...when I've disagreed with strategic decisions made by Team Obama. (One that immediately comes to mind is the choice of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. I just thought it would be a mistake to let her and Bill in the tent.) But time and again, I've been proven wrong. In fact, I can't think of a single decision that Obama has made that hasn't worked out pretty well. So it's with this knowledge that I hope I'm wrong once again when I think that the president and his team are making a mistake by taking on Fox News. I still believe in the old adage, "Don't pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel." (Or is on TV 24/7.) My advice to the White House would be to either ignore Fox (like they did when Obama appeared on five other Sunday morning talk shows recently) or make mild fun of them. For example, Obama had this exchange in an interview with John Harwood of CNBC not too long ago:
OBAMA: It's very hard for me to swallow that one. First of all, I've got one television station that is entirely devoted to attacking my administration. I mean, you know, that's a pretty...
HARWOOD: I assume you're talking about Fox.
OBAMA: Well, that's a pretty big megaphone. And you'd be hard pressed if you watched the entire day to find a positive story about me on that front.
I would have advised Obama to approach the subject differently, with humor, as in "There is one network that is completely in the tank for me." Harwood, I assume, would then look quizzically at the president. "Fox!" Obama could reply, and then the two of them could share a laugh. The message to the viewer would be clear: Fox isn't in the least objective. I think that would have been a more effective way to make the point, but hey, I'm just a blogger.
So Obama is officially at war with Fox. We'll see how it goes; I hope I'm wrong again.
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