Free Republic

As a white, male, middle-aged conservative talk radio host from Virginia, John Fredericks is something close to the Platonic ideal of a Fox News fan. And until last year, he was one. But then Fox’s treatment of the Republican primary race — the presentation of Karl Rove as a political analyst despite his having “thrown in for Romney” and Sean Hannity’s clear ties to the Republican establishment — began to grate on him. So he changed the channel.

The last debate before the January 3rd Iowa caucuses is being held tonight in Sioux City. We get seven candidates at this debate: Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman.Fox's Bret Baier anchors the debate. Fox News panelists questioning the candidates: Chris Wallace, Megyn Kelly and Neil Cavuto.

Could Fox News be moving away from the right? As the Tea Party's popularity fades and the country grows increasingly tired of partisan bickering, Fox News chief Roger Ailes is making what he calls a “course correction.” Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin “became a bit of a branding issue for us,” he tells Howard Kurtz in Newsweek. Republican candidates still consult Ailes: when Rick Perry was still weighing a presidential bid, he stopped by Ailes's office and confided he was worried about being able to raise money, and Mitt Romney took Ailes out for a pasta dinner. But Ailes also...