Whatever Murdoch does can not be faulted for its absolute rationalism.

And here is what drives those incredible ratings numbers for Fox and why he thinks he can win out in the end..... He reads the underlying data. It is the fact that the evangelical Christian right holds the balance of power in the US. Read this report from the BBC on how this group is unsatisfied with the performance of Republicans in Congress and wants them to do better.

And if you want to balance that off with what it means in economic terms, read this essay from Stephen Roach. He worries about the populist politics that are shaping a new era of protectionism - this time around trying to favour the Service Sector worker. He points out that nowadays it is Service Sector workers who are impacted by globalism. (75% of US workers fall under this heading and only 10% are blue collar).

The combination of Christian Evangelical will to have its way combined with politicians slavishly following ballot box opportunism makes for a very scary scenario being cooked up.