Life Of Jason

There was a local radio buzz about the arrival of former Fox Sports Radio host Chuck Booms as the new lead host on KWTO’s Morningline.  I was curious about the new program because I had enjoyed Chuck when he was partnered with Kevin Kiley on the “Kiley and Booms” show.  He was witty, he was entertaining and he had a love of Cleveland that I just can’t understand but forgave because they have the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame.  (Although since they keep refusing to put Rush in there, Cleveland’s lost that plus.)

I tuned in Monday and was planning a “first impressions” post here about the show but the Chuck Booms I heard that morning wasn’t Chuck Booms.  He sounded tentative, he sounded retrained and he sounded like a guy doing his first show in a new town.  I hoped this wasn’t the “new” Chuck Booms and decided to wait a day or two before I sat down with a critical ear to the program.

This morning it sounded like Chuck Booms was hosting a radio show.

I came away with the impression that this show will at least be more entertaining than the other morning local political talk show alternative.  Booms’ quick wit and obvious comedic training gives him the ability to snap off a one-liner that leaves you smiling and shaking your head in agreement at the same time.   There’s no question that Chuck Booms is going to elevate the level of that show to something more listenable than anything we’ve had since I’ve moved to Springfield in 2005.   (I would say it’s the best since I moved here in 2000 but he’s not quite above the level of the Ron Davis days yet.  It sounds like he can get there quickly, though.)

The only thing that disappointed me is that I expected from the buzz to see the show take a less Republican partisan direction and be more open to actual discussion of the issues without the RNC talking points.  Perhaps that’s too much to ask in a market as conservative and far-right wing friendly as Springfield but it seemed like the opportunity was there if someone was closer to the middle than the far-right wing political show further up the dial they could steal a significant chunk of the audience.   If it’s the same content then there’s no real reason for someone to stay once the “new radio host” smell wears off Chuck.  (Now, a lot of that will depend how versed Chuck Booms gets on local issues quickly.)

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about when it comes to his trumpeting the talking points.  This morning Chuck was calling out liberals who “support the troops but don’t support the mission.”   He went on to crow the usual Republican party lines about how you can’t support the troops without supporting the mission.  He went on to bring up the old chestnut about spitting on soldiers when they returned from Vietnam and said that “at least in the 60s and 70s you were honest about your hate for the troops.”  The extreme far-right feelings of Chuck were very clear and painted with a wide, intellectually dishonest brush.

Any reasonable person knows you can support the troops without supporting the mission as stated by President Bush.  It would be the same, for example, of being a fan of the Cleveland Browns and rooting for the players to succeed while being critical of the plays called by the coach or the players signed by the general manager.  This routine of “you hate the troops because you’re critical of the war” is doing nothing but continuing to make conservatives and Republicans look badly in the eyes of many independent and moderate voters who realize that while the surge is working that the overall plan before the war was faulty and based on incorrect intelligence information.  At the beginning the “you hate the troops” routine might have been effective in silencing some critics and firming up some of the more moderate Republican base but those times are long past.

It can certainly still get you guest spots on Fox News Channel and it will rally the extreme right so perhaps it can work in this market to a point.   The vast majority of the listeners to Booms’ competition would easily be on the far right in the political spectrum.  However, that host already has a trust level built with that hard core audience that really won’t be broken by a series of Clinton jokes regardless of how funny the joke.

Then again, it IS a talk show so intellectual honesty in debate isn’t an imperative item for success.  Hopefully this won’t be the standard for debate on the new Morningline because otherwise it’s just the same old local talk radio in a shiny new package.  It may be better than KWTO has had for a while but it’s not anything that is going to really shatter the market.

Right now, I can’t go either way on the show.  I wouldn’t tell someone not to listen to it but it’s not something that I would tell someone to wake up early to hear.  I’ll probably go back in a week or so and sample again to see if what I heard today was more settling in by Chuck Booms or if this is the way it’s going to be from this point forward.  Hopefully, the debate will be more real and we’ll get Chuck’s wit mixed in with solid common sense wisdom.  I would give it a “C” but I can’t not acknowledge Booms’ quick wit.  If the show’s the same as today in a few weeks, that wit won’t earn as many points.

Grade: B