I was watching the local news Wednesday night on a Fox affiliate here in Richmond, VA, when I heard something shocking: Democratic Sen. Mark Warner was in trouble!
Now, I know what you're thinking: Jeff, why would you get any of your news from Fox?
Actually, most of the time, this station has little to do with Fox News. It mostly broadcasts entertainment -- The Simpsons, Bones, Glee, etc. But it also offers an early newscast, hosted by journalists from a nearby station who pull double duty under the Fox brand.
One of the evening's stories focused on the Obama administration's decision to extend the deadline for obtaining a healthcare plan. And that's when the newscast suddenly started to sound ... different. The rightwing bias was obvious, with a preponderance of sound bites from snarking Republicans. The faceless journalist providing the voice-over for the story said Democrats were running away from Obamacare, with Exhibit-A being "Mark Warner, facing a tough senate re-election..." Brief footage showed him looking a tad harried.
I gasped. When did Warner's fight for re-election become "tough"? To the Google!
Real Clear Politics popped up and I nervously scanned the numbers for Virginia's senate race: A Rasmussen poll from January showed Warner with a 14-point lead over his Republican challenger, Ed Gillespie. Not bad. A CNU poll, also from January, gave Warner a wider 20-point lead. And a February poll from Roanoke College showed Warner leading by a whopping 27-points.
RCP's rolling average of all the polls: 52-32, Warner.
I was greatly relieved. And also annoyed. How did a Virginia news station get a story so wrong?
I called the local affiliate. The person who answered sounded tired and resigned to being chewed out by an angry viewer. (Reminder: Always be nice to the people who take your call. Chances are they didn't do whatever made you mad.) For his protection, I'll call him Guy. I asked Guy why the piece did such a lousy job of characterizing the status of Warner's campaign:
Guy: "Yeah, I had the same reaction. It makes no sense."
Me: "Can you fix it?"
Guy: "Unfortunately, the package came from Fox News headquarters. They shipped it to the affiliates."
The narrator's voice replayed in my head.
Me: "Was that ... Ed Henry?"
Guy: "Yep. That was Ed."
Guy said he'd escalate my complaint, but wasn't optimistic anyone at headquarters would respond.
He did, however, give me their phone number. So, if you want to let Fox News know that Ed Henry shouldn't be allowed anywhere near an analyst's chair on November 4th: 888-369-4762 opt. 3, opt. 1
Here's the segment. I found it on Fox News' website. (For the affiliates, Fox edited out Chris Wallace's intro and Ed Henry's closing, leaving only the voice-over.)