Kerrey Gives Imus the Seal of approval

Just like Freddie Krueger, the terrifying lead character in “Nightmare on Elm Street,” Don Imus is coming back. And as with Freddie, there is something about the I-Man that is scary but irresistible.

But not irresistible to everyone. You can be sure the candidates for President will avoid him like the plague. Democrats in particular may fear the wrath of the Al Sharptons of the world and feel pressured to stay away.

After all, who wants to be the first to sit down, chit chat and legitimize a man they once reviled as something close to a racist.

If that’s the choice they make, they’ll be making a big mistake. In fact, try as they might to denounce and avoid Imus, all the candidates would be well advised to throw caution to the wind and say yes to the inevitable interview requests.

I myself have appeared on Imus before and would welcome the chance to go on the show again.

For as offensive as his remarks were about the Rutgers women’s basketball team (for which he, unlike Isiah Thomas, apologized), and as sharp-tongued as I hope he will still be (I pray he has not become Mr. Rogers during his forced sabbatical), he will have a big and influential audience.

And, whatever else he is, Don Imus is very smart, does his homework, and is the most difficult interviewer in the business.

Think back a few years. There’s a reason the Imus show was a must-stop for serious candidates during campaign season and drew regulars like Sens. John Kerry, Chris Dodd and Joe Lieberman. Imus resists anyone’s efforts to suck up to him. He is not for sale and his audience knows it. Rather than being a Republican ideologue like Rush Limbaugh or a left-wing ideologue like most of the Air America hosts, he is independent-minded and very well-informed. That knowledge makes him a formidable force in the complicated process of voter decision-making.

In short, Imus adds a lot to the American political debate. He made a nontrivial, nonfatal mistake — one for which he apologized. He and his listenership should not be indefinitely ostracized as a result.

But there’s another reason national politicians would be making a mistake if they boycott Imus. If they keep away from the show all the way through next year, it could do real political damage, if not in votes lost, at least in courage points.

Democratic candidates already made a similar mistake when, goaded by groups like MoveOn.org to dissociate themselves from Fox News, they pulled the plug on a party debate to be aired on the network in September. They had a chance to reach millions of people — but they blinked, and they blew it.

It would be one thing if going on Imus meant that a candidate had to disavow his own beliefs. It doesn’t — no more than appearing on Lou Dobbs means you want to deport illegal immigrants.

And even if it did, exactly what Imus political position would be the litmus test deal-breaker? That’s a trick question: there is none. The man simply made a mistake. We Democrats have a lot of people to convince in 2008. We can’t afford to start putting our interviewers through purity tests.

So, to others trying to decide what to do with the return of the I-Man: Take my unsolicited advice and just say yes. Forgive Imus his terrible transgression and run the risk of being interviewed by the man. My guess is that you will benefit even if he gives you a very rough time — which I sincerely hope he does.

– By Bob Kerrey

Kerrey, former U.S. senator from Nebraska and 1992 candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, is president of the New School.

Popularity: 1% [?]

An endorsement from Bob Kerrey should be the kiss of death for anyone with any human sensitivity.
He is a good fit with the foul Imus, whose “mistakes” are in the same league as those of the Fox “News” commentators, Limbough, O’Reilly, Hannity, etc, but with a crudeity of the back alley that resonates with the most racist clods that think “nappy-headed hos’ is funny.
Kerrey’s record over the years is that of a sleazy opportunist always on the edge of respectability, one of many claiming to be a democrat but always an elitist above the crowd, anti-leftist, truely a big business, pro-Wall Street, pro-militarist war enthusiast, flag-waver.