Leid Stories – 12.15.15

‘Terrorism’ Bolsters Republican ‘Debate’ and CNN’s Bid for Campaign Ad Dollars

The fifth—and, gratefully, last—Republican big-media Q&A (it’s not a debate) for 2015 airs tonight. Staged at The Venetian, the resort hotel and casino in Las Vegas, the Q&A is actually a two-parter—an undercard of four candidates who didn’t quite make the cut in the polls, and the main event featuring nine others who did. It shouldn’t surprise that “terrorism” and related issues—immigration, homeland security, ISIS and, of course, the “good” Muslims/”bad” Muslims racist canard—will dominate the discussion; it’s the kind of political hash that presidential hopefuls would feast upon and willingly share out to voters. But big media is after big money, and CNN gets to make the point tonight to all pols and parties concerned why it deserves the lion’s share of the $5 billion in campaign advertising industry analysts say is up for grabs in the 2016 election cycle, the costliest in U.S. history.