Why Do Guests Go Into Battle With Bill?

Mark Jurkowitz wonders: “Whenever I watch the Fox News Channel’s The O’Reilly Factor — the highest-rated prime-time show in the cable-news universe — one question strikes me right away. Why do people who disagree with Bill O’Reilly — liberals, usually — go on the show? What masochistic urge coaxes them into battle with the guy who’s controlling the weaponry?”

So he asked a few of O’Reilly’s left-leaning guests. Democratic political analyst and Fox contributor Mary Anne Marsh says she genuinely likes O’Reilly and enjoys the “very spirited debates.”

“If Democrats aren’t willing to stand and fight, then how are we ever going to win?” she asks. If Democrats aren’t “willing to go on Fox and make the case, shame on Democrats.”

Perhaps, as Jurkowitz suggests, “liberals who refuse to test their mettle and debating skills in a hostile Factor environment are, for want of a better term, wimps.” (Via Romenesko)