There's a bit of an insider game within the CBC Institute, which is the group that may soon announce the co-hosting arrangement with Fox News for the Presidential debates. The CBC Institute is a c(4), and while it is branded as a Congressional Black Caucus vehicle, there are stakeholders of the group that go beyond the members themselves. And as non-profits with this legal arrangement don't have to disclose their donors, it's not clear where pressure or different incentive structures might be coming from.
The case against Fox News is well-understood, though it isn't necessarily accepted, as there is a friendliness and comfort to right-wing corporate interests among people like Al Wynn and Harold Ford Jr (a former CBC member and current Fox News contributor). Progressive members of the CBC may not like it, but they are politicians and don't want to pick fights when they don't have to. Still, it's pretty hard to rebut this.
One member of the CBC could stop this debate with a phone call, or even one from a staffer. That member is Barack Obama. He is probably the most important member of the CBC and a key figure in this whole episode. One large dollar donor recounted a story to me that he was at an event with Obama, and asked him about the Fox News Nevada debate right after it was canceled. Obama said that he probably wouldn't have gone anyway. This is a credible story; Obama had already frozen out Fox News. Obama could gain more credibility with new progressive activists that he's serious about a new type of politics with some quiet behind-the-scenes maneuvering here.
Without some gentle quiet prodding, though, Fox News will get their CBC debate. Such an arrangement could blow up into a PR fiasco, or the story could peter out. I imagine it's going to be ugly either way. Fox News will still have some (though less) legitimacy, or there will be outrage at the CBC Institute and pressure on every candidate to avoid the debate. He should pick now before everyone's backed into a corner and garner more credibility before it goes public, and risk a backlash.
And here's a little reminder of the whole point of this little charade, Fox News on Obama.
And here's Obama speaking in Oakland, CA (video, 3:01)on St. Patrick's Day.
Obama also was the guest on "Larry King Live" Monday night (rush transcript).
Cross-posted at www.seattleforbarackobarma.com.
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