Fox News Gone Wild: Attempts to Sabotage Ron Paul Campaign, Ambush Obama

Posted by Steven Reynolds, The All Spin Zone at 7:02 AM on January 7, 2008.

Fox News is out of control and funny as hell. They edit Ron Paul out of the picture, and they send in Big Old Bill O'Reilly to personally atack a campaign staffer of Barack Obama. I'm thinking Fox News needs to bring out the big guns again, but I recommend Bill O'Reilly carry his loofah this time.

Hey, if they can't sway a candidate, if they can't get them to show up for interviews, they'll resort to physical intimidation, or even "rub them out." FoxNews intends on being a "playa" in this year's elections, by whatever means.

It's already been written about how Democrats will not attend a Fox News sponsored debate. I've no problem with that. As a Democrat, I would also refuse to attend a debate run by TASS or La Monde. I would want the debate sponsored by an entity that respects American values, such as inviting all the candidates to attend the debate, including Ron Paul. But Fox News has a thing about Ron Paul. They don't just stop at refusing to invite him to participate in a debate, even though Paul is the biggest money-raiser in the race this last quarter. Fox News is even editing Ron Paul's name out of Associated Press stories. Yeah, they erased Ron Paul, tried to rub him out! Fox News figures if they don't include Ron Paul, then he'll go away, but Ron Paul just nearly beat a nine year old in a poll, so he's serious, at least as much as any other Republican candidate!

Fox News debuted its new strategy for covering the Democratic primaries yesterday, when it sent its head goon, Bill O'Reilly to intimidate those working for Barack Obama. In typical O'Reilly thuggish style, he poshed and shoved an Obama staffer, reportedly sprinking his speech with obscenities. The incident is being reported by the Associated Press, with video by Salem-News.com:

No one ever accused Bill O'Reilly of being a wilting flower.

So when the Fox News Channel commentator and interviewer appeared midway through a Barack Obama rally at a Nashua high school Saturday, his presence was evident. Tall, with camera crew in tow, O'Reilly marched forward to get a good look.

Journalists have been known to seek the best angle.

But it was after Obama's speech that O'Reilly threw some elbows. And not so figuratively either.

Obama staffer Marvin Nicholson, a personal aide always at Obama's side during rope line handshakes, said O'Reilly yelled at him to get out of the way of his cameraman's shot. Nicholson said O'Reilly came around the waist-high barricade separating Obama from well-wishers.

"Then he grabbed me with both of his arms and tried to push me out of the way," Nicholson said after the campaign agreed to make him available to reporters.

O'Reilly, interviewed afterward by phone on Fox News, said he tried "to gently remove" Nicholson because he was standing in front of Fox's camera.

"We're sorry we had to have that little confrontation, but no one on this earth is going to block a shot on "The O'Reilly Factor." It is not going to happen," O'Reilly said.

The scene was hard to miss. O'Reilly is about 6-feet-5-inches tall. Nicholson is 6-feet-8-inches tall.

"I told him, 'Sir, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't shove me anymore.' He called me 'low class.' He was pretty upset," Nicholson said.

Secret Service agents assigned to protect Obama ordered O'Reilly back behind the barricade. At that point Obama approached him and extended his hand.

I'm thinking these guys would do very well on American Gladiators. Then again, O'Reilly probably doesn't have that kind of dignity.

Ah well. I'm thinking the exclusion of Ron Paul will only increase his popularity in New Hampshire. The day when Fox News could successfully hype a candidate are coming to an end. They sure didn't sink Huckabee, did they? And that physical attack on an Obama campaign staffer by Bill O'Reilly? It didn't prevent new and encouraging numbers for the Obama camp -- a lead of 39%-29% in the latest CNN New Hampshire poll.

Tagged as: o'reilly, obama, fox news, paul

Steven Reynolds is a regular blogger for the All Spin Zone