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ABSTRACT
In the mid-1990s, Democratic Party leaders attempted to counter the popularity of Rush Limbaugh and other conservative talk radio hosts following the Republican sweep of the 1994 midterm elections. President Bill Clinton appeared on shows around the country, his White House began a national radio outreach initiative, party strategists proposed creating their own radio program, and some congressional Democrats visited popular shows such as Imus in the Morning. Meanwhile, former Senator Gary Hart of Colorado and former governors Mario Cuomo of New York and L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia launched their own talk radio shows, while former New York City Mayor Ed Koch continued his program. This study examines the impetus for these Democratic broadcast efforts between 1994 and 1996, the content and style of the different shows, and the reasons they failed to overcome the Republican advantage in talk radio.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. “Mario Cuomo Radio Show,” C-SPAN, July 6, 1996, https://www.c-span.org/event/?73412/mario-cuomo-radio-show; and Donna Petrozzello, “Cuomo Abandons Talk Show for Clinton Campaign,” Broadcasting & Cable, July 8, 1996, 28.
2. Howard Kurtz, “Limbaugh of the Left,” Washington Post, June 20, 1995.
3. Mike Allen, “Doug and Mike, The Happy Couple,” Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch, March 12, 1995.
4. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Joseph N. Capella, and Joseph Turow, “Call-In Political Talk Radio: Background, Content, Audiences, Portrayal in Mainstream Media,” Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania, August 7, 1996, 8, 11, 35, https://cdn.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/1996_03_political_talk_radio_rpt1.pdf; “Neal Boortz,” Radio Hall of Fame, https://www.radiohalloffame.com/neal-boortz; and Vincent Coppola, “Neal Boortz: Have Mouth, Will Talk,” Atlanta, July 1, 1998.
5. Alec Foege, Right of the Dial (New York, Faber and Faber, 2008), 3; and Frank Aherns, “Imus, Falling on the Right Ears,” Washington Post, July 27, 1999, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1999/07/27/imus-falling-on-the-right-ears/779770a3-ca50-4e30-afc5-20e70ea6f88c/.
6. Nathan Godfried, Chicago’s Voice of Labor, 1926–78 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997); and Elizabeth Fones-Wolf, Waves of Opposition: Labor and the Struggle for Democratic Radio (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2006), 5, 13, 20–22.
7. Jeff Land, Active Radio: Pacifica’s Brash Experiment (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1999), x, 3, 6, 39; Matthew Lasar, Pacifica Radio: The Rise of an Alternative Network (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1999); and “The Affiliate Network,” Pacific Network, https://pacificanetwork.org/about-affiliates-network/the-affiliate-network/.
8. Michael Kazin, The Populist Persuasion: An American History (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1995), 109–33.
9. Paul Matzko, The Radio Right: How a Band of Broadcasters Took on the Federal Government and Built the Modern Conservative Movement (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020), 14.
10. Heather Hendershot, What’s Fair on the Air: Cold War Right-Wing Broadcasting and the Public Interest (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011).
11. Nicole Hemmer, Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016).
12. Anthony Nadler and A. J. Bauer, eds., News on the Right: Studying Conservative News Cultures (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020).
13. Hendershot, What’s Fair on the Air, 17.
14. Brian Rosenwald, Talk Radio’s America: How an Industry Took over a Political Party That Took over the United States (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2019), 91–92.
15. Lewis Grossberger, “The Rush Hours,” New York Times, December 16, 1990, https://www. nytimes.com/1990/12/16/magazine/the-rush-hours.html.
16. Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Joseph N. Capella, Echo Chamber: Rush Limbaugh and the Conservative Media Establishment (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), 45.
17. Jamieson and Capella, Echo Chamber, 44–45.
18. Deborah Carr, Anu Pemmarazu, and Dorothy P. Rice, eds., Improving Data on America’s Aging Population; Summary of a Workshop (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 1996), doi: 10.17226/5481.
19. “Trends in Party Identification, 1939–2014,” Pew Research Center, April 7, 2015, https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/interactives/party-id-trend/.
20. Jamieson and Capella, Echo Chamber, 91–92, 94, 99–100.
21. Dave Matheny, “Rush Limbaugh Tells Us How Things Ought To Be,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, October 18, 1992; John Tierney, “How Talk Radio Gets at What’s Real,” New York Times, April 30, 1995; and Office of Chief of Staff to the President and Harold Ickes, “Talk Radio—White House [2],” Clinton Digital Library, https://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/48286. [The Clinton Digital Library uses hyphens in the file folder titles, and the number between the brackets represents the file folder number].
22. Terry Eastland, “Rush Limbaugh: Talking Back; Conservatism’s Media Superweapon,” American Spectator, September 1, 1992, 22.
23. Dawn R. Gilpin, “NRA Media and Second Amendment Identity Politics,” in News on the Right, 87.
24. David Remnick, “Day of the Dittohead,” Washington Post, February 20, 1994.
25. Henry Allen, “Media to the Left! Media to the Right! Rush Limbaugh, on the Republicans’ Wavelength,” Washington Post, August 20, 1992.
26. Gilpin, “NRA Media and Second Amendment Identity Politics,” 96.
27. “Rush Limbaugh Radio Talk Show,” C-SPAN, February 18, 1994, https://www.c-span.org/video/?54681–1/rush-limbaugh-radio-talk-show.
28. “Rush Limbaugh Show Simulcast,” C-SPAN, November 3, 1992, https://www.c-span.org/video/?34031–1/rush-limbaugh-show-simulcast.
29. Remnick, “Day of the Dittohead.”
30. Louis Bolce and Gerald De Maio, “Dial-in Democracy: Talk Radio and the 1994 Election,” Political Science Quarterly 111, no. 3 (1996): 457, doi: 10.2307/2151971.
31. Dick Gephardt, interview by Gregory Svirnovskiy, February 11, 2022.
32. Andrew Glass, “Congress Runs into ‘Republican Revolution’,” Politico, November 8, 1994.
33. Frank Rich, “Tin Cans and String,” New York Times, April 13, 1995, in “Talk Radio—White House [2].”
34. Gephardt interview.
35. Gephardt interview; Rosenwald, Talk Radio’s America, 92–93, 96; and Kurtz, “Limbaugh of the Left.”
36. Gephardt interview; and Rosenwald, Talk Radio’s America, 92–93, 96.
37. Lloyd Grove, “Imus, Live and in Poison,” Washington Post, March 22, 1996.
38. Howard Kurtz, “Imus-Be-an-Idiot,” Washington Post, March 31, 1996.
39. Kurtz, “Imus-Be-an-Idiot.”
40. Michael Specter, “Campaign Trail: Thou Shalt Not Pander, but I Am a Different Case,” New York Times, April 4, 1992.
41. Peter Castro, “Mighty Mouth,” People, December 12, 1994, 153; Douglas Jehl, “Did Clinton Slip on Astroturf?” New York Times, February 18, 1994; and Rosenwald, Talk Radio’s America, 60, 98.
42. Rosenwald, Talk Radio’s America, 59.
43. Karen Hancox, Letter to Pat Griffin and Susan Brophy, “Potus and Democratic Meetings,” January 9, 1994; Office of Chief of Staff to the President and Harold Ickes, “Talk Radio—White House [2],” 21–26. Hancox later became the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s chief operating officer.
44. Rich Heidorn Jr., “Margolies-Mezvinsky: Voted Out of Office but Hardly Defeated,” Philadelphia Inquirer, December 24, 1994; and Pete Leffler, “Margolies-Mezvinsky Defends Flip-Flop,” Morning Call (Allentown, PA), August 6, 1993.
45. Lesley Gold, Ed Lazarus, and Ellen Ratner, “The Democratic National Committee Talk Radio Project,” August 20, 1995, Office of Chief of Staff to the President and Harold Ickes, “Talk Radio—White House [2],” 59–65; Lesley Gold, “Experience,” LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesleyellengold/details/experience/; and “Year in Talk Radio,” C-SPAN, December 10, 1996, https://www.c-span.org/video/?77254–1/year-talk-radio.
46. Gold, Lazarus, and Ratner, “The Democratic National Committee Talk Radio Project.”
47. John Heilprin, “Democrats Learn to Fight on Air,” Post and Courier (Charleston, SC), October 14, 1995; Office of Chief of Staff to the President and Harold Ickes, “Talk Radio—White House [2]”; and Jon-Christopher Bua, interview by Gregory Svirnovskiy, April 21, 2022.
48. Bua interview.
49. “Democratic Convention ’96; Change in the Airwaves,” Los Angeles Times, August 30, 1996.
50. Christina Hoff Sommers, “Skirting Disaster,” National Review, September 30, 1996, 31–33.
51. Christopher Georges, “Talk-Radio Recipe for Democrats: Deflect, Deny, Evade, Act Stupid,” Wall Street Journal, June 20, 1996.
52. “Year in Talk Radio.”
53. “Democratic Convention ’96,” Los Angeles Times, August 30, 1996.
54. Ellen Ratner, “Get on Talk Radio,” Campaigns and Elections, October/November 1996, 34; and “Year in Talk Radio.”
55. Mary Ann Giordano, “On the Sidelines but Still a Player,” Los Angeles Times, December 14, 1995; and John Cassidy, “What is Mario Cuomo’s Legacy?” New Yorker, January 5, 2015, https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/mario-cuomos-legacy.
56. Rick Wartzman, “Democrats Try to Play Catch-Up On Talk Radio,” Wall Street Journal, February 8, 1995; and Donna Petrozzello, “Cuomo Hails Radio’s Awesome Power,” Broadcasting & Cable, September 11, 1995, 32.
57. Kurtz, “Limbaugh of the Left.”
58. Ellen Debenport, “Long Ago Left in Dust, Liberal Talk Radio Shows Signs of Life,” St. Petersburg Times, April 8, 1996.
59. Kurtz, “Limbaugh of the Left.”
60. Donna Petrozzello, “Conservative Talk Shows Drown Out Liberal Voice,” Broadcasting & Cable, June 19, 1995, 22.
61. Susan Stamberg, “Governor Mario Cuomo to Host Radio Talk Show,” NPR Weekend Edition, April 8, 1995, https://www.npr.org/1995/04/08/1005463/cutaway.
62. Mark Hudis, “Cuomo’s Last Radio Days?” MediaWeek, July 1, 1996, 3; and David Rimmer, interview by Gregory Svirnovskiy, July 23, 2021.
63. John Martin, “Mario Cuomo: Thinking Person’s Talk-Radio Host,” Providence (RI) Journal, October 25, 1995.
64. Rimmer interview; Marcus Brown, interview by Gregory Svirnovskiy, February 4, 2022.
65. Petrozzello, “Cuomo Abandons Talk Show for Clinton Campaign.”
66. “Mario Cuomo Radio Show.”
67. Rimmer interview.
68. “Gov. L. Douglas Wilder,” National Governors Association, https://www.nga.org/governor/l-douglas-wilder/; “L. Douglas Wilder,” Virginia Museum of History & Culture, https://virginiahistory.org/learn/l-douglas-wilder; and Mike Allen, “Doug Wilder is Signing Off as Radio Host,” Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch, August 22, 1995.
69. Mike Allen, “Doug and Mike, the Happy Couple,” Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch, March 12, 1995.
70. “Wilder Hosts New Radio Talk Show In Virginia,” Jet, January 30, 1995, 25.
71. Allen, “Doug and Mike”; and “A Former Governor Cancels Radio Show,” New York Times, August 22, 1995.
72. Mike Allen, “World Watches City Struggle,” Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch, July 11, 1995; and Mike Allen, “Rebel Flag May Wave at Ceremony,” Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch, August 14, 1995.
73. Allen, “Doug and Mike.”
74. Allen, “Doug Wilder is Signing Off.”
75. L. Douglas Wilder, author interview, July 20, 2021.
76. “A Former Governor Cancels Radio Show”; Allen, “Doug Wilder is Signing Off”; and Steve Bates, “Wilder’s Radio Show Going Off Air,” Washington Post, August 23, 1995.
77. “Washington Sunday Journal,” C-SPAN, March 19, 1995, https://www.c-span.org/video/?64062–1/washington-sunday-journal&showFullAbstract=1; “A Former Governor Cancels Radio Show;” and Bates, “Wilder’s Radio Show Going Off Air.”
78. James Fallows, “Was Gary Hart Set Up?” Atlantic, November 2018, 26–29.
79. “Hart Joins Lineup of KOA Talk Jocks,” Denver Post, January 31, 1995; and Kris Olinger, interview by Gregory Svirnovskiy, February 7, 2022.
80. Gary Hart, interview by Gregory Svirnovskiy, August 13, 2021.
81. Floyd Ciruli, interview by Gregory Svirnovskiy, August 11, 2021; Kris Newcomer, “Hart Will Hit the Airwaves Sunday with his Radio Show ‘Heartland’,” Rocky Mountain News, January 31, 1995; and Olinger interview.
82. “Hart Joins Lineup of KOA Talk Jocks.”
83. Newcomer, “Hart Will Hit the Airwaves Sunday.”
84. “Hart Joins Lineup of KOA Talk Jocks.”
85. Newcomer, “Hart Will Hit the Airwaves Sunday.”
86. “Washington Sunday Journal,” C-SPAN, October 15, 1995, https://www.c-span.org/video/? 67629–1/washington-sunday-journal.
87. Hart interview.
88. Olinger interview.
89. Olinger.
90. Newcomer, “Hart Will Hit the Airwaves Sunday”; and Hart interview.
91. Olinger interview.
92. Jerry Bell, interview by Gregory Svirnovskiy, August 15, 2021.
93. David Hinckley, “WOR Offers Radio Coverage of Ed Koch Funeral, a Politician Uniquely Suited to the Medium,” Chicago Tribune, February 5, 2013; and Alex Witchel, “At Lunch with: Ed Koch; How’s He Doing? Fine. Just Ask Him,” New York Times, January 26, 1994.
94. Howard Kurtz, “Look Who’s Talking Too,” Washington Post, February 1, 1994.
95. Deborah Sontag, “Here, There, Everywhere, as Adviser and Self-Promoter; Koch Lost Mayor’s Race in 1989. Didn’t He,” New York Times, January 28, 1996; and Witchel, “At Lunch with: Ed Koch.”
96. Alison Mitchell, “Koch Enjoys His Moment in Campaign,” New York Times, October 16, 1993.
97. Witchel, “At Lunch with: Ed Koch”; Frazier Moore, Associated Press, “Here Comes the Judge,” Los Angeles Times, October 5, 1997; and Martin Peretz, “Ed Koch Surprises Again,” New Republic, September 15, 2023.
98. John Mainelli, e-mail message to Gregory Svirnovskiy, September 17, 2023; and Sontag, “Here, There, Everywhere.”
99. Tierney, “How Talk Radio Gets at What’s Real.”
100. Jeffrey M. Berry and Sarah Sobieraj, “Understanding the Rise of Talk Radio,” PS: Political Science and Politics 44, no. 4 (October 2011): 766, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41319965.
101. “Top Talk Audiences,” Talkers, December 2023, https://web.archive.org/web/2023111818 0718/https://talkers.com/top-talk-audiences/.
102. “Rare Combination of Forces Makes ’94 Vote Historic,” CQ Almanac 1994, 50th ed. (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1995), 561–64.
103. Brian Anderson, “Why Liberals Can’t Keep Air America from Spiraling In,” Los Angeles Times, April 18, 2005.
104. Mainelli e-mail message.
105. Kazin, The Populist Persuasion, 1–7.
106. Tom DeVries, “We’ll Talk About That,” American Prospect, March/April 1996, 43.
107. Rimmer interview.
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Funding
Notes on contributors
Gregory Svirnovskiy
Gregory Svirnovskiy is a digital producer at POLITICO, where he also serves as a newsletter contributor for the publication’s cannabis and Congressional appropriations verticals. Previously, he covered politics as an intern in national newsrooms including Vox, the Arizona Republic, and the Washington Monthly. He graduated from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism with a B.S. in journalism and M.S. in media innovation in 2022.
Jon Marshall
Jon Marshall is an associate professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. He is the author of Clash: Presidents and the Press in Times of Crisis (Potomac Books, 2022) and Watergate’s Legacy and the Press: The Investigative Impulse (Northwestern University Press, 2011). His articles and columns have appeared in the New York Times, WashingtonPost.com, TheAtlantic.com, The Hill, CBS News’ Public Eye, Chicago Tribune, Quill, and many other publications.