Interesting post about Clinton on Fox News the other day...
That said, the current turmoil over the President's appearance on Fox News Sunday did illustrate what I think is a long-standing weakness of the Democratic Party and their standard bearers: they're not used to being treated like dirt.
Conservatives are, and it shows. When a conservative Republican is on a show like Hardball or talking with a reporter from the New York Times, he knows he is in for it, that he isn't going to get a fair deal and that everything he says will be twisted and tortured and given the most negative spin possible. Accordingly, conservatives have learned to roll with such punches and, critically, how to get their message across in such an environment.
Liberals have not, to date, had to deal with any of this on such a large scale. One of the reasons Fox News drives liberals absolutely nuts is because of the simple *affront* of it all. No one talks like that to liberals, not the press and certainly not academics.
Clinton had some good points (and some bad ones) but the over-the-top, shrill denunciations of Wallace, Murdoch and Fox News were the product of an outraged temper of a man not used to being treated roughly. This sort of delicacy keeps liberal pols out of shape in the same way that a football player never knocked around in practice is not ready for the big game.
The media is changing, and liberals should wise up and realize their home field advantage days are long over. The sooner they internalize that lesson, the better off we'll all be.
Source: New Sisyphus