"Is this anything more than the media building up a candidate, particularly a woman, and then tearing her down because it makes a good story?" Fox News Channel's Terry Keenan asked to open her December 4 interview with NewsBusters senior editor and "Whitewash" co-author Tim Graham.
Video (3:20): Real (2.45 MB) and Windows (2.04), plus MP3 audio (1.52 MB).
Brought on "Your World w/Neil Cavuto" to discuss media coverage of Hillary Clinton's slippage in some recent polls, Graham dismissed Keenan's suggestion that Clinton is a victim of a soft form of sexism by the media:
I think it's that time in the race where, you know, voters are really starting to look seriously at these people, you know, voters are paying attention. And you know that last poll might have just been ridiculously high, that she had like 50 percent support. I mean, so, yeah, I mean I think a lot of the coverage is, "Well, gee, it's tighter than we think. It's certainly tight in Iowa, so let's treat it as a little tighter than it is."
I don't think that means the news media don't still like Hillary Clinton, just like they like Barack Obama. And I think they're trying to choose between which first [minority or woman] president you want.
Graham later added that "the news media never treated" Hillary like a co-president, "they were always soft on her," and yet now Sen. Clinton is citing her years as first lady as her valid executive experience to take the keys to the Oval Office.