John McCain Stacks the Deck on Fox News Town Hall, Says Democratic National Committee

John McCain Stacks the Deck on Fox News Town Hall, Says Democratic National Committee

WASHINGTON, June 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- According to Fox News, John McCain misled the voters about the nature of tonight's town hall meeting. While the event was billed by the McCain campaign as a town hall with independent and Democratic voters, Fox News noted at the end that the audience was made up of invited guests and supporters.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080519/DNCLOGO )

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement:

"Once again John McCain's campaign is trying to mislead the American people. Senator McCain should understand that after seven years of a President who has divided Americans and pursued a scorched earth policy full of misleading propaganda campaigns, we need a leader who understands he is the President for all Americans not just his supporters. Copying the Bush campaign model of stacking events with his prescreened supporters is not the transparency Americans are looking for. If that is Senator McCain's idea of straight talk, the American people are in for a long and disappointing campaign season."

See the clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9979CZ9vII

The following is a transcript of Fox News's clarification:

Shepard Smith: "I reported at the top of this hour that the campaign had told us at Fox News that the audience would be made up of Republicans, Democrats, and independents. We have now received a clarification from the campaign and I feel I should pass it along to you. The McCain campaign distributed tickets to supporters, Mayor Bloomberg, who of course is a registered Republican, and other independent groups." [Fox News, 6/12/08]

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.org .

This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Photo: NewsCom:

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080519/DNCLOGO
AP Archive:

http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Democratic National Committee

CONTACT: Damien LaVera, for Democratic National Committee, +1-202-863-
8948

Web site:

http://www.democrats.org/

-------
Profile: intent