Liberal Anger as Nevada Dems Team with FNC for Debate Broadcast

As I type this, there's a minor skirmish being fought within the Democratic Party over the plan of Nevada Democrats' plan to give Fox News Channel the rights to broadcast a presidential campaign debate scheduled for next August in Reno.

Predictably, the moonbats at Moveon.org are outraged and up to their usual online petitioning:

The battle between the Nevada Democratic Party and online liberal activists continues to rage, with MoveOn.org saying Friday it had collected 135,000 signatures on a petition asking the party to dissociate itself from the Fox News cable channel.

"Hopefully, they're getting the hint," MoveOn.org Civic Action spokesman Adam Green said.

But the party, which is partnering with Fox News to broadcast a Democratic presidential debate Aug. 14 in Reno, wasn't backing down.

State party Chairman Tom Collins sent a lengthy e-mail to members Friday evening seeking to assuage their concerns.

"Believe me, I am all too aware of the challenges associated with Fox," Collins wrote. "And this is not an endorsement of Fox."

The party "got, in writing, a number of concessions" from the channel to ensure the debate broadcast was fair, Collins said. "You may not agree with us, but trust that this is not a sell-out or a cave-in to the lures of Fox. This is how we will win over new voters."

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, once the darling of the lefty blogosphere, wasn't taking its side on the issue either. He told the San Francisco Chronicle, "While the Fox News Channel rarely has coverage that is fair and balanced, we believe that Fox viewers, who are potential voters, should have the opportunity to see a debate between our candidates. These forums provide an important unfiltered opportunity for potential voters to see Democrats without the bias of the network."

Green said it was disappointing for Dean to engage the network when, in 2005, he'd called it "a propaganda outlet of the Republican Party."

Dean, despite his tendency to fly off the handle usually plays it smart. He's right to remain neutral after playing "bad cop" to the channel earlier. Sadly, no high-level GOPer is willing to play as tough with the liberal media.