# Pitting Harry Reid and the Nevada Democrats **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 14, 2007, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847 "2007-03-14T03:53:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/21 "2007-03-14T13:19:48Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] I think they’d be bending over backwards NOT to appear biased and give the Dems ammunition [/QUOTE] I think that’s almost shockingly naive on your part, but oh well. But I agree that the Dems were just using it as an excuse - albeit one that Ailes gift-wrapped and handed to them on a silver platter. The joke seems to have been about Bush, although looking at his transcript I’m less sure. He deserves a penalty for the bad jokes. It’s a confusing issue all around. I have no idea why the Democrats would have even considered putting a debate on Fox. I have no idea why Fox is bothering with the “you’ll be sorry!” threats they made after the Dems pulled out. What’s Fox going to do that it isn’t already doing? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/22 "2007-03-14T13:23:33Z")
I have to agree with this as well. Hell, if Republicans pulled this kind of petty nonsense, they’d refuse to debate on CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, and PBS. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/23 "2007-03-14T13:25:57Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] Hell, if Republicans pulled this kind of petty nonsense, they’d refuse to debate on CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, and PBS. [/QUOTE] And they’d give ex-gay porn stars media credentials. Please post some jokes from the heads of those networks about Republican candidates. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/24 "2007-03-14T13:32:26Z")
Screw Fox. Public events like this should only be aired on legitimate news networks or on CSPAN. Doing it on Fox would only give legitimacy to a bastard. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/25 "2007-03-14T14:05:34Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] I have to agree with this as well. Hell, if Republicans pulled this kind of petty nonsense, they’d refuse to debate on CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, and PBS. [/QUOTE] Yes, because they are by and large stupid fucks who equate the rightward bias of Fox with all their perceived slights from everyone else in the world. I’d prefer that they refuse to have any dealings with all those sources, myself. Unfortunately, the Republicans continually insist not only on having dealings with those sources, but using them as dumping grounds for self-serving misinformation and lies. Perhaps they could boycott them all, but who would serve as their stenographers when they want people to believe bullshit? People already know that Fox is full of shit, so that wouldn’t suffice. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/26 "2007-03-14T14:19:11Z")
It was an excuse to get out of giving a bit of credibility to Faux News as a place for news. I would not like them to debate on Fox. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/27 "2007-03-14T14:22:45Z")
It isn’t a question of legitimacy. It is a question of audience. Speak only to people who agree with you, and you’ll soon find yourself surrounded by them - and losing elections. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/28 "2007-03-14T14:31:23Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] It isn’t a question of legitimacy. It is a question of audience. Speak only to people who agree with you, and you’ll soon find yourself surrounded by them - and losing elections. [/QUOTE] Uh oh. If Democrats don’t go on Fox, they won’t convince all the Fox voters to vote for them, and then we’ll lose elections! :rolleyes: Being a concern troll is so 2006. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/29 "2007-03-14T14:53:10Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] Speak only to people who agree with you, and you’ll soon find yourself surrounded by them - and losing elections. [/QUOTE] So only Democrats watch CNN, NBC, ABC and CBS? If you want a news outlet to cover your debate - and why wouldn’t you? - you should pick a news outlet. It’s stupid to help out a network that you know is opposed to your views. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/30 "2007-03-14T14:59:32Z")
Agree with the OP – and kudos to the OP for a even-handed critique of the situation. “Only Nixon could go to China,” and all that. Bravo, **D**. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/31 "2007-03-14T15:00:49Z")
It occurs to me that, about 45 minutes before the OP was posted, The Daily Show did a pretty long bit last night that that was explicitly critical of the Democrats over the Nevada thing, for much the same reasons as **Dio** gave. A cynical man might think that the OP was trying to steal a little bit of Jon Stewart’s thunder. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/32 "2007-03-14T15:26:09Z")
[QUOTE=VarlosZ] It occurs to me that, about 45 minutes before the OP was posted, The Daily Show did a pretty long bit last night that that was explicitly critical of the Democrats over the Nevada thing, for much the same reasons as **Dio** gave. A cynical man might think that the OP was trying to steal a little bit of Jon Stewart’s thunder. 😃 [/QUOTE] I respect Dio’s opinions and doubt if his post was influenced by anyone. I don’t disagree with him but I’m not so much interested in why decided to cancel the debates on Fox as I am glad they did. The NYT article even states that the remarks made by Roger Ailes were only partially responsible for Reid’s decision. There has been heavy pressure not to have the debate on Fox since the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/33 "2007-03-14T15:51:14Z")
Sure, but why? I mean, George Stephanopolous held a prominent position in the Clinton White House. It is obvious that he has political leanings in the Democratic direction. Does that mean Republicans should refuse to appear on _This Week_? ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/34 "2007-03-14T15:55:53Z")
The dems should have thought through things more before agreeing to the debate. I think they shouldn’t do the debate, but agreeing and then using this as an excuse to back out makes them look worse than not agreeing in the first place. I’ve decided that Roger Ailes’s comments are more of a slam against Bush, but even if they were seen as less friendly it would still be a weak excuse to back out. If they’re responding to pressure from lefty blogs, they should have anticipated that those blogs wouldn’t like them doing the debate and should have not agreed in the first place. If they decided they wanted to go ahead anyway despite what those blogs thought, they should have stuck with that and not backed out. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/35 "2007-03-14T16:09:34Z")
I think it’s a pretty funny joke. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/36 "2007-03-14T16:10:02Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] I agree with your criticism of Reid and the Democrats on this issue. But you thought his joke was funny? Dude, come on! [/QUOTE] The joke was funny, the delivery was very poor. The Daily Show him going through several jokes that probably worked on paper but Roger Ailes delivered in such a hesitant and stumbling manner that all comic timing was lost. I think it was clearly a dig at Bush’s intelligence. [QUOTE=VarlosZ] It occurs to me that, about 45 minutes before the OP was posted, The Daily Show did a pretty long bit last night that that was explicitly critical of the Democrats over the Nevada thing, for much the same reasons as **Dio** gave. A cynical man might think that the OP was trying to steal a little bit of Jon Stewart’s thunder. 😃 [/QUOTE] In fairness to **VarlosZ** , I saw the thread title and wondered the same thing. There should be nothing wrong with being inspired by Jon Stewart. Despite being constantly labels a liberal mouth piece, he is actually quite willing to call stupidity, stupid no matter who is the perpetrator. The Dems look stupid using this as an excuse. Good Op **Dio**. Jim ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/37 "2007-03-14T16:11:25Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] Sure, but why? I mean, George Stephanopolous held a prominent position in the Clinton White House. It is obvious that he has political leanings in the Democratic direction. Does that mean Republicans should refuse to appear on _This Week_? [/QUOTE] Do you think that either Stephanopolous or ABC would write internal memos like [these?](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15750535/) > [@](#): > > “The elections and Rumsfeld’s resignations were a major event but not the end of the world. The war on terror goes on without interruption.” > > “Let’s be on the lookout for any statements from the Iraqi insurgents who must be thrilled at the prospect of a Dem-controlled Congress.” > > “The question of the day and indeed for the rest of Bush’s term is what’s the Dem plan for Iraq? This could be a very short live shot for Jim Angle, but he’ll try.” > > “We’ll continue to work the Hamas threat to the U.S. that came hours after the election results. Just because Dems won, the war on terror isn’t over.” Does Stephanopolous have bias? Of course he does. Does it affect his journalism? I think he tries very hard not to let it. And ABC, wasn’t that the same network that aired the fakeumentary about the road to 9/11 making it look like Clinton dropped the ball on terrorism? Hardly the action of a Democratic shill. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/38 "2007-03-14T16:19:47Z")
Fox has hosted democratic debates before, I seem to recall them doing one in 2004 that was reasonably fair. Brit Hume moderated and was professional about it. Pulling out because of a dumb joke is a stupid move on the Dem’s part. It’s not going to help them. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/39 "2007-03-14T16:25:52Z")
ABC wrote an internal memo of its own, where Mark Halperin instructed his staff not to treat Bush’s and Kerry’s lies evenly because while Kerry lied all of the time, his lies were not central for him to win. So yeah, there are memo issues there as well. ---
**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/40 "2007-03-14T16:28:06Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] The joke was funny, the delivery was very poor. The Daily Show him going through several jokes that probably worked on paper but Roger Ailes delivered in such a hesitant and stumbling manner that all comic timing was lost. I think it was clearly a dig at Bush’s intelligence. In fairness to **VarlosZ** , I saw the thread title and wondered the same thing. There should be nothing wrong with being inspired by Jon Stewart. Despite being constantly labels a liberal mouth piece, he is actually quite willing to call stupidity, stupid no matter who is the perpetrator. The Dems look stupid using this as an excuse. Good Op **Dio**. Jim [/QUOTE] They should have waited and just said they reconsidered. Even the NYT said the pull out was only partially because of Ailes. I can’t find a single other news article about this. There was pressure from a lot of groups not to have the debate on Fox. MoveOn has been putting pressure on as well as black groups and dem blogs. I think Reid was trying to reach new voters and made a wrong decision. When he heard from voters from his own party, he reconsidered. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847.md?page=3)