Posted on 10/23/2009 9:42:07 AM PDT by Alter Kaker
Friends and associates are encouraging Fox News chief Roger Ailes to jump into the political arena for real by running for president in 2012, top sources tell POLITICO.
"Ailes knows how to frame an issue better than anybody, and that's what we need now," says one Ailes friend who is encouraging the Fox founder, chairman and CEO to seek the Republican nomination to run against President Barack Obama.
Ailes, 69, has an aggessive, winning personality that made Fox News a huge success — and a huge target for liberal critics.
Frank Luntz, the well-known Republican pollster, said Ailes could be a force if he makes the run.
"I have known Roger Ailes for 29 years," says Luntz. “No one knows how to win better than Roger."
Talk of an Ailes run, which informed sources said is based on more than mere speculation, could escalate the White House war with Fox war in wildly unpredictable – and fun – ways.
It was Ailes who recently held a private meeting with top White House adviser David Axelrod to ease tensions. The meeting was not a success.
Shortly after, the White House stepped up its attack on Fox – and Fox has proudly fired back.
Fox executives are relishing the public spat – so much so that virtually every on-air personality talks about it, and Sean Hannity has made it a central part of his show’s promo.
The biggest reason: ratings at Fox are through the roof.
From his official bio: “Roger Ailes has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of FOX News Channel since 1996, Chairman of Fox Television Stations and Twentieth Television since 2005 and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of FOX Business Network since 2007. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Ailes was President of CNBC from 1993 to 1996 and served as President of America’s Talking, an information talk channel that later became MSNBC.”
As a legendary Republican political consultant in an earlier career, Ailes helped engineer victories for Ronald Reagan in 1984 and George H.W. Bush in 1988.
I’d about guarantee you’re right.
The trouble is, those like Luntz who depend on Fox for work aren’t going to risk shooting it down, so the Dems and the media may succeed in giving this legs.
Probably don’t need a President who will cry under pressure.
No way..
I think 30% of Americans are a “lost cause,” not 10-20%.
>>I smell a rat....if the Dems can create the impression out there that Ailes is a political player, then the Obamites can pretend to feel justified in freezing out Fox as a partisan opponent.<<
That bears repeating.
Exactly right.
FOX needs to revisit the idea of a competing nightly news broadcast on the FOX entertainment network of stations!
Brit Hume is the perfect anchor for such a broadcast.
Mr. Ailes,
PLEASE keep doing your day job in the great and effective way that you do.
We can find someone else to be POTUS for a term or two. We need you and your expertise now and into the future beyond arbitrary term limits.
Thank you.
But, but, but, he’s not black!
You make a good point! They need a person to go after and not an institution like Fox News.
Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals
RULE 12: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions. (This is cruel, but very effective. Direct, personalized criticism and ridicule works.)
Bingo!
BUMP
That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard yet...
I agree I smell a rat...
Ailes, DeMint,Palin, Patraeus, Oliver North,Jonah Goldberg,John Bolton, the NRA and a few others need to meet and evolve a take back the Republican party strategy.
Our leadership is now beginning to crystalize.Lets hope it manifests in time.
guys like Rush and Ailes are far too important getting out IDEAS than they would being president.
President? President of what????
I cannot believe you said that. What is wrong here? Ailes? BEck? Do you guys just not want to win in 2012? This is crazy. You guys know better than this.
That;s the key question. And how to delay/stop Zer0's RADICAL BUM-RUSH, is another.
He would have my vote. Palin or Norris as VP.
This is a significant problem.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.