Yes, it is possible for a pundit to lose his job for being very, very wrong. Dick Morris, one of the most spectacularly wrong pundits of the 2012 election, has been fired by Fox News. "His contract is up and we will not be renewing it," a Fox spokesman told Deadline Hollywood's Dominic Patten. We must applaud the frequently-criticized network for enforcing the kind of pundit accountability rarely seen at most news organizations.

After the November election, Fox limited the appearances of Morris and Karl Rove. Morris predicted a landslide victory for Mitt Romney, giving him 325 electoral votes to President Obama's 213 (Fox News still of Morris's predictions vs. reality at right). (Obama won 332 to 206). Rove was wrong but less spectacularly so, predicting a Romney victory of  279 to 259. Producers had to get advance permission to have Rove on. But that punishment didn't last long, and Rove signed a deal with Fox through the 2016 elections.

Sarah Palin's Fox contract was not renewed either, even though the network built a studio in her Alaska home. Palin was apparently punished not so much for pundit failure as public tantrums and low ratings. A "source close to Palin" told Real Clear Politics in January that it was Palin's decision not to renew her contract.

Morris will be on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight Wednesday, his first appearance there since 2002. As noted above, pundit accountability has yet to be widely adopted by television news organizations.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at ereeve at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Elspeth Reeve