No-No Norah Doesn't Disclose Guests Are Partisan Dems

The host might be different, but the partisan bias is the same.

Norah O'Donnell sat in for Chris Matthews on this evening's Hardball. The first half hour was devoted to a discussion of Haditha, with Norah making frequent allusions to a "failure of leadership" and wondering why President Bush didn't know the facts and disclose them to the press sooner.

But speaking of disclosure . . . Norah didn't find it necessary to disclose to viewers that two of her three guests were partisan Democrats.

Paul Hackett, shown in the first photo, was the Democratic candidate for Congress from Ohio's 2nd District, and later sought the Democratic senatorial nomination. But Norah introduced him only as "a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq and also ran for office in Ohio." Unsuspecting viewers might well have thought that, if anything, the Marine vet was a Republican.

Another guest, shown in the second photo, was Paul Rieckhoff. Norah described him as an author and head of a veterans group. But on his web site, this Amherst College alum and East Village resident states:

"On May 1, 2004, in a spot normally reserved for Governors and Senators, Rieckhoff delivered the Democratic Response to President Bush's national weekly radio address."

Norah, Norah, Norah!