Meet talk-radio's `Great Liberal Hope' (Blowhard Ed Schultz)

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - As the U.S. heads into a presidential election in 2004, Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota has high hopes for Ed Schultz.

No, Schultz isn't a candidate for the White House -- or any other office, for that matter. Schultz is a radio talk-show host in Fargo, N.D., who loves to vent on the air about politics. Daschle and other Democrats are counting on Schultz to help them counter the conservative wave on the radio and communicate their liberal message to the American people.

On Jan. 5, the Jones Radio Network will introduce Schultz's 3-6 p.m. show (Eastern Time) in 11 small U.S. markets, in the hope of expanding his reach by year-end 2004.

Schultz, 49, stands out from the pack. He is an unabashed liberal, in an era when Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and other outspoken conservative personalities advance the viewpoints of likeminded politicians - and rule the radio airwaves.

"It's no coincidence that the ascent of Rush Limbaugh and his combative brand of right-wing `talk radio' programming coincided with the rise of Newt Gingrich and this new strain of Republicanism," Daschle wrote in his book, "Like No Other Time."

Daschle, speaking on a panel at Newsweek headquarters on Nov. 17, noted that Democrats lack a presence on talk-radio stations. "We've got to have that," Daschle said.

When Newsweek's Jonathan Alter said Schultz sounded newsworthy, Daschle declared: "IT IS A STORY!"

Daschle might as well have anointed Schultz as talk-radio's "Great Liberal Hope."

"If he can do a show as entertaining as Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity and has a sharp, clear vision, the liberals aren't doomed on talk radio," said David Bernknopf, a media consultant with Atamira in Atlanta.

"Ed Schultz is very hardworking and extremely talented," said Michael Harrison, editor of Talkers magazine, a radio trade publication in Springfield, Mass. "He makes people think he is their friend - and that's everything to making someone sound attractive on the radio."

But Harrison says it's a big mistake for Democrats to regard Schultz as a savior - even as Limbaugh copes with the bad publicity from his exiting ESPN and submitting to treatment for substance abuse.

"To expect Ed Schultz to be the next Rush Limbaugh is to put the kiss of death on him," said Harrison. "Every new rock band can't be the next Beatles. It's not realistic."

But Harrison is willing to predict some measure of success for Schultz. "He has a good chance," Harrison said. "Coming from a small market is a virtue because it's harder to make your mark. You have to do everything. The only thing that can break Ed is if people are expecting him to be the liberal answer to Rush Limbaugh."

Still, the liberals are lining up behind Schultz. Democracy Radio, a progressive radio organization, is helping to foot the bill for Schultz's national launch. Roll Call reported in October that many Democratic Senators were expected to attend an event at the home of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) to raise money for the project, which will cost approximately $1.5 million over the next two years.

Since 1996, Schultz has been the host of a two-and-a-half hour show on Clear Channel's (CCU: news, chart, profile) KFGO station based in Fargo.

"I'm going to be informative and entertaining and I'm going to take my show where the action is," Schultz said in an interview. "I'm going to do a good show."

"Listen, I'm gonna take it to these people," Schultz said animatedly. "We know they can dish it out. Let's see if they can take it."

Schultz is angry about the state of the country. Ask him about the budget and he snarls, "There is no end game."

Education across the U.S. is "under-funded." Veterans have been getting shafted because "we're not living up to what we said we were going to do."

Health care coverage is lacking, too "I'm for universal health care -- we have 44 million who don't have health care coverage. When do we address that problem -- when there are 60 million or 80 million?"

The U.S. is "a country of haves and have-nots," he said. "We're gutting Middle America by shipping jobs overseas."

Schultz doesn't mind that people may criticize him for blasting the Bush administration. Besides, Schultz knows that a controversy will help him get well known.

Schultz is eager to show that he is as patriotic as any conservative talk-show host.

For his part, Schultz has proven that he can hold his own. Daschle noted, "He wins the ratings wars in the Dakotas."

"I'm getting bashed by other talk hosts because he is from Fargo, and he isn't from a big market," said Amy Bolton, a Jones vice president.

Bolton said she hopes that Schultz will be heard on 60 radio stations by the end of next year in such markets as Tampa, Fla., Washington, D.C., Portland, Ore., Seattle and Minneapolis.

"The 11 stations now are mostly regional markets," she said. "We're hoping that interest in the East Coast will get this ball rolling."

Bolton said she first heard about Schultz at a convention and took note "because nobody in this industry gets a 27 share any more."

Bolton also enjoys the seeming contradictions in Schultz, an avid hunter. "He is a liberal who owns a gun," Bolton said.

But it may prove easier for a Democrat candidate to topple President George Bush than it will be for Schultz to surpass Rush Limbaugh, the wildly popular, bombastic talk-show host who gleefully espouses right-wing causes and trash talks Democrats at every turn.

"This show is going to grow on its merits," he said, noting that he'll be broadcasting live from the Iowa caucus in January.

"If things are done right, the Democrats have got a real shot at the White House," he said.

Say this for Schultz. He is unfazed about going up against the omnipotent Republican machine.

"I'm prepared for anything that's going to come my way," he said. "There are people who are gonna try to thwart this effort. The bottom line is that I'm a proven radio talent."

Ed just resigned from being the University's play by play announcer after several years.
Siting he needs to spend more time following his son who is in college in Texas and plays golf in the fall.
That is a big move for him and KFGO as they are tied in with a big contract with North Dakota U.
One would think that a good portion of his income with KFGO would be paid for his involvement in sports and football. Already he has begun his moves.
His new job is January 5. The studio's are being built in Fargo now and equipment to be installed this month.
As has been reported by others in here already Ed takes a ton of free time off. Hunting. Fishing.Trips all over.
Washington DC trips. He took a month off for private time in July.
And he is the operation manager at KFGO and does his news and views show.
He does this show alot from his pad
in Mott where he hunts. Calls it his western Studios. So the man came to KFGO and went on the talk show 6 years ago and he has had high ratings, alot, inherited from the station its self.
He took advantage of that and used those high ratings to do what he wants, when he wants and he answers to no one. This is what all other employees dont like about him. On his own little island.
But, now he has competition and his ratings are slipping. And no wonder, as he left his conservative position, as host of his news and views and now has become a liberal host. In the Fargo market that has bothered alot of his former listners. Most were conservative. Why would they listen to him now ,when he cuts down the President and the Governor and is a known now as a liberal wacko.
Surely the ratings will drop more and more.
With that in mind than, here he is
taking on a new full time project as a talk show host for this liberal small
network set up by Senator's Dorgan,
Conrad , Daschle and Stabenow of Michigan and her husband Tom Athens.
Tom and Ed met a year ago to start
this as Tom liked Ed and his track record and those fat ratings.
So they formed a 4 way partnership and Ed is one of the partners along with Tom who is President of newly formed Democracy Radio which wants Ed to be their entertaining liberal host for a network so far that has 11 small stations signed up. And they have raised 1.8 million. Its very tiny
compared to the big one, that the Drobnys startd and than sold. That one is called Progress Media and they are going to raise 200 million from wealthy democrats. They are building
a huge studio in the middle of Manhattan and hope to get started by Spring 2004. They ar very close to buying 5 major radio stations in the top 10 market to kick off their network. Boston, Chicago, New York, Philly, LA...all heavy liberal cities.
These stations will probaly cost them about $30 million each. Than they will sign up other stations and markets and will have Al Franken and Jane Garofale
as their two main talk show hosts.
Both are comedians and that is their
plan to have real entertainment, funny, wacky, off the wall stuff to gain listners Talk liberal but be funny. Like what we see on Sat Night Live, or Comedy Central.
They have a couple of sharp radio veterans in charge, Mark Walsh and Jon Sinton.
MEanwhile back to Ed's network, his employer Clear Channel has a division
called Premiere Radio out of California which handles all talk shows etc for their 1250 radio stations. These include Rush, M Reagan, Dr Laura etc. Its President
is K Kitchen and he turned down Ed and that network saying, it will fail and if he could see it make money ,he would jump on it right away. He said,
liberal views are way too complex to be entertaining.
So here sits Ed going for his 15 minutes with the new small network.
But he will try to keep his high paying job at KFGO and try to get by with just doing his 3 hour morning
liberal show. This now ,features more and more Democrats led by his pal Senator Dorgan. Will KFGO allow him to work two jobs and be on two payrolls?
Will they continue to pay him even though he does ess and less at the station? And is gone more and more?
He says he is going to take his network show places like in Iowa in Ja nuary...and what? be gone from his regular job and other employees filling in? How long will that last?
Or is the plan for him to announce,
he is resigning all together at end of year? THis will be interesting to watch, espicially because he has such a big ego and huge temper.
Meanwhile what strikes me as odd is just exactly who Ed Schultz is.
He really isnt that good on his show.
He thinks he is because of those ratings from the past. But, in reality
he is a former jock and TV sports anchor. He is far from being "funny"
or moreso "entertaining". He usually
is very loud ,even hollers when he talks to people. His show comes across as mean and as if he is defending himself. Rarely is there laugher or amusing humor. He simply doesnt have the make up for that. He likes to come across as the boss and watch out what you say or he will call you a dirty name and attack you and even embarass
you. He is always rude and rarely makes the person he is talking to feel comfortable.And, finally, he is not liked. 95% of the folks who live in Fargo Moorhead ,dont like him. Mainly because of that personality and that behavior. And he has stepped on a lot of peoples feet over the years and has called alot of good people names and has ruined relationships.

So with that in mind...he now tells us he is going on that network and is
going to "entertain" people from coast to coast? And be a iron man and do two talk shows a day, which all good talk show hosts will tell you is to much and it will cause burn out, frustration and mistakes will be made.
This will be interesting and fun to watch!

Its interesting, following Schultz
on this attempt of a new National liberal show. He certainly has received lots of attention for awhile. Now it has died down to a small whisper. I think mainly because everyone thought he was really going to be thee answer to Rush and be on the big new centrist network. He isnt.
He has his own little network concocted by Senators Dorgan, Daschle and Democracy Radio which is funded by democratb dollars.
The show is planned to start Jan 5.
Yet zero publcity. No one knows what 10- stations he is going to be on? There is no news of it from his partners, Democracy Radio and Jones Network? For a "business" thats a very poor start.And he wroks for Clear Channel and Fargo station KFGO. Yet, none of the 1240 radio stations owned by Clear Channel are carrying his show. And KFGO is not carrying his show. So very shaky, strange start.
And in talking with a staff member at KFGO, they simply cant see him doing his regular morning three hour show and than doing another 3 hour national show ,two hours later.
One main area of concern is that he
doesnt have a manager, manage him.He manages, the manager. He tells KFGO
what he will do. This causes morale problems. For example, today he is taking another vacation...16 days off. Doesnt return until Jan 5. He took
17 days off for hunting and fishing
this year. He took a full month off in July for his summer vacation. Toss in other days for this and that and the man has it made with his independence and time off. He doesnt work very hard at all and as we said, has no real boss. This and excellent pay and benifits and the man is already living the real good life.
Why? Why does this ordinary broadcaster get all of these extras and privledges? Why the special treatment? Why does he get paid for ten weeks off a year?
Very strange.
And now, he has a national show so he will take MORE time off. He will be in Iowa and New Hampshire etc for the
Presidential race. He will be in Washington DC more. And this means less and less time spent on local and state issues. He has a bus that travels the state to get news and views. There is no way that ,he can continue to do that and take all that time off and run a new show?
It sure would seem to make sense that
Clear Channel and KFGO will depart ways with him in the new year?
Whatever. It will be interesting to watch.

Meet talk radio's 'gun-toting, meat-eating lefty

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/7897092.htm

You probably know him better as Ed Schultz, former voice of Sioux and Bison
By Stephanie Simon
Los Angeles Times

FARGO - It may well have been the bologna sandwich that spun Big Eddie "the Redhead" Schultz down the path of self-enlightenment, transforming him from a bull-neck, bombastic conservative into a bull-neck, bombastic liberal just itching to grab his talk-radio mike and give Rush Limbaugh hell. But that story will have to wait.

"The Ed Schultz Show" is about to air.

Schultz swings into his seat as his producer counts down 10 seconds until the live broadcast opens. He clamps on his headphones as the taped introduction rolls: "From high above the North American continent, democracy has a new voice. Powerful. Passionate. Persistent."

Schultz lets out an enormous yawn, then swings the microphone toward himself. He's on.

"Lock and load, baby," he booms. "If it's got mad cow, I love beef so much I'll still eat it."

He's still chortling at his own quip as he introduces his first guest: conservative commentator Pat Buchanan.

Democrat mission

For this, Democratic politicians helped solicit $1.8 million from private donors, enough cash to keep the brand-new "Ed Schultz Show" on the air for at least two years. It's not a whim. It's a mission. Democrats are counting on Schultz - a one-time sportscaster who used to mock the homeless on the air - to anchor the AM dial nationwide as the provocative new voice of the left.

Well, maybe not exactly the left. Schultz, 49, has voted for only one Democrat that he can recall, a local congressman. He's opposed to abortion in all circumstances. He considers Buchanan a friend. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, he says, gives him "the willies."

He's prone to say such things as: "I'd like to see the president get all the illegals out of the country, so we can start all over again."

And yet, thanks to that bologna sandwich, Schultz considers himself "a gun-toting, meat-eating lefty."

The anti-Rush

While Limbaugh was calling former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill "childish" for criticizing President Bush in a new book, Schultz was gleefully trumpeting O'Neill's harshest comments. While Limbaugh was mocking O'Neill as deaf and blind to reality - "the Helen Keller of the Cabinet" - Schultz was dredging out clips of the president praising his Treasury secretary as a "straight shooter."

"By God, Ed, you're doing good stuff, trying to get the truth out," Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa told him on the air.

Limbaugh's comments, of course, commanded a much larger audience. He draws 15 million listeners a week, on 600 stations nationwide.

Schultz's show, which premiered Jan. 5, airs on just a dozen stations, mostly in small towns such as Steamboat Springs, Colo., Brownwood, Texas, and Needles, Calif. Its biggest market is Oklahoma City. (It's also broadcast live on XM satellite radio and online, although the server crashes often, at www.bigeddieradio.com.)

Ratings won't be available for several months. Still, Schultz's backers say they're confident his show will take off. "Democracy is best served," said Sen. Byron L. Dorgan, D-N.D., "by having many voices on the air."

QB days

A much-loved (and much-hated) sportscaster famed for his raucous play-by-play of North Dakota college football, Schultz grew up in Virginia but moved to the Midwest to study - and play quarterback - at Minnesota State University Moorhead. His passing skills earned him tryouts with the Oakland Raiders and New York Jets. When he didn't make the cut, he switched to reporting on games from the sideline. He still has a football player's brawny build, but his red hair is thinning.

After two decades of sports reporting, Schultz launched a 2½-hour regional talk show in 1996.

The show, which he continues to host, blends interviews with local officials and sharp-edged banter with callers, spiced up with Big Eddie's rants about national affairs. He might report on a local school board meeting, break for the latest on pork-belly futures, then swerve into acid commentary on the presidential primaries. The broadcast area reaches into South Dakota and Minnesota; on any given morning, nearly 30 percent of radio listeners in the region are tuned in.

Conservative years

For years, Schultz's patter on the regional show was conservative. He scoffed at the homeless for complaining about the cold. "How about getting a job?" he'd say. He sneered at the three Democrats who represent him in Congress, nicknaming them the Three Stooges.

"I lined up with the Republicans because they were anti-tax, and I wanted to make a lot of money," Schultz said.

About two years ago, listeners began to hear a softer tone.

Schultz had once derided farmers for relying on government subsidies. Now, he was pounding Bush for not offering extra aid during a drought. He was calling for universal health insurance. And more services for homeless veterans.

Some dismayed fans suspected a cynical motive. "My own opinion is, he knew he would never go national if he stayed on the right or in the middle. I truly believe he moved to the left because he thought that's where his career would get the biggest boost," said Ron Gilmore, 42, who runs a cleaning business in Fargo. "You don't change your politics overnight like he did without a goal in mind."

That sandwich

Schultz insists his transformation was genuine. It all started, he says, with the bologna sandwich.

In 1998, Schultz met Wendy Noack, a psychiatric nurse, at a party. She agreed to a lunch date but told him they'd have to meet at the Salvation Army cafeteria next to the homeless shelter where she worked.

"You should have seen his face as he was moving along the line with his tray, getting his bologna sandwich and his cup of Campbell's soup. He was appalled," said Wendy, now his wife.

One of the homeless men eating there recognized Schultz from his TV sportscasts and called him over. Schultz had always written off the homeless as lazy. But as he talked to the man, he says, he started to realize that was too simplistic. On future dates - over better food - he and Wendy talked about the men in the shelter. Hearing their stories, he regretted dismissing them all as bums.

Those conversations started him thinking. But Schultz's political outlook did not swing fully around until 2001, when he took his regional show on the road. In their 38-foot Winnebago, Schultz traveled North Dakota with Wendy, broadcasting from small towns and ranches.

For the first time, he sat down to talk with farmers, with teachers, with mothers who couldn't afford to take their kids to the doctor.

"I saw suffering," he said. And he aired it, opening his mike to ordinary people and their stories of struggle. The more he listened, he said, the more he came to believe that Democrats were doing more for "the little guy."

Schultz knows his critics view him as an opportunist.

"I just ask 'em, 'Do you want me to go back to the other side?'" he said.

"Isn't it great, though," he added, serious now, "that people can change?"

Hillary's friend

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., agrees. Although his views may not line up with hers on every issue, the former first lady considers Schultz a friend of the Democratic Party because he takes on the Bush White House with gusto.

"I believe in redemption," said Clinton, who twice this month has made time for Schultz to interview her on air. In the national show's first few days, Schultz interviewed Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and a dozen other top politicians.

The market

Although Schultz has proved he can land interviews with big-name Democrats, skeptics wonder whether listeners want to hear them.

Conservative hosts say their fans turn to talk radio for views they can't find in the rest of the media. "Network TV and The New York Times, Washington Post, L.A. Times axis is totally dominated by the left," said G. Gordon Liddy, whose talk show is broadcast on 178 stations.

"Now the left, never satisfied with nine-tenths of the pie, has gotten its knickers in a twist about talk radio. It's a free country. They're certainly welcome to try," Liddy said. "But I'm inclined to think ... listeners will say, 'Look, we can get all that stuff already.'"

Many station managers apparently agree. Nearly all the top national hosts are conservative: Limbaugh, Liddy, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Laura Ingraham and others. Programmers are reluctant to tamper with that formula.

Even KFGO, the AM station out of Fargo that broadcasts Schultz's regional show, has not picked up the national program.

KTOX in Needles did take the risk. Station manager David Hayes bumped Dr. Laura Schlessinger, who's rated third in the nation, to run Schultz live. He's received close to 60 calls, he said, and they're running 2-to-1 in favor of Schultz.

Schultz plays up his man-of-the-people persona, calling himself the voice of the "working stiff."

"The average commercial radio listener in America is not looking for lofty, intellectual subjects," Schultz said. "This isn't brain surgery. It's about striking the passion of the people."

At the same time, Schultz makes clear that his goal is to win ratings, not woo converts to the liberal cause. He wants listeners to tune in because they enjoy his commentary and laugh along with his braying "heh heh heh heh!" If he convinces them that he's right, great. But his main motivation for doing the show, he said, is "to be successful, to go as far in my career as I can."

Later, he lets himself daydream about taking the Winnebago on the road for his national show, inviting fans in state after state to the mike.

"Do you know how cool it's going to be when we get on a bunch of stations and we can go do the show from a small town in Middle America?" he said. "People are going to think, 'This guy really cares.'"

Big Eddie grinned. "And I do."

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