-John Moraga
(The focus of this article is not to address conservative media pre-1980’s such as “Firing Line” with Bill Buckley Jr. or other lions of conservatism earlier in the 20th century.)
Like many conservative male “yutes” of the 1980’s-90’s, I grew up on a diet of God, country, and Rush Limbaugh. My father was a combat veteran of the Viet Nam War, and the Evangelia was ever present in my home. Rush was heard on the radio and even briefly seen on TV. Ronald Reagan’s presidency was inviting to conservatism during the 1980’s, but Rush was for the most part a lone beacon on the air waves during the Clinton administration of the 1990’s (at least with the size of his audience). Although Michael J. Fox’s Alex P. Keaton on the TV series “Family Ties” helped reinforce conservatism in popular culture, Rush was its face and undisputedly the conservative mouthpiece of the last two decades of the 20th century.
The dusking of the 20th and dawning of the 21st century gave rise to personalities such as Sean Hannity and Mark Levin. President George W. Bush entered his presidency as a champion of evangelicals and conservative policies, but he eventually needed to be held to account by TV and radio conservatives. By the time Obama took office, conservative media was in high demand, as a way to concentrate messaging and create the greatest influence. Thus, Rush, Sean, and Mark became synonymous with conservatism and commanded the largest listening audiences. Collectively they’ve stood as the “Old Guard” of conservative media, but has their reign now lost its salt?
The 2015 GOP primaries and subsequent 2016 presidential election was impaled by a political asteroid named Donald Trump. Unfortunately, Rush and Sean compromised their conservative bona fides, in order to serve as surrogates for Trump’s populist campaign. By campaigning for Trump, they used their clout as well-known media personalities, in order to mislead their conservative audiences. Sean was (and remains) unabashed in his support of the POTUS, but Rush took an anesthesiologist-right-before-surgery approach to his solicitation. Although Abbot and Costello still entertain large audiences, they have lost much of their credibility among genuine conservatives (Bill Buckley Jr. wrote a famous article about Donald Trump's demagoguery well before he ever ran for president). It should be stipulated that stipulated that lesser-known media personalities also leased their conservative backbones for Trump's populist meal tickets.
Mark Levin is somewhat of an exception among the Old Guard trio, at least in this conservative's opinion. Levin is afforded much grace in his flirtations of compromising his conservative principles by ultimately supporting Trump’s candidacy. That is because I believe in evaluating the whole of a person. The main reason I believe Levin is different than Rush and Sean is because of substance over form. Rush and Sean have always relied more on sensationalism than critical analysis to fund their careers. In reality they are simply entertainers trying to make a buck on a conservative stage, which is why a large percentage of their on-air and off-air time provides for prolonged infomercials of their sponsors. However, Levin is an actual scholar who is a licensed attorney and writes well-researched books on conservatism. In addition, his ultimate support of Trump was not nearly as easily attained as Rush’s and Sean’s were. Levin, to his credit, held out until the candidate he supported, Sen. Ted Cruz, eventually endorsed Trump. Finally, Levin has provided a platform on Conservative Review TV for other younger conservative personalities who may disagree with him, and have remained #NeverTrump conservatives such as Steve Deace.
I believe the baton of conservative media is being passed to a “New Guard”: Steve Deace, Jonah Goldberg, Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, Daily Wire, and Conservatives Corner. Each has its own distinct flavor of conservatism, but all are reliably conservative outlets. No longer are there only three big names associated with conservative media. However, I specifically defined the New Guard, because I believe those sources have credible histories of actually advancing conservative principles, not simply a person or party. Obviously, it is impossible to know the future and whether these sources will continue to maintain their conservative integrity. For the time being, they stand as the New Guard.
As Toto continues to pull the curtain back on the Old Guard of Oz, genuinely conservative audiences are seeking new resources. There is an ugly battle over the influence of information we choose to consume. That is why it is oh too important that we as conservatives make every effort to seriously understand and guard the conservative principles for which we stand. I also believe one does not have to be a purist to be principled. The distinction? Perhaps, the topic of a future article. Check back!