No Clout

[FOTD]

Right wing talk radio is so yesterday after today.

[sgrizzle]

?

[RecycleMichael]

I like the food at the Right Wing restaurant, but they won't serve you anything but chicken. I will go back there today and ask what radio station they played yesterday.

[waterboy]

They opened the gates and flooded the airwaves with pro Romney, viciously anti McCain rhetoric. They believe that neither Huck or McCain are real conservatives. Their opening efforts seem only to have worked out West where the underground bunker cults came out to vote. Huck took their deep southern base. But I disagree as to their impotence. They are just heating up.

[Conan71]

I wouldn't say they are "yesterday" but I believe guys like Hannity and Limbaugh have got to see they are viewed more as entertainment than information these days.

Conservative talk radio had cachet for a good 10-12 years convincing people they were better, more balanced, and more honest than the "liberal" media.  Limbaugh was a great launch-pad for the "Contract For America" and the GOP revolution in 1994.  If the GOP had nominated someone more charismatic than "Dull" in '96, Clinton might have been a one-termer.

After seeing 12 years of "conservative" control of Congress and 7 years of "conservative" control of the WH I believe more people, who used to identify closer w/ talk radio, are feeling let down and are starting to form their political opinions from a variety of places instead of simply listening to one or two talk show hosts to make their voting decisions.

The last thing I believe for myself is that I should vote soley based on what Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, or even Olbermann has to say about a candidate.

I don't have a clue where any of those guys stand in the national Arbitrons these days, so I don't have a clue what their listenership is from a scientific aspect.  I don't really focus that much on one news or commentary source than another and really don't listen to all that much talk radio anymore unless it's on when I'm driving somewhere.

[waterboy]

Conan, you seem to be mellowing somewhat since you're off the smokes! Try O'reilly, Ingraham, Beck, and company on KFAQ 1170. I'm not sure of the strength of that lineup as far as Arbitron, but it is a good source of conservative or at least ultra-right wing thinking. Its hard to keep from laughing sometimes about their basic assumptions but good to see how they think. O'Reilly called Edwards a "pin head" and an idiot. Real deep thinker that no spin guy. Coulter is considered mainstream and enlightening. I heard them defend Romney's flip flopping as a strong indication of flexible intelligent learning. Where was that attitude when Kerry was running?!

Its fun for a couple of days then you find yourself suspicious of everyone you meet and willing to argue over everything. After listening for awhile turn back to NPR for a laugh. I admire their power to persuade and dissuade. It seems they are not fading away.

[grahambino]

the right wing talk show hosts are now representative of the "angry and adrift 'Republican' Party"

[rwarn17588]

Other than FOTD's nearly incomprehensible start of this thread (although not worse than "it's a tragedy to call it a tragedy" comment a few days ago), there are some interesting discussions going on here.

It's hilarious to see the "conservative" elites tie themselves in knots. A few months ago, they would've sooner stuck needles through their eyeballs than vote for Romney because he was a fairly liberal governor in Massachusetts and because he's a flip-flopper. Now they're throwing their weight behind him because he's the only hope of stopping the McCain Express.

And a few weeks ago, the conservative elites were having a freakout because of Huckabee's strong early showing. Apparently some people in the GOP like having evangelicals on their side, but God forbid (pun intended) if a real, live evangelical actually become a contender for president. I also heard a few of them call Huckabee "liberal," which is laughable when you look at his social stances.

The unhinged vibe grew when their only real hope, Fred Thompson, ran a campaign so lackadaisical, it was like he could barely bother getting up in the morning. "I don't think I have the fire in the belly" to campaign for the job, he said. Well, no sh*t, Sherlock. Your two only moods on the campaign trail -- dour and drowsy -- made that abundantly clear.

And now they're freaking out over McCain (literally freaking out, like Glenn Beck did today), even though he's boasted a pretty conservative record in his years in office, he's pretty darned electable and he's very popular with members of the GOP, with polls showing very high positives and very low negatives. But, no, he's just not PERFECT enough for them.

I'd swear they'd b*tch even if Jesus H. Christ himself came down to run for office. "Naw, can't have that 'meek shall inherit the earth' sh*t; the millionaires won't go for that."

[jne]

quote:Originally posted by rwarn17588

Other than FOTD's nearly incomprehensible start of this thread (although not worse than "it's a tragedy to call it a tragedy" comment a few days ago), there are some interesting discussions going on here.

It's hilarious to see the "conservative" elites tie themselves in knots. A few months ago, they would've sooner stuck needles through their eyeballs than vote for Romney because he was a fairly liberal governor in Massachusetts and because he's a flip-flopper. Now they're throwing their weight behind him because he's the only hope of stopping the McCain Express.

And a few weeks ago, the conservative elites were having a freakout because of Huckabee's strong early showing. Apparently some people in the GOP like having evangelicals on their side, but God forbid (pun intended) if a real, live evangelical actually become a contender for president. I also heard a few of them call Huckabee "liberal," which is laughable when you look at his social stances.

The unhinged vibe grew when their only real hope, Fred Thompson, ran a campaign so lackadaisical, it was like he could barely bother getting up in the morning. "I don't think I have the fire in the belly" to campaign for the job, he said. Well, no sh*t, Sherlock. Your two only moods on the campaign trail -- dour and drowsy -- made that abundantly clear.

And now they're freaking out over McCain (literally freaking out, like Glenn Beck did today), even though he's boasted a pretty conservative record in his years in office, he's pretty darned electable and he's very popular with members of the GOP, with polls showing very high positives and very low negatives. But, no, he's just not PERFECT enough for them.

I'd swear they'd b*tch even if Jesus H. Christ himself came down to run for office. "Naw, can't have that 'meek shall inherit the earth' sh*t; the millionaires won't go for that."

Republican polling in OK is a mess.  Looks like a kid got hold of the white board markers.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/poll-tracker.htm

[Conan71]

Rwarn,

Something came to me as I was reading your post.  It's almost as if the Republicans have not focused any futher than the convention.  They are concerned who the nominee will be, not who best will keep the GOP in the White House.

I feel like the Democrats have slowly shifted focus from "who to nominate" to who will best compete against the GOP.

I hope that makes sense.  I'm trying to say the GOP is focused on August, while the Democrats seem to be more focused on November.

McCain's surge has been stunning to say the least, considering how he was written off about the time Thompson announced.  Huckabee's rise has been stunning as well.

Meanwhile the Democrat front-runners are still the front-runners they've been since late last summer.

I believe this could be indicative of more chaos in the GOP right now and perhaps a surge from the voters, not the RNC to re-brand the party.  

Even though Iowa and New Hampshire are irrelevant as far as delegate counts, the PR gained from fairing well in those two states has provided great momentum for McCain and Huckabee for voters with a monkey-see mentality.  FWIW, I voted for neither of those gentlemen yesterday.

[tim huntzinger]

The talking heads are using as Mac as their punching bag because they also missed the importance of immigration, the debt, the Rumsfeld strategy, and GOP arrogance.  He is being scapegoated because when they were high on their horse about how great the GOP was and how awful the Dems were they were not in touch with the GOP queda.

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by waterboy

Conan, you seem to be mellowing somewhat since you're off the smokes! Try O'reilly, Ingraham, Beck, and company on KTRT. I'm not sure of the strength of that lineup as far as Arbitron, but it is a good source of conservative or at least ultra-right wing thinking. Its hard to keep from laughing sometimes about their basic assumptions but good to see how they think. O'Reilly called Edwards a "pin head" and an idiot. Real deep thinker that no spin guy. Coulter is considered mainstream and enlightening. I heard them defend Romney's flip flopping as a strong indication of flexible intelligent learning. Where was that attitude when Kerry was running?!

Its fun for a couple of days then you find yourself suspicious of everyone you meet and willing to argue over everything. After listening for awhile turn back to NPR for a laugh. I admire their power to persuade and dissuade. It seems they are not fading away.

Don't let it shock you.  I'm really pretty moderate.  Even before I quit the nicotine (five weeks & counting!)

I'm a staunch fiscal conservative, smaller, less intrusive government, somewhat socially liberal, don't believe government should legislate morality, strong on national security, including protecting our borders and pro-active on terrorism.

I'm probably more Libertarian than Republican.

My final disappointment with Bush was his $3T budget.

I'm a channel flipper, I tend to bounce around and watch different shows and news and not get hooked on one commentary show over another.

[FOTD]

Careful channel surfing, Cman.

Karl Rove has joined Faux News.....you might be getting more lies.

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by FOTD

Careful channel surfing, Cman.

Karl Rove has joined Faux News.....you might be getting more lies.

MC Rove getting his own show or as a correspondent?

[YoungTulsan]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

quote:Originally posted by FOTD

Careful channel surfing, Cman.

Karl Rove has joined Faux News.....you might be getting more lies.

MC Rove getting his own show or as a correspondent?

I think more of a "contributer" than either of the two you mentioned.  He will just be another talking head they can bring in to put his spin on whatever subject it is they are discussing.  Basically the same thing Bill Kristol does on Fox.