Here we go again. We are so weak because we are conservative or republican we need to constantly be reminded of how we should vote. Well, let me tell you how wrong you(the author of the study)are.
Before the internet, conservative talk radio, Fox News, conservative blogs, and four or five newspapers in medium sized cities, the rest of the media spoke with one voice. There was precious little opportunity to respond, and even when there was, in the form of a letter to the editor or a rare op-ed piece, it was not seen or heard by many. The flow of information was tightly controlled. Even getting a conservative book published was like pulling teeth, and what reviews a published conservative received were more than likely to be snide, down the nose dismissals by reviewers with undeserved superiority complexes.
We were not only out of the game, we couldn't even get in the ballpark on game day.
William F. Buckley was was always quoted by the lefties when they sought to reassure us that we had our voice, even while cutting him down in the surrounding paragraphs. Oddly, they use Senator McCain in much the same way today, although they find it to their advantage not to criticize him. Buckley was infinitely smarter and more honest to his beliefs.
It was in the early 90s when things began to change, and after the election of Bill Clinton, the need became so critical that several things happened almost simultaneously. The vacuume began to attract competition from people who understood the market place. The big talent of Rush Limbaugh came along at the right time. He had few allies at the time, but he could quote the Washington Times or the American Spectator, but more importantly, he gave voice to millions of frustrated Americans who had been denied a voice for three decades. He made the Washington Post and the New York Times, among many other news sources, more fun to quote than the conservative ones. He was able to see the irony, understand it, and more importantly, condense it into a very entertaining three hours of knee slapping glee for millions of people who wanted exactly what he offered. The "I wish I had said that, because it is exactly how I feel" folks who usually listened from their jobs, trucks, tractors, delivery vans and others, until the Main Stream Media began to see him as a threat. By then, the Tsunami, always a surprise, had hit in full force.
People like Sean Hannity emulated Rush, and their radio markets began to flourish. Offshoots like Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin and others, who were well prepared to take up the intellectual challenges and go toe to toe with the fossilizing media grew in numbers.
People who were considered to be heros, Oliver North and Gordon Liddy to name two, also became spokesmen with followings.
Fox News came along. Laughter filled the board rooms of CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, and ei ei o.
The conservative dream slowly came to life. It is kicking ass. Just in time for the demise of the network big mouths.
It has been nice for me to watch, even participate in, over the past 40 years.
:-) Nicely done. Have you read "South Park Conservatives"?
Excellent post! (#90)