Clear Channel Backs Dubious Rubio

Patricia Mazzei reports that Clear Channel refused to accept billboard ad buy by Forecast the Facts. The environmental organization want to post this billboard on Marco Rubio's climate science position.

NO CLIMATE DENIERS IN THE WHITE HOUSE," the proposed ad from Forecast the Facts Action read, steering viewers to RubioIsNotReady.org.

The billboard would look something like this.

Brant Olson had this to say about Clear Channel's decision.

"Clear Channel is applying a partisan filter to the ads that it allows Miami residents to see, and tilting the scale in favor of its own partisan agenda," Brant Olson, Forecast's campaign director, said in an email. "Clear Channel is playing dirty politics."

Clear Channel has heavily supported the Republican Party. The company pulled songs by the Dixie Chicks after lead singer Natalie Maines made these famous anti-Bush remarks.

Tom Hicks, an executive at Clear Channel, helped stage pro war rallies in support of President George W. Bush. The idea for the rallies came from Glenn Beck. Hicks bought the Texas Rangers from Bush and his partners. Hicks donated $146,000 to Bush's gubernatorial campaigns.

Clear Channel's reason for rejecting the ad.

"All our contracts clearly state we reserve the right to final ad approval," spokesman Jason King said in an email. "And sometimes the original ad presented in discussions may only be a draft."

Clear Channel has a right to reject the act. I just wish they would upfront about being pro-Republican.