Who is winning this week?
Well, the biggest winners thus far are President Bush (search) and the Fox News Channel. The Daily Rasmussen tracking poll shows the president getting a two-point bounce in the first three days. And that's likely to increase after his speech this evening. A variety of surveys also show Mr. Bush gaining his bounce from independent voters.
On the media side, Fox News Channel has stunned the television industry by beating Rather, Jennings and Brokaw, as well as our cable competition on Tuesday night. Of course, many media analysts are spinning the ratings, saying that Fox is a Republican outlet, blah, blah, blah.
But during the Democratic convention, The Factor easily won its time slot against CNN and MSNBC. Do you know how many TV writers pointed that out? None. As far as our research can tell, none.
The truth is that Fox News continues to grow because we're interesting. We give you the facts and also give you unpredictable analysis.
An article this morning in USA Today, which was fair, by the way, demonstrates we're in the tank for nobody. Of course, millions of Republican and conservative Americans feel comfortable with Fox News because we do not demean their point of view, as many liberal news outlets have done for decades.
Take The Los Angeles Times, for example. Today it called Zell Miller's speech last night a "vaudeville act." Well, Senator Miller's speech, like it or not, was similar in delivery to the speeches by Al Sharpton and Al Gore at the Democratic convention, but those speeches weren't criticized by The L.A. Times.
That kind of bias is why many Republicans watch Fox News, which is not selective in its criticism as the liberal press often is. For example, I get a ton of mail from conservatives who object to my independent approach.
John Luke, who lives in Mount Sinai, New York writes, "Hey, Judas, why don't you go sit in the booth with Michael Moore!" Apparently Mr. Luke would feel more comfortable with a pep rally for the GOP. So he writes an angry letter.
Jack Mehoffer, Springfield, Massachusetts says, "O'Reilly, I see the new Fox definition of fair and balanced means interviewing DNC chief Terry McAuliffe at both conventions."
Well, right you are, Mr. Mehoffer. Newt Gingrich appeared with us at both conventions. So did Mr. McAuliffe. What's the beef, sir? It is long past time to stop the partisan nonsense. Fox News gives airtime to all responsible viewpoints. And our commentators are clear and lively. No hidden agenda here, just flat out stimulating TV. And that's memo.
The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day
Alan Keyes (search), who's running for the Senate in Illinois, has called Mary Cheney (search) a hedonist and a sinner. Ms. Cheney, a lesbian, is the daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney. Ambassador Keyes is often flamboyant, but he might want to consider letting the deity separate the sinners from the righteous. To not do so would be ridiculous.