Why Fox News is suspending Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum

[Dulcinea]

Apparently Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are making clear moves toward running for president, but Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, and John Bolton? Not so much.

That, at least, is the conclusion of Fox News, which announced Wednesday that it has suspended the contracts of former House Speaker Gingrich and former Senator Santorum but is holding off on the other three.

No serious contenders have made formal moves yet to run for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. But Fox News has decided that Gingrich and Santorum have both “signaled possible runs for the presidency,” Fox anchor Bret Baier said on the air late Wednesday morning.

Gingrich is expected to announce Thursday in Atlanta that he’s exploring a possible presidential campaign, though will not launch a formal exploratory committee. Santorum, who represented Pennsylvania in the Senate from 1995 to 2007, has indicated he will take part in Republican primary debates, which was enough for a Fox suspension.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/Vox-News/2011/0302/Why-Fox-News-is-suspending-Newt-Gingrich-Rick-Santorum

[rasputin1952]

1. Smartest move FOX could have made...

All kinds of alarms would have gone off if either or both makes a run. Unlimited time on FOX...being paid for it no less,..would have been a serious breach. This is a ploy though and not some sanctimonious act, after all, they will have plenty of time on other shows to push their candidacy on other FOX slots...all w/o paying a dime for exposure. There is even a possibility tat FOX can write off expenses as a corporate political contribution under the USSC ruling.