August 6, 2013

Break out the waaambulance! RNC Chair Reince Priebus is terribly upset with NBC and CNN for their upcoming television projects on the life of Hillary Clinton. Priebus took to the airways with Fox's Sean Hannity this Monday evening to complain about that evil "liberal media" doing their best to conspire against the Republicans, and it looks like they're going to hold their breath and stomp their feet and refuse to allow anyone other than Fox to host Republican presidential primary debates if they don't get their way.

So who else out there thinks this is something they were just looking for an excuse to do anyway, given the disastrous outcome of their last round of presidential primary debates? If you don't work too hard to read between the lines during his interview with Hannity above, Priebus admits that's what is really going on, but what he doesn't admit is that this is just a convenient excuse to justify it. They don't want another train wreck, with ten of them telling the truth about just how far off the rails to the right their party has fallen, and any candidate that might have a chance in hell of winning the nomination being pushed even further to the right during those debates.

About all I can say to Priebus is, good luck with that, pal. Our corporate media is not "liberal" and if there's one thing they care about, it's ratings. Another is access. I don't know what's going to come of this threat by Priebus, but I have a feeling it's not going to end well for either him or his party. I guess we'll find out more soon enough.

Here's more on Priebus' threats prior to his appearance on Fox this Monday night: RNC's Priebus threatens networks:

NBC and CNN are planning to run specials on Hillary Clinton in the not-too-distant future, and it appears Republican Party officials aren't taking the news well.

The chairman of the Republican National Committee threatened on Monday to refuse to partner with CNN or NBC on any presidential primary debates if the two networks move ahead with plans for television projects on Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Reince Priebus, the chairman, said in letters to the two networks that he considered the projects to be a "thinly-veiled attempt at putting a thumb on the scales of the 2016 presidential election."

Priebus is being cheered on by state Republican officials in Iowa and South Carolina, who are also threatening to exclude CNN and NBC from co-sponsoring presidential debates in the 2016 cycle unless the networks abandon their Clinton projects.

But it's Priebus who's being especially aggressive, saying he intends to hold a "binding vote" at the RNC's summer meeting, blocking NBC and CNN from partnering on party-sanctioned debates. In fact, the RNC went on to say presidential candidates would be "punished" -- how, we don't know -- if they agreed to participate in debates aired by the networks.

Hmm. It was just a few months ago when Republican Party officials agreed that the party needs a broader reach to the American mainstream, and should look beyond Fox News and far-right blogs like RedState.com. Now Priebus is looking to dictate to NBC and CNN, threatening to exclude them during the next presidential race?

Yes, they are. Keep isolating yourselves in that conservative bubble, wingnuts, and let's see how that works out for you.

Steve linked David Plouffe's Tweet in his post and I think it sums things up pretty nicely.

Plouffe-RNC-Tweet
Credit: Twitter

Exactly. If they actually believed that what their primary contenders said out loud during debates was good for their party and good for them winning elections, they'd want the electorate to hear them. The fact that they want to keep them away from as much of the public as possible and limit them to questions by friendly moderators says more than the carping by Mr. RNCPRBS ever will.

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