April 26, 2006

Left-Wing Media Getting Lost In the Free Market Of Ideas

Drudge is reporting two pieces of information that have to make Liberals glum. First, the recent book release "Crashing The Gates" by Markos Moulitsas Zuniga (the force behind DailyKos) has sold...ahem...3,630 copies. Now you can argue that a book about blogging doesn't really have a market, but if you look at the success of Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds and his bestselling "An Army Of Davids" (both books were released in March), that won't fly. And with 3 million hits a day, you'd think at least some of his audience would pony up to pick up a copy, no?

Next we have radio. Air America continues to tank in the ratings, losing more than a third of its audience in the last year. Where's the market for gob-smacking Bush hatred? Even in NYC where Air America is broadcast from its flagship station WLIB, the best that afternoon drive time host Randi Rhodes can pull in is 27,000 listeners, down from 60,000 last fall.

I have some thoughts about these items. But first, a little Shadenfreude... BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahem, OK. I'm not going to beat to death the idea that Liberals are preaching to their own choir or that "mainstream" broadcasting is already so Liberally-biased that Conservative books and radio fill a market demand. These are a given.

What you have is classic example of an echo-chamber of the Left where Liberal spew reverberates in an insulated bubble of their own making and the resulting increase in volume convinces the moonbats that their world view is much more widespread than it really is. But the numbers just aren't there. Conservatives understand that their ideas aren't necessarily shared by the average person but they are happy to argue their ideas in a logical, cogent fashion. This is how you win people over to your way of thinking.

The Left, on the other hand, is convinced that their ideas are in fact shared by the average person. But to them, it's just that the average person isn't as passionate about these ideas as they are. So they ratchet up the rhetoric to hopefully whip their fellow citizens into a frenzy. Problem is, they just end up appearing to their fellow citizens as unhinged lunatics.

Arguments that make logical sense will almost always prevail over those driven by pure emotion. And pure emotion - irrational hatred of Bush, Republicans, Conservatives and anything not adhering to the "progressive" groupthink - turns people off. And, as a result, the public ain't buyin' it.

And by the way, how's Al Gore's "Current TV" project coming along? Hey, you can find it. As long as you have an internet connection, that is.

Posted by: Gary at 02:45 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 This, btw, is rather why I don't believe there's going to be any kind of electoral tsunami this fall and probably not in '08 either. Folks are grumbling over gas prices and concerned about the war in Iraq, but that doesn't translate into a burning desire to throw the bums out, especially when the alternative is percieved as a gang of rabid moonbats. My guess? Gas prices will drop, slow but steady progress will continue to be made in Iraq and poll numbers will rise. (Indeed, I am already beginning to sense that things have bottomed out, even with all the new flap over immigration.) Meanwhile, the Kos Echo Chamber will get even shriller.

Posted by: Robert the Llama Butcher at April 26, 2006 02:01 PM (IkTb7)

2 Jay Cost looks at the Dems prospects in the WSJ today: http://www.opinionjournal.com/federation/feature/?id=110008288 he looks at history as an indicator and his basic premise is that since 1914 (direct election of Senators) the senate has switched control without the house but never vice-versa. even dems are writing off prospects of taking the Senate, which would make taking the House even less likely. he breaks out the reasons why this so. very persuasive.

Posted by: Gary at April 26, 2006 02:33 PM (QoxB+)

3 Don't gloat too much. Kos's book is number 26 on Amazon, which means it has sold more than 3,600 copies. I know this because my own book is number 65,000 on Amazon (and that's up from the 500,000s, where it has spent some time) and has sold more than 3,600 copies.

Posted by: Tom Andersen at April 26, 2006 02:33 PM (7ePA0)

4 Drudge is quoting Nielson numbers, which are comprised of actual scanned sales. Amazon rankings are different. It's apples and oranges, see: http://www.selfseo.com/story-12221.php In any case, the fact that Kos's book is sooooooooo off the radar makes my point. ...and gives me plenty of reason to "gloat".

Posted by: Gary at April 26, 2006 02:42 PM (PLHs9)

5 Go ahead and plug your book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300102879/qid=1101916667/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/104-4323277-0562359?n=283155 I'm feelin' generous today. :wink:

Posted by: Gary at April 26, 2006 02:45 PM (PLHs9)

6 As I recall Hugh Hewitt's book did fairly well too.

Posted by: Santay at April 27, 2006 05:31 AM (JoJvT)

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