Glenn Beck's inflammatory rhetoric -- his ranting about Obama being a racist -- "became a bit of a branding issue for us" before the hot-button host left in July, Ailes says. So too did Sarah Palin's being widely promoted as the GOP's potential savior -- in large measure through her lucrative platform at Fox. Privately, Fox executives say the entire network took a hard right turn after Obama's election, but, as the tea party's popularity fades, is edging back toward the mainstream.
While Fox reporters ply their trade under Ailes's much-mocked "fair and balanced" banner, the opinion arm of the operation has been told to lower the temperature. After the Gabrielle Giffords shooting triggered a debate about feverish rhetoric, Ailes ordered his troops to tone things down. It was, in his view, a chance to boost profits by grabbing a more moderate audience.
As he embarks on his last hurrah -- Ailes's contract is up in 2013 -- he is acting not like a political operative but as a corporate chieftain who knows that fostering friction and picking fights make for good television -- and good business. Next fall's election could well pivot on whether Ailes is more interested in scoring political points or ramping up ratings and revenue.
Read more at The Daily Beast. In January, Ailes reportedly clashed with Palin over her response to the shooting of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
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McGinniss accuses mainstream media of snubbing his book (Politico, Firedoglake): Joe McGinniss attacked what he called the mainstream media "herd animal" on Sunday, accusing TV and radio outlets of avoiding coverage of his book, "The Rogue: Searching for Sarah Palin."
Is it Palin time in the GOP presidential race? (Andy Ostroy, The Huffington Post): [Rick] Perry, after three embarrassing debate performances where he's been trounced by Mitt Romney, is now a proven rank amateur on the national stage and is all but toast. As [Michele] Bachmann struggles to regain some traction, albeit unsuccessfully, it's become the perfect moment for The Wasilla Wonder.
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