FoxNews Fringe Party

In theory I really don't have a problem with there being a right leaning or conservative news cable network. If they wanted to present the news with a rightward slant I think they should have every right to do that and it wouldn't probably hurt the Republican Party if that were to happen. But where FoxNews goes wrong is their embrace of the fringe elements of the conservative movement in their psycophantic support of the GOP. They seem to believe that if they validate even the wildest most incoherent arguments on the right, then they will hurt Democrats which in turn will help Republicans. Its most obvious, of course, with their night time programming, but even their supposedly "straight news" shows embrace this philosphy of validating their fringe elements.

Unfortunately for them, their tactics are backfiring not on them but the GOP. Don't get me wrong, FoxNews has a strong following and they absolutely own the ratings for cable news. But their audience is much more homogenous and unwilling to watch other channels to entertain an alternate view of the issues. And in turn they are so convincing that their audience believes them which has increaasingly taken them out of the mainstream.

Just look at this nugget from the new Research 2000 poll.

While nearly a third of Republicans say they do believe in the death panels, only eight percent of independents believe in them.

And while only a minority of Republicans, 43%, is willinging to say they don’t believe in the death panels, an overwhelming majority of independents, 76%, reject the idea. That’s a spread of 33%.

Dems, of course, are even further away from Republicans on this. But the key finding here is that huge gap between GOP and indy opinion on what constitutes, well, factual reality. It’s yet another data point supporting the notion that the deepening isolation of Republicans is a major political story right now.

This kind of polarization on different issues comes from somewhere and I can guarantee you that FoxNews is a prime suspect. Its not enough for them that they oppose an issue on philosphical grounds. No, they have to find a way to scare people into being on their side and rejecting the Democrats. The only problem of course is that both the Democrats and the Independents now dwarf Republicans in party ID. And more and more people are fleeing from the GOP. So you can expect that as FoxNews continues to help lead Republicans off a cliff, that more and more people will jump off the crazy train and come back to rational society.

But hey, at least FoxNews will keep their high ratings, right?