Posted on September 25, 2008

Michael Savage Rejects AR Media Pitch

AR Staff, American Renaissance, September 25, 2008

As part of our efforts to challenge racial orthodoxy, we occasionally send media pitches to TV and talk radio. Over the years, Jared Taylor has appeared on hundreds of TV and radio shows to discuss and debate racial issues. This has been one of our most successful ways to reach new people as many subscribers have indicated that they first heard of AR through such media appearances.

Earlier this week, we sent the following pitch to a number of radio hosts:

Race and the 2008 Election

As one of the most anticipated presidential race in U.S. history heads to a tight finish, the issue of race has increasingly crept into both campaigns. An AP-Yahoo poll claims that Obama could lose up to 6 points for being black. But some conservative commentators point to the almost unanimous black support for Obama as evidence of black discrimination.

From CNN’s Jack Cafferty stating that a vote for McCain is a vote for racism to comic Sandra Bernhard’s joke about Sarah Palin being gang raped by blacks, this election is turning into a referendum on race.

Race relations expert Jared Taylor is the editor of American Renaissance magazine and the author of Paved With Good Intentions: The Failure of Race Relations in Contemporary America. He has a lot to say about race and the election and can address points such as these:

  • Is the election becoming a racial head count?
  • Will there be riots if Obama loses?
  • Can the GOP attract Asian and Hispanic votes?
  • Why do almost all blacks support Obama?
  • Is McCain doing enough to win the white vote?
  • Will McCain dare to bring up Obama’s connection to Rev. Wright?
  • Will affirmative action move to the forefront of the debate?
  • How both sides can use race to their advantage.

One of the programs we sent the pitch to was The Savage Nation, hosted by Michael Savage. Mr. Savage is perhaps the most outspoken conservative host on radio. His trademark line is “Liberalism is a mental disorder,” and he repeatedly touts the importance of “borders, language and culture” on his show and in his books. His website features articles such as “Obama’s pastor’s hate speech” and “Obama and Ayers pushed radicalism on schools.” Mr. Savage routinely dresses down black race activists such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and tried to countersue the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) after it sued him for supposedly denouncing Islam.

All of this would seem to make Mr. Savage at least open to a discussion of politically incorrect thoughts on the role of race in the 2008 election. Yet here is his emailed response to our pitch:

“STOP YOUR LIES. OBAMA IS TOO GREEN NOT TOO BLACK. DROP MY NAME FROM YOUR EMAIL LIST OR I WILL TURN YOUR ORGANIZATION’S NAME OVER TO THE FBI FOR HARASSMENT.”

Of course, there are no lies in the pitch we emailed to Mr. Savage. And nowhere does the pitch say or even imply that Obama is “too black.” We sent the same pitch to left-wing broadcasters such as Air America, NPR, PBS and MSNBC. None reacted as angrily as Mr. Savage. In fact, many of these broadcasters have invited Mr. Taylor on their programs in the past.

While we are happy to drop Mr. Savage’s email from out list, his point about turning us over to the FBI for harassment is nothing short of hysterical. Liberalism is indeed a mental disorder.