Donald Trump scares the hell out of Fox News
Last edited Fri Jan 29, 2016, 01:06 PM - Edit history (1)
The GOP front runner's war with the right-wing cable network has escalated dramatically. Here's what's at stake
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The Trump phenomenon has revealed the deep and unstable fault lines in the Republican establishment and the conservative movement. This latest episode reveals that conservative media is unstable as well. Talk radio, which has been a pillar of the conservative movement for decades is divided on the question of Cruz and Trump and it’s got them practically speaking in tongues as you can see by reading any Rush Limbaugh transcript over the past couple of months. And now Fox News looks as though it’s losing its grip.
Republicans know this and are helpless to stop it. Republican strategist and TV pundit Alex Castellanos observed in this note to his email list:
What is the most powerful Republican institution in contemporary American politics? Most of us would admit, “Fox News.” It’s the stage on which Republicans play. Fox is also a news network, of course, and a good one, providing needed balance. The evidence is their ratings. Millions of americans leave their sets turned to Fox as their news source throughout their day.
Primarily, however, Fox is a political platform. It is the Republican Party in the electronic world. National Review and William F. Buckley created the platform in the age of print, an ideological rolls royce for conservative elites. Since then, the world has been connected and democratized by new technologies. Now, Fox is the Republican Party for the masses, a gop hyundai with extra cup holders and synthetic leather. It’s conservatism for screens instead of pages.
We could say Fox’s power is undeniable, but this week, undebatable may be a better word. Most Republican candidates kneel before it, supplicants hoping to sip airtime from its chalice.One GOP candidate doesn’t. Donald Trump has informed Fox News he does not need their debate and won’t attend. Trump has dismissed Fox News like ashes from a fine cigar. It’s a display of confidence and strength.
http://www.salon.com/2016/01/28/donald_trump_scares_the_hell_out_of_fox_news_why_his_debate_boycott_really_makes_the_network_so_nervous/
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