Michael Medved writes:
It's obvious that the big winner in South Carolina was John McCain (grabbing 33% of the vote in a hard-fought win and 19 of the 22 awarded delegates), but it's also worth pausing for a moment to identify the primary's biggest loser. That loser wasn't Mike Huckabee (who ran a strong second with 30% of the vote and will certainly continue his underdog campaign), nor was it Fred Thompson (who placed third with 16%, despite talk of his last minute surge) or even Mitt Romney (with a feeble fourth place finish, despite investing more money in the state than any of his rivals). The big loser in South Carolina was, in fact, talk radio: a medium that has unmistakably collapsed in terms of impact, influence and credibility because of its hysterical and one-dimensional involvement in the GOP nomination fight.
Of all McCain's heresies, real and imagined, none grates on talk radio listeners more than his role in last year's failed immigration reform/amnesty. But Duncan Currie parses the numbers of McCain's South Carolina victory on THE DAILY STANDARD today, and it's apparent that McCain's record on immigration "is not the insurmountable obstacle it appeared to be last year." Still, if voters have moved on, or at least made their peace with McCain, it's clear that talk radio has not. Medved again:
In other words, the talk radio jihad against Mac and Huck hasn't destroyed or even visibly damaged those candidates. But it has damaged, and may help destroy, talk radio
It's certainly an interesting conclusion considering the source.