Advice for GOP Candidates: Tackle Chris Matthews, Jon Stewart-style

Republicans facing what is sure to be a liberally-skewed forum moderated by former Democratic partisan Chris Matthews need to take a cue from the host of Comedy Central's "Daily Show," a conservative opinion journalist argues:

Matthews is an over-the-top liberal, a brazen cheerleader for Clinton. He can also be a bully. Remember the incident about two years ago when he reduced Michelle Malkin nearly to tears? And how Zell Miller gained instant hero status for asking Matthews if he wanted to take that discussion outside?

To beat Chris Matthews the candidates don’t need to punch him in the nose. But they need to do two things. First, they need to follow Jon Stewart’s example.

In what left Matthews squealing that it was his worst interview ever, The Daily Show’s hyperactive (but not hyperliberal) Jon Stewart’s interview of Matthews on his new book not-so-gently poked fun at Matthews’ outlook on life. If -- with humor -- any of the candidates can take a few shots at Matthews and the premise of his questions, they can come out as the winner.

Writing the day before the October 9 MSNBC Republican presidential debate, Human Events editor Jed Babbin added that taking on Matthews specifically and media bias geerally is a sure-fire way to electrify the GOP voting base and awaken the general public to what they instinctively know. The media are biased to the left and actively engaged in furthering a left-wing agenda:

...one of the ground truths of politics is that the Republican base is practically begging to be fired up about the mainstream media's political activism. They know something is badly wrong with the media, its obvious bias, and the fact that many such as CBS, NBC, ABC, the New York Times, and the Washington Post are in the campaign business, not the news business. Because Republicans have not taken the media on, Americans can't quite put their finger on it or what to do about it.

For Babbin's full article, check here. See also NewsBusters' comprehensive coverage of Chris Matthews here. And as always, check with NewsBusters and MRC.org for post-game analysis of media bias pertaining to the MSNBC debate.