History Forum / General / British History / July 2008

DSH
Lux et Veritas et Libertas
Vires et Honor
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The Caucus
The New York Times Politics Blog

July 7, 2008
A Clintonian at Fox
By Jim Rutenberg

Howard Wolfson, who was a top strategist for the presidential campaign of
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, is going where some Democrats were unwilling
to go during the early days of the election season: the Fox News Channel.

The network is expected to announce as early as Tuesday that it has signed
Mr. Wolfson as a contributor who will appear regularly on its programs.

Mr. Wolfson is joining a network that Democrats shunned for a time,
complaining that its coverage was unfair. But aides to Mrs. Clinton came to
view Fox News as distinctly fair to her in a news media climate that they
believed favored Senator Barack Obama.

And they have been RIGHT.  Most of the media have been in the TANK for Fast
Eddie Obama. -- DSH

"I thought that Fox's coverage during the primary was comprehensive and fair
and evenhanded," Mr. Wolfson said Monday in a telephone interview from
Liverpool, England, where he was vacationing.  "It's a huge audience, and it
is important to have a strong, progressive voice on the network."

Mr. Wolfson has long been associated with Mrs. Clinton, working as a
strategist on her 2000 and 2006 Senate campaigns - with a stint in between
as a communications strategist for the national party - and then joining her
presidential team.

Originally serving as Mrs. Clinton's communications director, Mr. Wolfson
became one of her leading strategists in the final stage of her campaign,
after the role of her chief adviser, Mark Penn, was diminished amid severe
staff infighting.

Mr. Wolfson maintained a steady presence on television throughout the
campaign, sparring frequently with the chief strategist for Mr. Obama, David
Axelrod, who is a friend of his.

Mr. Wolfson's move to Fox News would likely staunch speculation over whether
he would join Mr. Obama's campaign.  But he will certainly forward its
message on the network, which appeals to more conservative, independent,
white voters Mr. Obama is trying to court.

Mr. Wolfson's decision to join Fox represents a general feeling among
Clinton partisans that the network treated her more fairly than did other
networks it viewed as overly friendly to Mr. Obama.

CORRECT!  Especially NBC, CNN, CBS and the NYT. -- DSH

The night Mrs. Clinton won the Pennsylvania primary, several months after
Mrs. Clinton joined other Democrats in opting out of a debate that Fox News
was to sponsor, her campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe declared live on Fox,
"Fair and Balanced Fox!" (The network was first to declare her the victor
that night.)

Last month the network signed Lanny Davis, a former special counsel to Bill
Clinton and a vocal supporter of Mrs. Clinton, as a contributor.

Mr. Wolfson is to return to his government affairs firm Glover Park later
this year and his work with Fox will be part time.  His first appearance
could come as early as this week and he will immediately become one of the
highest-ranking Democrats with a regular role on the network.

John Moody, the executive vice president of the news division, said Mr.
Wolfson would appear on various Fox News programs.  He declined to say how
much Fox was paying Mr. Wolfson.

Mr. Wolfson becomes the latest in a succession of political professionals
who have signed on with television news networks as regular commentators
providing insider analysis this election season - the sort of role that was
once met with alarm within newsrooms but now hardly raises eyebrows.

Mr. Wolfson said he especially relished the chance to take on another Fox
News analyst fresh from the political battlefield, the Republican strategist
Karl Rove.

In a phone interview , Mr. Rove - who shares a lawyer, Robert B. Barnett,
with Mr. Wolfson - welcomed Mr. Wolfson aboard.

"The guy is very smart," Mr. Rove said. "He strikes me as a very able guy
and surprisingly pleasant and amiable."

Why surprisingly? "You see the Clinton attack machine and so forth," he
said, "but here's a guy who's very smart, and I always admire a passionate
advocate, which he is."

Let the games begin.