For Conservatives, Great Ratings and Disastrous Elections

The last couple of weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time watching conservative television (the Fox talk line-up) and listening to conservative radio.

Both are booming in popularity, building historically large audiences. And they’re doing so at a time when the Republican Party is perched at the edge of yet another cliff. (They’ve already fallen off a couple…)

One problem for the GOP is the dichotomy between ratings success and electoral success. Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are seen as titans when they pull in 3 million viewers or listeners.

But that number represents only about 4% of the number of people you need to win a presidential election.

And there is evidence that these right-wing talkers are actually alienating the larger pool of American voters — the centrists, the independents — who tip close elections.

Only 37% of women hold a positive view of Rush Limbaugh, according to Public Policy Poll. Fully 49% have an unfavorable view of him.

But those women cast more than half of the ballots in most elections.

As the GOP brand falters, these high-volume talkers become the new face of the conservative movement.

There simply isn’t a Republican politician with the charisma and stature to compete with Limbaugh, or O’Reilly, or Beck, or Coulter, or Ingraham.

So the next time they say something outrageous, divisive and caustic (I heard some CRAZY things during my week of tuning in to the Right’s media culture) that wacko-stuff becomes the daily message for the conservative movement.

The solution? I don’t know. But the first thing Republicans have to do is acknowledge that there’s a fat, shaggy tail wagging the dog of their movement.

They can’t control the right-wing media, they can’t direct it, and it does at least as much harm as good to their cause.