I just saw, at the USA Today website, a poll showing that Rush Limbaugh was the most influential conservative voice in the nation. The numbers provided for different individuals were:
Rush 26%
Glenn Beck 11%
VP Cheney 10%
Sarah Palin 10%
I hardly ever comment upon polls, but I assume that this one will become splashed all over tv and newspapers in the next week, so I thought I’d give my 2 cents worth. When you ask a question, like’who is the most influential conservative in the US?’ it is important to decide on a population that is worth sampling first. Well, why would they ask everyone this question? For people who are self-classified as moderate or liberal, or more importantly, those who pay no attention to politics, who cares who they believe is an influential conservative? So the correct way to do it, it seems, is to ask people their ideology first, then ask the key question. Now Rush may still end up being the most important still, but I doubt that the margin would be nearly so wide.
November 29th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Rush is still the most listened to talk show host out there so the numbers probably aren’t that far off, but I wouldn’t be so quick to give him the title of king. Three quarters of the respondents voted for someone else.
November 29th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Limbaugh rules. He is God!
November 29th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
I have to state Limbaugh is not a conservative in my book. he is just a mess of angry projective energy very loose with the truth. its an act worthy of the old Gong show. note how when he talks his mind is racing a million miles a second and he’s throwing his hands and head and chin and body all over the chair like hes spring loaded sitting on a ball of mercury popping out around his sides. note just how much of what he says are projections of aspects of himself he cannot tolerate. anyone can see it with their own eyes. tune in Keith Olbermann for more analysis of rush and its hard not to agree with Keith.
November 29th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Rush Limbuagh and Glenn Beck are awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 29th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Rusty Humphries are my three favorite radio personalities.
Rush for his perception, Glenn Beck for his research and ability to connect the dots, and Rusty Humphries for his knowledge of middle east history.
After listening to five hours of Humphries and Beck, Rush is anti-climactic.
November 30th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Glen Beck may be in the process of overtaking Rush. The left hates Rush, Beck, and Palin. There are many others on the right that have a lot of influence.
Michelle Malkin is quite influential as is Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit, Krauthammer, Levin and Victor Davis Hansen to name a few more,,,
November 30th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
This just shows how reactionary and emotional the Republican party — and, in some ways, the right in general — has become. Not one serious intellectual in the bunch. If the Republican party were healthy, people like George Will would be making more waves within the party than people like Rush Limbaugh.
Of course, I suppose that brings up a good point. The poll purports to show who is the “most influential” conservative voice. But here is the question: influential to whom? Does this speak more to the right’s admiration of Rush, or the left’s disdain? I suspect the answer is that this “influence” reported by the poll is as much a result of dislike as positive preference. His influence drives people away from his ideas at least as much as it pulls them in.
Whatever though, I think the days of the Radio/TV-centric political culture are drawing to a close anyway. Within a generation or so, I don’t think anybody will have the influence that Rush has right now. The internet is too powerful for that model to sustain itself indefinitely. Most people I know my age and younger spend little to no time listening to broadcast radio or watching broadcast TV. We’re much more likely to read through Digg headlines than we are to turn on a news channel.
November 30th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Well Rhayader, Charles Krauthammer and George Will aren’t as accessible as the talking heads. I love to sit back and listen to Charles Krauthammer and read his articles and I used to believe that Will was the most intellectual of the bunch.
One of my favorite conservative reads is Mike Adams at Town Hall but I’m sure most people don’t know him from, well, Adam. I also believe that Rusty Humphries is on a par with Beck and better than Limbaugh but I’ll bet a lot of people never heard of him either.
November 30th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Here’s my advise watch the Schnitt Show.