Another Ailes legacy: Helping underdog McConnell win his 1st Senate race
May 18, 2017
BY CURTIS TATE
ctate@mcclatchydc.com
WASHINGTON - Roger Ailes changed the way Americans see politicians — not only Donald Trump and Richard Nixon, but also Mitch McConnell.
He brought America Fox News and helped Nixon soften his surly image in 1968 and Trump’s out-of-nowhere presidential bid last year. But before that, the media guru who died Thursday at age 77 played a big role in electing McConnell, now the Senate majority leader.
In September 1984, McConnell, then the Jefferson County judge-executive, the top elected official in Kentucky’s most populous county, was polling 40 points behind his opponent, Democratic Sen. Dee Huddleston. That is, until he hired Ailes.
In his autobiography last year, McConnell called it “one of the smartest moves I made.”
“I was happy he agreed to do it. I sure needed help.” McConnell wrote in “The Long Game.” The arrangement gave birth to one of the most successful political ads of all time.
Ailes and McConnell needed to find a way to exploit Huddleston’s biggest weakness: his tendency to not show up for work.
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/congress/article151298992.html#storylink=cpy
= new reply since forum marked as read
