Fox News Just Debuted One Of The Smartest Conservative Commentators Out There
It's a smart hire for Fox News, which appears to be trying to revamp its image by replacing the largely stale partisan commentary of contributors like Morris and the recently let-go Sarah Palin. Erickson is the editor of RedState, a popular blog that provides a good barometer on the conservative movement.
Consider that much of Fox's audience was conned by commentators like Morris into believing that Mitt Romney was headed for a historical electoral victory in November, while Erickson summed up the election ... a year before Romney lost.
On Nov. 8, 2011, Erickson wrote (emphasis added):
You’d think that given the economy, jobs, and the present angst about the direction of the country that the GOP would have an easy path to victory. You would be wrong.
You forget the electoral college. The vote is coming down to a handful of states and Barack Obama still maintains the advantage of incumbency and not terribly terrible polling in those swing states.
Mitt Romney, on the other hand, is a man devoid of any principles other than getting himself elected. As much as the American public does not like Barack Obama, they loath a man so fueled with ambition that he will say or do anything to get himself elected. Mitt Romney is that man.
Since then, Erickson's credibility has risen among conservatives. Late last year, Erickson briefly considered challenging establishment Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) in a 2014 primary — and got a lot of encouragement to do so.
It's not exactly clear what the scope of Erickson's contribution at Fox News will be, and how much of an influence he will have at the channel. And, to be sure, there are more than a few controversial statements he's made over the past few years that could get him into hot water at the network.
But for Fox News, replacing the worn-out blather of Morris and Palin with Erickson's more measured commentary is a great trade.
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