05/07/07

Spitzer, Huckabee say traditional reporting, fact checking important in age of Internet blogs

By DEEPTI HAJELA
Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- Democratic New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee on Monday said President Bush and Congress need to work together to end their stalemate over the direction to take in Iraq.

"At this point in time I would say to them, get into a room," Spitzer said at the annual meeting of The Associated Press. "It is an embarrassment before the nation, before the world, that we cannot pass a budget that funds our troops, that ensures their safety and their security, but the president should understand the public tolerance for this war has run its course."

Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, said the nation's founding fathers deliberately built into the Constitution tension between the branches of government, and both sides must find a way to work within those checks and balances.

"When we walk in having been elected, we have to accept that yes, we were elected but so were these other guys," Huckabee said.

Last month, Bush vetoed a $124 billion bill to pay for Iraq and Afghanistan operations in part because it required troops to begin returning home by Oct. 1.

Spitzer and Huckabee spoke during a lunch session moderated by outgoing AP board chairman Burl Osborne.

The two men offered commentary on a range of subjects, from how to set governing priorities to the role of the media.

Huckabee said traditional press coverage is more important than ever because there is an editing process and vetting of facts that isn't always found in blogs.

"Today in the blogosphere, anyone can say anything," he said. "It doesn't have to have any basis in fact whatsoever."

On the other hand, Spitzer added, the rapid spread of information is invaluable.

"The notion that there is this free flow of information out there has taken us to a better place, and the broader and broader the reach of information flow, the better," he said.