Dick Morris' shameless punditry in support of Mitt Romney is now literally paying off for him.
Morris, the Fox News contributor and political prognosticator best known for being wrong about everything, has changed his tune on both Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan this election cycle. Whereas Morris said less than a week ago that he hoped Romney does not choose Ryan as a running mate, he called the announcement “terrific,” “inspired” and a “jackpot.” Morris, who had been a Romney critic before publicly announcing that he was going to lay off the Republican candidate because he wanted to defeat Obama, now regularly sings Romney's praises.
Coinciding with his flip-flop this week on Ryan, Morris sent out a paid fundraising email to his list today from a joint fundraising committee supporting Romney. The email was a personal fundraising appeal from Romney, which Morris wrote that he wanted to send “along with my endorsement of their campaign.”
The email was “Paid for by Romney Victory, Inc., a joint fundraising committee authorized by and composed of Romney for President, Inc., the Republican National Committee, the Idaho Republican Party, the Massachusetts Republican Party, the Oklahoma Leadership Council, the Vermont Republican Federal Election Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and the National Republican Congressional Committee.”
Morris has regularly appeared on Fox News to tout candidates and political causes that have paid him. In just the past year, Morris has, at various points, promoted Republican presidential candidates Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, and Newt Gingrich; Republican Governor Scott Walker (R-WI); and Republican senate candidates Richard Mourdock and Josh Mandel on Fox News without mentioning that he was paid by them. (Morris eventually disclosed the payments from the Republican presidential candidates on Hannity after being questioned about it by the Associated Press.)
After Morris was reprimanded by Fox News earlier this year for attempting to auction off a tour of Fox News studios at a GOP fundraiser, Baltimore Sun television critic David Zurawik told Media Matters, “Is there anybody in the media you can think of who has less of an ethical compass?”