Kurtz Points Out: Two Democrats Vie for GMA Slot

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In the midst of all the elite upset over the Fox News Channel's supposedly over-the-top opposition to President Barack Obama, Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz pointed out in a Saturday story across the top of the “Style” section that the apparent two finalists to replace Diane Sawyer (who is moving to World News in January) on Good Morning America “have politics, but little else, in common.” Liberal Democratic politics, that is, since the two names in play are George Stephanopoulos and Chris Cuomo.

Kurtz began his October 24 story: “One helped elect a president, the other grew up as the son of a governor. Now George Stephanopoulos and Chris Cuomo are engaged in a very different kind of contest, for one of the most coveted prizes in network television.”

Stephanopoulos, Kurtz conveyed, “ has an edge in the competition to succeed Diane Sawyer at Good Morning America when she leaves to become ABC's evening news anchor, several well-placed sources at the network say. As host of This Week and the newly anointed backup anchor of World News, the former Clinton White House aide is a bigger name, represents a greater change and has long been groomed for stardom by ABC News President David Westin.”

Cuomo, “now the news anchor at GMA, is already comfortable as part of a morning ensemble, has proved himself in the field -- as on a trip to Afghanistan this month -- and has shown good on-air chemistry with the current co-host, Robin Roberts. The son of former New York governor Mario Cuomo is being courted by other networks and could well leave, under the terms of his contract, if he is passed over for the job.”