Boilermaker Rick wrote:
His legacy really is being one of the main people that pushed the media into being unapologetically and overly partisan. People love listening to people that tell them things they want to hear and there was a big segment of America that wanted to hear how he would put it in ways they just so happened to always agree with. Others on both sides took it to more of an extreme but I think ultimately he will be remembered as a pioneer of the end of unbiased media.
There have always been guys like that, just no one who was able to develop the influence he had. He was steering the Republican Party for awhile.
The thing about him though- and Zippy kind of eluded to it above- is that he was really an entertainer and it came off as if he was doing shtick. He was the kind of guy who could blast Democrats all day long and then have dinner with Tom Daschle.
I think his listeners were true believers more than he ever was. But that's par for the course with politics. Trump and Al Sharpton have always been friendly. I would bet a lot of money that when they meet up now there's a conversation that is close to this:
Trump: What are you doing, Al? Everyday you're killing me.
Sharpton: Come on, Donnie. You know I have to maintain my brand.
Trump: I guess you learned something from me.
These guys yuk it up together while their constituents want to kill each other. Once the people who support Bernie and the people who support Trump realize they are actually after the same thing, you'll really see a new America. Power to The People right now.
I've always thought that something like this was going on with most of those guys. Even in these polarized times, it's still unusual to find someone who buys 100% of what either of the main parties are selling. If you're thinking through the issues on your own, you're going to break ranks with your party of choice at least a little bit. Yet, these talk radio hosts seem to always support the party line even when it differs from a position they used to support. It would be refreshing if they would break character here and there, but I think if they did that, a larger percentage of their fan base would come to see that these hosts don't believe a significant number of the arguments they are making and it would probably destroy the show.