh well.

Oops...my comment above was a reply to elonepg's comment at 11:12. I THOUGHT I hit the reply button. ;-/

when are people going to realize that Obama is sunk. He can't win the big states. THEY'RE BIG for God's sake. How can he win without them.

If Obama comes across as a fighter on Fox it could help erase the impression of wimpishness he created on ABC. That he won't debate Hillary again isn't helping him. If he comes across as an indignant victim of GOP smears, it won't help him.

This is a brilliant move by Obama. It shows his commitment to think outside of the box and his commitment to always try to think of win-win situations, precisely the kind of person I want talking to our enemies. If anybody's noticed Fox's viewership is down, way down. People are finally able to see through their partisan bias and friendships with this regime. I know that people are upset that Fox will have a ratings dream when Obama comes on the show. From what I have seen of clips from Fox and news about connections to the white house, there is plenty of fuel for Barack to finally show some anger. People want to see that he can be tough and also communicate to people who became suspicious of him because of Jeramiah Wright. I pray the circus can stop and we can move on to letting the issues be discussed which will affect our history.