Al Franken has finally let Stuart Smalley go to his head. He'sdecided to start his own liberal radio network, Air America,because he's good enough, he's smart enough, and doggone it, peoplelike him.
Or do they? And even if they do, can they take him for threehours a day? I know Franken is a comedian, but with his networkdebuting as it did a day before April Fool's Day, I can't help butask if this is a joke?
But it's not. Franken and Air America are serious aboutcompeting in a format dominated by right-wingers like Rush Limbaughand Sean Hannity. They are so serious that they went out and hiredsome of the finest and most experienced broadcast journalists ofour time -- Chuck D and Janeane Garofalo.
Currently, Air America is only airing in six cities -- New York,Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland, San Bernardino and Minneapolis. Thenetwork will take the fight to conservatives in their own backyardwhen San Francisco joins the lineup on April 15. If it can'tsucceed in these bastions of liberalism, it won't succeed anywhereelse.
This is not the first time liberals have tried to conquer talkradio. Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo tried his hand atbroadcasting in the early '90s, and failed. The most listened-toliberal in the country, ironically, is Alan Colmes of Fox News, whois currently on 34 stations.
Time will tell if Air America is in it for the long haul, but itseems Franken's motivation is more aimed at getting Bush out ofoffice than building a lasting movement.
"I'm doing this because I want to use my energies to get Bushunelected," Franken told the New York Times. "I'd be happy if theelection of a Democrat ended the show."
This is opposite the attitude of Limbaugh, who has alwaysmaintained that his success is not determined by who occupies theWhite House. That attitude is one of the reasons he has beensuccessful for so long.
The main reason Rush has been successful is not because he isthe smartest guy on the air or that he has the smoothest-soundingvoice. It is simply because he puts on the best, most entertainingradio show in America, and he's been honing his craft for 20years.
He also benefited, though, from a general feeling amongconservatives that the mainstream media did not represent theirviews. For liberals who scratch their heads and wonder why talkradio is dominated by conservatives, it is because for years that'sall they had.
Whether liberals now feel the same way is debatable. Whileconservatives have Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and talkradio, liberals have the three major networks, CNN, NPR, PBS andthe world's most influential newspaper, the New York Times.
What is missing is an outlet for the Loony Left -- theconspiracy theorists, environmental wackos, Kucinich voters, etc.Whether or not they make up a sizable enough audience for AirAmerica to turn a profit remains to be seen.
The success of Air America at the end of the day will bedetermined by the free market. If the network fails though, Frankenand Co. will likely refuse to acknowledge the basic laws ofeconomics and blame everyone but themselves -- from the "right-wingconspiracy" to big corporations to the favorite excuse of theliberal elite -- the overwhelming stupidity of the American publicto know what's good for them.
