Beto O’Rourke said he’s totally open to it.
Elizabeth Warren basically said not over her dead body.
Bernie Sanders did it.
Pete Buttigieg did it.
We’re talking about the FOX News town hall, an unusually controversial subject on Twitter these days.
Buttigieg garnered millions of dollars of free media from his FOX appearance last weekend. That’s a good reason to do it. This is the time of the so-called media primary and every ounce of free and paid coverage helps a candidate break out of the noisy jumble that is the Democratic field of two dozen candidates.
Everyone already knows FOX News will twist and turn Democrats words, spinning everything in a negative light. But FOX viewers aren’t Democratic primary voters. They never will be.
It’s about the ripple effect in the rest of the media nationally, in the early primary states, and on social platforms. FOX reported 1.1 million viewers tuned in to see Buttigieg but an unscientific glance at video clips of his townhall online registered a million-plus more viewers.
Buttigieg was prudent to separate FOX viewers from the FOX hosts he criticized on the network in rationalizing his appearance. Warren’s passing on the network invitation to appear because of its “hate-for-profit” motives is totally understandable.
But why not use and abuse ‘em, as Mayor Pete did, to Democrats’ advantage?
