Once Opposed, Conservative Talk Radio Now Backs McCain
By Eric Pfeiffer, CQ Staff
A long string of radio talk show booths line the way into the St. Paul's Xcel Center and many of the firmly conservative hosts have surprisingly kind words for Republican presidential nominee John McCain, especially for his newly selected running mate, Sarah Palin.
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"The response this week has been very positive," said Lars Larson, host of the conservative Lars Larson Show, broadcast from KXL radio in the traditionally liberal enclave of Portland, Ore. "My role here is to tell people what is going on."
Conservative talk radio has been an effective barometer of the Republican base for more than two decades, rising to newfound prominence during the Clinton administration. Rush Limbaugh, who has the number one radio program in the country, has long been critical of McCain. Limbaugh objected to McCain's partnering with Democrats on legislation, for McCain's public criticism of fellow Republicans and for some of his positions, especially on immigration, climate change and campaign finance reform. Yet even Limbaugh has come around recently to supporting the Arizona senator.
On his show last Friday, Limbaugh praised the Palin selection.
"They've done a 180 and they're focusing on the base; they're focusing more on conservatism than they have. You've seen the poll numbers rise. It just didn't make any sense . . . to put somebody pro-choice on the ticket. I don't think it was ever something that was really that close to happening. I really don't. It might have been close in the minds of some of McCain's camp, and I think it's probably true that if he could have, he would have, but he's not that stupid," Limbaugh said.
McCain's recent moves to the right also appear to be making inroads with evangelical Christian talk show hosts. Lee Michaels and Jeff Shell, co-hosts of the KKMS Live! With Jeff & Lee show, based out of Eagan, Minn., say their listeners have been responding more positively to McCain than in recent months.
"We're an arena of ideas. It's our job to put information out there so our listeners can make up their own minds," Michaels said. "But we come at this with a conservative perspective and a Christian world view. Sarah Palin is a huge asset. I think it was a turning point for [Focus on the Family President] James Dobson and many others."
McCain's support within the evangelical community has about the same (around 70 percent) as President Bush's in recent polls, but the level of enthusiasm has been much softer. Michaels said that issues like McCain's support for federal funding of embryonic stem cell research may have hurt his standing with some of his listeners earlier in the campaign, but that it will not be a make or break issue. "Scientific advances are really taking that issue off the table," he said.
"She energized the evangelical base and sucked the wind out of Obama's nomination," Shell said of the Palin pick. "Global warming has been a wedge issue for some of our listeners with Barack Obama, but for anyone who thought the influence of evangelicals was waning, they only had to watch Rick Warren's Saddleback Forum. That revealed a lot about the character of both candidates and changed the view in Christian talk radio overnight. It flies in the face of our listeners to say you are personally pro-life, but politically pro-choice."
Conservative bloggers have also had a presence at this year's RNC, though nowhere near as high profile as their liberal counterparts at last week's Democratic National Convention in Denver.
"Talk radio has an influence at the grassroots. New media has an influence on the influentials," said Jon Henke of New Media Strategies, an Internet consulting firm. As with talk radio, McCain was not the first, second, or even third choice of most conservative bloggers. However, he has earned some of their respect by opening up his campaign to regular conference calls devoted exclusively to bloggers.
"McCain got a lot of respect for being able to show up. He humanized himself," Henke said.
Still, the question remains as to exactly how much talk radio can affect the results at the polls. But Henke says, "Even if talk show hosts don't want to support him, they'll do so by opposing Obama."
