Democratic strategist Robert Zimmerman defended View host Joy Behar on Thursday's Anderson Cooper 360: "I'm standing with Joy Behar because she nailed it when she went after Sharron Angle for the xenophobia, for the racist type of campaign she has run, and for, in fact, exploiting prejudice and bigotry" [audio available here].
Zimmerman, a one-time political analyst for CNN and a member of the Democratic National Committee since 2000, appeared on a panel with Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway, Huffington Post founding editor Roy Sekoff, and author Michael Maslansky. Midway through the segment, co-host Eliot Spitzer played a radio ad from Ralph Reed's Faith and Freedom Coalition which included the statement, "It's us versus them- big government versus a big belief in faith and freedom- Sharron Angle versus Harry Reid."
Sekoff began the attack on Angle: "I give the truth in advertising award to that ad. I mean, we don't need any subtle racism, right?" When Conway asked him to point where the "racism" was in Reed ad, he clarified, "No, no, no, that's- the subtle message is actually the gang members coming across the border in Sharron Angle's ad."
After a moment of crosstalk from the hosts and the panelist, Zimmerman dropped his bomb of support for the liberal View host:
ZIMMERMAN: I think both parties play the us versus them game. You got the Wall Street versus Main Street. You get- but let's be real- and the us versus them- I'm standing with Joy Behar because she nailed it when she went after Sharron Angle for the xenophobia-
SPITZER: Yup.
ZIMMERMAN: For the racist type of campaign she has run, and for, in fact, exploiting prejudice and bigotry. So I think there is a real choice we have to make, whether we live in Nevada or not, about where we stand in terms of ethics and standards in politics.
