Bob Beckel, Host of 'The Five,' Does Not Sit in the 'Leg Shot' Chair

Bob Beckel, one of few Democrats on the roster of Fox News political analysts, marveled at how his life has changed in the years since he quit drugs and alcohol. “I used to get in at this hour,” he told Imus at 6:35am. “Not get up at this hour.”
 
He also used to not have a surprisingly popular daily talk show on Fox called The Five, which airs at 5pm ET and features, Beckel, Greg Gutfeld, and a rotating cast of characters that includes Dana Perino, Monica Crowley and others. “It’s a very funny show,” Beckel said. “It doesn’t have a host, and it’s kind of a free-for-all.”
 
Since starting his gig on The Five, Beckel has heard from numerous people that the show reminds them of a family sitting around the table at Thanksgiving, and that he specifically fills the role of “the crazy uncle they brought up from the basement.”
 
Sounds about right.
 
In Imus’s view, Beckel is crazy, if for no other reason than he continues to support Barack Obama. “Would you really want to turn this country over to Michele Bachmann?” Beckel asked Imus, who noted that she’s not the only option: Mitt Romney and Rick Perry are also trying to be president in 2012.
 
“There’s a couple of towering intellects,” Beckel observed, then confessed he has a hard time understanding anything Perry says.
 
Somebody must understand the dude, because Texas, the state he governs, did not experience the same jobs crisis that has befallen the rest of the country. “Because they’ve got all the oil and gas, and oil went through the roof!” Beckel protested. He added about Perry, “Anybody who tells me God called them to do anything, I’m suspicious of.”
 
Many people on the Right, however, are suspicious of Obama’s decision to go on vacation in Martha’s Vineyard at such a perilous time in the country. “You gotta be careful where you put these guys for their vacation,” said Beckel, who used to work for President Jimmy Carter.
 
“It’s interesting that you worked for the worst president ever,” Imus remarked. “And now you’re supporting the second-worst president ever.”
 
To that end, Beckel had no excuse. “I was an addict for 30 years. I’m not going to make the greatest choices in my life.”
 
Agreeing to host The Five might turn out to be an anomaly for Beckel, then, as its unanticipated success continues. “When you watch some Ken doll giving the news over and over again, how much of that can you listen to?” said Beckel, whose gruff demeanor is probably comforting to many aggravated Americans.
 
Happy for his new friend’s accomplishments, Imus wished him well and said, “You’re fat, and you’re wrong. But that doesn’t mean we don’t like you.”
 
-Julie Kanfer