Eric Boehlert: NBC News anchor schmoozes Giuliani, badgers Democrats

[babylonsister]

NBC News anchor schmoozes Giuliani, badgers Democrats
by Eric Boehlert | Nov 14 2007


Searching for more proof that celebrity Beltway journalists enjoy warm, friendly relations with Republican presidential hopefuls? Look no further than last week's cozy sit-down between NBC News anchor Brian Williams and GOP front-runner Rudy Giuliani.

According to the running tally posted at MSNBC.com, where video of the full 34-minute interview is hosted, the Q&A has been viewed less than 6,000 times. But it deserves far more attention since it conveniently captures how the media landscape is unfolding for the 2008 campaign, where prominent Democrats are bedeviled by all sorts of probing press inquires while their Republican counterparts skate through the primary season without a media care in the world.

And that's thanks to people like Brian Williams.

I watched the Giuliani interview last week and was busy taking notes when I wasn't picking my jaw up off the floor. That was partly because of the forced, old-friend vibe that permeated the interview, but mostly because Williams never asked Giuliani a single uncomfortable question. The treatment stood in stark contrast to the relentless and often factually challenged grilling Williams and his NBC News colleague Tim Russert unleashed on the Democratic front-runner at the Philadelphia debate two weeks ago. Not to mention the type of loaded, contentious questions Williams posed to Democrats when he moderated their debate (solo) in South Carolina in April.

Sitting down with Giuliani though, Williams suddenly lost his edge and was content with lobbing vague questions, refraining from meaningful follow-ups, and allowing Giuliani to attack Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton at length for being on "the defensive" in fighting the war on terror and for promoting "higher taxes for the whole country."

The result was a virtuoso performance for Giuliani at the expense of Williams, who seemed more intent on befriending the candidate than in seriously questioning him. To paraphrase comedian Chris Rock, I'm not saying the Giuliani campaign should buy blocks of air time and run the entire Williams interview as a long-form promotional ad. But I understand.

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http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/11016

[Doctor_J]

1. In Williams' defense, he's very open about his bent

he's openly hostile to all Dems, especially the Clintons, and doesn't try to pretend to be fair. That's probably why he got Brokaw's job.