ABC
Nightline co-host Terry Moran has been supportive of
Barack Obama. His syrupy report
of November 6, 2006 is legendary for its gush: "You can
see it in the crowds. The thrill, the hope. How they surge
toward him. You're looking at an American political
phenomenon.... Everywhere he goes, people want him to run for
President, especially in Iowa, cradle of presidential
contenders. Around here, they're even naming babies after him."
Now, in the final weeks of the campaign, Moran suggested that
Sarah Palin's comments about Obama's friendship with
radical-left bomber Bill Ayers could be endangering Obama's
life. On the October 13 Nightline, Moran spent a day on
the campaign trail with Obama running mate Joe Biden. After
running Palin's "pal around with terrorists" line, Moran darkly
characterized: "Attacks that stoked the
anger at Republican
rallies, where there have been reports of attendees yelling
things like ‘terrorist' and ‘kill him.'" Never mind that the
Secret Service declared a few days later that they couldn't find
convincing evidence to prove the "kill him" remarks at a rally
in Pennsylvania. Moran asked Biden: "Are you at all concerned in
this home stretch for Senator Obama's safety?" [Audio/video
(0:41):
Windows Media (2.48 MB) and
MP3 audio (247 kB)]Biden denied that, but suggested that McCain and Palin
"encourage people who are really fringe people." Moran's
Biden-boosting tilt was clear from the show's introduction: "We
hit the road with vice presidential nominee Joe Biden in the
town he grew up in, as he speaks out about fringe elements at
Republican election rallies. It's a Nightline exclusive."
After the question about Obama's safety, Moran told Biden "the
Virginia GOP head was quoted by Time magazine as saying
to volunteers go out there and draw the connection between
Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden." Biden acted shocked: "My God,
did he really say that?" Moran replied: "That's quoted in Time
magazine." Biden exclaimed surprise that McCain hasn't "whacked
the guy with his fist." Jeff Frederick, the Virginia GOP head,
said it was scary that both men "have friends that bombed the
Pentagon."
Moran never asked Biden about Rep. John Lewis charging on
October 11 that McCain and Palin were like Sixties
segregationists who "created the climate and the conditions that
encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans," like
"four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church
was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama." Liberals are apparently
never nasty.
For more, see the
October 14
CyberAlert
