Rupert Murdoch Weighs Us Presidential Candidates

Rupert Murdoch shared some insights into how he makes his political affiliations yesterday and called for former speaker Newt Gingrich to enter the next US presidential race.

Describing New York senator Hillary Clinton as "very impressive", he said he was not supporting her - though in a swipe at president George Bush, he thought she would have done a better job of running the Iraq war and was impressed by her subtle grasp of foreign policy.

"She would certainly be a lot stronger and subtler than her husband", he added.

But he hasn't made his decision yet on who to support.

"I'm looking forward to meeting Obama who everyone tells me is very, very impressive," he said.

Though he has hosted a fundraising breakfast for Hillary Clinton, he said he did it because "people in the office" told him to.

Mr Murdoch told an audience at the Media Summit 2007 in New York that he would also support a bid from New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, offering a ringing endorsement.

"It'll cost him $1bn which apparently doesn't worry him. He can run a clean government, an honest government. You wouldn't get an abler chief executive of the country.

"I just think he's done a superb job in New York and he's a very genuine public servant. He's made a lot of money, huge money, and he's all about giving it back now. He's a very admirable person".

In a wide-ranging interview, Mr Murdoch shed some light on the recent departure of Judith Regan from her eponymous publishing arm of NewsCorp following the controversial OJ Simpson book, If I Did It.

"It was a mistake. That was not the reason that we parted company with Judith Regan because I gave her the greenlight. Another book coming, a pseudo pornographic thing with a great sportsstar icon [Mickey Mantle] and I said: 'Look, just cancel it.' And that led to a hell of a row and that was it and she left.

"And I don't have any regrets. Judith was very good ... She did some very good bestsellers for us to start with. But then it was downhill ... Not a team player in the end, and that's putting it mildly."

But in a rare admission that he might not succeed in getting something he wants, Mr Murdoch admitted that his bid for Tribune company newspapers, which would land him Newsday, rival to his New York Post, might not come off.

"I don't really believe it's going to happen ... We were willing to go along for a little bit".

If he did land the paper, he said, it would make the New York Post profitable "in about five minutes".