Talk shows influence immigration debate

Los Angeles Times ^ | June 23, 2007 | Associated Press

[BornInASmallTown]

WASHINGTON -- Immigration has supplanted Iraq as the leading issue on television and radio talk shows, complicating the prospects of a Senate bill desperately wanted by President Bush. Conservative talk radio's impact on the immigration debate reached new heights last week, with one host effectively writing an amendment for when the Senate returns to the imperiled bill this week.

National talk show hosts have spent months denouncing the bill as providing amnesty for illegal immigrants. Some top Republicans who support the legislation have defied the broadcast pundits. Others GOP lawmakers have tried to placate them, even to the point of accepting their ideas for amendments.

Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., told reporters last week, "Talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem." Some hosts, he added, do not know what is in the lengthy bill. The comments incensed conservative talk show hosts who generally had supported Lott over the years.

Lott is "upset that the American people got right into the middle of the conversation over the problem with illegal aliens and it didn't turn out all that well for the pro-amnesty forces," Atlanta-based talk show host Neal Boortz wrote on his Web site. "If Trent Lott and his other buddies up on the Hill aren't listening to 'talk,' then what are they listening to? The answer is either their wallet or their legacy." Radio host Rush Limbaugh asked his audience: "What are we going to do about Mississippi Senator Trent Lott?"

[eeevil conservative]

What does he mean by ‘deal with that problem’?

It means....exposing and educating people on the truth is a PROBLEM!

[Caipirabob]

Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., told reporters last week, "Talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem."

Yes, have to deal with that problem and send Lott home.