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Obama compared to Osama
12/03/2007 14:36 - (SA)
Davenport - Senator Barack Obama said on Sunday he was not greatly offended by the Fox News chief's word play on his name that led Nevada Democrats to cancel a presidential debate hosted with the network.
Fox's Roger Ailes made a remark last week about the similarities between the Illinois senator's name and al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
"I didn't take great offense at the joke," Obama said in an interview while campaigning in Iowa. "I have been called worse."
At a Radio & Television News Directors Association Foundation event in Washington on Thursday, Ailes said, "And it is true that Barack Obama is on the move. I don't know if it's true that President (George W) Bush called (Pakistani President Pervez) Musharraf and said, 'Why can't we catch this guy?'" according to a transcript provided by Fox.
Bin Laden is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan or the country's lawless border region with Pakistan.
The Nevada Democratic Party announced on Friday it had cancelled an August debate, to be co-hosted by Fox News Channel, and cited Ailes' comment.
Ailes went too far
The state's Democratic Party chairperson, Tom Collins, and Democratic senator Harry Reid, wrote to Fox News, saying: "We cannot, as good Democrats, put our party in a position to defend such comments."
Nevada Democrats already were under criticism by MoveOn.org Civic Action, a network of liberal activists, for the partnership with Fox, which the group called "a mouthpiece for the Republican party".
In response, Fox News vice-president David Rhodes said, "News organisations will want to think twice before getting involved in the Nevada Democratic caucus which appears to be controlled by radical, fringe, out-of-state interest groups".
In the AP interview at a coffee shop on the second day of a weekend visit to Iowa, Obama said he has been surprised at how quickly the intensity of the presidential race has picked up. He brushed aside media reports on issues from stock trades to parking tickets.
"You know it's to be expected," Obama said. "I was surprised that my parking tickets from 20 years ago got so much attention. But this is part of the vetting process when you're running for the most powerful position on earth, and it's to be expected that things get magnified."
Obama said he was confident he would withstand scrutiny.
"Fortunately, I feel very comfortable about how I've conducted my life, and I think I will survive the vetting process with flying colours," he said.
- AP
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