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For Limbaugh and Cunningham alike, he faces martyrdom at liberal hands: indeed, the White House chief of staff recently called Gingrich “an out of control talk radio host” For the hosts, praise comes no higher. I had a real influence when I supported Chabot; after 11 years, people trust me. And I genuinely think that a national candidate cannot win either if we radio hosts join forces against him.”Of course, he adds instantly, no such collusion exists – though the conservative hosts do sing in perfect harmony. “We have become like old-time soapboxes, where individual voices can be heard,” says Cunningham.Was he a factor in the Republican Steve Chabot’s upset victory over the Democratic incumbent in Cincinnati’s 1st Congressional District? “Absolutely. But if, like he, they entertain, then they can attract others into their orbit. And whatever its motives, this following is politically active. One poll found that of those who listen regularly to talk radio, 65 per cent turned out in November, nearly double the national figure of 37 per cent.

Rush Limbaugh alone has 20 million listeners; add in Cunningham and hundreds of other regional talk barons, and for Bill Clinton – indeed, any Democrat – the implications are terrifying.Nor is the process entirely unhealthy, when fewer and fewer people read newspapers and mindless, negative television ads have otherwise taken over election campaigns. No longer.At least three quarters of the 1,000 talk shows that ricochet around the US airwaves are conservative, offering free publicity and fund-raising time for Republican candidates and causes. Maybe the Bill Cunninghams of this world preach only to the converted. Even now, WLW reaches seven or eight states by day and 37, the entire country east of the Rockies, at night.Only in the late 1970s did talk shows in the modern sense emerge, initially confined to safe topics like cooking and gardening Cunningham himself started out on WLW giving legal advice. But by the late 1980s, “shock jocks” such as Howard Stern – the outrageously outspoken New York radio host – had arrived, and then talk radio turned political.In 1992 it was already enough of a force for George Bush to invite Rush Limbaugh to spend a night at the White House. Classical music was the main fare, but in the Second World War the signal was so strong that the station could send messages to American soldiers in Europe.

But is Bill Clinton a role model? At these last elections, normal Americans took Congress back.” Such is Cunningham’s message, from 9 to 12, five nights a week, 52 weeks a year.Radio in America was not always like this. None the less, Cunningham’s career mirrors the political transformation of America – a transformation that may mean decades of Republican dominance His background is Irish Catholic “Fifteen years ago I was a Democrat. My parents had always voted Democrat, for Roosevelt, Truman and JFK These presidents were role models. At midnight, I’m out of here and back tomy wife.” She, incidentally, is a divorce lawyer.Such apparent double standards only further enrage his liberal opponents. Recent non-political happenings have included women talking about dildos and vibrators The next Friday a couple of strippers were due to bare all. “We are,” says Yancy Deering, a WLW producer, “a very testosterone-driven outfit.”And how does this square with Republican “family values” and Cunningham’s urgings that America recapture lost pioneer virtues? No problem “This is my job It’s entertainment first and foremost, all about ratings.