CNN's attempt to cast itself as the network for independent viewers comes after Klein has spent the last three years drastically overhauling its lineup. Among other moves, he jettisoned the show "Crossfire" and created a news-heavy afternoon block called "The Situation Room," anchored by Wolf Blitzer.
Most recently, he replaced Paula Zahn, host of the network's flagging 5 p.m. Pacific time hour, with Campbell Brown, an NBC veteran known for her news chops. The time slot has long been CNN's weakest link: It gets trounced by Fox News' Bill O’Reilly and has been beaten by MSNBC's Olbermann since December 2006.
Since coming on the air in March, Brown's show -- dubbed "CNN Election Center," for now -- has been nearly exclusively focused on the presidential race. Ratings are up 34% over the same period last year, not including primary night coverage, though the show still lags behind its competitors.
Brown said she thinks viewers will come.
"I believe there is an audience that wants more than to just have their own opinions validated," she said.
CNN takes a very different tack the hour before Brown's show, however, when Dobbs rails against illegal immigration.
"He stands out from among the anchors, whether it's Wolf or Anderson or Campbell, who are pretty neutral," said Charles Bierbauer, a veteran CNN correspondent who is now dean of the University of South Carolina's College of Mass Communications and Information Studies. "Lou has a very different stance, and that's kind of jarring."
"Lou Dobbs Tonight" remains a high-performing show for the network, though MSNBC's 4 p.m. repeat of "Hardball" beat it in May in the 25-to-54-year-old demographic coveted by advertisers.
Klein acknowledges that Dobbs is "an opinionated guy" but argues that he's also "a raging independent," which is thematically consistent with the rest of CNN.
"He's all about holding officials accountable for their actions," he said. "So in many ways, he fits into a network that is all about independence."
Still, CNN has not made him a central part of its 2008 campaign coverage. Dobbs anchored the lead-up to primary night returns in his usual time period but was not part of the Blitzer-helmed prime-time coverage.
When asked about MSNBC's decision to have opinionated hosts such as Olbermann and Chris Matthews function as its main anchors on primary nights, Klein called it "a slippery slope."
