Bill O'Reilly!

If you ask Americans how many political parties are contesting the presidential race this year, most will say two. They are wrong. Right now there are five parties in play two on the Democratic side, and three in the Republican arena.

On the Democratic front, the establishment candidate is Hillary Clinton. That means the old guard Dems who supported Bill Clinton are now using their organizational capacities to help his wife become president. New Hampshire was a great example: Clinton "people" from all over the country poured into the Granite State, making sure traditional Democratic voters got to the polls. That effort made the difference for Senator Clinton.

The other Democratic party-within-the-party is the far-left element, the "give peace a chance" crowd. I call them Yoko Ono Democrats. They are adamantly against the Iraq war and aggressively challenging worldwide terrorism. These people feel Hillary Clinton is too nuanced in her Iraq posture and don't trust her to set up the "new" America they desperately want.

By the way, the Yoko Ono people are split between John Edwards and Barack Obama.

On the GOP side, there is no establishment candidate, which is why we are seeing a virtual free-for-all in the voting. The social conservative choice is Mike Huckabee, who is ardently pro-life and pro-traditional marriage. The economic conservatives like Mitt Romney, who is a big business guy. And the moderate Republicans support either John McCain or Rudy Giuliani.

So there are really three separate and distinct Grand Old Party voting blocs.

If the big issue is "values," then Huckabee wins as he did in Iowa. If the primary concern is security and cutting waste, then McCain and Giuliani score. But if it's the economy, stupid, Mitt Romney comes out on top.

Of course, nobody knows how all of this will shake down in the general election, and that's why the campaign of 2008 is so interesting. I suspect the Clinton machine will prevail on the Democratic side, but, at this point, Barack Obama has come too far to be dismissed. So expect him to be the vice presidential nominee.

On the Republican side of the court, it is still a jump ball, with Romney and McCain having the best position. Traditional Republicans realize Governor Huckabee would have big trouble in the general election, not being able to compete in big states like California and New York.

Rudy Guiliani could compete in those states, but got clobbered in the initial voting, so Florida is his last stand. But remember, the mayor is one terror incident away from re-igniting. And if he does well in the Sunshine State, he's back in contention.

So there you have it a great presidential campaign so far. No spin.

01/10/08

There is a chance that before this presidential election year is over, somebody is going to get hurt. Knowing that partisan hostility is boiling over in America, the Secret Service is tense because the candidates are exposed when they campaign in public. Hatred is definitely in the air, and the media is partially to blame.

The enormous success of the Fox News Channel has created a bitterness unprecedented in the American press. CNN has been dethroned as the cable news leader and NBC News, which runs two cable outlets, is far behind both Fox News and CNN in the ratings. Some estimates have Fox News making six times as much money as MSNBC. General Electric, which owns NBC, has seen its stock price remain stagnant for the past six years, a humbling fact for the corporate giant.

And then there is ideology. Traditionally, the so-called mainstream media has leaned left. Retired anchormen like Walter Cronkite and Tom Brokaw now openly discuss their liberal beliefs, and former CBS commentator Bill Moyers is a flat-out far-left zealot.

So it comes as no surprise that Fox News, which gives equal time to conservative thought, is despised by many in the liberal press. Not surprisingly, that hostility has now carried over into the political arena.

Whether it is on television or radio, in books, in newspapers, or here on the web, the name Bill O'Reilly is synonymous with hard hitting, uncompromising No Spin reporting and analysis. For some thirty years Bill has been a working journalist: a writer, news producer and reporter, anchor, and show host. Bill O'Reilly's numerous awards include two Emmy Awards for Excellence In Reporting and two National headliner Awards for his news reporting for the ABC network. O'Reilly was also honored by The National Academy of Arts and Sciences for his reporting and analysis on and after September 11th, 2001. Background: Professional

Bill began working in news in 1975 at a local station in Pennsylvania and quickly moved up to larger venues in Dallas and then in Denver and Hartford.

By 1980 O'Reilly was in New York, working at CBS as host of a nightly TV magazine show. Bill O'Reilly's work there caught the eye of the network people who named Bill O'Reilly a CBS network news correspondent.

In 1986, Roone Arledge, the President of ABC News, came calling. Bill joined ABC, providing award-winning coverage for the network during his three-year stay.

In 1989 a new nationally syndicated magazine show called Inside Edition was rolling out across the country, and Bill was tapped to host the show. Six years later, after considerable success with Inside Edition, Bill felt it was time to move on.

After a break at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, Roger Ailes recruited Bill O'Reilly to the Fox News Channel, which was about to go on air. Bill O'Reilly's show, originally called The O'Reilly Report, began in October of 1996. And now Bill O'Reilly is at the top of his profession.

Bill O'Reilly Television

"The O'Reilly Factor," seen weeknights on the Fox News Channel, continues to dominate the television news ratings, consistently ranking as the highest rated cable news show for more than two years. It is also carried in dozens of foreign countries.

Bill O'Reilly Radio

In 2002, Bill came to radio. The Radio Factor was an immediate hit. It was one of the most successful syndicated radio shows ever, heard Monday through Friday on more than 400 stations nationwide. The demand was such that Premium Members on BillOReilly.com could listen at their leisure daily to "streaming" audio of the latest program.

The Radio Factor is now off the air because Bill no longer has time to do it, due to his busy TV schedule!

Bill O'Reilly Books

Bill is one of only two authors in the past ten years to have three consecutive number one non-fiction books on the New York Times Best Sellers list. "The O'Reilly Factor," "The No Spin Zone," and "Who's Looking Out for You" have sold millions of copies. Bill continues to find the time to write, most recently turning his attention to Teenagers and a new book entitled "The O'Reilly Factor For Kids."

Bill O'Reilly Column

Bill's syndicated column is carried in hundreds of newspapers across the USA, including The New York Daily News and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Bill O'Reilly is pleased to preview each week's column weekly right here at BillOReilly.com.

Bill O'Reilly Personal Life

Education sparked O'Reilly's career. Bill O'Reilly graduated with a degree in history from Marist College, with a Master's Degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University, and attained another Master's in Public Administration from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

Raised in a working class family in the huge housing subdivision of Levittown, New York, Bill O'Reilly has stayed close to his roots. Bill O'Reilly still lives on Long Island, is married with two children, and his best friends remain the neighborhood guys.