COULD MURDOCH FAVOR HILLARY IN 2016?

This is amusing:

Fox May Produce Clinton Biopic Reviled by G.O.P.

The script for the proposed [NBC] mini-series on the life of the possible presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton hasn't even been written but we may already have a plot twist.

... the project may wind up being produced by another company: Fox Television Studios, the sister company of the conservative favorite, Fox News.

Leslie Oren, a spokesman for FTVS, as the studio is known, confirmed that NBC is in "the early stages" of discussions to bring the Fox unit in as the production company on the as yet unnamed mini-series....

Now, maybe we shouldn't make too much of this -- the non-political parts of the Murdoch empire don't tend to follow the party line.

On the other hand, Rupert Murdoch has not always treated Hillary Clinton as his mortal enemy -- he hosted a fund-raiser for her in 2006, when it seemed all but inevitable that a Democrat would win the presidency in 2008 and she seemed like a lock for the nomination. In May 2008, when Barack Obama had the nomination well in hand, Murdoch praised him:

"We're on the verge of a complete phenomenon," Murdoch said. "Politicians are at an all-time low and are despised by 80% of the public, and then you've got a candidate trying to put himself out above it all. He's become a rock star. It's fantastic...."

Murdoch heaped praise on Obama, saying he was a "highly intelligent man with a great record at Harvard", but stopped short of a full personal endorsement because he wanted "to meet him personally".

Obviously, Murdoch's news outlets didn't back Obama the way News Corp. papers backed Tony Blair's Labour Party in 1997, 2001, and 2005. But Murdoch personally isn't as far right as his news outlets, at least on some issues (gun control, immigration reform). And he seems to respect Hillary.

If the 2016 GOP nominee is utterly nuts (Rand Paul, Ted Cruz), and if that nominee is badly trailing in the polls, will a few of Murdoch's outlets -- maybe not Fox, but possibly the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal -- back off Hillary a bit? Especially if she's far enough ahead in the polls that giving full-throated support to the Republican means supporting a sure loser?

If this happens, it might be in part because Murdoch thinks Hillary would be more of a traditionalist on defense than Rand Paul in particular. But whatever the reason, I think it might happen. And it's just possible that, by not putting the kibosh on this possible NBC-Fox alliance, Murdoch is subtly tipping his hand right now.