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« "The Best Test of Truth" | Main | Report from a Town Hall Meeting on Illegal Immigration » September 19, 2006The G Stands for GullibleABC's Good Morning America carried a story Friday morning featuring three Tennessee women who claimed to be ex-Republicans who became Democrats, with one claiming she switched parties because of the war in Iraq. Either GMA's producers are gullible - or GMA thinks its viewers are. Turns out the woman who claimed the Iraq war as the reason for her switch to the Democratic Party is a former press secretary for the Tennessee House Democrat caucus. She also worked for awhile as press secretary for Tennessee Gov. Don Sundquist, who claimed to be a "Republican" but whose chief legacy is a failed push for the state income tax long sought by the Tennessee Democratic Party. Meanwhile, the woman's husband worked for Tennessee's Democrat Secretary of State for ten years. Yet GMA tries to pass her off as emblematic of a formerly stalwart Republican. Details at the Media Research Center. UPDATE: Janna Herbison emailed me an explanation of her appearance on GMA, and it makes GMA look bad for describing Herbison, who has worked for Democrats as well as Republicans, as a Republican switching to the Democrats this election cycle. Here is what Herbison wrote: I'll tell you EXACTLY – and honestly – what I told GMA. One of the heads of the Nashville Women's Political Caucus sent me an e-mail a few days before the interview asking if I knew of any current or former Republicans in Memphis that now lean Democrat (for the GMA story). I told her that I actually qualified for that, but that I had mostly leaned Democrat in the past few years (although I HAVE voted for some Republicans since I was a Democratic press secretary). These days, I pretty much vote for the candidate in some - or more cases. I told them my exact background, but Ms. Roberts accidentally misspoke, and they repeatedly apologized to me after the fact and made a correction about it the following day. I never intentionally misled them. If they stretched it - - which I hope and do not think was the case – that was all up to them. I commend them for the correction, which I have never seen happen before, but the original framing was unfortunate. Ironically, I am a fan of Senator Frist’s and I wasn’t completely sure yet which way I would go in the upcoming presidential election. However, the unfortunate reaction I've recently received from state Republicans over this interview may now have determined my vote.GMA ran a correction.Good for them. But the damage was already done. GMA went looking for Republicans who planned to vote for Democrats this year, and when they found Herbison, they presented her that way, rather than tell viewers the whole truth. Posted in War on Terror
Comments
yeah, when ABC airs the biased mockumentary, it is ok and welcomed on this blog, but when they report on Republicans turning Democrats, suddenly it is not good. BEING REPUBLICAN MYSELF (and proud of it!), I want to believe in unbiased media, and would rather see ABC covering news that work "both ways" than seeing it turning into another Fox (or worse, americablog). We should blame Bush, corrupted administration and religious fanatics for disgracing the Party and its image, not journalists that are simply doing their job. Posted by: k at September 19, 2006 3:44 PMBecause the woman's husband (not the woman) worked for a state office, of which the head is a Democrat, it means that she can't be a Republican? Before Sundquist went on the state income tax line, he was a Republican, correct? It seems like this is all innuendo. She worked for a Republican, but not a REAL Republican. Then the woman's HUSBAND, not the woman, worked in an office. The boss of that office was not a Republican. Therefore we can freely assume neither is she. How does this argument hold water? Posted by: sanskritg at September 19, 2006 5:32 PMShe also worked for the House DEMOCRATIC Caucus, sanskritg Posted by: Bill Hobbs at September 19, 2006 5:40 PMLOL..... Democrats pull these stunts every election. I can't tell you how many "Republicans" I saw on various message boards in 2004 claiming they were fed up with Bush and were going to vote for John Kerry. Of course we all know how that turned out.....Bush received more votes than anyone in the history of this great country. So this game that was played on GMA last week probably should be good news for the Corker camp. Posted by: jeff at September 19, 2006 5:55 PMsanskritg if your household income is supplemented significantly by a spouse who's Democratic ties are significant to his job you can vote Republican all you want, but it does NOT make you some random representative of a "Tennessee Republican woman." That's like saying Jimmy Naifeh doesn't have a conflict of interest with his wife being a lobbyist. All this says nothing of the fact that anyone employed by politics on either (or both) sides is hardly an ethical pick for any news report that doesn't disclose the conflict. Bad reporting. Bad, bad reporting. Posted by: sbk at September 19, 2006 10:10 PMDoes anyone watch these morning TV billboards anymore? They have long lost what little respect and credibility they ever had if any. The old TV test pattern is better programming and would probably draw the same audience. Posted by: Rick Forman at September 20, 2006 8:51 AMJust because I continue to be e-mailed all these stories long after I am completely over this interview, please note that the war in Irag was not the reason I longer call myself a Republican. It was just a gradual decision I made over a couple of years and after I was asked by a friend to apply for a democratic job which I eventually received. - JH Posted by: Janna Fite Herbison at September 20, 2006 11:17 PMJanna Fite Herbison is a Democrat. Has been all her life. Anybody who knows her knows this is true. I laughed when I heard about this stunt. So the Dem's little trick may have worked for a few minutes on a show that nobody watches. But what a sad state of affairs that they have to foment lies to create the impression that they are actually getting somewhere. Posted by: W at September 21, 2006 8:08 AMI live in Memphis now, I'm no longer in politics, but I have never misrepresented myself about my political persuasion, which has at times...yes, changed. - JH Posted by: JH at September 21, 2006 2:18 PM |
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