CNN's Kagan: "[L]iberal is not a label I would ... typically put" on “law enforcement types”

CNN anchor Daryn Kagan admitted that she might be stereotyping when she said that “liberal is not a label” she would put on “law enforcement types.” Kagan's comment came during an interview with Atlanta Chief of Police Richard J. Pennington about his support for an extension of the ban on military-style assault weapons. But major police unions, representing hundreds of thousands of law enforcement officers, have endorsed Senator John Kerry -- including one that endorsed George W. Bush in 2000.

From the September 10 edition of CNN Live Today:

KAGAN: I might be making a stereotype here, but I would think if you take law enforcement types, chiefs of police, as a group, liberal is not a label I would technically -- typically put. So what is it like to come up with an issue like this and go up against people who perhaps don't want the same thing that you do?

In March, Kerry was endorsed by the executive committee of the International Union of Police Associations, which represents more than 110,000 law enforcement professionals nationwide. In May, Kerry was endorsed by the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, one of the largest police unions in the country with 12,000 members; the group endorsed George W. Bush in 2000. On September 1, the 30,000-member National Coalition of Public Safety Officers endorsed Kerry. And most recently, on September 13, Kerry received the endorsement of the National Association of Police Organizations, which represents more than 2,000 police unions and associations, 236,000 sworn law enforcement officers, 11,000 retired officers, and more than 100,000 citizens. Bush was endorsed on September 10 by the Fraternal Order of Police, which has a membership of more than 318,000 members.

Kagan stereotyped Marines as Republicans on July 28, as Media Matters for America noted. Kagan asked her guest, retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel Steve Brozak (who is running for Congress in New Jersey and was a speaker at the 2004 Democratic National Convention) why he, as “a former and a just recent retired Marine,” is “not a Republican.”