Forget Palin: Beck is the Republican to watch

Glenn Beck, the Fox TV presenter, consistently rated as the most influential of right-wing US commentators, is rumoured to be preparing himself to run for the US presidency in 2012. Beck has denied it—and there are even reports that he has been diagnosed with a potentially disabling eye condition. Yet he’s by far the most ambitious of the right-wing commentators, with a strongly Christian-influenced agenda: he has established a “Beck University,” teaching history and other subjects from a conservative angle. At the end of August he organised a rally at Washington’s Lincoln Memorial boasting 240 clergy from every major religion and calling for America to turn “our face back to the values and principles that made us great.”

Palin has by far the highest profile, for now, but for the smart people in this movement she increasingly looks too flaky. Her personal family story is being laid bare by the father of her grandchild, Levi Johnston, who claims the Palin marriage is in trouble. Beck, by contrast, has a divorce behind him and now a seemingly flawless family life. Indeed, a bid would make more sense than most of what Beck says on air.