Rupert Murdoch gushes about Barack Obama

The New York Times, in a prescient 2005 piece about the friendly attitude Rupert Murdoch seemed to have adopted toward Hillary Clinton -- an article that appeared before he surprised political observers by hosting a fundraiser for her 2006 Senate re-election campaign -- had this to say about the media mogul:

"Much has been made of Rupert Murdoch's willingness to express a deeply conservative agenda through his worldwide newspaper holdings and most prominently Fox News, but his primary ideological allegiance is to winning."

That characteristic was on display Wednesday night at a gathering in Carlsbad, Calif. There, according to a Hilary Rosen item on The Huffington Post, Murdoch had this to say about Barack Obama (hardly an ideological soulmate): "He is a rock star. ... I love what he is saying about education."

Playing political prognosticator, he also made clear he's anticipating an Obama administration. "I don't think he will win Florida," Murdoch said, "but he will win in Ohio and the election."

And then there was this personal note: "I am anxious to meet him. ... "I want to see if he will walk the walk."

We can only assume Sean Hannity has been left speechless.

-- Don Frederick

Comments

[Harry Grace]

It's common knowledge that Murdoch isn't as conservative as his reputation. As Ted Turner once said, he's conservative when it suits him, and liberal when it does. He's just seeing the winds of change now as Bush has pretty much buried conservatism for the next 20 years. We all know Roger Ailes is the right wing nut dictating terms at Faux News.

[chapinlo]

MURDOCH IS JUST ANOTHER COMMUNIST DEMOCRACT!!

[Fred Self]

Paint the White House door Pink !

I'm quite sure Hillary will be our next president.

[TruthIsTreasonComplianceIsPatriotic]

Don't buy it. Rupert Murdoch knows better than anybody that all three stooges (Obama, McCain, Hillary) are just puppets for those that really weild power, money and influence.

If anything this is just a ploy to turn people against Obama because everybody despises Rupert Murdoch.

Enjoy the dog and pony show people.

[fred flinstone]

Hey, TruthIsTreason,

Guess you missed this quote above ":....his primary ideological allegiance is to winning."

Here's the deeper question (if we want to get beyond the wielding power cliche'): How will Obama work?

Murdoch doesn't own or control the world, Lord knows he keeps grabbin more stuff *(i'e Wall Street Journal). And he wants to keep all his assets in prime condition.

His toys of communication have to work with the FCC among others.

Again, though, this is old news.

Where does Obama stand on media ownership. Where is he on anti-trust law? Just to throw out a couple of questions re: Rupert's love fest w/Barrack .

fred flinstone

[Phddownunder]

Anybody who tries to put him in a box as 'conservative' or 'liberal' is just getting mired in US binary political thinking. The world is a more complex place than this: and the democrat/republican divide is meaningful but also a distractor from the main game: corporate control. Murdoch"s press and media has had a nefarious influence on Australian, UK and US politics - a consistent editorial blend of pro-market, traditional values, tabloid sensationalism, flag waving whenever they suit. But, as he showed in dealing with China, he'll swing whichever way or both ways as required to stay on top. Unlike Gates, Turner, Soros, even Buffett, there isn't a lot of spiritual or humanist generosity there, or a sense that 'i've made enough'. He's one of the few mega-mogals not to have developed a large scale philanthropic profile. So he'll swing with Obama, or whomever. Doh, this is about the spread of corporate capital, not about politics and ideology. It will test Obama.

[Ronald Loui]

Well, the NYTimes did a 180 on Hillary. I expect that Fox will see the times changing and will fire all of their current conserva-losers.

Did they fire the guy who was interviewing Liz Trotta yet? Do these Fox "anchors" even have names? They just look like interchangeable choir boys to me.

I think even the WSJ might get with the times soon, and realize that they will have no readership in ten years if they don't start treating Obama fairly. Nobody is asking for MSNBC-style Obama-love. Just a little less cranky-old-man from the WSJ and a little less you-must really-be-stupid-to-be-watching-us from FOX. News

[joeblu]

i really hope that mr.obama will not accept anything from this maniac whos think he can control everything with he's vast media empire and then goes to china to hide,he's been a stounch supporter of the bush administration faile policies and lies,he also had a hand in electing this idiot.mr murdoch with hes newspapers has hurt america in such away that we will never recuperated.mr obama should stay as far away from mr.murdoch as possible

[joeblu]

i really hope that mr.obama will not accept anything from this maniac whos think he can control everything with he's vast media empire and then goes to china to hide,he's been a stounch supporter of the bush administration faile policies and lies,he also had a hand in electing this idiot.mr murdoch with hes newspapers has hurt america in such away that we will never recuperated.mr obama should stay as far away from mr.murdoch as possible

[round one]

Wow, Joeblu, you really need to brush up on your spelling and grammar skills there big boy. Looks like publik eddyoukayshun is really sucking these days.