Despite Caplis' on-air history of misinformation, News published his misleading smear about Obama

Summary: Echoing a smear other conservative media figures have propagated, co-host Dan Caplis of 630 KHOW-AM claimed in a Rocky Mountain News column that Sen. Barack Obama "is the most radically pro-abortion candidate in our nation's history," and that he "even voted against protecting babies who were born alive after a failed abortion." In the apparent reference to Obama's position on bills seeking to change Illinois abortion law, Caplis omitted that Obama and other opponents said state law already prohibited the conduct that the bills supposedly addressed and said the bills threatened abortion rights.

In an August 25 Rocky Mountain News guest column about Sen. Barack Obama's selection of Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) as his running mate, 630 KHOW-AM host Dan Caplis asserted, "Obama is the most radically pro-abortion candidate in our nation's history. He even voted against protecting babies who were born alive after a failed abortion." Caplis' claim was a variation of similar smears voiced by other conservative media figures and apparently referred to Obama's opposition as an Illinois state senator to bills seeking to amend the Illinois Abortion Law of 1975. As Media Matters for America has repeatedly noted, Obama and other opponents said the legislation posed a threat to abortion rights and was unnecessary because, they said, Illinois law already prohibited the conduct that the bills supposedly addressed.

As Colorado Media Matters has documented, Caplis also has a history on his KHOW program of smearing Obama or making false and misleading statements about him.

Media Matters for America noted that when tasked by the Illinois attorney general's office with investigating allegations that fetuses born alive at an Illinois hospital were abandoned without treatment, including in a soiled utility room, the Illinois Department of Public Health reportedly said that it was unable to substantiate the allegations but said that if the allegations had proved true, the conduct alleged would have been a violation of then-existing Illinois law. Obama himself has cited specific provisions of the Illinois Compiled Statutes in stating that the "born alive principle was already the law in Illinois."

The News' publication of Caplis' factual misinformation followed its August 6 online article that inaccurately reported Obama has been a dual citizen of the United States and Kenya since 1963 -- a claim the News later deleted from the article without initially indicating to readers that it had done so. Following several Colorado Media Matters items about the falsehood, News editor, president, and publisher John Temple on August 16 explained to readers the genesis and apparent resolution of the falsehood about Obama's citizenship in his regular page 2 Saturday column.

Colorado Media Matters has documented numerous instances in which Caplis has smeared or made false or misleading statements about Obama on his radio show, including:

• Echoing conservative talking points on his January 19, 2007, program, Caplis repeated information that he attributed to a Fox News article about Obama's having attended a radical Muslim seminary, or radical madrassa. Although CNN debunked the myth just days later, Caplis never addressed the discredited story.

• On two straight broadcasts, Caplis attacked Obama and questioned his "judgment" for having worn the traditional attire of a tribal elder during an August 2006 visit to Kenya. On his February 25 program, Caplis questioned why Obama would "put on similar clothing to the outfit worn by the man who personally ordered thousands of Americans, including women and kids, to be burned to death," in apparent reference to Osama bin Laden. On February 26, Caplis again used the bin Laden analogy in stating, "Unfortunately, the man who personally ordered the burning to death of thousands of Americans in New York City, including women and children, also wears that clothing." On both programs, Caplis omitted news reports noting that the attire is common to the nomadic people of the region Obama visited and that it has no religious significance.

• Discussing part of the April 16 Democratic primary debate between Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton, Caplis on April 17 claimed that "the only reason" Obama does not wear a U.S. flag lapel pin is because "he has a fundamentally dim and negative view of this country. And he does not want to be put in that category that you get put in when you proudly wear the flag." In fact, as Media Matters for America has noted, Obama said in October 2007 that he had decided to stop wearing a U.S. flag lapel pin during the run-up to the Iraq war because it had become "a substitute for, I think, true patriotism," and that "after a while, you start noticing people wearing a lapel pin, but not acting very patriotic."

• On May 7 Caplis disagreed with co-host Craig Silverman's statement that Obama "repudiated the statements" of his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Caplis asserted, "If you really go back and read what" Obama said, "[h]e never took 'em on, one by one, and specifically in any detail unpacked 'em and repudiated 'em." However, according to the transcript of an April 29 news conference, after specifically addressing Wright's controversial remarks about AIDS and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, Obama stated that Wright's comments "rightly offend all Americans. And they should be denounced. And that's what I'm doing very clearly and unequivocally here today." Also, Obama previously had specifically disagreed with Wright's controversial remarks about the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

• Discussing Obama's June 4 speech at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's (AIPAC) 2008 policy conference on his June 4 broadcast, Caplis stated that Obama "was endorsed by Hamas," without mentioning Obama's repeated denunciation of the terrorist group, including the statement in his speech that "[w]e must isolate Hamas unless and until they renounce terrorism, recognize Israel's right to exist and abide by past agreements."

• Echoing a political advertisement by Sen. John McCain's campaign, Caplis on his July 28 broadcast attacked Obama for canceling a visit with wounded troops at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, saying that "it was all about the imagery" and that once Obama "couldn't bring the cameras to visit the injured troops it was, 'Hey, screw the troops.' " In fact, NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell on July 25 reported that Obama "visited a casualty unit in the Green Zone" in Iraq "without photographers" several days before arriving in Germany, as Media Matters for America noted. Mitchell confirmed her previous reporting on July 28, saying, "I can attest to the fact that he did visit troops in Iraq only four or five days earlier, that there was no notice of it, that I confirmed that it happened, but they had no video of any type and no reporters. And that he's been to Walter Reed [Army Medical Center]. So let's at least get that off the table."

From Dan Caplis' guest column, "A choice that will backfire," published August 25 in the Rocky Mountain News:

Senator Obama needed a home run. Instead, he decided to bunt. And it was foul.

With one bold move he could have energized and united his party. Instead, he has made a mockery of his message of "change" and promises of "unity."

Obama should have put his ego aside, and given Hillary and her 17.5 million voters what they had earned. A real shot at placing the first woman in the White House. Instead, Obama chose a guy who got less than 1 percent of the vote.

[...]

Maybe Obama thinks that Biden will help him with Catholics. Tell that to John Kerry.

Most Catholics, like everybody else, vote for the top of the ticket. Lots of Catholics will not vote for a candidate who is pro-choice. Obama is the most radically pro-abortion candidate in our nation's history. He even voted against protecting babies who were born alive after a failed abortion. Besides, Biden, like Obama, is in favor of legalized abortion.

—C.K.