Lou DobbsI’m not sure when this started, or whether anyone takes it seriously, but for the past several nights, CNN has been teasing its viewers by hyping the idea that their own anchor, Lou Dobbs, is considering a run for the presidency as an “independent” candidate. Does CNN not see there’s a problem here?

Unlike Stephen Colbert, who never pretended that his brief dabbling with running was anything more than a publicity stunt and parody of presidential campaigns, the arrogant Dobbs has enough conceit and ambition, along with enough devoted viewers stroking his ego every night, to take himself seriously. And if that’s true, what is CNN doing?

I’m not suggesting that a Dobbs candidacy would likely succeed. Although Dobbs’ brand of immigrant bashing may appeal to many on the right, the Republican field is already littered with “illegal immigrant” bashers. There are only so many votes to be had from bashing the US Attorney who prosecuted two border patrol agents or making sure immigrants only drive without licenses or discouraging folks from taking their children to an emergency room because they’re afraid they’ll be deported while their kids are sent to foster care. And with folks like Giuliani in the race, it’s not clear how much room is left for another self-proclaimed hero and demagogue.

Dobbs likes to portray himself as an anti-government populist, a champion of the middle class. But tapping into whatever populist appeal there is will take something more than an agenda of hating/fearing anyone who crosses our southern border without permission. Just being fed up with both parties is not enough. Dobb’s rant last night on the quandary Democrats face over recess appointments was another example of his howling mindlessly at the moon; he seems to have no clue that a lawless regime has the country by the throat, forcing Democrats to take unprecedented steps to keep things from getting worse.

Middle class Americans are under siege from a radical regime driven by right wing ideologues who, while enriching the richest, have tried to dismantle the very government programs that nurtured the middle class. But Dobbs hasn’t explained to his viewers that when Republicans repeatedly obstruct funding for those programs while demanding unlimited funds for wars, it’s part of the “war on the middle class” and poor Americans — voters who are not likely to see their salvation from someone whose priority is building a wall between the US and Mexico. But if he thinks he can sell that better than Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter, let him quit CNN and try.

The problem is he wants to try while sitting in his CNN anchor chair. With CNN’s complicity, Dobbs has been using both his own hour-long “news” show and preview appearances on Wolf Blitzer’s news shows to promote the notion of an “independent,” populist candidate. CNN has been trying to create a buzz by running streamers at the bottom of Blitzer’s shows asking about Dobb’s candidacy, and they’ve used interviews on other shows to ask him if he’s serious — to which Dobbs gave a cutesy non-denial. He’s also using his own shows and web writings to encourage voters to abandon the major parties and re-register as “independents.” Each night, he displays and praises e-mails from viewers proudly proclaiming they’ve followed his advice.

I frankly don’t care if Lou Dobbs wants to quit his job and run for President. But I have a problem with Dobbs using his CNN anchor position to promote his own candidacy, on a program that pretends to be about “news.” And if Dobbs is serious, then CNN is allowing its cable “news” programs to be misused to provide free airtime and campaign advertising to openly promote a Presidential candidate. How can candidates of either party expect CNN to treat them fairly if CNN is openly pimping for Dobbs?

Given CNN’s role, this is starting to look worse than the “I’m just testing the waters” sham that Thompson went through to evade federal election laws and worse than Fox News stacking the deck for Giuliani. I don’t assume that Dobbs has crossed a legal line, and its way too late to worry about his reputation as an ethical journalist. But does anyone at CNN care about its own journalistic integrity?

If Dobbs is running, replace him; if he’s not, stop pretending he is. And if he wants to think about it, give him a leave of absence.

Screenshot from Rauchdickson, “Are you serious Lou?”

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