The self-congratulation continued at Fox News over the weekend. Everyone on the network seemed to agree that Chris and Brett and Meghan were terrific.
That’s probably an accurate assessment, depending on the standards they set for themselves and the outcomes they sought.
Fox and its all-star panel of moderators apparently chose to meet the standards for fairness and journalistic integrity Americans are used to seeing exercised by the mainstream networks in their debate events. By this standard, the award for “Best Candy Crowley Performance by A Non-Candy Crowley”, must go to Meghan Kelly. Obviously selected as the “lead” to “take out” Trump, Kelly’s snarky attack was undoubtedly hailed by the Republican establishment as effective, if not brilliant. For many viewers, in my opinion, Ms. Kelly may have hurt her image as badly as she tried to do to Trump. She did as much to advance the utterly absurd “war on women” charge as Debbie Wasserman Schultz…and with a frizzy hairdo may have resembled that great lady.
The outcomes obviously sought by the Fox panel were apparent from the very outset, and on this measurement one could concede a strong “A for effort” grade.
The opening “pledge” gambit to isolate Trump and portray him as a political opportunist (who on that stage or of the moderators themselves is not?) surely played well with the anti-Trump crowd and may have been mildly off-putting to his staunchest supporters, There is, however, more to be said about this.
The moderators were obviously intimidated by two people on the stage that they probably had been assigned to marginalize. The Fox luminaries, I believe, realized that Ted Cruz, with his unmatched debate skills would demolish his opponents and the moderators themselves if given an opening. Thus, Cruz was left entirely out of the proceedings for 40 minutes straight. Further, he received no opportunity to address the key issues, illegal immigration and out-of-control federal spending, on which he has the strongest positions aligned with the views of the general voting public, of any of the other participants.
Dr, Ben Carson was also sidelined, purposely I believe, because, while not the most polished politico, reflects a sincere thoughtfulness, intelligence, humility, and deep personal integrity. If showcased, the moderators had to know that Dr. Carson would have cast many of his opponents on the stage as mere pale, political posers.
The panel no doubt congratulated itself on making that call when they witnessed Dr. Carson steal the show in his closing remarks. He also may have made the most profound observation of the evening, largely overlooked, when questioned if he would endorse “water boarding” to acquire intelligence. His response was simply, you don’t tell the enemy what you will or will not do!
Another of the moderators’ mission outcomes was to advance the fortunes of the establishment candidates on the stage. How it went is somewhat mixed. JEB Bush seemed unable to take full advantage but John Kasich, already with a “home field” advantage was given wide opening to showcase his sanctimonious shtick. He also won the award of the evening for most often expression, “You know what?”
Once again Meghan “Crowley” highlighted the GOP’s utter insensitivity to the reality of unwanted fetuses. Rubio was somewhat successful in blunting her attempt. Huckabee reaffirmed for Miss Meghan “extremist” position of far right evangelicals with his support for Constitutional protection for recognized “personhood”.
Always a desired “outcome” of a televised debate is the onstage contretemps, this delivered to the panel’s delight, by Christie and Rand Paul, with all the authenticity of a WWF “cage fight”.
Chris Wallace was not to be denied his chance to “bayonet the wounded” Donald Trump. Wallace’s relentless hectoring of Trump to give solid, irrefutable evidence for his charge that Mexico was sending its drug dealers, rapists, et al…in 30 seconds was more than a little overwrought! The network’s widely acclaimed greatest political reporter, Wallace, was unable to even complete his badgering demand in 30 seconds.
All in all, in this writer’s opinion, this was not only not Fox News finest hour, but it may have damaged the network’s credibility and claimed reputation for “fair and balanced” irreparably. Clearly, something was at work. The moderators met their apparent “standards” for televised debate, an extremely low bar indeed.
Exactly who determined the desired outcomes is a question many Fox News fans are asking and find troubling. The display of outsize egos by Meghan Kelly and Chris Wallace, in particular, were unbecoming, but it is unlikely that their egos alone determined the desired outcomes.
Has Fox made a network decision to “pivot” away from a slight to strong conservative fan base to a “center left” audience?
Has the assault by the Obama administration caused the network to buckle…or has the moneyed interests of the GOP establishment succeeded in bringing irresistible pressure to move to the “moderate side of town”?
We shall see.
For more commentary about the Fox News debate “performance” see this pointed article by Patricia McCarthy at American Thinker: FNC debate moderators: ‘Oh, the cleverness of me’
DLH
For much of the weekend the various Fox “personalities” congratulated each other on their keen debate moderation skills(one must be wary of the term “talking heads” for fear that somehow Megyn Kelly will misinterpret and take justified umbrage) As the day began to come to a close Sunday, however, it apparently dawned on the “fair and balanced” network that many viewers thought, as The Donald” might put it, the panel of moderators had actually “stepped on their ‘whatever'” with a remarkably arrogant display of typical MSM-type “gotcha” questioning. By later Sunday, Fox seemed to be in full out defensive damage control….shifting to a “we were good, doggone it; some people just don’t realize it!”