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Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru
Hm. That's odd. I was pretty sure that Rush is a prominent voice in the political discourse in the country. Or are you saying he gets the same treatment as Stephen Colbert and John Stewart?
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Yes.
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He's a commentator much like Glenn Beck, and to say he has no influence is a bit confusing to me.
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Niether Beck nor Rush change a persons core beliefs, both men reinforce what people already believe. Great men/women of history or leaders, actually change the way people see themselves and the world. Example MLK, or in my view Reagan fit into this category. Even Obama had a measurable impact on the behaviors of young voters who would have ordinarily been apathetic but got enthused about about politics to the degree where it made a difference. Sure every once in awhile Rush will have a listener call in and talk about listening to his show changed their life, but those call are the exception from my point of view. Palin actually has more influence than Rush and we saw it during the McCain campaign and we saw it afterward as an opposite affect, influencing people who hate her to act in ways they would not have ordinarily.
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If he has no influence, then why do I keep hearing about him? I don't listen to AM radio, and I'm Canadian.
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Perfect question for a person like Roach, Will, the Obama team or the hosts of MSNBC shows. I don't get it either.
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Do Rush's opinions represent the opinions of a lot of other people?
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Rush is a reflection of his audience and he has the talent to be entertaining. It is not the other way around. I regularly listen to ESPN radio Colin Cowherd, he understands his show, his audience and he talks about it - as a sports talk show host he knows to reflect the topics people want to listen to, agree with him or not - same with Rush. As a professional in the business Cowherd would be the first to tell you, its about entertainment first. Radio talk is a business. One thing that makes Cowherd interesting is he doesn't pretend his audience lacks intellect. And if you listen to Rush he plays to two audiences, those who get him and to those he toys with. If all you hear about Rush's show is from "mainstream" media, you are getting the toyed with message.