Posted on 10/05/2007 2:15:02 PM PDT by Roberts
CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Conservatives have long dominated talk radio and its impassioned political debate but Democrats have begun to fight back against popular radio hosts who may play a role in the 2008 presidential election.
Having failed to find commentators who can draw the millions-strong audiences of conservative radio stars like Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly, liberals have turned to political blogs and Web sites to respond to airwave attacks.
"We (conservatives) have continued to rely on talk radio for information while liberals have gone out and developed these great blogs like Daily Kos and Huffington Post which is kind of like their talk radio," said Robert Bluey, director of the center for media and public policy at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank.
Democrats are targeting both Limbaugh and O'Reilly, charging the right-leaning radio hosts have crossed the line with recent comments about anti-war soldiers and blacks.
Both controversies were stoked by reporting on liberal Web sites, most notably on mediamatters.org, before politicians stepped into the fray. On Friday, dailykos.com continued to post about Limbaugh, while huffingtonpost.com linked to Media Matters, which offered readers a link to contact their local radio stations to complain about the conservative host.
On the flip side, Republicans and radio hosts have complained about liberal group MoveOn.org, which branded U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the forces in Iraq, "Gen. Betray-us."
This week, 41 congressional Democrats wrote to Limbaugh's syndicator to complain about him while another authored a resolution condemning the host.
Analysts said the early offensive against the radio hosts, who appeal more to ordinary Americans than Washington political elites, is a sign that Democrats are ready to respond to conservative media critics after years of tepid defense.
COORDINATION AND STRATEGY
"A lot more Democratic congressmen are able to respond," Bluey said. "They seem to have the talking points that they just didn't have in the past. The coordination and strategy has definitely improved."
The White House also takes talk radio seriously. Two weeks before the 2006 election, three dozen hosts were invited to the White House to interview top administration officials.
American University communications professor Jane Hall said the increasingly polarized political debate in America has created new pressure to respond to not only opposing politicians but their media supporters as well.
Democrats have not been successful with talk radio. Liberal Air America radio started up in 2004 but declared bankruptcy last year. While it has a new owner, audiences remain modest. The network's best known host, comedian Al Franken, left to run for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota.
But Democrats have found other ways to fight back.
"The most powerful voices on radio continue to be people who are reaching a largely white male Republican audience and they are a very committed base," Hall said. "What's happened since the last election is not only blogs but opinion Web sites ... whipping up the liberal side of things."
The activism of radio audiences is another reason to take them seriously. A study by talk-radio magazine Talkers found 73 percent of talk radio listeners voted in 2006 -- well above the average U.S. election year turnout.
Talkers publisher Michael Harrison said talk radio is not as rabidly conservative as it may appear, with 58 percent of listeners identifying themselves as "independent" voters, compared to 23 percent who say they are Republican and 14 percent Democrat.
Harrison said the Republicans may not have as easy a ride on radio in 2008 because voters are split on issues from the Iraq war to immigration and no Republican presidential candidate has emerged as a breakaway favorite.
"There's definitely been a move away from partisanship towards populism ... since the disappointment with the track record of (President) George Bush," Harrison said.
That, he argued, may offer a better opportunity for Democrats to win voters than attacking radio hosts.
"I think Democrats shouldn't be so concerned about Rush," Harrison said. "No individual host has the power to sway an election that's not very close or to hurt a candidate that is strong. The Democrats can counter the power of conservative talk radio by having good Democratic politicians."
Headline is wrong. Ratings rule talk radio!
“Fight back”!? Reuters doing again the shilling of the Dems.
This not “fighting back” (is the actually a reason, considering that the MSM is controlled by the dems), it’s vile personal attacks, Stalinesque harrassment and censorship the dems are directing against free speech.
Yeah, the only way they know how.....illegally. Nothing like illegal loans from the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Wait! Isn't that the.......children?
No. The RATS are content with stripping away freedom of speech from talk radio hosts and listeners. That’s how the Commies fight back.
Yeah, that call for their big brother, the federal government, to beat up the bully for them.
In the arena of free ideas, liberals are hide-in-the-corner pussies.
They’ve tried the personal smear (including citing quotes out of context) in the past. Didn’t they do that to Bill Bennett with a comment about abortion of minorities, a statement he quoted from someone else and then immediately followed it with his own condemnation of that person’s statement?
The Left attributed the comment to the host (I’m thinking it was Bennett).
The Left cannot compete in the arena of ideas. They are the Tonya Harding party seeking to kneecap whoever stands in their way to victory.
Interesting perspective.
Conservatives listen to talk radio to hear the news that will omitted from the MSM broadcasts. Folks like me get their news via FreeRepublic for the same reason. The liberals that frequent many of the liberal blogs are just there to rant.
Personally, I find FreeRepublic exposes me to new ideas and provides a rational forum for issues. Most participants on FR are seeking truth in whatever form it displays itself.
After visiting some of the liberal blogs, I have no idea what they are seeking.
Harrison said the Republicans may not have as easy a ride on radio in 2008 because voters are split on issues from the Iraq war to immigration and no Republican presidential candidate has emerged as a breakaway favorite."There's definitely been a move away from partisanship towards populism ... since the disappointment with the track record of (President) George Bush," Harrison said.
Bush is unpopular with the Left and the Right but for entirely different (and often polar opposite) reasons.
Bush is not running for re-election so he needs the support of neither. And it is unlikely that all of his detractors are going to agree on one candidate (especially of the Democrat party).
Some people post “already posted” comments to threads that are on different articles on the same “subject” that was already posted. But the more articles you read on something, the closer you may come to the truth (explicit or implicit) or at least at uncovering the biases of some of the reports.
It is like reading several newspapers, you don’t have to agree with all of them. And with the number of papers using wire services for news, you are more likely to read articles that are actually different accounts than just a different headline affixed to the same wire story you’ve already read.
Was this a news article or an editorial? And if it’s a “news” article, why does it read like a Moveon.org press release?
“while liberals have gone out and developed these great blogs like Daily Kos and Huffington Post which is kind...”
thats all right we have our own blogs.
After visiting some of the liberal blogs, I have no idea what they are seeking.”
Liberals want socialism. Liberals/Democrats want to turn the U.S.A. into the communist U.S.S.R. , high progressive taxes, government healthcare, big government, governemnt schools, welfare, crackdown on private busineses like Walmart and Exxon, no respect for private property or private individual rights, etc. etc. etc.
To the Dummies, Republicans ARE the enemy.
This whole EDITORIAL is a big pile of suck-a-tash!!!
Man, that sounds so easy doesn't it. This guy is so smart, he should be president! Let's just elect him! Such eloquent answers /sarc
It's easily found that the identical words appear in print, the MSM, stump speeches, etc., because ALL the talking points are provided from the Clinton machine, and delivered via Soros-funding.
It ain't rocket science.
To bitch about talk radio, when federally-subsidized NPR spews the aforementioned talking points is to deny reality.
Constant bombardment by print and network news HARDLY is equal to the talk radio exposure of the other side.
Political promotion by the MSM is not "paid-for" in the sense that Republican candidates can get the abundance of slobbering adoration of the talking heads of the Left, and is limited to PAYING FOR AIRTIME to voice their side.
This whole "Fairness Doctrine" is an assault to silence the truth, and the Left does not want their monopoly on the MSM to be challenged.
And, of course, trying to criminalize dissent like usual.
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