The biggest effect of Rudolph Giuliani’s dropping out of the presidential race yesterday may be on the future ratings of the Fox News Channel, which had been openly promoting his candidacy. Much of FNC’s success stems from its unparalleled access to the Bush political shop. By anointing Giuliani, the channel hoped to extend its role as the White House propaganda outlet for at least four more years.

But it is not to be. In fact, FNC’s ratings have taken a hit during this campaign season, in part because a campaign by liberal bloggers to disencourage Democratic candidates from debating on Fox — a move that has spotlighted Fox’s role as a tool of the Republican Party.

A lot of us have been watching Keith Olbermann anchoring election coverage on MSNBC, but CNN has had the biggest audiences this season.

Eric Boehlert, writing at Media Matters:

Here’s the spin CNN president Jonathan Klein put out following its New Hampshire ratings win: “There’s a freshness and exuberance to our coverage that the others just aren’t matching. … Fox almost seems downright despondent in their coverage.”

So I’m not the only one who feels like Fox News coverage, especially of the Republican field, often feels like a televised wake. Or maybe that’s just been Fox News’ collective, subconscious mourning of the Giuliani campaign.

After all, Sean Hannity serves as Fox News’ official ambassador to the Giuliani campaign; a campaign that Ailes and Fox News were hoping to ride back into the White House. Yet despite showering Giuliani with all kinds of laudatory coverage, both Hannity and Ailes have been powerless, as they’ve watched Giuliani’s rudderless campaign go nowhere for months.

Even an all-out Fox News marketing blitz to label Giuliani “America’s Mayor” never got traction. In fact, it ranked right up there with the launch of New Coke, in terms of branding success.

Media Matters put together the video above that shows how brazenly Fox News rolled out its “America’s Mayor” marketing campaign. There could be no better example of the lie that Fox News has anything more than a semblance of journalistic integrity.