Hyman claimed Dean thinks "Blacks are only capable of service industry jobs"

Sinclair Broadcast Group Vice President Mark Hyman smeared Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean on the March 9 edition of "The Point," claiming that Dean's "core beliefs" include the notion that "Southerners are Confederate flag-waving good ol' boy racists" and "Blacks are only capable of service industry jobs."

In support of his claim, Hyman cited two comments made by Dean. In the first, from an October 31, 2003, interview with the Des Moines Register, then-presidential candidate Dean said he wanted "to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks." Dean elaborated in the interview, contending that "We can't beat George Bush unless we appeal to a broad cross section of Democrats," though this part of Dean's comment was not included on "The Point." The second quotation was from a February 11 meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus in which Dean said that the Republican National Committee could only get "this many people of color in a single room...if they had the hotel staff in here."

As Hyman described what he called Dean's "core beliefs," video clips of Ku Klux Klansmen appeared on the screen, followed by footage of African-Americans working retail jobs.

From the March 9 edition of "The Point":

HYMAN: Listen for a moment to these two quotes: "I still want to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pick-up trucks." "You think the Republican National Committee could get this many people of color in a single room? Only if they had the hotel staff in here." ... Do you notice just a hint of Dean's core beliefs seeping out? Southerners are Confederate flag-waving good ol' boy racists. Blacks are only capable of service industry jobs.

Hyman hosts "The Point," Sinclair's two-minute conservative commentary that airs nightly on the 62 television stations the company owns or operates. Media Matters for America leads SinclairAction.com, a coalition of groups and individuals protesting Sinclair's continued misuse of public airwaves to broadcast one-sided, politically charged programming without a counterpoint

—J.C.