I have posted before how Cumulus Broadcasting, cheered on by Rush boycotters, is setting up Mike Huckabee to challenge Rush.
Jeffrey Lord has the story how Huckabee Show Opens With Staged Caller:
Wow.
As we often say here: you just can’t make it up.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee took his first phone call of his new talk radio call-in show yesterday. From “Mike in San Francisco.” Remember: the show is being positioned by the Cumulus Media Network as the conservative show with “more conversation, less confrontation.” Or, as it is certainly being pushed in the anti-Rush Limbaugh media, the show for moderate Republicans that will Take Rush Out. RINO Radio, as we noted here last week.
But there seemed to be something slightly out of whack…
The caller…”Mike from San Francisco”… was in fact not just your average Mike….
What did “Mike” have on his mind? He started this way:
“Well Governor, let me start by saying it’s great to have a different opinion and a different person on the radio and I’m very, very happy that you’re doing this radio show. One of the reasons why I want to listen to your program every day is because you ran for office and you’ve been a politician, you have a different perspective I think.”
Catch that? “Mike from San Francisco” begins by saying in supposedly unprompted fashion that (bold emphasis mine) “… it’s great to have a different opinion and a different person on the radio…“
After much digging, Lord confirmed that “Mike” was a senior Cumulus executive, which was not disclosed on the show.
Media Matters couldn’t have astroturfed it better.
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Comments
“…but a lying tongue is but for a moment”
Well, he might milk a few months out of it. But not much beyond that.
IFFFF you just wanted to piss off Conservative listeners, THAT would be the stunt you’d plan out.
A-FLUCKING-mazing.
I’ve become a fan of Jeffrey Lord.
Mike Huckabee, aka Tax Hike Mike, aka The Huckster.
Mike “Cumulus”‘s opening sounds like an infomercial for Huck.
Epic fail.
How in the world did Cumulus ever think that the Huckster could stand up opposite Rush?
Jeffrey Lord being Breitbart. Kudos to him.
Why doesn’t Huck just go find a church where he can play nice and agreeable?
What is Huckabee’s appeal again?
He’s uh…..sorry, can’t think of anything 😉
Huck: “I cudda been a contender.”
“What is Huckabee’s appeal again?”
That of a drug-free narcotic… Makes you sleep in less than ten minutes…
Zzzzzzz…
They really do think we’re all stupid, don’t they?
Unfortunately the Hannitization of the conservative movement will probably give the Huckster a leg up for awhile. The movement is presently populated with a great many ill-equipped warriors, and those same people will keep the ‘Bee on the air far longer than the market should bear.
(Full disclosure: I think Hannity is one of the good guys. He just sucks as a defender of conservatism. $0.02: Boortz is the one who should have emerged from Atlanta.)
What I don’t understand is why people in both our parties at the national level think they have to set up internal “opposition.”
OWS was set up by supporters of the Democratic party as if in opposition to it, when in fact it’s an attempt to push their policies.
Mike Huckabee is being set up in “opposition” to Rush, when in fact the Repubs need all the help they can get, particularly among centrists. He and Rush could amplify and play off one another, appealing merrily to different audiences, if they chose to do so.
I take your point, Valerie, however consider:
1. It isn’t Rush Limbaugh’s job to defend the Republican Party. It’s the Republican Party’s job to defend the Republican Party. That includes the base as well as the players. The Party has been abysmal at moving the conservative/libertarian ball forward. There has been a plethora of strategic blunders and embarrassing tactics over the past several decades. If the Party is in fact going to be the champion of conservatives/libertarians, it needs to be burned (figuratively!) to the ground by the base and then rebuilt by the base.
2. Republican Party apparatchiks are not interested in what Rush Limbaugh thinks or desires. They just want to use him like any other political tool, and they’re pissed every time El Rushbo dismisses them.
I don’t see it as that big of a deal. Huckabee overall I just find boring.
But this prompted caller, no biggie, actually Huckabee might have helped himself if he had just been honest in who this caller was, just be honest with the audience.
Not to worry. With a mission statement of “positioned by the Cumulus Media Network as the conservative show with “more conversation, less confrontation.”” it is doomed to fail.
These doughnuts simply won’t learn the simple truth: “Flames are good for business.”
Huckabee, even without the stupid name, has less than a year in this venue. Maybe less than three months.
Huck gets punked by dead air time of Cumulus Exec faux-caller
lol
I wouldn’t bet you a flat half bottle of Schlitz on Huck’s chances against Rush. However, he might give the Geraldo show a run for its money. RINO duel to the death….
Huckabee has a kind of Paul Harvey notoriety.
Soundbites that resonate.
Don’t think he can talk and persuade for hours every day.
He should stick to his updates and short comments.
Who is Mike Huckabee?
…Just Kidding, I’d rather listen to Mike on Fox than Karl Rove, but then I’d rather channel surf looking for syndicated “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” than either Karl or Mike.
I like “The Judge” on Fox better than either, but I’m more inclined to watch Cavuto and FBN Fox Business Network than anything on Fox News Network.
..Which might strike some as a “You mean you watch NBC/CBS/ABC/MSNBC/CNN/Bloomberg rather than Fox???”
Answer, no, never….only thing I can say is I contributed to NBC’s ratings boost the day they had Palin as a guest but promoted as a ‘guest anchor’.
I’ve EVEN discovered that our local NBC station’s “Digital” channel [as distinct from their ‘broadcast channel’] DOES NOT switch to TODAY at the magical 7AM hour EDT.
I watch local NBC ONLY FOR THEIR local traffic & local weather and was pleased as punch to find another way to ….avoid….The Networks.
Back to Fox, Radio Lineup, etc
Our Rush station has Rush then Hannity then Mark Levin.
Radio goes off when Hannity comes on Not because of him but because I get overload on the lib callers their call screener [policy] puts through.
I go for Rush and Mark Levin and download their MP3 episodes the next day …for re-listening, posterity, etc.
Mike would stand behind Glen Beck whom I greatly enjoyed on his Fox program but…turned off when he “Called Me A Racist”.
So, no, I haven’t sought out Mike Huckabee nor do I think I would. Only thing I can think of is he’d be prefferable to “Air America” but then I’ve never found a station doing “Air America”!
Our local Cumulus station dumped Michael Savage for the Schmuckabee show. On a pure-entertainment level, EPIC FAIL.
They still run Rush live at noon.
I give the Huckster less than six months.
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This doesn’t surprise me at all. I’ve had a bad feeling deep in my gut about this snake-oil salesman since his run in 2008. He’s the Republican Jimmy Carter.