Media Matters takes a look at Tim Russert’s guest list for Meet the Press to help explain why Russert stated that there was no opposition party to the Iraq war (prior to its inception) when the majority of Congressional Democrats voted against authorizing the war.
Looking at a list of the Progressive Caucus I can identify maybe five or six that have ever been on one of the Sunday morning political shows. Tom Lantos, John Conyers, and Henry Waxman appear, rarely, because they have been either chairmen or ranking members of important committees. Jerrold Nadler was a bit of a media hog for a while. And Maxine Waters made a fuss about the CIA, cocaine, and the Contras at some point in the mid-90’s. Other than that, none of these people even exist for Tim Russert…but they represent the largest caucus within the Democratic Party. And almost all of them voted against the war (Lantos and Waxman being notable exceptions).
I’d like to see how often Jane Harman and Harold Ford Jr. have appeared on Sunday mornings. As for the Senate, a quick look at the Senators that voted against the war shows that they don’t get invited on Meet the Press too often, either. Other than Durbin (2nd in the leadership) and Levin (chair of Armed Services), only Feingold gets much media attention. Boxer had made at least one appearance on Meet the Press that I can remember. Among the group that had voted against the war, in between the AUMF-Iraq and the onset of the war, only Levin and Graham appeared on Meet the Press. And Graham appeared to discuss the Space Shuttle disaster.
The Out of Iraq Caucus currently has 65 members. I suggest that Tim Russert invite one of them on (or a Senator that voted against the war) each week to debate someone who is not a member of the caucus.
Here’s a sample schedule:
September 23rd: Rep. Lynn Woolsey (co-chair of the Progressive Caucus) vs. Sen. Joe Lieberman (Chairman of Homeland Security and Government Affairs).
September 30th: Sen. Daniel Akaka (Chairman of Veteran’s Affairs) vs. Rep. Steve Buyer (Ranking Member of Veteran’s Affairs).
October 7th: Rep. Neil Abercrombie (Chairman of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces) vs. Sen. John Cornyn (Ranking Member of the Armed Services Airland Subcommittee).
And so on.
It’s hard to win an argument if your side is never presented on television. We’ve all seen enough of Joe Biden and John McCain. Let us see Charlie Rangel, Barbara Mikulski, and Eleanor Holmes Norton.
