Via The National Review, evidently Al Franken's ratings are in decline:

Between the hours of 10 A.M. and 3 P.M., the period that includes Al Franken's program, Air America drew a 1.4-percent share of the New York audience aged 25 to 54 in Winter 2005. That number is the latest in a nearly year-long decline. In Spring of 2004, Air America's first quarter on the air, it drew a 2.2-percent share of the audience. That rose to 2.3 percent in the Summer of 2004, then fell to 1.6 percent in the Fall of 2004, and is now 1.4 percent — Air America's lowest-ever quarterly rating in that time and demographic slot.

I have to say I'm not really surprised by this. As I've written before, one of the defining traits of liberals is that they need to be convinced that they've been convinced; they need to feel that they've arrived at their beliefs via persuasion rather than dogma. For that reason, any message that mixes rhetorical posturing with blind fury -- and not just in radio, but in any media -- is bound to fail if directed towards a liberal audience.

To illustrate this, I can pretty much just cite myself. I happen to like Franken, and probably agree with the majority of his views. He also gave a class day speech at my graduation that was so hilarious it had my mother in tears. If he has a target audience, I'm surely among it. Yet I don't have any desire listen to his show. Why? Because I don't need someone to remind me why I believe what I do. Frankly, it's a waste of my time.

As a result I see Air America's ratings decline not as a failure but a success. If the liberal establishment thought it was a good idea to pound home the party line, they've now learned better. The liberal base isn't the mindless mass it presumed. Nor should it be.

Note: This originally ran as "The Franken Flop."