Is Conservative Talk Radio Losing Its Influence?

WNYC ^ | March 25, 2016

[kevcol]

Ted Cruz has few friends on Capitol Hill, and the establishment is starting to line up behind him to take out Donald Trump.

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham have endorsed Cruz, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Florida Senator Marco Rubio have hinted that they also might come along.

Cruz's base of support comes from conservative women, educated evangelicals, older voters and nationally syndicated conservative radio talk show hosts. Mark Levin and Glenn Beck have endorsed him, and he gets strong support from Rush Limbaugh.

Though Cruz has a friend in right-wing media, Donald Trump is still winning. Is conservative talk radio, once a powerful force in Republican politics, losing its influence? For answers, we turn to Darryl Parks, a media consultant and former talk radio host.

[Married with Children]

I find it amusing that Hannity has not been mentioned by anyone- that’s a good thing.

[goodnesswins]

Maybe, except for Laura Ingraham.

[ObozoMustGo2012]

Breitbart News on Sirius Patriot is the only talk radio I listen to anymore. I gave up on Rush and Levin when they started their Trump bashing. Hannity was good in the afternoon but even he is starting to lose me.

[central_va]

Because some issues cannot be framed left or right. Some issues, the really important ones, are either pro American or anti American.

[TomGuy]

Conservative talk radio has been rehashing what the problems are for 30 years. Doing something about it? Zero. The great placation machine.

Levin has been crying for 'a new Republican party' for years.

He never says what he means by that. The GOP certainly didn't become conservative after Goldwater. Not after Reagan, either. Conservativism is never going to have much influence in the Republican Party.

Ironically, since the lead-up to the Iowa caucuses, Levin has been trashing the only candidate who is expanding the tent and bringing in new voters.

So, what is that new Republican party Levin envisions? Who knows, because he has never said. But the current status quo party also helps Levin and other talkshows hosts maintain their 'status quo' of fighting against Dems and Libs and DC and yada yada yada.
It is interesting to look back over the years and see which 'failures' [issues and politicians] various talkshow hosts once supported, but now disavow.

[goodnesswins]

So...list some!

[gibsosa]

Agreed.

[Lisbon1940]

Limbaugh and the World Wide Web are of the same vintage.

[TheConservativeBanker]

Conservative talk radio has been quite important in helping citizens in the process of educating and informing themselves. As we have become better informed and more confident in our convictions, we are much more inclined to absorb information and form our own opinions and decisions. The talk show hosts fell into the trap of believing that they are entitled to tell us what to think and what to do. This infuriates Beck and Levin (they tolerate no dissent on their shows anymore) and irritates Rush (recently, he has been unable to disguise a slightly condescending tone when talking with a caller who disagrees with him).

[central_va]

And speaking of commercials, it's gold, economic collapse, retirement that no one can afford, car commercials, cheap loans ,refinancing, reverse mortgages, mesothelioma, credit card debt.

By the time the commercial break is over I am having an anxiety attack.

[VanDeKoik]

"I love talk radio however it is true that virtually no young people today listen to talk radio or any radio at all.

they listen to pre-recorded music on personal electronic devices, chat, vine, instagram, etc."

And the left got in on that early. They have popular "fake news" comedy propaganda programs that get posted to the internet and spread around like wildfire, while far too many on the right think that AM radio is still a thing, and that young people are carrying around Walkmans or that they are going to pay to hear a podcast version of a talkshow.

[Just mythoughts]

Trump is more conservative than Levin and Rush... Neither of the radio jocks care one wit about the Constitutional requirement of eligibility... They did not care that Obama was not Constitutionally eligible and they could care even less about Cruz's lack of eligibility... Levin and Rush are more interested in keeping their personal bank accounts flush... Both are too lazy to keep up with Trump.

[central_va]

Levin is an open border Free Traitor™ nut job. He should be very satisfied with the current GOP.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

We are in a massive new paradigm shift in politics.

ACU and Conservative Review ratings, who's been a life-long Republican, who has a more pristine voting record, etc have been completely disregarded.

The identity and distinct culture of America is at stake here. There is a sense of urgency in that people see the country getting sold out by Washington to foreign organizations and domestic leftist big federal government.

Donald Trump (actually, it started with Pat Buchanan in 1992, and continued with Ron Paul in 2008 and the Tea Party) has tapped into this. Rush, Levin, Beck, and others aside from Laura Ingraham aren't capable of understanding this.

The charade of how conservatives need to stop the Dems has been exposed, because it is making those very aforementioned talk radio hosts filthy rich. We need to also stop the Republican Party and beltway elitists as well.

[TomGuy]

I found Phil Valentine late evening on a small radio station out of MS. Some evenings the station broadcasts local sports or the internet feed doesn’t work.

I also like ‘I am making quotation marks with my fingers’ hehe he hehehe hehe Chris Plante in the mornings.

[central_va]

Rush, Levin, Beck

Kicking back in your paid off mansion smoking a smuggled Cuban problem quells any sense of urgency.

[TomGuy]

In the end, he [Limbaugh] really isn’t just one of us - just another multi-millionaire who has a shtick that makes him a lot of money.

And heads to the golf course for a round with his multi-millionaire acquaintences after his radio show.

He sort of let it slip a couple of months ago. He started listing people he knows closely and casually. They were all past or present bigshots in media or government or business.

[Gosh I love this neighborhood]

I like Jim Quinn. I think he doesn’t have to answer to anyone.

[JPG]

Limbaugh may self-censor his desire to Trump bash, but he certainly lets anti-Trump callers have full sway to dump away on The Donald.

He thinks he's cleverly getting away with it....he's NOT!

[pugmama]

Thanks for posting this. I have stopped all talk radio except for one local show as it pertains to the area where I live. I found myself getting much too upset with Medved, Hewitt,Levin Limbaugh et all. I now listen to music. I get news from sites like this and formulate my own opinions. I am much less stressed.