Obama bids to steal McCain’s thunder with O’Reilly interview

Barack Obama is to appear on The O'Reilly Factor show on Fox News tonight - the same evening that John McCain will make his speech at St Paul, Minnesota accepting the Republicans' nomination to run for president. Fox's owner, Rupert Murdoch, is believed to have personally brokered the deal for the Democratic nominee to appear on his channel, which the Obama team had been effectively boycotting until now because of its perceived right-wing bent.

Fox station chief Roger Ailes, a lieutenant of Murdoch's, admitted to the Washington Post that Obama had said in meetings with him: "I just want to know if I'm going to get a fair shake from Fox News channel."

The decision to go head to head with Bill O'Reilly, a fiery and partisan interviewer who doesn't pull his punches, is considered risky. On the other hand, the timing gives Obama the chance to steal a little of McCain's thunder tonight, following the positive reception for Sarah Palin's barnstorming speech at the Republican convention on Wednesday.

FIRST POSTED SEPTEMBER 4, 2008