Palin Hire a Genius Move, Whether or Not She's Good

Roger Ailes "is a genius" and hiring Sarah Palin is his latest masterstroke—even if she never says anything interesting on Fox News. Ailes’ rivals at other networks “still hire talent for their abilities,” explains Michael Scherer of Time. “Ailes knows you can also hire talent for who they anger, who they unite, and what they represent.”

Palin is less a talking head than “a mascot for Fox News,” a symbol for the “forgotten besieged, suburban and rural American middle, beset on all sides by elites and liberals.” There’s also a political dimension here, writes Newser founder Michael Wolff: Ailes is collecting Republican presidential candidates. “He believes he is a kingmaker,” that once candidates are on Fox, their stars will rise under his tutelage. And he’ll make money off of it. “He’s turned conservative politics into a paying show.” (More Roger Ailes stories.)