Question about Wingnut Talk Shows

[theshadow]

I know that the fairness doctrine is long gone, but I don't understand how a radio talk show can devote hours to Republican candidates and not have it be considered an in-kind contribution.

This morning, Milwaukee squawker Charlie Sykes had Russ Feingold's opponent, the scary Tim Michels, on his show. The purpose was to discuss the fact that the RNC pulled about $1 million in promised support from his campaign. The discussion was the usual: the liberal media is playing this up to make my campaign look bad; the polls are wrong; Feingold is out of the mainstream. You know... the usual.

Of course, the RNC pulled out because Michels is such a loon that even Bush Republicans are voting for Feingold. That said, Michels got 1/2 hour of free air time to campaign on the state's biggest radio station. That doesn't include the 3-5 hours, 5 days a week devoted to bashing Democrats and supporting Republicans.

If I give raw materials to a candidate to turn into brochures or lawn signs, that's counted as an in-kind contribution. Is talk radio insulated from this??

[Kierkegaard]

1. Apparently they must be insulated.

I won't ever listen to TMJ again, unless they remove the Limbaugh twins (Sikes and Wagner.) They are the biggest pair of self-righteous Bush apologists I've ever heard.

[gumby]

2. Sykes Sux

Same as Sinclair showing their filthy propaganda. It's amazing isn't it? These am radio pukes shill strongly for The Dub every day, coast to coast. It's like GOP media 24/7 on every station. This is how Michael Powell likes it... market forces and all.

To test your point, someone would probably test your question in court?

I call Sykes: The One Who Likes To Think Of Himself As The Intellectual Nazi.

[theshadow]

3. He's a creep in real life, too

I e-mailed a polite disagreement with something he said, and got the same kind of smart-ass reply you hear on the air.

[LTR]

4. Michels is a complete lightweight

All he's doing is parroting Bush's stand on the issues, which is pretty weak to begin with. And his advertising is nothing but taking cheap swipes at Feingold, saying that he spent too much time on campaign finance reform.

Meanwhile, Feingold has come out with some of the best TV and radio political advertising ever created. It's all about the issues, and Feingold effectively swats away all of Michels' attacks without getting childish.

Trust me on this: Feingold will slaughter Michels in the election. Now is that out of the mainstream?