The reality that I see is that talk radio, which is primarily the entertaining Rush Limbaugh, augmented by half a dozen others, has become a powerful and deeply embedded force in our body politic.
The refusal of Rush Limbaugh et al to give more than tepid support to President Bush's alternative to Social Security, private accounts, made sure it would fail.
This was followed by the outrage that totally destroyed a bi-partisan and beautifully crafted immigration bill. That was 100% the work of Rush Limbaugh et al . The same immigration bill that President Obama brought back to Congress this session was dead on arrival and will be dead for a decade.
Now, most recently, the Democratic Party's health care bills have been totally defeated by talk radio.
If
you don't listen to Rush Limbaugh you can't know two things:
1)
Limbaugh is effective because he is consistently funny, light hearted and
never self-righteous. Limbaugh is always accurate with a truck load of facts and
data.
2) Left wing radio failed completely with the backing of $90 million because it lacked exactly what Rush Limbaugh offers. The Left never analyzed, understood, comprehended or appreciated Limbaugh, they just started broadcasting with ideology and arrogance ...which didn't work, and never will.
Talk radio is a core fixture of American politics and Rush Limbaugh is the core of talk radio. I wonder when this factoid is going to be widely appreciated?