Is Conservative Talk Radio Helping Democrats Win Elections?

[Mac1958]

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The DNC should be sending these folks Thank You cards.

Democrats should be SUPPORTING their advertisers.

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oh boy..and when do they send them to PMSNBC?

MSNBC is whacked too, but in a different way.

I don't know about you, but I don't recall seeing a political movement creating and absolutely running with an alternate reality like this. We have a presidential campaign admitting it was shocked by the results - results that were predicted by any number of polls. We had a supposedly valuable member of the GOP flat out refusing to admit reality in real time. I almost felt sorry for the guy.

While the entertainment value of all this was admittedly pretty high, I really don't think it's a good sign. And no one feeds more into this warping of reality than conservative talk radio and Fox.

This was ugly.

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[Grandma]

I think they only hurt when people believe they represent the views of the party as a whole. I don't think most Americans would say Rush is speaking for the party(no matter how much dems wish that were so), but sometimes local tough guys can really put voters off.

Rush was widely endorsed by the party, he was at fundraisers and conventions. The public do see him as a mouthpiece for the right. Maybe the party should replace Rush with someone more centrist right.

 

[Rozman]

Nope...

 

[Stephanie]

I think they only hurt when people believe they represent the views of the party as a whole. I don't think most Americans would say Rush is speaking for the party(no matter how much dems wish that were so), but sometimes local tough guys can really put voters off.

Rush was widely endorsed by the party, he was at fundraisers and conventions. The public do see him as a mouthpiece for the right. Maybe the party should replace Rush with someone more centrist right.

yeah yeah yeah...sure sure sure
and Bill Maher is at fund raiser and conventions, so I GUESS he is the mouthpiece for the Left...so you agreed with him when he called Sarah Paling a cxxt...

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

The conventional wisdom is that numerous national and local conservative talk radio hosts are helping conservatives by singing the praises of conservatism, giving conservative Republican candidates some free air time, and drumming up support for conservative policies nationwide while also engaging in nonstop criticism of Democrats and liberalism. But is it true?

Ever since Rush Limbaugh opened up a PR firestorm when he criticized Sandra Fluke, conservative talk radio has been given a larger profile in the national consciousness. Also, fairly or unfairly, conservatives have also gotten a reputation in this election cycle for being extremists who are hostile to other groups (like immigrants, gays, poor people, and young students, for example).

Now, when one looks at the election results, a person can't help but ask if all that conservative rhetoric flying over the airwaves from coast to coast is hurting Republicans if and when swing voters and undecided voters tune in while driving down the street to hear some of the things that these talk show host say in an effort to stay controversial.

In fact, in the aftermath of the election, many talk radio hosts are not only angry, but they're defiant despite the loss. And furthermore, I've actually heard at least one conservative caller tell a talk show host (Bill Bennett) that he and over a hundred of his friends had no intention of voting for "RINO Romney." That's exactly what he said.

If my proposed theory is true, not only are conservative talk radio host quite possibly alienating people in the middle, they've managed to push some of their more conservative listeners away from seriously considering voting for a candidate if he (or she) doesn't measure up to their idea of what a conservative should be. After all, wasn't Dick Lugar's loss in the IN primary (an otherwise safe Republican seat) a result of a rightward shift in the people who voted in the Republican primary?

So, conservative talk radio hosts, in an effort to stay controversial COULD be scaring away moderates AND pushing conservative voters into rejecting Republican Party candidates at the same time, resulting in a higher turn out for Democrats at the same time that they're reducing the turnout for Republicans.

What does everyone think about this?

Yes, at least to the extent that the likes of Limbaugh continue to say stupid and inaccurate things, reflecting poorly on conservatives.

 

[Stephanie]

The conventional wisdom is that numerous national and local conservative talk radio hosts are helping conservatives by singing the praises of conservatism, giving conservative Republican candidates some free air time, and drumming up support for conservative policies nationwide while also engaging in nonstop criticism of Democrats and liberalism. But is it true?

Ever since Rush Limbaugh opened up a PR firestorm when he criticized Sandra Fluke, conservative talk radio has been given a larger profile in the national consciousness. Also, fairly or unfairly, conservatives have also gotten a reputation in this election cycle for being extremists who are hostile to other groups (like immigrants, gays, poor people, and young students, for example).

Now, when one looks at the election results, a person can't help but ask if all that conservative rhetoric flying over the airwaves from coast to coast is hurting Republicans if and when swing voters and undecided voters tune in while driving down the street to hear some of the things that these talk show host say in an effort to stay controversial.

In fact, in the aftermath of the election, many talk radio hosts are not only angry, but they're defiant despite the loss. And furthermore, I've actually heard at least one conservative caller tell a talk show host (Bill Bennett) that he and over a hundred of his friends had no intention of voting for "RINO Romney." That's exactly what he said.

If my proposed theory is true, not only are conservative talk radio host quite possibly alienating people in the middle, they've managed to push some of their more conservative listeners away from seriously considering voting for a candidate if he (or she) doesn't measure up to their idea of what a conservative should be. After all, wasn't Dick Lugar's loss in the IN primary (an otherwise safe Republican seat) a result of a rightward shift in the people who voted in the Republican primary?

So, conservative talk radio hosts, in an effort to stay controversial COULD be scaring away moderates AND pushing conservative voters into rejecting Republican Party candidates at the same time, resulting in a higher turn out for Democrats at the same time that they're reducing the turnout for Republicans.

What does everyone think about this?

Yes, at least to the extent that the likes of Limbaugh continue to say stupid and inaccurate things, reflecting poorly on conservatives.

oh well, then you should be pissed how PMSnbc reflects on you and Democrats..but I doubt any of you are

 

[Mustang]

The conventional wisdom is that numerous national and local conservative talk radio hosts are helping conservatives by singing the praises of conservatism, giving conservative Republican candidates some free air time, and drumming up support for conservative policies nationwide while also engaging in nonstop criticism of Democrats and liberalism. But is it true?

Ever since Rush Limbaugh opened up a PR firestorm when he criticized Sandra Fluke, conservative talk radio has been given a larger profile in the national consciousness. Also, fairly or unfairly, conservatives have also gotten a reputation in this election cycle for being extremists who are hostile to other groups (like immigrants, gays, poor people, and young students, for example).

Now, when one looks at the election results, a person can't help but ask if all that conservative rhetoric flying over the airwaves from coast to coast is hurting Republicans if and when swing voters and undecided voters tune in while driving down the street to hear some of the things that these talk show host say in an effort to stay controversial.

In fact, in the aftermath of the election, many talk radio hosts are not only angry, but they're defiant despite the loss. And furthermore, I've actually heard at least one conservative caller tell a talk show host (Bill Bennett) that he and over a hundred of his friends had no intention of voting for "RINO Romney." That's exactly what he said.

If my proposed theory is true, not only are conservative talk radio host quite possibly alienating people in the middle, they've managed to push some of their more conservative listeners away from seriously considering voting for a candidate if he (or she) doesn't measure up to their idea of what a conservative should be. After all, wasn't Dick Lugar's loss in the IN primary (an otherwise safe Republican seat) a result of a rightward shift in the people who voted in the Republican primary?

So, conservative talk radio hosts, in an effort to stay controversial COULD be scaring away moderates AND pushing conservative voters into rejecting Republican Party candidates at the same time, resulting in a higher turn out for Democrats at the same time that they're reducing the turnout for Republicans.

What does everyone think about this?

Want to be more specific about which shows you're talking about? Because Michael Savage and Rush Limbaugh are much different than Michael Medved and Dennis Miller.

Over time, I've tuned in to a wide variety of shows at one time or another just for grins. Frankly, I could probably do a pretty good analysis on each show's host's strengths and weaknesses. (For example, Bill Bennett is as boring as dirt and comes across as completely clueless about the very culture he professes to expertly comment on) But I don't listen to Rush because he always comes off like a buffoon as far as I'm concerned. And I don't particularly care for Savage's stream of consciousness lunacy.

I listen to Mark Levin pretty regularly. No one can quite compare to him when it comes to a mix of crazy and entertainment. He regularly espouses views further to the right than most and has a no compromise take-no-prisoners approach (which he ditched just to vote for Romney, BTW). I think his popularity has been in the ascendency in the last 2-3 years, and he's exactly the kind of radio personality who would elicit both a lack of willingness to compromise in his conservative fan base as well as eliciting a definite shock to listeners who value moderation and cooperation when it comes to governance.

 

[jillian]

Yes

 

[EriktheRed]

No.

Next.

Are you as sure about that as you were that there wouldn't be 4 more years of President Obama?

 

[Mustang]

Yes

Uh, apparently you voted no.