O'Reilly is actually easy to figure out. His militant moderate pose is a marketing gimmick. He seems to check the public opinion polls to find out what is majoritarian so that he may believe and cheerlead accordingly. He wants to know what the public thinks so that he jog in that direction as fast as he can so that he can "lead" the folks. He is as phony as the Arkansas Antichrist. He can be appealing when the polls go our way and impenetrable when they do not. Bear in mind he used to work for SeeBS News. That loyalty led him to defend Dan Rather (a rare instance of opposing public opinion).
In addition to CBS being a former employer, O'Reilly is cognizant of the need to keep the powerful in the MSM at least somewhat on his side, or at least to back off going after him.
BINGO! That's why I disrespect him quite a bit. No soul or convictions just selling out for ratings.