The fight that the Obama administration has picked with FOX News has elicited more web traffic than Balloon Boy, so you know it’s a big deal. And while we have heard a variety of takes about what this says about Obama, whether it was a blunder or a Machiavellian move of brilliance, I think the story says a great deal about all of the players involved, not just the President. It’s easy to forget the other players in this drama, FOX News and the GOP.
First of all, whether it’s folly or brilliance, this story tells me that the Obama administration is indeed looking for a distraction. One would think that they would be too busy to seek a distraction with Health Care reform changing its face daily, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan worsening and the economy only improving in sectors that received a direct federal bailout.
Wait a second, maybe I’ve answered my own question.
This distraction won’t last for long, but the fact they needed one this big with less than one year in office is telling.
For FOX, this really is a win-win situation. The majority of the coverage of this whole event has included two very important points. One, the commentary arm of FOX is quite different than the reporting side and secondly, the reporting side has actually broken several stories including ACORN and others, much to the chagrin of the administration. Ratings are up 17%, and while some commentators believe this situation might hurt their credibility, it may very well help it.
And as an aside, if you’re Glenn Beck or Sean Hannity, how much fun is it to see your network obviously getting very deep under the skin of the President?
For the GOP, this issue only magnifies the dramatic lack of leadership the party has at the national level. I don’t think FOX speaks for the GOP, because as an organization, FOX is far more successful and consistent than the GOP. So if FOX doesn’t speak for the GOP, who does? Is it Rush or Glenn Beck or Sarah Palin or John McCain, or maybe Michael Steele? The problem is, none of them truly lead or speak for the GOP. And since nature and politics, abhors a vacuum, the media and the President will designate one for them.
In the end, I don’t think this will come down as some seminal moment of Obama’s first year in office. He and the American public have bigger fish to fry. This may give Obama a spike in either direction in popularity or credibility, but more than likely, it’ll be a wash.
But one thing is for sure, this whole thing has to be a major disappointment for all of those people that voted for Obama because they thought he was a different kind of politician and would be our first “post-partisan” president. This smells a lot like politics as usual, and if you need confirmation on that, I believe FOX News will have a report on it later this week.
