... or a not so subtle hint/subliminal message that the White Republican should win over the African American candidate ...

But then, that would assume Fox News knows something about 1) history, and 2) subtlety.

OK - they're just ignorant.  Man ... too much.

Obsidian Wings is (are?) wrong, I think -- free blacks were citizens before the Civil War, even if this wasn't always recognized or respected in practice. Surprisingly, though, if they met the property qualifications they could even vote in Tennessee and North Carolina (not to mention various northern states). As a freeman, Frederick Douglass I think would have been viewed as a citizen, though admittedly not a likely candidate for U.S. Senate in 1858.

That said, it's still a funny and telling mistake on the part of Fox.

I hope tomorrow they follow up with footage of the classic debate between beloved character actor George Kennedy and long-time Red Sox outfielder Trot Nixon.

An honest mistake. Like Stephen Colbert, the good people at Fox News just don't *see* race.

As with the White House emails issue, it raises the question: Sinister, or incompetent?

To which I reply, with some glee, "Both, of course." Sinister and incompetent are never mutually exclusive. In fact, carefully nurtured incompetence is often the highest form of sinister.

with adaglas' post, we're off and running:

Donna Douglas (Elly May Clampett) vs. Abbey Lincoln (jazz singer)

Olympia Dukakis (actress) vs. Reggie Bush (Saints RB)

Shawn Corey Carter (i.e., Jay-Z) vs. John Henninger Reagan (postmaster general of the Confederate States of America)

Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy author) vs. Blind Lemon Jefferson (Texas-born bluesman)

"In fact, carefully nurtured incompetence is often the highest form of sinister."

I believe this is the motto of KAOS from Get Smart.

Man, remember when George Clinton debated the rock band Bush?  That was heavy, dude.

A post on wonkette says that the pictured individual is in fact Stephen Douglas.  FOX news graphic artists are just in the habit of darkening up the image of whoever debates the Republican.

Don't forget the contentious election of 1824, pitting future 1960s/70s icons Cassius Clay, Reggie Jackson, and Don Adams.

Man, remember 1976?  Wonder Woman Lynda Carter vs. the automobile?  Man, everyone thought Ford screwed up on the Poles and Soviet domination in Eastern Europe, but wow a talking car!  Won my vote anyway.

Also, fun fact!  Olympia Dukakis is actually Mike Dukakis' cousin!

Crock,

Not only that, Mike is Olympia's cousin, too!  I thought that kind of stuff was illegal.

Typical Democrats. Sodomites, every one of 'em.

1928 was contentious, as well, with Animal House's Hoover going up against Anna Nicole Smith.

Or in 1992, when Hillary Clinton was going up against George W. Bush?

Something seems less funny about that one.

Everyone remembers the famous headline when education pioneer John Dewey was reported to have beaten Truman Capote.

I just realized I have shattered the all-time record for Most "Get Smart" references in a single Plank thread, at 2.

Maybe this proves that Fox is a lot more "progressive" than TNR.

Or, more likely what it proves what has been pretty apparent over the past thirty years, is that the educational system in this country has declined markedly and truly sucks.  Particularly in the teaching of history.  Oh, and English.  Oh, and math.

This we can lay to the takeover of the system by Boomers who thought that such primitive notions as having to memorize historical dates was cruel and unusual punishment.

And, for what it's worth, a black man or woman was valued more than a cow or a spade.  For apportionment purposes in the House, a non-free person was counted as 3/5th of a person.

Chan, I don't disagree about the results of the educational system (though probably do about the reasons), but for that theory to explain this Fox mistake, everyone involved in vetting the on-air graphics would have to be a college intern. Don't you suppose they've got a producer or two who's over 25? Even the anchors involved in the segment -- the ones who failed to point out that we weren't actually looking at Stephen Douglas -- were 30-plus, I think.

WilliamYard: Olympia Dukakis is a man?  JEEZ.

Me, I prefer the LaToya Jackson, Bryan Adams run of '28.

What are you talking about?  Hillary "George" Clinton lost the 1872 Presidential race to the father of our country, Isaiah Washington.