Cal Thomas Mischaracterizes 527 Groups
Reported by Ellen - February 22, 2005
On Saturday night's After Hours with Cal Thomas (2/19/05), Cal discussed the birth of new liberal think tanks, portraying them as another losing idea from the left.
"The left thinks its problem is... a failure to communicate so George Soros and some other billionaires involved in last year's 527 groups supporting John Kerry have announced thier intent to create liberal organizations they hope will rival Heritage (Foundation), CATO and AEI."
Comment: 527 groups did not support John Kerry. The law forbids them to support a candidate. If the 527 groups supported Kerry, then the Swift Boat Vets supported Bush, a claim we are unlikely to see on FOX.
Thomas: "The big media (Dan Rather appears on the TV screen just at that moment) trumpeted (the liberal 527 groups') message and a majority of voters rejected it - from legalizing drugs, higher taxes, more regulation and gay marriage."
Comment: Thomas seems to have forgotten that CBS refused to air MoveOn's Bush in 30 seconds ad during the 2004 Super Bowl while allowing an issue ad from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Thomas also seems to have forgotten that MoveOn's ad was not about any of the issues Thomas singled out but a dramatization of the effect of the national deficit on children. Thomas also seems to have forgotten that a lot of the liberal groups were also a lot more concerned with the economy and the botched war in Iraq more than any of the issues he singled out. Maybe he didn't want to remind viewers about those Bush failures.
