Fox & Friends' continued aggressive GOP campaigning

Fox & Friends today continued its aggressive campaigning for GOP candidates, hosting Harold Johnson, candidate for North Carolina's 8th district; Chip Cravaack, candidate for Minnesota's 8th district; and Dino Rossi, who's running for Senate in Washington.

Fox & Friends has relentlessly hosted almost exclusively Republican candidates in the weeks leading up to the election. But the issue with its election coverage is not only that the vast majority of its guests have been Republicans (in nearly every case, Fox & Friends' hosts claim their guests' opponents declined interviews), it's that Fox & Friends consistently provide them a platform to campaign with its cheerleading and softball interviews. Recently, the hosts have added a new tactic to their promotion of GOP candidates, claiming that even those trailing their Democratic counterparts by wide margins are “surging” or portraying the races as much closer than they are.

Fox & Friends' first candidate-guest today was former sports broadcaster Harold Johnson. Nothing in the interview could even generously be described as anything but a leading question. Co-host BrianKilmeade asked Johnson why he entered the race and then largely stood back as Johnson claimed he was running to ensure a brighter future for his grandchildren and reminisced about how incredible it was to meet President Reagan. Shortly after Kilmeade told Johnson that he was a “natural on camera,” he framed the race in the following fair and balanced way: “You're in a dead heat with Larry Kissell. He's somebody that not only is he a Democrat and you're a Republican -- you disagree on some things -- but he also is going right along with Speaker Pelosi, who is not even popular in her own party anymore, voted along the same lines, I think, over 95 percent of the time.”

Next up was Chip Cravaack, who is running against incumbent Democratic Rep. James Oberstar. Co-host Gretchen Carlson introduced the segment with video of Oberstar being heckled at a recent debate and then asked Cravaack the now-familiar “Why the heck do you want to get into politics?” question. Carlson continued with the leading questions, asking, “Really it was the health care bill that got you interested, right? Why?” Here's the interview:

Fox & Friends concluded its day of campaigning with Dino Rossi, who is running against incumbent Sen. Patty Murray in Washington. Hosts Carlson and Steve Doocy made health care the focus of the interview, claiming at the outset that the reform bill is causing Washington-based Boeing to increase its rates. Rossi railed against health care reform and other legislation with no more challenge from the hosts than “sure” and “right.” Once again, the hosts asked all the right questions and allowed Rossi to fire off his talking points and campaign messages unhindered:

Fox & Friends' GOP-friendly coverage of the midterm elections may seem incongruous with the network's “Fair and Balanced” slogan but should come as no surprise, as Fox continues to prove itself to be the campaign arm of the GOP.