If you weren’t listening to your radio on Aug. 1, 1988, then you missed something revolutionary.
This was so groundbreaking – so monumental – that it’s impossible to overstate the enormity of its impact. It changed everything. The seismic shift in its wake – in news media, political journalism, grassroots activism, and pop culture itself – transformed America so profoundly that it’s impossible to imagine our modern world without his larger-than-life imprint (from his “formerly nicotine-stained fingers”).
Aug. 1, 1988, was the day Rush Limbaugh’s radio show was syndicated.
Rush Limbaugh didn’t invent talk radio. Loud, boisterous talk-show hosts were an American staple almost from the beginning. Father Charles Coughlin commanded a radio audience in the tens of millions back in the 1930s (and was a constant thorn in FDR’s side). Paul Harvey left an enormous footprint (voice print?) on the talk-radio industry, originating his “The Rest of the Story” tagline way back in 1946. Harvey continued broadcasting until 2008, one of the longest and most successful tenures ever.
But in terms of overall cultural impact? There was only one Rush Limbaugh.
If he hadn’t actually existed, nobody would ever believe it, because his accomplishments are just so ludicrous that they defy common sense. Imagine one man, all on his own, speaking extemporaneously about the issues and events of the day! He rarely took phone calls and seldom had guests – it was just one man, talking into his golden EIB microphone, riffing about life, country, family, and politics! And for DECADES, three hours every weekday, more people would listen to this man than anyone else!
It was preposterous. It was unbelievable. And it’ll never happen again.
Cherish your memories because there’ll never be another Rush Limbaugh.
Normally, the key to having a successful talk show is booking great guests. Someone like Sean Hannity is a talented radio host, and when he has an interesting guest, his show is terrific. And when he has a lousy guest, the opposite is true. The same goes for most of today’s top podcast hosts, including Joe Rogan. That’s the way it usually works.
Some radio talk shows have tried to solve this problem by creating a crew of regular guests, usually in the form of a Morning Zoo, a Wack Pack, or other “personalities” that join the host on the airwaves. Howard Stern, for example, relied on cohost Robin Quivers, along with an entire team of on-air contributors (both paid and unpaid). But even with large, revolving teams of different voices and on-air contributors, most shows still relied on booking big-name guests – the elusive A-list “catch” interview – to juice ratings.
But not Rush Limbaugh.
From the very beginning, Limbaugh made it clear that when he put callers on the air, he was doing so to make himself look good. He was there to talk about what he wanted to talk about, and you were there to listen. And he almost always avoided guests (occasionally throwing a bone to a Republican presidential candidate close to election day). "The Rush Limbaugh Show" was about Rush Limbaugh. Period.
This was what he was born to do – with talent… on loan… from God.
If Limbaugh had been a leftwinger (or even apolitical), Hollywood would’ve made a dozen movies about him by now. (And when you see the mainstream media fawning over Jon Stewart returning to "The Daily Show" – a program with just a sliver of Rush’s audience and/or impact – it doesn’t take a great deal of imagination to foresee the accolades the Hollywood Elites would’ve bestowed upon a liberal version of Limbaugh.) But because he was a conservative, they tried to pretend he didn’t exist.
One small problem: You couldn’t ignore Rush Limbaugh.
Back in the 1990s, restaurants across the country were creating lunchtime “Rush Rooms” – places where patrons could dine and listen to Rush Limbaugh. His show aired from noon to 3 p.m. Eastern, and millions of fans hung on his every word. And not just restaurants: An L.A. Times article from 1993 wrote that the Green Bay Packers had an “unofficial” Rush Room in their locker room (courtesy of an offensive lineman’s boom box), and similar Rush Rooms were popping up in hardware stores and dentists’ offices, too.
The Democrats had no idea what to do.
When ignoring him didn’t work, they tried counterprogramming, but no liberal host was ever able to replicate his success. They then organized boycotts, but Limbaugh’s fans were just too large – and too devoted. When everything else failed, they tried the oldest trick in the Democrat’s playbook: They attempted to change the law and ban him from the airwaves!
Limbaugh’s show had only been national for a few years when the liberals in Congress began pushing the “Hush Rush” bill. It was an effort to revive the poorly named Fairness Doctrine, which limited a station’s ability to air political programming.
Under the Fairness Doctrine, stations that aired "The Rush Limbaugh Show" for three hours would be legally required to air a left-wing show for three hours as well – even if that show wasn’t popular and even if the station couldn’t sell advertising for it. President Reagan ended the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, which was the catalyst for Limbaugh going national in 1988.
By 1993, the Democrats cried “Mercy!” and tried to push through “Hush Rush” legislation.
El Rushbo, quite naturally, fought back – and he fought back hard.
It all culminated on Nov. 8, 1994, when the Democrats were absolutely, completely, unilaterally obliterated.
The Republicans captured 54 new seats in the House of Representatives, winning control of Congress for the first time since 1955. They also won eight new senate seats and 10 new governorships. The Democrats went from controlling both houses… to losing both houses. On a state level, the Republicans took a majority of legislative seats nationally for the first time in a generation. Even the Democratic Speaker of the House, Tom Foley, was voted out of office – the first time a sitting Speaker had lost reelection since 1863!
Historians quickly dubbed it the Republican Revolution. And the newly-minted Republican congressmen were so indebted to Limbaugh that they made him an honorary member of the 104th United States Congress.
“I don’t think we would have won control of the House that year without Rush’s support,” acknowledged new House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
The communication style that Rush Limbaugh perfected has been mimicked, copied, and parodied so much that it’s hard to remember just how revolutionary it really was. At the time, it was such a jarring break from the medium’s status quo, some journalists even tried to lump Limbaugh into the “Shock Jock” category. And in a way, it was understandable. The liberal elites were truly shocked by what they heard. But the genius of Limbaugh was his ability to “shock” audiences not with vulgarities but with the power of his ideas.
From the 1990s on, virtually every talk show host on the radio dial has mirrored his formula. And today, when you watch the cable news hosts on the left and the right, Limbaugh’s long shadow is obvious.
In 1988, the year Rush Limbaugh’s show was syndicated, there were less than 200 news-talk radio stations nationwide. By the time Limbaugh was done, there were over 4,000.
This “harmless, loveable, little fuzzball” changed EVERYTHING.
“He revolutionized radio,” noted Sean Hannity. “He single-handedly saved the AM band and later, even the FM brand in radio.”
And he did it with half his brain tied behind his back, just to make it fair.
Happy anniversary. (And mega-dittos!)
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