Cable News programmers claimed, over the last few years, that there is an audience for conservative pundits but not for liberals. Fox News was the supposed proof of this and the result of this perception has been shows hosted by the likes of Allen Keyes, Cal Thomas,
Jon Kasich,Joe Scarborough etc.

The demise of Phil Donahue's show supposedly proved that there as not an impassioned motivated cable news audience on the left. The best we can hope for is a representative in two-sided shows such as Bill Press vs Pat Buchanon, Allen Colmes vs Sean Hannity etc.

Like many conservative bromides--this is untrue.

The recent flurry of progressive best sellers proves that there indeed is a significant audience for left of center opinions: Al Franken, Michael Moore, Jim Hightower, Molly Ivins, Eric Alterman, Joe Conoson, Arianna Huffington,and Paul Krugman, have joined Hillary Clinton on the best-seller lists.

Progressive should deluge cable news channels with demands that ONE person on our side gets to host a show. This would be a big breakthrough in terms of being able to put ideas onto the media agenda. Experience shows that pressure on the media works.

After Arnold Schwarzeneger's election the quesiton haunts me even more. Why didn't he run as a Democrat?

He is pro-choice, pro-gay rights, talks eloquently about his father in law Sargent Shriver's work for the Peace Corops and War on Poverty, and vocally opposed the attempot to impeach President Clinton. So he's a fiscal conservative---so is Howard Dean and many other Democrats.

The only answer I can come up with is that Republicans such as ex LA Mayor Richard Riordon and ex Governor Pete Wilson reached out to him, mentored him ,nurtured him and supported his aspirations whereas Democrats must have looked at him as another celebrity they could go to for fund-raising or photo-ops.