Howard Kurtz is up with a big piece on the near-future of Fox News. Short version: Less Glenn Beck-style rhetoric more of what Kurtz calls “edging back toward the mainstream.”
It seems there wasn’t room for a high-profile backer of a man running for the Republicans’ mainstream vote however. Kurtz reports that former presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty, now a prominent Mitt Romney booster, sought out a paid gig on Fox News. But network chief Roger Ailes wasn’t buying.
Three weeks after dropping out of the race, Tim Pawlenty showed up to ask for a gig at Fox. But there was a complication: Pawlenty was on the verge of endorsing Romney. “I’m not sure I want to sign you as a paid spokesman for Romney,” Ailes said.
Good thing Romney says he’s willing to pay off Pawlenty’s remaining campaign debt.
