On Politics / David Postman
Local professor catching the eye of media — and of Bill O'Reilly

By David Postman
Seattle Times chief political reporter

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This may come as news if you lean more toward "Fahrenheit 9/11" than "The O'Reilly Factor," but Wiehl is becoming Washington state's best-known talking head.

She is on sabbatical from UW to be a full-time foil to O'Reilly on his daily two-hour radio show. That's in addition to a heavy rotation of legal analysis on Fox TV.

Wiehl on Fox, re: Laci Peterson:

"The doctor said don't walk the dog. And remember, she did once before and came back to the doctor and he said, 'Don't walk the dog. Do not do it again.' "

On Michael Jackson:

"As a prosecutor, what you want to do in an indictment like this one is throw everything against the wall."

To host Sean Hannity, re: Kobe Bryant:

"The crucial thing is that these are hearings. Don't ... be rolling your eyes before I even started making my first point."

That's what has made Wiehl so popular among TV bookers. It's a mix of a strong legal background and the sort of sass that cable TV requires these days.

And, oh yeah, the eye candy. That's what O'Reilly called Wiehl on Monday's show.
 
In the midst of a debate on Bill Clinton's public appearances, O'Reilly told her, "You're here because you're good-looking, so I got somebody to look over, go, 'That's pretty nice-looking.' "

The exchange was featured on a new left-leaning Web site that monitors conservative talk, mediamatters.org.

Which Wiehl thought was pretty funny.

"I don't think we need to lose our sense of humor," she said after Thursday's show. "I've said there should be a bubble over our heads that says, 'This is a joke. Just kidding.' "

O'Reilly has become the talk-show host who most drives the left nuts. He goes for a populist rant and evisceration of guests he disagrees with.

Wiehl is the voice of reason. It's mostly good-natured, in a "Moonlighting" sort of way.

The first time they met, they argued about Gary Condit. He was for impeachment. She said let the voters decide.

"We started fighting and we've been fighting ever since," Wiehl said. "Bill and I disagree on a million things. If he orders Chinese, I want Italian.

"I think that people know when we are really arguing seriously it is not a joke."

When we talked, Wiehl was walking from the Fox studios to a party for a network pal. But she says that as a divorced mother of two, she doesn't do the N.Y. party scene much.

She recently finished a tour for her book, "Winning Every Time: How to Use the Skills of a Lawyer in the Trials of Your Life." She will be back in the state this summer, in Yakima, where her mother was a teacher and her father a lawyer.

There's a level of celebrity that comes with a profile like Wiehl's that has people far beyond Yakima watching her carefully. There's an official fan club — tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/Lis_Wiehl_Esq/ — on the Web with various shots of her and a Q&A.

Yesterday, "Melissa" wrote on the site, "I like the group photograph of Lis under the Fox News logo. She is very beautiful in it! :) :>)"

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