Hannity asked if it was "danger[ous]" for Obama to speak of "economic crisis" but ignored McCain ad saying "the economy is in crisis"

Summary: Sean Hannity asked if there was "danger" in Sen. Barack Obama's speaking of "economic crisis"; but Hannity did not mention that Sen. John McCain has also said, in a speech and in a campaign ad, that the "economy is in crisis."

During an interview with Gov. Sarah Palin aired on the September 17 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, co-host Sean Hannity asked, "Is Senator [Barack] Obama then using what happened on Wall Street this week -- is he using it for political gain? Is there a danger if a presidential candidate is saying to the world that America's situation, economic crisis, is the worst that we have seen in decades, which was words that he was using yesterday?" But Hannity did not ask Palin if there was "danger" in an ad released by Sen. John McCain's campaign in which McCain asserts that "[t]he economy is in crisis," or in a September 15 speech in which he said: "The American economy is in a crisis."

Later in the program, in reference to Obama's criticism of McCain for his September 15 statement that "the fundamentals of the economy are strong," Hannity asked Fox News political analyst Karl Rove: "[I]s Senator Barack Obama suggesting our economy is not a strong economy? Is he sending a signal to the world? Is that presidential? It almost seems like he's panicked and inexperienced and has never seen these cycles before." But Hannity again did not note the McCain ad, nor did he note that in a speech later on September 15, following Obama's criticism, McCain asserted: "The American economy is in a crisis." McCain also said: "The fundamentals of our economy are at risk," and that "those fundamentals are threatened, they are threatened and at risk because some on Wall Street have treated Wall Street like a casino." And in that speech and a September 16 speech in Tampa, Florida, McCain said that "the top of our economy is broken." Hannity did not ask Rove to assess whether McCain's statements were "sending a signal to the world," or whether such a "signal" was "presidential."

From the September 17 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:

HANNITY: Is Senator Obama then using what happened on Wall Street this week -- is he using it for political gain? Is there a danger if a presidential candidate is saying to the world that America's situation, economic crisis, is the worst that we have seen in decades, which was words that he was using yesterday? Is there a danger in terms of the world hearing that?

PALIN: Well, there is a danger in allowing some obsessive partisanship to get into the issue that we're talking about today. And that's something that John McCain, too, his track record proving that he can work both sides of the aisle. He can surpass the partisanship that must be surpassed to deal with an issue like this. It is that profound and that important an issue that we work together on this and not just let one party try to kind of grab it all, capture it all, and pretend like they have all the answers. It's going to take everybody working together on this.

[...]

HANNITY: Let me ask you this, because we've got this whole issue. And one of the first questions I asked her is the attacks now by -- by Senator Biden and Senator Obama is, you know, that Senator McCain said the fundamentals of the American economy are strong. And I'm thinking about this, and I know we've got our problems. Certainly, we've been watching the Wall Street issues. Certainly, people have real concerns. But I'm wondering on the converse side of that, is Senator Barack Obama suggesting our economy is not a strong economy? Is he sending a signal to the world? Is that presidential? It almost seems like he's panicked and inexperienced and has never seen these cycles before.

ROVE: Yeah, well, it's one thing to say, look, we face challenges, which, if you recall, Senator McCain said the fundamentals of the economy are strong but we're facing a crisis and challenge. And it's one thing to say, you know, "Look, we're going to be resolute. We can get through this. We've got the best workforce in the world. We've got innovation and technology and a flexible economy. And we'll be able to overcome bubbles like the housing bubble and problems like Wall Street. But we've got challenges and we need to work on them." It's another thing to seem to be divorced from reality. Senator Obama is attempting to make Senator McCain look like he's divorced from reality. The problem is anybody who wants to pay attention to it is seeing that Senator McCain made a longer comment with which most Americans would associate themselves. And by truncating that comment, Senator Obama is raising questions about his own credibility.

—M.G.