The Seven "Nations" of Political Talk

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Anthony Leiserowitz' reseach at Yale

Just a few weeks prior to the 2008 elections, we conducted a nationally representative survey of 2,164 American adults aged 18+. This was a period of heightened political interest and discussion, due to the historic campaigns of then Senators Barack Obama and John McCain. Among many other questions, we asked respondents how often they watch or listen to six of the major political commentators in the media today: Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity & Alan Colmes, Bill O’Reilly, John Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Keith Olberman.

What follows is an analysis of the size, political leanings, demographic characteristics, values and attitudes of each “nation” of political talk within the United States. Please note that there is some overlap between these different audiences, with some Americans who tune in to more than one commentator. We have also compared the characteristics of each audience to the much larger proportion of the public (57%) who do not watch or listen to any of these commentators.