Monday, February 24, 2003

For Liberals, It's Morning in America - Shock jocks are the progressive answer to Rush Limbaugh

Now HERE's an interesting premise from Marc Fisher of Slate: going after the Jesse Ventura vote. The meat of the article:




"Shock jocks rant for hours on end on behalf of civil liberties, sexual freedom, the rights of the little guy against the nation's big corporations and institutions (and—sorry, Dems—against affirmative action). They may not share Limbaugh's fascination with electoral politics, but on the issues that divide this country into red and blue, they are as popular and powerful as the supposedly unchallenged conservatives. FM talk scores with young guys who like their radio on the risqué side, with a bulging menu of sex jokes and a powerful message that this is America and you can do whatever you want.

Hint to Democrats: You may not like to admit this, but these are your voters. Most people listen to radio alone in their cars, where no one needs to be PC, and no one has to fear being slapped with a harassment charge. And it's OK to chuckle at that coarse humor and still vote Democratic. The PC brigades may find this hard to believe...

Shock jocks talk about what people are talking about, which, if you listen carefully, usually are exactly the same issues that determine how people vote: personal freedom, mores, economic well-being, family, what it's like to be a guy or a woman or an American right now. And they do it almost unfailingly from a left-libertarian perspective—they are classic social liberals."




I always thought the smartest thing the Libertarians ever did was nominate Howard Stern for Governor of New York in 1994. [He bailed on the race when he realized he's have to disclose his finances and give up his show.]




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