Right's Choreographed Attack on Leader Pelosi in Full Swing

Baseless Claims, Unfounded Stereotypes and Misinformation Go Largely Unchallenged by Media

Washington, DC - Media Matters for America today warned members of the media that Republicans and conservative media figures have embarked on a premeditated campaign to undermine House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi with vicious attacks, baseless claims, unfounded stereotypes and deliberate misinformation that have gone largely unchallenged by the media.

"Members of the media should be on notice...the right has embarked on a full scale campaign to undermine Nancy Pelosi using baseless claims, stereotypes and misinformation in an effort to influence this fall's elections," said David Brock, President and CEO of Media Matters for America. "The right said they'd go after Leader Pelosi and that's exactly what we're beginning to see. The media should be challenging these conservative pundits over their unfounded remarks rather than allowing them to spread this sleazy brand of character assassination free of accountability."

As far back as May, Republicans and conservatives said they would make Leader Pelosi an issue in this year's mid-term election. Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman and Ed Rogers, a Republican strategist and lobbyist, both called on the party to use Pelosi in attacks against Democrats for the mid-term elections.

Republican media figures have since fallen in line behind Mehlman and Rogers. From Pat Buchanan and Ed Rollins, to Fred Barnes and Bill O'Reilly, conservative talking heads have, among other things, baselessly called Pelosi "the most unpopular national politician in America," used unfounded stereotypes to smear her and attacked her character.

Anatomy of a Smear Campaign

Laying the Groundwork

Ed Rogers, May 30: In a May 30^th article in the New York Times Ed Rogers, a Republican strategist and lobbyist said, "[Pelosi] ought to be a big component of the fall campaign," and added, "There are some Democrats who make really good bad guys."

Ken Mehlman, August 6: Moreover, according to an August 6^th San Francisco Chronicle article, GOP Chairman Ken Mehlman used Pelosi's name to provoke spark in the Republican Party saying "Picture Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who called the president 'an incompetent leader' and 'morally irresponsible."

Ken Mehlman, October 13: Mehlman continued his caustic rhetoric on October 13^th, according to the Chronicle, saying the Republican Party should focus on the 'dangers to America if San Francisco's Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi becomes speaker of the House.' These baseless claims are continually pushed by Republicans and are repeated, unchallenged, by the media.

Baselessly Claiming Pelosi is 'Not a Popular
Figure or Respected' National Figure

Weekly Standard Columnist Fred Barnes, October 23: Barnes baselessly claiming that House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA) as "the most unpopular national politician in America," despite recent opinion polls showing that President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, House Speaker Dennis J. Hastert (R-IL), and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) are far less popular than Pelosi.

Brit Hume, October 15: On the October 15 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, Fox News Washington managing editor Brit Hume baselessly smeared Pelosi, stating that she "is not a popular figure or respected figure nationally." Continuing, Hume asserted that "her behavior will be more visible than ever, more conspicuous than ever" and "I suspect that" having Pelosi as speaker of the House of Representatives "would not be terrifically positive" for "the possibility of Hillary Clinton being nominated or even elected in 2008." Hume provided no specifics to support his claim that Pelosi could hurt Clinton's potential presidential bid in 2008.

Attacks on Pelosi's Character

Bill O'Reilly, October 11: On the October 11 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly baselessly claimed that "secular-progressive judges on the [Supreme C]ourt" are "more likely to come about if [House Democratic Leader] Nancy Pelosi [D-CA] and her crew" control the U.S. House of Representatives. O'Reilly also claimed that Pelosi "never" sees "the world in black and white," which is "dangerous in a time of terror" in which "there are villains who want to kill us." O'Reilly concluded: "[I]f you don't accept that, your odds of dying go higher."

Pat Buchanan, October 8: On the October 8 edition of CNN's Late Edition, MSNBC political analyst and former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan baselessly asserted that there is "a large element of hypocrisy" in comments by Jennifer Crider, press secretary to House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), that if "we had seen Mark Foley's inappropriate emails or instant messages to House pages, we would have immediately acted to protect the kids." Late Edition host Wolf Blitzer did not challenge Buchanan's remarks.

Using Unfounded Stereotypes to Smear Pelosi

Bill O'Reilly, October 12: On the October 12 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly claimed the midterm elections are a choice between Pelosi's "San Francisco values versus Iraq chaos." He later described this choice as one between "San Francisco values [and] perceived failure overseas."

Pat Buchanan, October 5: Similarly, during a panel discussion on the October 5 edition of MSNBC's Scarborough Country, Buchanan linked Pelosi's attendance at gay pride parades to support for NAMBLA, stating "Pelosi has marched in gay pride parades with ... NAMBLA -- who are pedophiles who are trying to get the laws repealed for sex between men and boys!" Buchanan then asked of Pelosi: "If she's been marching with pedophiles, is she credible standing up there saying, 'I'm shocked, shocked that some Republican is after 17-year-old pages?'"

Ed Rollins, September 13: Appearing on the September 13 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, Ed Rollins, GOP strategist and former official in the Nixon, Ford, and Reagan administrations, claimed that House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi "comes from San Francisco, one of the bastions of lawlessness in this country" and therefore "is certainly not going to be the one that's going to convince Americans that the Democrats are going to get tough" on issues of national security. However, in 2004, an independent research company ranked San Francisco as the ninth-safest of the 32 U.S. cities with a population greater than 500,000.

Chris Matthews, September 5: On the September 5 broadcast of NBC's Today, MSNBC Hardball host Chris Matthews, discussing the November elections with host Matt Lauer, asserted that "the stakes" in the midterms would include "whether we want [House Democratic Leader] Nancy Pelosi [CA] to be the first woman speaker of the House or not." Matthews predicted that, in the event that Democrats take control of the House of Representatives in the November elections, "that iconic fact of that woman sitting behind the president during a State of the Union address is an enormous change in our culture," referring to Pelosi. Matthews continued: "A lot of professional women and men will say, 'Great.' A lot of the more conservative people will say, 'Wait a minute, this woman's from San Francisco, she's a liberal.'"

To read more on the right's attacks on Pelosi, CLICK HERE.

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