On Tuesday's Rick's List, CNN's Rick Sanchez again bashed Fox News and the conservative media, two of his favorite subjects of ire. Sanchez stated that President Obama was being "dogged" and blamed "conservative talk radio hosts...lambasting this man 24/7.... [and] Fox News, which is essentially the voice of the Republican Party, whose job it is to make this man look bad no matter what he does" [audio clip available here].
The CNN anchor brought on political correspondent Jessica Yellin at the bottom of the 3 pm Eastern hour to discuss the President's town hall meeting on Monday. After playing a clip of Velma Hart, an Obama supporter who bluntly told the chief executive that she was "exhausted of defending" him, Sanchez asked Yellin for her take on whether "others out there are thinking in many of the ways that she [Hart] expressed herself."
The liberal correspondent spouted the current administration talking point that "clearly, President Obama inherited this terrible economy and we're still working our way out of it," but continued that "the White House, at some point, has to be looking back and questioning their strategy both within Washington and their larger communication strategy outside, and how they're messaging to the broader public. And it would seem that they've made crucial missteps on both fronts, and they have to take some blame for that."
Later, Yellin looked to the last Democratic president as a possible example for the current administration:
YELLIN: [Y]ou've got to ask, is he messaging correctly? And, you know, with Bill Clinton out on the scene so much lately, it's a reminder of how effective he is at hitting emotional chords, using anecdotes to help you relate to where he's coming from, and help you understand his approach to policy. Whereas, President Obama tends to focus on these little examples or- you know, brass tacks sort of technician-type details of what he's done, instead of giving you this overarching emotional frame. So you don't end up connecting to it, and that's one of the ways he seems to be misfiring on this message.
Sanchez responded to this with his attack on his regular foes:
SANCHEZ: All right- good stuff. It's an interesting conversation, and I bet you it's the kind of stuff that people are talking about. And then, of course, there's the fact that- you know, he is dogged. There's no question. You'd have to be a fool to not look at the landscape and see conservative talk radio hosts-
YELLIN: Of course-
SANCHEZ: Literally lambasting this man 24/7. And then, there's Fox News, which is essentially the voice of the Republican Party, whose job it is to make this man look bad no matter what he does. So, you know, it's a difficult thing that-
YELLIN: Well, this is the time for political jujitsu.
SANCHEZ: What's that?
YELLIN: It's the time for political jujitsu.
SANCHEZ: Yes (laughs)-
YELLIN: You know, use it against them, right? So, effect- if he could do that- right.
SANCHEZ: It all depends on how well he's able to fight that. And, you know what? He's got to do it, if he wants to survive in this, certainly up until November. Good conversation, Jessica.
Exactly a year ago, on September 21, 2009, the anchor hinted that Fox News wasn't a "real news organization," and questioned his competitor's legitimacy on August 2 of this year. On August 18, Sanchez labeled Fox News "way, way, way to the right," while putting his own network in the "middle." Earlier this summer, the CNN personality, along with guest Roland Martin, targeted Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh.
