Contact: Bob Sturm, 703-396-6974; after 6 PM Eastern, Vi Shields or Bob Sturm, 703-906-6542, 703-307-8176; both for ConservativeHQ.com
MANASSAS, Va., April 18 /Christian Newswire/ -- Richard A. Viguerie, publisher of ConservativeHQ.com and author of America’s Right Turn: How Conservatives Used New and Alternative Media to Take Power (Bonus Books), issued this statement regarding the ABC News debate in Philadelphia between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton:
Liberal hearts are bleeding because of the tough questioning of Barack Obama and, to some degree, Hillary Clinton by the debate's moderators, Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos of ABC News. MoveOn.org is practically organizing a jihad against ABC!
Liberals' attitude is: "How dare they treat Obama as if he were a conservative! Tough questions from the news media are supposed to be reserved for Republicans and especially conservatives!"
Conservatives are used to tough questions. That's how we've been treated by the news media since we started as a political movement.
Liberals are saying that the Obama and Clinton controversies are just about 'verbal gaffes,' not worthy of attention in a network debate. What softies liberals are! What glass jaws they have! They just can't take a fair hit.
If a conservative makes a 'verbal gaffe,' he or she is treated like a Nazi or worse. Usually, if a liberal insults regular Americans by suggesting they are unpatriotic or backward, or even if he or she associates with extremists and terrorists... well, it's just "Oops," "My bad," "I'll try to speak more clearly next time."
What's different now is that there are alternatives to the so-called "mainstream" media, such as the Internet in general and bloggers in particular.
Obama's "bitter" and "cling" remarks were exposed by a blogger, and his connection to the well-known terrorist William Ayers was also first exposed by a blogger. The falsity of Hillary's Bosnia claims became big news only when video of the trip was dug up by the Media Research Center and linked to by Matt Drudge.
Competition works! Competition for good stories is much more intense now, with the expansion of the new media to include the online community.
And that's the way it's going to be, from here on out. Get used to it, liberals!
Big Media and the liberals have lost control of the message. In the past, information harmful to the Democrats was ignored, sanitized, or spun. Today it is front and center – in the most-watched debate of the season.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Richard A. Viguerie pioneered political direct mail and has been called "one of the creators of the modern conservative movement" (The Nation magazine) and one of the "conservatives of the century" (The Washington Times). His latest book is Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big-Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause (Bonus Books).
