The Fox Effect, Cont.

Our theory, The Fox Effect, seems to be finding support elsewhere in the media. For those of you just joining our programming, the Fox Effect is what happened when RNC Chairman and obvious anagram Reince Priebus punted his only job of determining debate rules to Roger Ailes at Fox. Ever since then two things have happened:

• All the candidates are going buggy trying to be in the top 10
• Ad money is flowing into Fox’s coffers like crazy.

Today we note that Tiger Beat on the Potomac (thanks Charlie!) has gotten on board with our theory:

The GOP’s battle for 10th place

“Debate host Fox News has decided that only the top 10 contenders, determined by an average of national polls out by Aug. 4, will merit a spot onstage — setting off a Darwinian struggle that has some candidates taking desperate measures to try to move their numbers, and others spinning away their near-certain failure to qualify. Several campaigns also are already spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on TV ads to boost their profiles, even though the Iowa caucuses are six months away.”

We still maintain that somehow the powers that be at The Fox Industrial Complex will manage to include noted failure Carly ‘Fire ‘Em All’ Fiorina in the debate even though she is polling at the tail end of the pack, in what can only call the Bobby Jindal No-Go Zone. The powers that be at Fox need her as a fig leaf for what will surely be a he-man woman-haters fest of HRC-bashing if she is not there to provide balance. But what’s that you say, iCarly?

“We have a long-term view of this primary,” said Sarah Isgur Flores, deputy campaign manager for former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. “Not one debate, not one event is going to dictate how we see this race.”

“That is a marked shift in emphasis for the Fiorina camp: Earlier this summer, Fiorina was campaigning aggressively to get onto the debate stage, running online ads and pumping out fundraising appeals. Now, her campaign says she won’t be making any special plays to push her over the finish line in the final weeks, though over the weekend, Flores did flag two surveys [Fair Warning! the links ar PDFs — TG] that showed Fiorina making the cut. Fiorina’s super PAC, which has raised just $3.4 million, had no comment.”

Sounds to me like the fix is in. Stay Tuned!