Will Kelly take Bill O'Reilly's time slot when the bug man retires ?

From Chron Entertainment: Kelly, who turns 40 in November, is the most recent rising star among Fox News' anchors. Since America Live launched on Feb. 1, Nielsen ratings for the two-hour block are up 12 percent from a year ago (8 percent in the key adults 25-54 demo) and outstrips CNN, Headline News and MSNBC combined in households.

Kelly's steady rise through the ranks after joining Fox News in 2004, including regular appearances on Bill O'Reilly's prime-time show and a two-year stint as co-anchor of the network's morning news show, has prompted suggestions that the network is grooming her for a prime-time slot.

Michael Clemente, the network's senior vice president, who first spotted Kelly when he was with ABC News and Kelly had just switched from practicing law to working as a reporter for a local station in Washington, D.C., said it's too early to speculate on such a move.

“She has had a good, solid, fast move from the Washington bureau to co-hosting to (America Live),” Clemente said. “I think she has the world in front of her, but we're trying to make the most of this time slot (noon to 2 p.m.) where she is now. ”

Given the politicized nature of cable news, it's inevitable that Kelly's newscasts are regularly parsed for partisan leanings. Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, earlier this year noted her recitation of poll results citing opposition to President Barack Obama's health care plan and then played a clip from the 2008 election campaign in which she noted poll results leaning in Obama's favor and then said, “Don't trust the polls.”

During a recent discussion of Arizona's new law attempting to crack down on illegal immigrants, Kelly noted in an interview with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer that her predecessor, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, had been critical of the new law. She then followed with what during her days in court might have drawn objections as a leading question: “Do you think she's turned her back on your state?” Brewer, not surprisingly, agreed.

Kelly, however, said she doesn't view her role as being an advocate, be it societal or political.

“I like to watch the fight. I like to cover the fight,” she said. “When you put a dog in the race, it becomes more complicated. So I try to stay personally apolitical.”

“My goal is to put on a newscast that people are drawn to and that if they think is interesting, and if they get fired up one way or another, that's fine, too.”

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