Could be. But he wasn't a conservative either.
Maybe he was an old-time Democrat who recognized that people had to come across as more stridently opinionated than they actually might be in order to have careers as a media commentator.
Ed was too inconsequential to get angry about. Those who have to hate somebody would do well to focus on somebody more substantial and worth getting enraged at.
“Ed was too inconsequential to get angry about.”
Kinda what I figured. The only time I’d run across him was here on FR when people would mention him. AFAIK he was never carried on radio here in SoCal.