Amy Holmes, the affable former speechwriter for GOP Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist who tried to represent a reasonably conservative point-of-view for CNN, has left the network and is filling in as an anchor for ABC News' unwatched digital channel.

That strikes us as something of a demotion—Holmes appeared frequently on CNN's air, especially during the election, and also has been a regular guest as a right-wing talking head for Bill Maher. Now it looks like she's trying to get out of the punditry game and refashion herself as a newsreader—she's filling in this week and next as an anchor on ABC News Now, ABC News' (mostly failed) attempt to create a 24-hour news network online. No one's watching, but at least she doesn't have to defend all those foaming-at-the-mouth teabaggers who hate her because she's black, right? Must be a relief. We expect Ed Rollins to show up as a CBS News intern any day.

An ABC News spokeswoman insists that Holmes is only "reading the news and debriefing correspondents in the field" as a freelancer in a one-off gig, but it sounds like a tryout to us. If indeed it is, it should come as no surprise that ABC News would move an avowed political partisan and right-wing operative into a purported news slot, because it seemed to work OK for George Stephanopoulos.

Holmes was still listed as a contributor on CNN's website today when asked a CNN spokeswoman about the new gig; the spokeswoman confirmed that Holmes is no longer with the network.