| Last week, Rick Perry made Glenn Beck an "Honorary Texan." The story made the rounds among the Texas press corps. Perry's visit came at the same time that Texas Republicans have formed a new group, the Independent Conservative Republicans of Texas, with the explicit intent of reaching out to Tea Party activists and creating a better "endorsement" for direct mail pieces than the Republican Party of Texas, a brand that Republicans continue to run away from. With all the attention the Texas press corps tends to give to Glenn Beck and the Tea Party, you would think that he is the most powerful man in America. First of all, let's not discount Beck's popularity -- he has approximately 2 million viewers nationwide. BOR's traffic is only slightly below that. But the way that prominent Republicans like Rick Perry and Senator Dan Patrick continue to flock to Beck, you'd think he was the silver bullet. Here's Senator Patrick on ICROT: it will help Tea Party activists and other conservatives unhappy with the GOP determine which elected officials have a conservative record and pledge to adhere to key principles. "We're going to ask people for their trust," Patrick said. "Our mission is really our message and then living up to the message."
Sounds like a great strategy. In fact, I've heard one reporter describe it as "brilliant." Until you look at, you know, the facts. From a terrific yet simple analysis from April 8 that I just stumbled across today: "Glenn Beck's ratings: Not as meteoric as people think" I collected the ratings for each and every one of his TV broadcasts since the premiere of his show on Fox in January, 2009. Next, I calculated the average audience size for each week that the show has been on the air, and put the numbers into a chart. (To be fair and balanced, I excluded the weeks of the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's holidays, each of which artificially depressed Beck's numbers.) The chart revealed something of a surprise: since Glenn Beck's ratings peak during the week ending January 22 (the week of Beck's special "Revolutionary Holocaust: Live free or die" broadcast), Beck's ratings have been on a steep slide, dropping nearly 50%.
So where's the value in jumping on a sinking ship? Easy -- it consolidates Rick Perry's conservative base as he continues his Perry for President 2012 run. After an entire calendar year of Texas' political reporters wondering whether or not Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison will retire, you'd think they'd be much more cynical -- and stop covering -- any of Rick Perry's attempts to cozy up to the extreme right wing of the Tea Party. The studies that show that Tea Party members are wealthy, older, and white -- and support former President George Bush by a large member -- should be red flags #1-4 that the so-called "Tea Party" crowd, as considered by the press corps, is nothing more than Republicans re-branding themselves. That, however, would require some critical thinking. And when it comes to conversations involving Glenn Beck, Rick Perry, and the Tea Party, critical thinking just disappears... Previously on BOR: |
