My take is not so much that Beck was looking for liberal atta-boys as that he thought he was getting ahead of liberals claiming conservatives were heartless AND that he expected his listeners to blindly follow him. That would be how liberal radio listeners would behave but conservatives are thinkers, not followers, and Beck hasn’t quite grasped that concept. Partly because his ego has grown alongside his “media empire”. He really thinks the success of the blaze is all about himself.
The conservative stance is that life in their countries must improve to the point where they will not feel the need to have to come to the US.