Much as their blind loyalty discredited the Right, perhaps the worst effect of Limbaugh et al. has been their draining away of political energy from what might have
been a much more worthwhile project: the fostering of a middlebrow
conservatism. There is nothing wrong with lowbrow conservatism. It’s
energizing and fun. What’s wrong is the impression fixed in the minds
of too many Americans that conservatism is always lowbrow, an
impression our enemies gleefully reinforce when the opportunity arises.
Thus a liberal like E.J. Dionne can write, “The cause of Edmund Burke,
Leo Strauss, Robert Nisbet and William F. Buckley Jr. is now in the
hands of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity. … Reason has been overwhelmed by
propaganda, ideas by slogans.” Talk radio has contributed mightily to
this development.
Radio Nowhere
Convervatism doesn't just need to move past Rush Limbaugh—it needs to move past radio all together.