Inside Politics Daily

Brown's Star Rises After Confrontations

Posted:
10/4/08
Filed Under:John McCain, Media
CNN's Campbell Brown recently attracted attention with a series of confrontational moments that became internet hits. The fun seems to have started early last month when Brown pressed McCain adviser Tucker Bounds to give one specific example of Sarah Palin's foreign policy experience (David Knowles posted the clip here).

Brown struck the McCain campaign again later in the month, accusing them of sexism for sheltering Palin from the media. "Tonight I call on the McCain campaign to stop treating Sarah Palin like she is a delicate flower that will wilt at any moment," said Brown.

On September 25, Brown launched into a populist attack on Henry Paulson and George W. Bush's handling of the housing crisis, which led to the bailout. Brown also spread the blame to Democrats who supported Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac.

So what's motivating this new, more forceful Campbell Brown? In a profile by Jacques Steinberg published yesterday in The New York Times, Brown said, "As journalists, and certainly for me over the last few years, we've gotten overly obsessed with parity, especially when we're covering politics. We kept making sure each candidate got equal time - to the point that it got ridiculous in a way."
Brown's trend toward opinion and confrontation has aided her ratings. Her evening show competes with two of the most outspoken hosts in the business--Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann. Though Brown's most visible tussles have been with the McCain campaign, Brown swears off partisanship, claiming that she will never take a side on a specific issue or with a particular candidate. Brown's husband, however, Dan Senor is a Republican analyst, a frequent Fox contributor, and a former Pentagon official.

Brown's criticism of Palin drew fire from the right, especially from Atlas Shrugs blogger Pamela Geller who wrote, "Wanna hurl? Watch CNN'S Campbell Brown, sex toy to Saudi masters, attempt to paint McCain as a sexist - the man who actually put Palin on the ticket."

Jay Allbritton

Jay Allbritton is a blogger living in Baltimore. He writes the political blog, Ice Station Tango... more

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