Yes, it's not literally the same thing, but it's an indicator, IMO. As far as I've seen, people who consider themselves strongly conservative or liberal don't register or call themselves "independents." He may have been liberal-leaning, but registering as an independent or unaffliated is generally a centrist/moderate statement.
I never really liked the show. An ultra-dry conservative and an elitist liberal. Both had to stick to their points of view even when they knew they were wrong (as it so often is on TV shows).
You're aware that that's the entire point of the show, right? Apparently when it was in early development, Fox was calling the show "Hannity and Liberal To Be Named Later"... he was clearly (and brilliantly, from their perspective) chosen by Fox to be the perfect embodiment of somebody's stereotype of the lame-ass liberal -- elitist, effeminate, weak-willed, etc. No one had ever heard of him before he got put on that show; he was not and is not a prominent liberal commentator. He was paid a lot of money to be Hannity's punching bag, not to offer up real opposition. SR
Hmmmmm.......I always looked at it as a couple of douchebags on the air after a bigger douchebag. Followed by a plastic surgery freak.
Greta Van Susteren? I always wondered how she became so prominent, first as one of FOX News' top legal analysts and then her own show.
She co-hosted her own legal show on CNN for several years. She was one of Clinton's biggest apologists during the impeachment trial. She's no conservative.
Robert Gates is a registered independent. Would you characterize his politics as being right of center?
Not really. Certainly not strongly right wing. He seems more like Colin Powell, very moderate. I'd, in fact, be perfectly fine with him remaining in his cabinet post.
I'm not sure why you quoted me. I didn't say anything about whether she was conservative or not. I simply don't think she's a particularly good or interesting personality.
Yes, what does that have to do with whether she's a conservative? Right, but you listed the same types of things that I listed. What I wondered is how she got those positions, considering my opinion that she's not a very good TV personality.
O'Reilly I see as a complete fake, so he wouldn't be the best example to me. But I'm not sure what you think the exercise shows. I never said that it's impossible for a person to be an independent and be strongly right-wing or left-wing. I simply said that it's an indicator because, in general, independents have tended to be more centrist, as far as I've seen. Pointing out a single example or two to the contrary isn't terribly relevant to that. Being religious tends to be an indicator about one's view on gay marriage...finding a Christian who supports gay marriage doesn't change that.
Being "liberal" and rooting for Clinton during the impeachment and Al Gore during the 2000 recount gets you tons of brownie points in the media biz. I agree. Left leaning academic types don't make good TV personalities (or public servants for that matter). On the other hand, there's her CV and the TV ratings that say she's one of the better TV personalities. But hey, this woman seems to have been on the air forever:
