RNC's Reince Priebus Warns NBC and CNN

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright August 5, 2013
All Rights Reserved.                                      

             Showing that he’s in over his head over three years before the next presidential election, 41-year-old Reince Priebus warned CNN and NBC that he’d cut them out of participation in GOP primary debates if they run a mini-series on Hillary Rodham Clinton.  Whether that gives Hillary an unfair advantage or not, she’s got an interesting enough biography to generate public interest.  Priebus knows that anyone on the current American scene could be the subject of network interest, whether or not  they have their eyes set on the Oval Office.  Announcing they’d run a four-hour mini-series called “Hillary,” NBC gambled that the former First Lady, U.S. Senator, 2008 presidential candidate and former Secretary of State would have enough interest to sell “soap” or “Vegematics.”  Priebus’s threats reveal breathtaking naivety, putting the RNC—and its coffers—into legal hot water.

             Insisting that a Hillary mini-series is unfair publicity over three years before the next presidential election turns common sense on its head.  Whatever Hillary’s story, it’s not the fault the network’s First Amendment right to tell that story if they think it can make hay.  “Out of a sense of fairness and decency and in the interest of the political process and your company’s reputation, I call on you to cancel this political ad masquerading as a unbiased production,” said Priebus, catering, as is commonplace in GOP circles, to conspiracy theories, this time about CNN and NBC conspiring to help Hillary win in 2016.  Priebus’s accusations smack of the kind sour grapes that lost the GOP’s last two presidential elections.  Priebus wouldn’t object if Fox News decided to run a mini-series on Jeb Bush or Chris Christie, knowing full-well neither would find the stories too compelling.

             Priebus goes over the top practically accusing the networks of working for the Democratic National Committee or Hillary’s political action committee.  “As an American company, you have every right to air programming of your choice,” said Priebus, while simultaneously accusing NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt of working for Hillary’s presidential campaign.  “But as American citizens, certainly you recognize why many are astounded at your actions, which appear to be a major network’s thinly veiled attempt at putting a thumb on the scales of the 2016 presidential election,” said Priebus, accusing NBC of inappropriate political advertising.  Preaching to the disgruntled Fox News crowd, Priebus levels the accusations, without any regard to facts or ethics of broadcast journalism.  No judge or jury would buy Priebus’s unfounded claims without proof.

              Dealing with internal battles within the GOP, Priebus chose to divert attention away from the real problems inside his party.  While Priebus finds himself closely aligned with the Tea Party, the more moderate wing of the GOP led by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have little patience for Priebus’s antics.  Firing salvos at each other, Christie and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.} have been taking cheap shots violating the late President Ronald Reagan’s first covenant:  Thou shalt not attack fellow Republicans.   Considered frontrunners in 2016, Christie and Paul have sparred recently over “pork barrel spending” with Paul hitting-below-the-belt about Christie’s weight.  Paul and Christie’s spat mirrors the internecine warfare inside the GOP.  Since former Alaska Gov. Sara Palin ran with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2008, the Party’s been at war.

             Repeating the same mistake in 2012, Priebus and the RNC pressured former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney—seen by most as a moderate—into taking Tea Party favorite Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) as his running mate.  Like McCain in 2008, Romney would not admit that Ryan was too conservative for national politics.  While Tea Party extremism works inside gerrymandered Congressional districts, it doesn’t work on the national stage.   McCain and Romney saw quickly their campaigns sink to the bottom after picking right wing extremists.  While differing in looks, Palin and Ryan expressed the same contempt for government entitlement spending—something that didn’t sit well with mainstream voters.  Now Priebus challenges TV networks right to pick programming that appeals to their audience without accusations of political subterfuge and sabotage.    

             Setting the RNC up for a wasteful lawsuit, Priebus doesn’t help his cause liquidating the GOP’s coffers before the 2014 elections.  Wild accusations of political subterfuge only reveal his lack of fitness to continue as RNC chairman before next year’s Midterm election.  Priebus knows what’s fair in politics involves showing voters that elected officials can do the people’s business without the kind of distasteful game-playing that gives both political parties a bad name.  If either side has a potential candidate worthy of a mini-series or some other type of feature, then more power too them.  There’s nothing unfair or indecent about telling someone’s story, if it’s interesting enough to command high Nielson Ratings and sell advertising.  Instead of crying foul, Priebus and the RNC should spend their time more wisely picking the kind of candidates that have compelling stories worthy of public consumption.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.