Political Pundit?
Howard Stern Tells Listeners to Vote Against Bush Amid FCC Crackdown



March 17 — Howard Stern is swapping his trademark trash talk for politics as the syndicated radio talk-show host becomes one of the Bush administration's most influential critics.



"If you're listening to me now, the one thing I ask you to do is vote against Bush. Vote for Kerry," Stern said during a recent broadcast of his morning show.

Stern is now railing against the president on a daily basis to a massive audience. He has the third-largest morning show in the country and is urging his 8.5 million listeners to drive the Republicans from office.

"Howard Stern is going to prove to be George Bush's worst political nightmare if he continues in this vein," said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine.

And he's had success in the past. Stern takes credit for having helped his candidates win tight elections, including two Republicans, New York Gov. George Pataki and former New Jersey Gov. Christie Todd Whitman.

The stakes are even higher this time.

Among the issues Stern has attacked in the presidential race: Bush's use of 9/11 images in his ad campaign, Bush's National Guard service, and the president's stance on abortion and gay rights.

Stern Also Under Fire

The constant Bush bashing comes at a time when the polls have the president's approval ratings falling to new lows. Specifically, support among male voters — Howard Stern's core audience — is reportedly down significantly.

But Stern's critics say his motivation for the campaigning is actually to save his own career.

The shock jock previously supported the president and is now promoting the Democrats just as the FCC is launching a major crackdown on decency on the airwaves.

Stern's continual attacks on Bush began two weeks ago — soon after Stern's show was punished for his alleged lewd remarks. The FCC slapped a hefty fine on Clear Channel Communications, which then pulled the shock jock from the six stations carrying the program.

But Stern is telling his listeners his show is in jeopardy because he is criticizing the Bush administration.

"What I seem to be guilty of is talking about sex. And now, now it's gone even further — I seem to be guilty of talking about George W. Bush and some of the freedoms that are being taken away," Stern said during a morning show broadcast.

Harrison said it won't be so easy to throw Stern off the air. "A lot of people grew up with him these are very, very active mainstream citizens," said Harrison. "And the government shutting down Howard Stern is not going to be taken too lightly by these millions of people."

While Stern battles to stay on the air, it's too soon to know how his political campaigning will impact the election. For that, he'll have to wait until November.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/P..._040316-1.html

Stern made a good point this morning - after 10 years on the air, they finally pull him for indecency, when the show that caused his firing wasn't fined by the FCC. At the same time, the same company (Clear Channel) has several other 'shock jocks' on the air doing the same thing (in fact, one in Atlanta a few days ago aired something considerably worse than anything Stern does, without being fired under Clear Channel's '0 tolerance policy'). He was fired a few days after starting his anti-Bush campaign, and they now refuse to pay him, for which he is taking them to court. (They can fire him, that's their choice - the contract says they have to pay him either way, however).

Have you ever heard the old expression--"preaching to the choir?"

Actually, most of Stern's listeners are politically independent males .

He's regularly supported Republican candidates (and was for the war in Iraq, wherein he was gung-ho pro-Bush).

And if 8.5 million is accurate, that's a large viewing audience that he's preaching to.

Stern's always talked political.
Just not very often.

I used to wake up to his little talk show radio show thingy in the mornings(before I changed my sleeping habits..and now since he was taken off that station).

Sometimes I found him offensive and idiotic...other times I found myself agreeing with him and considering him damn near brilliant.

And his stance, and my stance, on the indecency crap. He isn't forcing you to listen. If you disagree with what he's doing, you can TURN YOUR RADIO OFF. I'm not a fan of his sex crap (bring in a naked hottie, etc.), so I TURN MY RADIO OFF.

I actually know women who listen to his show because of the political conversations, although they don't like the sexist parts.

It's quite interesting.

I listened to him for years. He is extremely funny, and may be able to affect local politics in his area. However most of his audience will not be going to the polls on election day, and for most of those that do, Howard Stern will not be their issue.

I thought conservatives were pro-free speech.

We are. Howard is not using private airwaves to make his living, however.

So... the public airwaves, should, presumably, be held to the standards that the public deems they should. 8.5 million people is a nice slice of 'the public', no?

The FCC doesn't work that way.

I know, which is part of why the FCC isn't infallible, and needs to be fixed.

It is fixing things right now.