Fox's Rosen on crowd cheering Obama blowing his nose: "That kind of spontaneous affection Chairman Mao only dreamed of"

Summary: Responding to a video clip of Sen. Barack Obama saying, "I'm going to blow my nose here for a second," followed by the audience cheering, Fox News Washington correspondent James Rosen then said, "That kind of spontaneous affection Chairman Mao only dreamed of." Rosen joined other media figures associating Democratic presidential candidates with communists.

Discussing Sen. Barack Obama's appeal with voters on the February 21 edition of Fox News' Special Report, Fox News broadcast footage of Obama saying, "I'm going to blow my nose here for a second," followed by the audience cheering. Fox News Washington correspondent James Rosen then said, "That kind of spontaneous affection Chairman Mao only dreamed of."

Media Matters for America has documented other media figures associating Democratic presidential candidates with communists. On the January 24 edition of his CNN Headline News program, Glenn Beck called Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton "Comrade Clinton" and said of former Sen. John Edwards, "Now, put a red star on his furry head. He's a communist." Also, as Media Matters documented, on the April 23 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage said of an April 2007 speech by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), "I know Mao Zedong would have been proud of you."

From the February 21 edition of Fox News' Special Report With Brit Hume:

BRIT HUME (anchor): Barack Obama's soaring rhetoric has been a rallying cry for many. He has consistently packed arenas with thousands and thousands of supporters and out-raised Hillary Clinton by millions in January. Correspondent James Rosen examines what is behind the enthusiasm and devotion Obama inspires.

[begin video clip]

ROSEN: The adoration, the immense crowd, the chanting -- it's all part of what lazy headline writers call "Obama-mania." But if Barack Obama's frenzied fans and fundraising success, his elevation in the delegate count and in the hearts of intellectuals don't convince you the phenomenon is real, look no farther than supporters' reaction in Dallas on Wednesday, when the candidate famous for his soaring oratory performed the most mundane of human bodily functions.

OBAMA: Going to blow my nose here for a second.

ROSEN: That kind of spontaneous affection Chairman Mao only dreamed of. So what's behind it all? Patricia Murphy of citizenjanepolitics.com argues Obama is cannily exploiting a confluence of timing, message, and messenger.

MURPHY: He is a change visually. He's a change symbolically. In every way, he represents change, and he's smart enough not to define exactly what that change is.

ROSEN: While the cry for change is certainly in vogue, Murphy sees Obama-mania also tapping into something eternal.

MURPHY: The American electorate has always wanted to be inspired. They looked to FDR. They looked to JFK. Now, they're looking for somebody to look to, and they may have found that, a lot of people think, in Barack Obama.

—J.H.