Whether it's by accident or design, the "fair & balanced" Fox new script sometimes bears an uncanny resemblance to the official talking points of the Republican National Committee - even to the point of copying the same typos! As Media Matters has reported, this week's Fox & Friends special feature, political "rising stars," seems to dovetail nicely with a new Republican initiative to "attract a wider range of voters by promoting new Republican individuals and talent within the party." And despite Steve Doocy's claim that they would be showcasing individuals from both parties, today was the third puff piece that followed the same formula of the last two pieces that showcased GOP public officials who, if you believe Fox & Friends are absolutely awesome and have no problems whatsoever. Today, Steve Doocy drooled over Ohio's GOP Secretary of State Jon Husted whose attempts to engage in voter suppression were nicely whitewashed (pun intended!)
This morning, Steve Doocy welcomed Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted whose 2012 attempt to block provisional votes of those who voted in the wrong place was shot down by a federal judge. When his measure to block early voting was shot down by a judge, he appealed to the Supreme Court and was rebuffed. But these inconvenient truths (not mentioned during the interview) weren't a problem for Fox & Friends who see Husted as the GOP's "next big hope."
Steve Doocy was all smiles when, in introducing his guest, he noted that Husted was named, by the Washington Post, as one of the top ten "rising stars." (Actually it's a WaPo blog run by Chris Cilizza). Husted described himself as "just a small town guy." When Doocy asked him about his accomplishments, Husted said that "we have a simple philosophy, make it easy to vote and hard to cheat." (LOL, this is the guy whose voter suppression measures got shot down.) He spoke about a program that facilitates voting for veterans because of soldiers who, allegedly, couldn't get access to ballots in 2008. (Hmm, which election was that?) The chyron established, as Fox Fact, that Husted is "An All American Family Man" who "Focuses On Role As Husband And Dad."
He bragged about "cleaning up the voter rolls." Doocy deftly framed the right wing propaganda meme that what is considered voter suppression is really a high minded attempt, by Republicans, to ensure the integrity of the vote: “I would imagine as you try to clean up the voter rolls, you were probably accused of voting suppression at some point, weren’t you?”
Husted recounted how all Ohio boards of elections reviewed alleged cases of fraud/irregularities and suppression and came up with 270 cases of alleged fraud and no cases of suppression. (According to ABC, 135 cases have been sent to law enforcement. The irregularities "included double voting, standing in for another voter, and voting from an address from which an individual was not eligible." 5.6 million ballots were cast.) He bragged about how Ohio is a great place to do business because taxes have been cut. Steve could barely contain his love as he bid him adieu.