EDITORIAL - For years, conservatives have been cataloguing examples of liberal bias in the media. We have talked about favorable coverage for Democrats, critical coverage of Republicans. We point to negative reports on the war, on the Bush administration, on any conservative issue. We note the Left-leaning editorials and news coverage on the broadcast networks, major newspapers and news weeklies. Those who benefit from this bias have always explained away these examples with rationalizations and dismissals. Until now.

Democrat contenders for the White House have now twice turned down invitations from Fox News to televise their debates. The first instance was n event originally scheduled for August, which would have been co-sponsored by Fox News and the Nevada Democratic Party. A second debate invitation, scheduled for 23 September, and co-sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute, has been spurned by Senators Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards.

Fox News produced several political debates in the 2004 presidential campaign, including at least two for Democrat candidates, including the first nationally televised Democrat debate of that campaign. Another Fox-sponsored debate was moderated by Gwen Ifill of PBS. No candidates were excluded by Fox. Fox News did not determine the questions, and certainly had no control over the answers of the candidates.

In the first debate, the panel was moderated by Brit Hume of Fox News, but the questioners were journalists from media sources not known to be conservative–Ed Gordon of Black Entertainment Television, Farai Chedaya of ABC News, and Juan Williams of National Public Radio. Hume, the Fox anchor, asked no questions. If there was any bias against any of the Democrat candidates, or the Democrat party, it was not evident or noted by any journalist.

But now, ultra-Left web sites like MoveOn.org and colorofchange.org have encouraged Democrat candidates to boycott Fox debates because of the conservative bias of Fox News. There has been no campaign to encourage Democrats to boycott debates on any of the broadcast networks, CNN or MSNBC.

Thus, it is clear that Democrats and liberals have favorites among news sources. Those favorites can best be described by the acronym "ABF," or Anybody But Fox. This is a clear endorsement by the Left of all media sources except Fox News. The liberals and Democrats choose to debate in media forums where they are favored, where they will find sympathetic treatment, where their views will be supported.

As previous Fox-sponsored debates in the 2004 campaign demonstrate, Fox was scrupulously fair to the Democrat candidates. However, this does not seem to be enough for Democrats in a crucial presidential election. They prefer forums where the coverage is more than fair. They prefer a home field advantage. They prefer to appear on friendly turf, with a home town ref and house rules that favor their team.

Judge candidates as you will for this evidence of cowardice, but note the underlying admission–the majority of the broadcast media is biased toward Democrats. For proof, you need only refer to the preferences of Democrat candidates and their far-Left online masters. Democrats will not venture into a fair fight. They will only play the game with loaded dice, marked cards, and a friendly croupier. These candidates who are afraid fairly to enter the arena of public discourse are the people who want to lead the nation in the challenging era ahead.

Americans voters are difficult to predict–the last two presidential elections were as close as they come. In every contest, half the country disagrees with the outcome. But one near-unanimous preference is clear: Americans will never vote for a coward.