In January we reported that (now former) RNC chairman Michael Steele was eying a possible gig with a cable news channel, in advance of the 2012 presidential election.
The Baltimore Sun‘s David Zurawik caught up with Steele at a taping of the WMAR public affairs show “Square Off with Richard Sher,” and asked him about his cable news plans:
“We’re talking to everybody and anyone who has an interest in talking,” he said when asked if he is in serious negotiations with any specific channel at this point. “You know, I have obviously a long relationship with Fox. And you know, I have friends at CNN and MSNBC. So it’s a very dynamic opportunity and it’s one I’m hoping, you know, we’ll have an opportunity to move forward on.”
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After the jump, we ask you what network Steele will land at in a TVNewser poll, and Steele give a possible timeline for when he would start at a cabler:
Well, I asked, how about May 1? (That’s the day the potential GOP candidates who are on the Fox News payroll, like Sarah Palin, are supposed to decide whether they want to keep playing pundit or campaign for the presidency of the United States. Maybe Fox will have some extra payroll to play with after the ill-advised move of signing up all these candidates and involving media in the political process to a degree never before realized.)
“Oh, by May, yeah, we should pretty much have everything in place that would need to be in place and settled in with who we’re going to work with,” Steele said.
Update: Fox News says that the May 1 deadline applies only to Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, who have to decide whether they will run for President. It does not apply to Palin. The Daily Beast’s Howard Kurtz explains that FNC rule here.