A conservative success: The right tops the best-seller lists and the ratings

Manchester Union Leader ^ | March 3, 2002 | Editorial

[billorites]

WHEN Bernard Goldberg's book "Bias," about the leftward slant of the mainstream media, topped the New York Times best seller list a few weeks ago, The Times was so struck by the occurrence that the paper did a news story on it. The story focused on how conservative books were dominating the list and had even achieved the No. 1 spot.

Several weeks later, the conservative books still fill out the Top 15 list and the remainder of the Top 40. There's "Bias," at No. 2 this week, followed down the list by "The Death of The West" by Pat Buchanan, "The Final Days" by Barbara Olson, "The No Spin Zone" by Bill O'Reilly and "When Character Was King" by Peggy Noonan. Other best-sellers by or about conservatives but not explicitly political include "Churchill" by Roy Jenkins, "Lazy B" by Sandra Day O'Connor and H. Alan Day, "Theodore Rex" by Edmund Morris, "John Adams" by David McCullough and, at the No. 1 spot for the second week in a row, "Shadow Warriors" by Tom Clancy.

Then there are the best-sellers that have vaguely socially conservative subjects or at least are not likely to find themselves on the bookshelves of many dedicated left-wingers. These include business books such as "Jack: Straight from the Gut" by former GE CEO Jack Welch and "Good to Great: Why Some Companies Thrive and Others Do Not" by Jim Collins.

The only arguably left-wing books on The Times' list, and they hold the No. 29, 30 and 35 spots respectively, are "Nigger" by Harvard law professor Randall Kennedy, "Fierce Pajamas," a collection of humor writing from The New Yorker and "The Future of Life" by Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson.

There's no question about it; it's a rout. And a rout is also a good way to describe the conservative-leaning Fox News Channel's thrashing of left-leaning CNN in the most recent ratings. Fox News leads CNN and MSNBC in all time slots, and it has four of the top five cable news shows. Larry King is the only non-Fox host in the top five, and he gets about 700,000 fewer viewers than his Fox News counterpart, Bill O'Reilly.

America Online, the family-oriented Internet service provider run by conservative Steve Case, bought old-blood, left-leaning Time Warner a few years ago in a move that shocked all the East Coast media elites. And the latest Forbes magazine ranking of the world's wealthiest individuals just put Fox owner Rupert Murdoch far ahead of famously left-wing CNN creator Ted Turner.

Then there are movies. Heroic epics such as "The Fellowship of The Ring" and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and pro-military films such as "Black Hawk Down" and "We Were Soldiers" are not explicitly politically conservative, but they are generally conservative in their favorable portrayal of traditional conservative values — and the military.

Oh, and the two best-selling newspapers in the United States are the staunchly conservative Wall Street Journal and the moderate USA Today. Come to think of it, the top-selling newspaper in New Hampshire is the conservative Union Leader. How about that?

It's telling of the New York Times' viewpoint that the paper did a story on how well conservative books were selling. In fact, conservative books, movies, television shows, magazines and newspapers have always been well received by the American public. But we are not surprised that this is news to The New York Times.

[billorites]

Gloat and snicker.

[WIMom]

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[tbeatty]

It's not that conserative media is well-received by the American public, it's because because, generally, conservatives are more educated and interested in things political.

In other words, people who are inclined to be informed about current events are generally conservative. It's why Fox News is dominating cable news. It's why conservative talk radio dominates over liberal radio. And it's why conservative books dominate the current events book market.

Unfortunately, there are large portions of the population who are inclined to be uninformed. And it is for those people that the Daschle soundbite is targeted. That Clinton appealed to. And that Terry McAuliff calls his own.

[billorites]

"generally, conservatives are more educated and interested in things political. "

It would seem that having that extra chromosome has worked to our advantage.

[Straight Vermonter]

Sometimes I wish I had born 150 miles east of here.

[surrey]

I just picked up Barbara Olson's "The Final Days". Started reading it late last night and my blood is still boiling. These two, white trash losers constantly infuriate me. My outrage at their "antics" will never end.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Come to think of it, the top-selling newspaper in New Hampshire is the conservative Union Leader. How about that?

I used to read that paper every morning before school when I was a kid... it certainly explains a lot ;0)

[LantzALot]

America Online, the family-oriented Internet service provider run by conservative Steve Case, ....

Those of you who have AOL, though, will probably see that the news stories headlined on their Main Menu are still taken from the left-leaning publications, and retain their leftward slant.

[LantzALot]

... "Shadow Warriors" by Tom Clancy.

I've not read Shadow Warriors, and of the Clancy books I have read, I have seen what would seem more like a conservative slant -- but that's his fiction. When I listen to Clancy in interviews, he sure gives me the impression of a liberal.

[ikka]

You don't need to read a book to be a left-liberal. You just need to "care".

[DouglasKC]

The reason for this is obvious: conservatives read, liberals don't.

[GussiedUp]

I always thought AOL was seriously left-leaning and was under the impression Steve Case was a confirmed liberal???

[GussiedUp]

When I listen to Clancy in interviews, he sure gives me the impression of a liberal.

I heard him on O'Reilly (I think it was) and wish I could remember exactly what he said but he definitely dissed the liberals. I came away from the interview with the impression he is a conservative?

[LantzALot]

Well, I missed that one. Glad to hear it, though.

[Libertarian Jim]

Clancy is what you would probably call a Conservative with a libertarian streak (i.e. he's brilliant).

[Mo1]

Gloat and snicker.

Hehehe ... me too

Amazing what happens when they publish good books .. people will actually buy them ..

[IronJack]

These facts give lie to the manufactured image of liberal success. Liberals are, and have always been, a minority. In the marketplace, the office, the halls of power, and especially on the streets, conservatives rule in numbers. That domination by the socialist minority is part of what makes liberal rule so offensive.

But conservatives are finding their voice. Free Republic is one example of many. And the voice is rising, from a rumble to a roar. God have mercy on the liberals if that roar ever blends to a unified chorus.

[Reagan Man]

Bernie Goldberg, who wrote "Bias", is no conservative, he is a self-professed liberal. Bill O'Reilly isn't a conservative, he's a populist independent. Let's emphasize the credentials of Edmund Morris and David McCullough. Neither men have ever been members of the conservative movement. And this is the first time someone has ever referred to Steve Case, as a conservative. The USA Today, a moderate publication? Yea right.

Hmmm?

[Dumb_Ox]

For what it's worth, I think the year's best philosophical defense of social conservatism is Robert P. George's The Clash of Orthodoxies

Alas, not as popular as it deserves to be, though it has cracked the Amazon top 1000 a few times.

[Servant of the Nine]

Most Democrats can't read without moving their lips and they don't follow the news.

Unfortunately they vote and breed promiscuously.

So9