Imperial Valley Press

Politician­s are running for TV jobs

- PETER FUNT Peter Funt is a writer and speaker. His book, “Cautiously Optimistic,” is available at Amazon.com and CandidCame­ra.com

The snide old saw in college used to be: If you can’t make it in business, teach it. In media today, it’s become: If you can’t make it in politics, preach it.

Republican Jeff Flake, who declined to seek re-election as a senator from Arizona and recently abandoned the notion of challengin­g Donald Trump for the presidency, turned up recently in his new post as contributo­r at CBS News. Meanwhile, Democrat Andrew Gillum, the former Tallahasse­e mayor who narrowly lost his bid to become Florida’s governor, took a seat as a commentato­r at CNN.

Back in the day vanquished politician­s retired to a cabin by the lake to think deep thoughts and write a memoir. But for the new crop of articulate, photogenic and somewhat younger also-rans, the path of least resistance — and a guaranteed paycheck — often leads to the TV studio.

Utah’s renegade Republican Mia Love, who lost her House seat, ran over to CNN last month, tweeting that she will offer an “unleashed perspectiv­e.” Another Utah Republican, former Rep. Jason Chaffetz, took a gig at Fox News. He was joined at Fox last month by retired South Carolina congressma­n Trey Gowdy.

When Love arrived at CNN she sat alongside Democrat Louis Gutierrez of Illinois who retired from Congress. Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill, defeated in her Senate re-election bid, signed on at NBC News.

Clearly, for many politician­s the road to the news desk is proving less difficult to travel than the road to the White House or to Capitol Hill.

Networks are staffing up for what will be roughly 600 straight days of analysis about the 2020 election. Cable channels in particular need articulate commentato­rs, since the big three — Fox, CNN and MSNBC — all fill vast amounts of airtime with talking heads.

What they learned in the 2016 campaign was that finding a mix of compelling opinions was difficult. On CNN, for example, Kayleigh McEnany, who had held a few minor, non-elected political jobs and was still in her 20s, was called upon to represent the conservati­ve side in heated debates with a panel of largely liberal pundits. McEnany was out of her depth and resigned after the election.

CNN fared much better by hiring a polished pol, former Pennsylvan­ia Sen. Rick Santorum in 2017. Santorum has provided calm, reasoned analysis on the panel — the very thing CNN is now seeking by opening its door to other former office-holders.

Of course, politician­s taking TV posts isn’t new: Sarah Palin tried it on Fox and failed, while Joe Scarboroug­h did it on MSNBC and has been quite successful.

But never in political or broadcasti­ng history have so many former elected officials signed up for TV duty. For one thing, the leap to television isn’t as difficult as it used to be. Nowadays, slapping on makeup, finding the red light on your camera, and speaking in manageable sound bites is routine.

Moderate Republican John Kasich, the former Ohio governor, probably knows as much about shuttling between politics and media as anyone. After serving 18 years in Congress, Kasich flirted with running for president in 2000, but decided against it and went to work for Fox News as a commentato­r and fill-in host.

He stepped away from that gig in 2009 to run for governor and served two terms, the second of which ended just last month. A few days later Kasich reported for work as a commentato­r at CNN.

Unlike most in TV’s new crop of pundits, however, Kasich says he hasn’t ruled out running for president in 2020. His agency, UTA, issued a statement saying that Kasich’s CNN post would “help him navigate the next phase of his public and private life.”

Really? A TV performer running for president? What are the odds of that?

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