This was one of the country s first proposals to put serious repeat offenders behind bars for life, and John Carlson, who hosts a show on Seattle s kvi, contributed heavily to the law s enactment. Carlson says he discovered that a small number of violent criminals were committing the majority of crimes in Washington, and that punishment for repeaters was absurdly lenient. My goal wasn t just to pass three strikes but to change public attitudes about how to fight crime. And pass it did, by a landslide 76 percent vote. T he success of conservative hosts is a populist phenomenon.
Conservative shows are oases in a media desert that has been dominated by liberals for decades.
There was pent-up demand. Chuck Adler, of wrko in Boston, remarks that conservatives more easily relate to the values of middle-class listeners. Liberals feel superior to working families. Conservative talk-show hosts champion the values liberals disdain, like the work ethic work hard and you ll get ahead. Mike Rosen, whose show airs on koa in Denver, says the appeal of conservatives lies in their ability to empathize with and expand on the views of Middle America.