On the October 25 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly announced that he was broadcasting from Birmingham, Alabama, where he would be “doing an event” that evening. According to O'Reilly, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, a Republican, would “be there, everybody's gonna be there.” Riley is up for re-election on November 7. O'Reilly claimed to be in the midst of a “mini-tour of the South and Midwest.” Yet, O'Reilly did not mention that the “event” at which he was speaking was the Business Council of Alabama's (BCA) 2006 Chairman's Dinner, a fundraising event. According to the Mobile Register, BCA's “fundraising wing” is Progress PAC, a political action committee dedicated to electing “conservative, pro-business candidate[s].” Progress PAC has endorsed Riley's re-election bid, as well as the Republican candidates in Alabama for lieutenant governor, attorney general, state treasurer, secretary of state, and state auditor. More than 60 percent of the 111 candidates Progress PAC has endorsed are Republicans.

In its promotions for the dinner, the BCA prominently featured O'Reilly's appearance:

The registration information for the dinner makes clear that it was a fundraising event, requiring a minimum $500 donation to attend as an “Individual Benefactor.” A “Diamond Table” reservation, which the BCA promised “includes priority or quality seating for 10,” required a $20,000 donation. An October 8 Mobile Register article identified Progress PAC as “the fundraising wing of the Business Council of Alabama.”

O'Reilly frequently claims to be a “registered independent,” though he was previously registered as a Republican, as Media Matters for America has noted. O'Reilly also consistently claims to be nonpartisan. Most recently, O'Reilly claimed on the October 23 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor that he was “not a partisan as far as telling anybody who to vote for. I think you're [his viewers] smart enough to know who to vote for,” despite, as Media Matters has noted, suggesting that both North Korea and Iran “want[] to influence the November election” and want Americans to “vote in the Democrats.” Yet, if O'Reilly is “not a partisan,” as he consistently claims, Media Matters asks: Why was he actively helping the BCA raise money to elect “conservative,” mainly Republican candidates?

From the October 25 edition of Westwood One's The Radio Factor:

O'REILLY: OK. Here we are in Birmingham, Alabama, at our crack affiliate WAPI doing an event here tonight. The governor'll be there, everybody's gonna be there. And we're pleased to be in Alabama as we kinda do a mini-tour of the South and Midwest. I was in Chicago yesterday doing the Oprah program, which will be shown on Friday. Birmingham, Alabama, today. Tomorrow we'll be in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and on Friday we will be in Norfolk, Virginia. So we're zipping around the country, spreading the word. “No Spin” is on the move.