Former Sen. John Edwards not only condemned the move, he challenged any of his Democratic rivals in the race for president to return campaign donations from Rupert Murdoch. He knows, of course, that Hillary Clinton recently got a nice check from him, and that Murdoch even promised to host a fundraiser for her a few weeks back.
“News Corp’s purchase of the Dow Jones Co. and The Wall Street Journal should be the last straw when it comes to media consolidation,” Edwards said in a statement distributed by email today. “I’m challenging every Democratic presidential candidate to refuse contributions from News Corp executives and return any they’ve already taken, beginning with Rupert Murdoch.”
He added: “The basis of a strong democracy begins and ends with a strong, unbiased and fair media –- all qualities which are pretty hard to subscribe to Fox News and News Corp. The reality is that Americans deserve more news outlets –- not fewer. It’s time for all Democrats, including those running for president, to stand up and speak out against this merger and other forms of media consolidation.
“Moreover, given Fox News’ consistent efforts to demean Democrats — they have attacked the character of Senator Obama, Vice President Gore, and many others — no Democrat running for president should accept campaign money from top News Corp executives….The time has come for Democrats to stop pretending to be friends with the very people who demonize the Democratic Party.”
Murdoch and his New York Post have been surprisingly friendly toward Clinton, as senator from New York, in recent years. “We think that she has been effective on state issues and local issues here in New York,” Murdoch said this past spring.