Gadsden Flag
04-22-2008, 06:46 PM
Lately, I have had to drive all over the place for various errands and I've been listening to a lot of AM radio. Actually, I don't own a TV and so I listen to the radio at home a lot too.
So, as we all know, talk radio is mostly a right-wing medium. There are some left wing shows, but those don't get much syndication.
Actually, there is a local, community-supported radio station in my area which is so far left they are practically communists, but I doubt it's like that in all areas.
Anyway, I was recently thinking about what I would do if I owned a station. I honestly think that radio is a very powerful way to reach people. Especially the audence we are trying to meet, which are the people who are presently voting Republican.
I know that there are actually some stations in my area which purportedly are very Libertarian based, but their signals are so weak I can never listen to them.
My plan would be to combine some local programming and nationally syndicated shows. But which national shows? This prompted me to make this thread.
I want to post about all the talk show hosts and get different opinions about them. I'll start with a well known guys and then move on to lesser knowns. Feel free to weigh in on them and add your own.
Rush Limbaugh
My parents used to listen to this dude all the time when I was a kid back in the early '90s. They say he has changed a lot since then and they don't really like him anymore. He's a master at the medium itself and an entertaining speaker. I get tired of his ego though sometimes. As with many of these hosts, it's fun to listen to him criticize the left on economic policy. I haven't listened to him that often, but I assume he's pro-war. He doesn't seem to talk about it that much though.
I know he's on the record as not supporting McCain though, so that's pretty good.
6/10.
Sean Hannity
Another superb speaker, but he's flakey and cheesy and way too sentimental for me. He also rehashes the same topics over and over. If you hear one of his shows, you know the rest of the week is pretty much going to be 3 hours of the same thing. Again, he's good when he gets on the democrats about welfare and socialism. But he's an open supporter of the war for sentimental reasons and I can't help but roll my eyes when I hear him talk about it.
4/10.
Laura Ingram
This lady seems to be on in the morning for a lot of stations in my area. Meh. Not as cheesy as Hannity, but maybe even more sentimental, if such a thing is possible. With some of these hosts, I get the impression that although we disagree, they are still smart people, but I get the impression that Laura Ingram isn't really that smart.
4/10.
Michael Savage
I used to hate this guy. I still don't like how he talks about certain groups regarding civil liberties. However, he is much more interesting to listening to than the last three I mentioned. He really hits on some of the issues RP supporters care about sometimes. He slams Bush in every show. He talks about the dollar crisis. He even has guests on who talk about the huge contracts which corporations are getting in Iraq. While he has very strong views on the war on terror, he seems to think we are fighting in the wrong way entirely.
I don't think he would vote for Ron Paul but he is much more issue-based and less sentimental than the other guys. He's too harsh in his criticism of ideas he disagrees with, but he's worth listening to.
7/10.
Mark Levin
This guy seems to have become popular in the past couple years. I don't like him that much. He is pretty funny, but not that smart. A couple days ago he was saying how conservatives like to debat e, but liberals just jump straight to insults. That's ironic because all he does when people who disagree with him call is insult them. It's funny, but dumb at the same time.
5/10.
So, as we all know, talk radio is mostly a right-wing medium. There are some left wing shows, but those don't get much syndication.
Actually, there is a local, community-supported radio station in my area which is so far left they are practically communists, but I doubt it's like that in all areas.
Anyway, I was recently thinking about what I would do if I owned a station. I honestly think that radio is a very powerful way to reach people. Especially the audence we are trying to meet, which are the people who are presently voting Republican.
I know that there are actually some stations in my area which purportedly are very Libertarian based, but their signals are so weak I can never listen to them.
My plan would be to combine some local programming and nationally syndicated shows. But which national shows? This prompted me to make this thread.
I want to post about all the talk show hosts and get different opinions about them. I'll start with a well known guys and then move on to lesser knowns. Feel free to weigh in on them and add your own.
Rush Limbaugh
My parents used to listen to this dude all the time when I was a kid back in the early '90s. They say he has changed a lot since then and they don't really like him anymore. He's a master at the medium itself and an entertaining speaker. I get tired of his ego though sometimes. As with many of these hosts, it's fun to listen to him criticize the left on economic policy. I haven't listened to him that often, but I assume he's pro-war. He doesn't seem to talk about it that much though.
I know he's on the record as not supporting McCain though, so that's pretty good.
6/10.
Sean Hannity
Another superb speaker, but he's flakey and cheesy and way too sentimental for me. He also rehashes the same topics over and over. If you hear one of his shows, you know the rest of the week is pretty much going to be 3 hours of the same thing. Again, he's good when he gets on the democrats about welfare and socialism. But he's an open supporter of the war for sentimental reasons and I can't help but roll my eyes when I hear him talk about it.
4/10.
Laura Ingram
This lady seems to be on in the morning for a lot of stations in my area. Meh. Not as cheesy as Hannity, but maybe even more sentimental, if such a thing is possible. With some of these hosts, I get the impression that although we disagree, they are still smart people, but I get the impression that Laura Ingram isn't really that smart.
4/10.
Michael Savage
I used to hate this guy. I still don't like how he talks about certain groups regarding civil liberties. However, he is much more interesting to listening to than the last three I mentioned. He really hits on some of the issues RP supporters care about sometimes. He slams Bush in every show. He talks about the dollar crisis. He even has guests on who talk about the huge contracts which corporations are getting in Iraq. While he has very strong views on the war on terror, he seems to think we are fighting in the wrong way entirely.
I don't think he would vote for Ron Paul but he is much more issue-based and less sentimental than the other guys. He's too harsh in his criticism of ideas he disagrees with, but he's worth listening to.
7/10.
Mark Levin
This guy seems to have become popular in the past couple years. I don't like him that much. He is pretty funny, but not that smart. A couple days ago he was saying how conservatives like to debat e, but liberals just jump straight to insults. That's ironic because all he does when people who disagree with him call is insult them. It's funny, but dumb at the same time.
5/10.