Fox News takes a victory lap

Columnist Dana Milbank on the Washington Post's Op-Ed page:

At Rupert Murdoch's cable network, the entity that birthed and nurtured the Tea Party movement, Election Day was the culmination of two years of hard work to bring down Barack Obama - and it was time for an on-air celebration of a job well done....

This cheerleading on the final day of the 2010 election cycle was to be expected. Murdoch and News Corp. took the unusual step of donating $1.25 million to the Republican Governors Association and another $1 million to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which led the effort to defeat Democrats. According to a report by the liberal watchdog Media Matters, no fewer than 30 Fox News personalities have endorsed, done fundraisers, or campaigned for Republican candidates or groups in more than 600 cases across 47 states.

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Even in cases where the figures didn't point in the Republicans' favor, Fox's far-flung correspondents found reason to celebrate. Trace Gallagher, reporting on the Senate race in California, said: "The numbers appear to favor the incumbent, Barbara Boxer, the three-term senator, but the mood here in California, John, really seems to be going toward Carly Fiorina's way.

Yeah, can't you just feel that Carly Fiorina mood out there? For the record, Fiorina did finally concede this morning that Boxer won.

Ratings: Fox trounced its cable TV competition.