Sarah Palin, after a brief, aborted stint in elective politics, with Party leaders such as Limbaugh, Beck, and O'Reilly as her models*, was smitten by the glitz, glamour, and glitter that is today's GOP where media entertainers wield the real power over their forelock-tugging disciples. (Yes, that's forelock, not foreskin.) Of course, Mike Huckabee saw a hardly-subtle God's self-evident plan for him: via a "mike" and showcased on a whizbang confection imaginatively appellated "Huckabee". [..Republicans harken to their master's voice. Yet another Republican now hopes to make the leap up to his Party's leadership, as imitation is the sincerest form of flatulence for the GOP's power elite. The absconding House Intelligence Committee Chairman is expected to spout his negative bluster on the airwaves in 2015. The dazzling Mr Rogers Nay Bore Hoodwink enterprise debuts in January. * The report released by the College Republican National Committee that found that the GOP lost young voters because many young people view the Republican party as closed-minded, racist, rigid, [and] old-fashioned had also noted that Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Bill O'Reilly were seen as the Party's leaders.
That ANYONE regards those clowns as the leaders of anything other than their own circus is disheartening to me. I wonder people would be insulted that Sharpton and Jackson were viewed as 'leaders'. I would. * Michigan J. Frog left in because I like him.
No one will listen to him. Limbaugh and Beck can reach three times the listeners that his radio station can. I guess there is some air-time at 3:00 AM that needs to be filled. As for Sarah Palin, she definitely was not looking for power. She cashed in.
I agree. Limbaugh and Beck get a lot of people to listen to them, but I doubt the GOP would solicit them for advice on any policy matters.
Actual democratic governance demands accommodating reality through responsible bahaviour and compromise. Media gasbags can scoff at such practical sensibilities, and 'Pied Piper' their ideological sycophants down their primrose path of airy-fairy confections.
That is what they do; get people to listen to them, or more accurately, listen to their sponsors advertisements. Leaders? I don't think so. It takes more than being a kool-aid vendor to be a real leader. That said, politicians are gonna pander to their base to secure reelection, and to that extent, the 'media gasbags' (to borrow a phrase from our overly eloquent yet politically misguided OP) like Limbaugh and Piers Whatshisname DO wield some political clout, because the sheeple and ditto-herds that follow them are going to dutifully go to the polling place and dangle the 'R' or 'D' chad like are told. However, to characterize the majority of right-leaning American voters as 'in lockstep with Limbaugh' is, in my view, ridiculous, just as I refuse to believe that Sharpton and Jackson represent the majority views of the left.
When the Republican establishment defied Limbaugh on the bailout in 2008, and the debt ceiling this year, it is pretty obvious from where the Republicans get their marching orders. Although, I shouldn't leave out the Democrats, who have only managed to pass toothless regulation against the financial industry who destroyed the economy. The real power lies in the hands of the corporations and individuals that pour millions into both parties campaign coffers. Limbaugh is just a useful idiot.
The mass of the audience a show has does not determine the influence of it's host. Here some parties have their own channels and during the 90's the most popular political TV show was hosted by the leader of a party that never reached 0.5% in national elections.
Yes, we Conservatives/Republicans are more versatile, open-minded, and successful. We come by our success honestly. Palin is greatly envied or reviled by the left for her beauty, success, intelligence, and conservatism. The left looks for any silly excuse to twist and deflect the truth, and that is especially true regarding those conservatives on the airways. It's also true the left has had NO success on the airways because their message sucks! Conservatives/Republicans are the ones with a POSITIVE message!
Nice thought, but I personally don't know a single successful conservative/republican who has the time for Limbaugh or Beck. Their listeners are more likely to be roofers and painters who hate (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)s and hippies.
Oh, you find the truth funny? By the way, I was not joking. Recognize the truth, and it shall set you free!
YOUR truth is what you believe it to be, some us find such fantasy thinking as funny and even funnier when someone actually believes their own fantasy and says so in public.
What's more hilarious is 1. the left's perpetual obsession with Sarah Palin, 2. setting up the strawman of Limbaugh, Beck et al as "party leaders." Are Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow and Bill Maher Democrat "party leaders?" of course not. There's a big big world out there besides the media/celebrity world most leftists dwell in and obsess on, where people actually do things and real leaders are not often confused with talking heads. Maybe turn off the TV, radio and movies and go check it out.
Who, amongst GOP entertainers, is funnier, in your opinion? Blame the National Republican College Committee for those they surveyed naming him, along with Beck and O'Reilly, as being perceived as the Republican party leaders. You get the point. The same NRCC survey found that, unlike with Republicans, real politicians were named as being the Democratic leaders: Young voters don't consider elected officials to be the Republican Party's leaders. A focus group in Ohio selected Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Bill O'Reilly as the most iconic figures they identify with the GOP. By contrast, they identified Barack Obama, the Clintons, and Nancy Pelosi, along with other prominent current and former elected officials. Aside from the imaginary 'Leftisits!" upon whom some obsess (Most moderates are Democrats, of course,*) your concept is correct, but it applies to the devotees of the right wing entertainment media. * How do Democrats continue to win elections if so few Americans identify themselves as liberal? The answer may lie with moderates, which, as a voting bloc, are solidly Democratic.
Will we also be blaming collegians for not being able to name a single US senator or not knowing how many there are? Should we send college students to negotiate with Putin (hey I may be onto something compared to Administration efficacy). Really, blame MSM, I imagine the results would be very different with a Republican in the WH. I'm amazed no collegians named "Cheech and Chong" or the modern equivalent. Radio, where the RW has the most traction, is the medium of working people who are usually doing something else in the real world, working for instance, while listening to it. All other media is still steadfastly leftist despite the oogeyboogeyman Fox News. Incidentally, O'Reilly is not a Republican. '
I have no idea whether you are citing another study by the National Republican College Committee or just making that up. Absent a citation, I'll have to assume the latter. An alternative distraction, far less injurious, for Angry White Guys:
