Ed Schultz Watch

John Fund of the Wall Street Journal's Political Diary (subscription) has written some paragraphs today on Ed Schultz, the North Dakota radio personality touted as the liberal Rush Limbaugh:

Liberal When It Pays

Liberal donors have helped create a nationwide talk radio network called Democracy Radio to combat what they view as the overwhelming dominance of the medium by conservatives. Democracy's flagship host is Ed Schultz, a former football hero who merrily bashes President Bush on the half-dozen stations that pick up his Fargo, North Dakota-based based program. But the donors who have put Democracy Radio on the air might be surprised to know that just a few years ago the 50-year-old Mr. Schultz was a red-meat conservative who sometimes put Rush Limbaugh to shame with his critiques of welfare recipients and the homeless. He used to refer to three Democrats who represent North Dakota in Congress as "the Three Stooges." Now he says, "I've learned a lot from our guys in Washington" and frequently has them on as honored guests.

Mr. Schultz credits his change of ideology to his new wife, Wendy, a nurse who introduced him to soup kitchens and homeless shelters. Ryan Bakken, a local newspaper columnist, told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that he thinks Mr. Schultz's shift might be pinned to ego. "I know of none bigger," he says. "So when he goes from the right to the left, I'm suspicious. Ed knows that no radio talk-show host gets any attention -- or listeners -- by being in the middle."

Put me down as giving Mr. Schultz the benefit of the doubt regarding the sincerity of his conversion. Even so, some of his attempts to reconcile his old and new self seem peculiar. He told the Minneapolis paper that even though he's "always been pro-life," he's "never done a show on abortion. I don't think it would be good radio." That's clearly not the case, as any number of talk show hosts can attest. More likely, Mr. Schultz's new liberal patrons just wouldn't appreciate his mixing liberal economic populism with social conservatism. Many Democrats used to embody those values, but in recent years they've either been driven from the party or silenced.