Lou Dobbs mulls run for White House, Senate
edonline
Lou Dobbs mulls run for White House, Senate
Thu Nov 19, 2009 6:32pm EST
By Tim Gaynor
PHOENIX (Reuters) - A week after abruptly quitting his longtime job as
a CNN television news host and commentator, Lou Dobbs said on Thursday
he is considering career options including possible runs for the White
House or U.S. Senate.
"Right now I feel exhilaration at the wide range of choices before me
as to what I do next," Dobbs, whose outspoken views on immigration and
other topics often angered liberals, told Reuters in a telephone
interview from New York on Thursday.
Dobbs, 64, a veteran CNN anchor who had become one of the most
divisive figures in U.S. broadcast journalism, announced last
Wednesday he was leaving CNN after spending the better part of 30
years at the 24-hour cable news network.
He still hosts a daily radio show.
A Texas native, Dobbs has drawn fire from Latino leaders and civil
rights groups for frequent on-air remarks about U.S. border control
and immigration that critics saw as demonizing illegal immigrants.
He was also seen as lending credence to the "birther" conspiracy
theory, whose adherents believe President Barack Obama's Hawaiian
birth certificate was faked to hide a Kenyan birthplace that would
make the first black U.S. president ineligible for his office.
Dobbs acknowledged his commentary also stirred friction with CNN
executives.
Discussions with CNN/U.S. President Jonathan Klein made it clear
Dobbs' style of combining news and opinion was untenable at the
network, Dobbs said.
"They wanted to reverse direction on my show from what had been a news
debate and my opinion to a middle-of-the road, as Jon Klein styled it,
non-opinion show," he said.
"It was just not gratifying to me to sit there and read a news show --
and I much prefer to be more engaged."
Dobbs vowed to carry on expressing his views "fully and
straightforwardly in the public arena no matter what I decide to do
next."
Since his departure, some have speculated he might run as a candidate
for the U.S. Senate in New Jersey, where he has a home, or even run as
a third-party candidate in the 2012 U.S. presidential elections --
options he says remain on the table.
"I am ruling nothing out. ... I have come to no conclusions and no
decisions," he said. "Do I seek to have some influence on public
policy? Absolutely. Do I seek to represent and champion the middle
class in this country and those who aspire to it? Absolutely. And I
will."
Kris Baker
"edonline" <eronlin...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:pllbg55500bfnmb4c...@4ax.com...
> http://www.reuters.com/article/peopleNews/idUSTRE5AI5GU20091119
>
> Lou Dobbs mulls run for White House, Senate
Dobbs-Palin 2012! Woo-hoo!
Kris