"The Swift Boat Veterans eventually would raise and spend $28 million, but the first ad was exceptionally cost effective: most voters learned about it through free coverage in mainstream media and talk radio," Edsall and Grimaldi wrote. [Washington Post, Dec. 30, 2004]
In August 2004, American progressives lacked a quick-response media capability that might have countered the Swift Boat attacks. Short on money and worried about giving the accusations even more exposure, the Kerry campaign held back and hoped that ACT and the Media Fund would step in.
But federal law barred coordination between campaigns and these so-called 527 organizations, ostensibly independent political groups named after a section of the Internal Revenue Service code that allowed for their creation. Plus, the Media Fund relied on 30-second ads that took too long to produce and weren't suitable for contesting narrowly argued critiques of Kerry's credibility.
Air America Takes Flight
In the nine months since the 2004 electoral debacle, major liberal funders have continued to drag their heels on committing to media investments. Nevertheless, the Left has been buoyed by the emergence of "progressive talk radio," which first surfaced in spring 2004 with the launch of Air America Radio, though it barely managed to stay afloat in those first few months because of financial difficulties.
Struggling to survive and aired in only a few U.S. cities, "progressive talk radio" had little impact on the presidential election in 2004. But since then, liberal talkers have begun to show up on radio stations in scores of cities across America.
Ironically, Republican-leaning Clear Channel has done more to put these progressive voices on the air than the Left's funding community. Putting profits before politics, Clear Channel has revamped the formats of about two dozen under-performing stations to air the likes of Al Franken, Randi Rhodes, Ed Schultz and Stephanie Miller.
Over the past several months, many of these stations have shown strong growth in listeners. Perhaps even more important, the sound of unapologetic liberal voices has relieved the sense of isolation that has weighed upon American progressives for years.
Liberals now find they can to tune in talk radio without being assaulted by endless rhetoric about how evil and un-American they are.
Plus, these progressive talkers have no qualms about making jokes at George W. Bush's expense.
If these radio outlets had been around a year ago, Will Ferrell's skit might have fit seamlessly into Campaign 2004 - and American history might have gone in a different direction.
Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s for the Associated Press and Newsweek. His new book, Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq, can be ordered at
secrecyandprivilege.com. It's also available at
Amazon.com, as is his 1999 book, Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth.' His website is http://www.consortiumnews.com
Parry is one of the true journalistic heroes of 21st century America Rob Kall, Editor, OpEdNews
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