Why CNN Could Use Some 'Impotent Rage'

Is CNN destined to wind up the No. 3 cable news network? It may be premature to ask that, but you have to wonder after the release of February ratings numbers that show MSNBC gaining fast from behind while Fox News continues to surge out ahead.

Both of those networks, of course, make abundant use in prime time of a weapon that CNN refuses to wield: partisan opinion. At 8 p.m., Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann crush Campbell Brown's buzzy but weird experiment in commentary without ideology, No Bias, No Bull. In the 9 o'clock hour, Rachel Maddow appears to be on a course to overtake Larry King in a matter of months, if not weeks, a development that will surely hasten his already-overdue retirement. Only at 10, where MSNBC rebroadcasts Countdown, does CNN seem secure at No. 2 -- and that could evaporate if MSNBC makes good on a threat to develop a new show for the slot.

Discussing the February ratings with AP, MSNBC president Phil Griffin suggested that it's CNN's lack of hosts with partisan points of view that's holding it back. "Those of us who have strong personalities in prime time are going to do better at this," he said, adding, "I think CNN is going to have some big decisions to make."

In fact, those decisions were made long ago, and it's unclear whether CNN could reconsider them even if it wanted to now that MSNBC has taken up the positioning -- the liberal answer to Fox News -- that CNN has so strenuously avoided for years. All that remains is for CNN to hype its centrism -- in that same AP story, network president Jon Klein boasts that "we have made our name by separating ourselves out from the predictable, impotent rage of the partisan extremes" -- and hope it's enough of a draw to prevent a slide to No. 3.