Caldara demeaned women, group says

By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Friday, January 25, 2008

A liberal group says that radio host Jon Caldara demeaned women when he asked a guest whether presidential candidate Hillary Clinton got "bitch- slapped" during a debate this week.

The Denver-based group ProgressNow sent an e-mail to its supporters Thursday, asking them to protest Caldara; KOA radio, which airs his show from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. weekdays; Clear Channel Communications, which owns the station; and the show's advertisers.

About 300 people called advertisers, said Michael Huttner, ProgressNow's executive director.

Caldara, who revels at being politically incorrect, dismissed the criticism.

"If you think this is the most obnoxious thing I've ever said on the radio, then obviously you haven't been listening too long," he said.

"The biggest question that they're not answering is, was Hillary bitch-slapped by Barack Obama during that debate? This is provocative, talk radio way of asking, 'Did she verbally get clobbered?' " he said.

Caldara and his guest, conservative pundit Ann Coulter, thought so.

Caldara, who also serves as president of the Independence Institute think tank, said that ProgressNow and Colorado Media Matters, another liberal group that complained about his comment, regularly take issue with his show.

"Their goal is to 'Imus' a conservative talk show host in Colorado," Caldara said, referring to Don Imus, whose show was canceled after a racial remark caused a national furor.

Bill Menezes, editorial director of Colorado Media Matters, said that Caldara is wrong.

"What we're trying to do is promote responsible discourse on the public airwaves," he said.

"I think most people would agree that does not include using offensive or bigoted commentary, as well as the misinformation that Mr. Caldara typically provides," he said.

bartels@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5327