J.D. Hayworth had to exit his Phoenix radio job to begin his insurgent campaign to unseat Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) from within the Republican Party. But his cause moves forward on the radio, courtesy of Talkers like Michael Savage and Glenn Beck.
According to an article at Politico.com, Beck was critical of McCain even when he was locked in the presidential derby with Barack Obama, so jumping on an anti-McCain bandwagon is nothing new for him. His current concern is that McCain’s purported ability to work across the aisle will lead to a compromise on health care which Beck wants no part of.
Michael Savage actually had Hayworth on his program, interviewing him for a good 13 minutes. According to Politico, Savage put himself firmly in Hayworth’s corner near the end of the program, saying, “I believe you should win, and I believe the listeners will support you, J.D. Hayworth.”
RBR-TVBR observation: Some will probably argue that McCain should now get 13 minutes from Savage. But we’re 99% certain this interview would constitute a legitimate exchange with a newsworthy individual and not a like-kind contribution to the Hayworth campaign from Savage and the stations carrying his program. Even Howard Stern was deemed to be entitled to an exemption from equal time rules as a legitimate source of news.
You may or may not like this, but we believe that is the way the law is being interpreted right now. So if you don’t like it, you need to encourage your favorite politicians to change the law, and to do it in such a way that it will survive court scrutiny, another feat that seems to be increasingly difficult to pull off.
