Russert claimed Reid and Pelosi “declined” Meet the Press “invitations,” but he apparently asked no other Democrats

Written by Simon Maloy

Published

As Media Matters for America noted, the November 12 broadcast of NBC's Meet the Press -- the program's first airing following the Democratic electoral sweep of Congress -- was scheduled to feature two senators who support the Iraq war: John McCain (R-AZ) and Joe Lieberman, who won election in Connecticut as an independent, although he has since pledged to caucus with the Democratic Party as an “Independent Democrat.” Following host Tim Russert's interviews with McCain and Lieberman, Russert said: “And our viewers should know we extended invitations to the new Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi [D-CA], Majority Leader Harry Reid [D-NV]. Both declined our invitation, but we hope they'll be here on a future Sunday.” There were, however, literally hundreds of other Democratic officials and candidates who had just taken part in a historic election, as well as several other Democratic leaders, who did not run as independents and did not appear on other Sunday-morning shows. And, yet, Meet the Press apparently stopped asking after being turned down by its top two choices.

Moreover, as noted above, in addition to the absence of Democrats running as Democrats, both of Russert's guests avowedly support the Iraq war. McCain renewed his call to send more U.S. troops to Iraq, while Lieberman, when asked by Russert if the United States should send more troops, said: “I think we have to be open to that, as, as a way to succeed.”

Reid appeared on the November 12 broadcast of CBS' Face the Nation, Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean appeared on the November 12 broadcast of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, and Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Joe Biden (D-DE) appeared on ABC's This Week.

Even assuming that the Democrats listed above were unable to appear on Meet the Press because of their other commitments, Russert gave no indication that NBC had contacted them (with the exception of Reid) or any other Democratic official. Democratic officials Meet the Press could have invited, but apparently did not, include:

  • Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chairman Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)
  • Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL)
  • House Democratic Whip and candidate for House majority leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
  • Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), a candidate for House majority leader
  • Senate Democratic whip Richard Durbin (D-IL)
  • House Democratic Caucus chairman and candidate for majority whip James Clyburn (D-SC)

There were also several Democratic Senate candidates who won key races and delivered the Senate to the Democrats -- a result widely believed to have been a long shot prior to the election:

  • Senator-elect James Webb (VA)
  • Senator-elect Sheldon Whitehouse (RI)
  • Senator-elect Claire McCaskill (MO)
  • Senator-elect Jon Tester (MT)
  • Senator-elect Bob Casey Jr. (PA)
  • Senator-elect Sherrod Brown (OH)