Here is where I offer a different opinion. Talk radio is a commercial business. Just as a radio station attracts a certain audience by specializing in the type of music that audience wishes to hear, conservative talk radio is aimed at an audience that wants to hear conservative talk.
A classical music station will convert few followers of rap stars into opera lovers. Neither is conservative talk radio apt to convert many liberals into conservatives. Yes, it is good to have it out there, but its primary purpose is to sell advertising time to businesses whose target markets (White higher income men 35-55+) are apt to listen, not political wisdom.
Committee work Working for a specific political candidate is not necessarily the same thing as being involved in the work of a political party. Attend a local Republican Party committee meeting.
I just can't let this point go: Rush Limbaugh, today a staunch advocate of a sane immigration policy, spent years telling listeners that "Illegal immigration, was the sign of a healthy economy," or some such drivel, parroting the line of the National Chamber of Commerce.
The guy is great, OK? But we're in sad shape when we have to get what passes for political education from what is essentially an entertainment format.
The fact that talk radio operates as a successful business model does not mean ANYTHING in the context of its value. The Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater turned a profit. Would you rule out everything Goldwater wrote in that book because it sold well? It’s a goofy argument that actually encompasses some liberal dementia, the leftie conspiracist notion that “profit” automatically usurps legitimacy.
Talk radio has a vital place in the broad effort to move America back to the center-right position its citizenry largely reflects. As for you disagreeing with Limbaugh about illegal aliens, so be it. When you find a candidate or voice you agree with 100 percent of the time you will have thrown your own hat into the ring—until then...