| | Obama spokesman: Fox 'a mix of an infomercial for McCain and the X-Files'
 John McCain's $300 billion mortgage buy-up plan came under intense criticism from economists and experts Thursday because of the burden it would place on taxpayers. On the same day, McCain released a video press release attacking his Democratic opponent for previously associating with a former '60s radical.
Quick, guess what the hosts of Fox & Friends wanted to talk about! Why, Barack Obama and Bill Ayers, of course. A spokesman for the Democratic candidate was determined not to let the morning co-hosts sit comfortably in their positions as unofficial McCain mud-slingers.
Following the lead of Obama strategist Robert Gibbs, who tore into Sean Hannity earlier this week, Obama Press Secretary Bill Burton accused Steve Doocey and Gretchen Wilson of wallowing in the mud of distraction rather than discussing issues voters care about.
"I'm guessing you guys don't want to talk about the economy, huh?" Burton said to kick off the interview.
He was right.
Taking their cues from a 90-second Web ad, which by the way the McCain campaign isn't even bothering to pay to air on television, the Fox hosts would not be swayed from their exclusively Ayers related questions. Burton reiterated that Obama and Ayers did cross paths a few times, many years ago, Obama deplores the actions of the Weather Underground, and Bill Ayers has nothing to do with any of the real and pressing problems facing the country.
"The fact is, this morning we wake up ... and every newspaper from the Washington Post to the Wall Street Journal, which loves John McCain, says that he has a new program -- it's $300 billion -- it's terrible. What it does is it puts taxpayers on the hook (for bad mortgages), but we're not talking about that right now, we're talking about something that's already been asked and answered and discussed," Burton said. "John McCain, as his campaign has said over and over again, does not want to talk about the economy because if they do they lose."
Doocey jumped in, doing his damnedest to steer the conversation back to Ayers, making the completely unfounded accusation that Obama is lying about meeting Ayers in the mid-90s, because their wives happened to work at the same huge law firm 10 years earlier.
"Watching TV this morning, it's like a mix between an infomercial for the McCain campaign and an episode of the X-Files, with all the conspiracies and criss-crossing suggestions of associations and secret meetings and things like that," Burton said. "No, we've said before that Sen. Obama didn't know him until 1995."
The hosts wouldn't give up. Doocey tried to shout down Burton a couple times, while the network displayed an incendiary photo of Ayers stomping on an American flag. Wilson demanded "a specific date" for when Obama learned the full details of Ayers's past.
"Gretchen, this is ridiculous. It's completely ridiculous," Burton charged. "These questions have been asked and answered, over and over again.... It's a distraction, but I understand this is what the McCain campaign wants to talk about. And, you know, they're pretty effectively getting to talk about it, and getting me to talk about it on Fox News this morning because of this ad they put out."
Wilson seemed to take offense at the seemingly undeniable accusation that she was taking her cues directly from the McCain campaign, defending the inquiry as a response to "our viewers" wanting to know about Ayers as well.
"I'm sure you've got McCain supporters watching Fox News, that's not news to anybody," Burton quipped. "But the fact is, I bet your [viewers] would love to know what's going on with this $300 billion plan that John McCain is going to saddle taxpayers on."
After some sputtering about the "independent" voters who watch Fox News, Burton was abruptly dismissed and the program cut to a commercial.
This video is from Fox's Fox & Friends, broadcast October 8, 2008.
Download video via RawReplay.com
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