"He's just an entertainer...what's the big deal?"

[shcrane71]

2. Limbaugh has had a captive audience for two decades.

In many rural parts of the country, the only radio stations that can be picked up are are the AM dial. Limbaugh and other right-wing hate-mongers have had a monopoly on these stations since the 80s. It's really changed the political discourse in many rural states.

The sad thing is that the FCC gets to dole out licenses to broadcasters, and it has been quite expensive and difficult to get a broadcast license. Low-Power FM licenses get sucked up by right-wing religious organizations as soon as the FCC announces that they'll be taking applications for new licenses. One never knows when they'll be opening that licensing window to apply for one of these licenses. Thankfully, broadband has been getting to more and more rural places, and people are being exposed to non-Limbaugh-esque ideas via the Internet. Finally.

Propaganda is a powerful tool.