Paxson and the dominionists

Paxson Communications, for whom John McCain did such a big favor at the behest of lobbyist Vicki Iseman, is run by one of the big wheels in Florida’s Christian Right establishment.

Reader JL provides some of the backstory to the McCain/Iseman/Paxson affair:

At about the same time that McCain was denouncing Robertson and Falwell as ‘agents of intolerance’ he appears to have been helping out Paxson, a less famous but no less active member of the dominionist movement within the evangelical Christian right.

Paxson Communications is now known as Ion Television. They have long promoted themselves as a family friendly alternative in TV programming. They have never been particularly successful in terms of profits.

Paxson hails from Clearwater Florida, Alcalde has strong Tampa ties. McCain knew he would need big support in Florida if he were to be competitive in 2000. And he already knew he wasn’t going to get it from the third leg of the Florida Gulf Coast Right Wing Influence triad, Sembler, who had long been in the Bush camp.

So it made political sense for McCain to want to help out Paxson and keep Alcalde happy with him.

Next month in a moment of supreme irony, Ion will be adding ‘Baywatch’ (starring that paragon of morality Pamela Anderson) to their lineup.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com