Son James back in the saddle at Sky; Rebekah back running the greater Bun empire. Plus ça change in Murdoch land – including the boss’s proclivity for backing winners (when he knows who they are). Thus he backed Blair when Tony was up and coming. Thus his McBun lauds Scot Nats north of the border, while doing something quite different south of it. It’s a simple ploy. Find a bandwagon then clamber aboard, claiming alleged influence as you do so.
Last September, the tweeting Rupert loved Ben Carson, not The Donald. He called it a choice “between a land of hope and a land of fear”. Back at the ranch, his Wall Street Journal editorialists faithfully roasted Trump’s candidacy: Trump-loving conservative media were “hurting the cause”, they said. “If Donald Trump becomes the voice of conservatives, conservatism will implode along with him.”
But now the Journal’s editorials sing a strangely different tune. “Mr Trump is a better politician than we ever imagined, and he is becoming a better candidate… He might possibly be able to appeal to a larger set of voters than he has so far.” And so on and oleaginously forth, while the greater tweeting Murdoch sings descant. “Trump appeals across party lines – surely the winning strategy.”
The Donald, in short, looks more like a winner. Better fall into line fast (unless the row over Fox debates gets really out of hand). Mr M – risibly joining in the tax campaign against Google – likes to play global power broker in the world of short-term memory.
