One Man’s Impact

 

On December 19, radio host Charlie Sykes completed his last broadcast for WTMJ in Milwaukee, WI. His last hours on the air were adorned with encomia from some of the leading figures his show had helped to incubate: Reince Preibus, Scott Walker, Ron Johnson, and Paul Ryan, among many others. For three and a half hours every day for 23 years, Wisconsinites got the Charlie Sykes catechism: free markets, rule of law, school reform, free speech (and anti-PC), and strong families. The policy meal was substantial and nourishing, but that didn’t mean the taste was bland. Sykes delivered information with just the right soupçon of humor and entertainment, and, of course, a hearty serving of Green Bay Packers hits.

Along with five other conservative talk radio hosts, and with the help of the Bradley Foundation (whose headquarters are in Milwaukee), Sykes helped to create a climate of opinion in Wisconsin that led to actual policy results. With the steady, smart, daily spadework of persuasion, Sykes opened his microphones to conservative reformers in politics, education, and the courts. Long before the “blue wall” crumbled in the 2016 electoral map, Charlie Sykes had been scaling the ramparts of Wisconsin’s entrenched liberal fortresses.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing. Sykes regrets the boost he gave to Sheriff David Clarke, calling him his “Frankenstein monster.” And there were election setbacks. “After 2008,” he recalled, “I told people that conservatives were going to be invisible for a while. But, with time, our ideas would be back.” It didn’t take long. In 2010, Republican Scott Walker won the governorship, and improbably enough, egghead Ron Johnson (heavily promoted by the Charlie Sykes radio show) defeated Russ Feingold for the US Senate. Paul Ryan was a frequent guest on Sykes’s air as well as on a Sunday TV show Sykes hosted. Ryan honed his message on the Charlie Sykes show.

When many conservative talk radio hosts were finding that denouncing Republicans got more purchase than conservative reform ideas, Sykes stuck with substance. He beat the drum for Act 10 in Wisconsin that limited collective bargaining by public employee unions and got state budget outlays under better control. A donnybrook followed. The 14 Democratic members of the state senate actually fled the state to Illinois to prevent the senate from voting, and the state capital was the scene of sit-ins and drum circles. Sykes provided pungent and lively analysis. He was there, manning the microphone, during Gov. Scott Walker’s recall fight in 2012 as well, and drew attention to the abuse of power during the John Doe investigations – two other crucial victories for the right.

While Sykes was driving the discussion, Wisconsin adopted far-reaching school choice programs, became a right-to-work state, and eliminated the prevailing wage for most public works projects (saving taxpayers’ money).

On a recent show, one of his last, Sykes reported to listeners about attending a Bernie Sanders speech. Ticking off the Sanders’s juvenile proposals and incomplete understanding of basic economics, Sykes described Sanders’s call for a minimum wage increase to $15 per hour for maids who clean toilets in hotels and fast food workers. “Why,” Sykes demanded, “is that not a good idea? What word did you not hear in Sanders’s reasoning?”

Callers were prompt with suggestions. One woman offered “unemployment.” Another suggested “productivity” (as in, you cannot force employers to pay workers more than their productive capacity allows without damaging the businesses beyond repair). Sykes submitted that “automation” was the word he had in mind vis-à-vis fast food workers. The unintended consequence of increasing the minimum wage would be to encourage fast food restaurants to switch to iPad ordering.

In April, Sykes made national news when Donald Trump, clearly unaware that Sykes was a stalwart anti-Trumper, appeared for an interview. It’s impossible to say to what degree the Wisconsin talk radio ecosystem affected the presidential primary, but the state turned out to be the last hurrah for the anti-Trump forces. Wisconsin Republicans were not Ted Cruz fans, but they rallied to him in large numbers to stop Trump. “I hoped it would be a firewall,” Sykes reflects now, “but it turned out to be a speed bump.”

Trump’s victory and the changes in the audience he felt during the campaign left Sykes feeling “excommunicated” from the church of Republicanism (though he had decided before the election to give up his daily show). He’s writing a book and thinking through what happened. “I figured conservatives would be in the wilderness for a while after the election,” he notes, “I didn’t realize it would be on a small, desert island.”

We shall see. The Trump presidency may be the train wreck for conservative principles that many feared, or it may veer in a genuinely conservative/reformist direction. If the latter, it will be steered by the Wisconsin standouts — Priebus, Ryan, Walker, and Johnson — that Charlie Sykes helped to launch.

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  1. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    This has to be the first time I’ve ever heard Ron Johnson described as an “egghead”.

    And does Sykes say why he considers Sheriff Clark a “Frankenstein Monster”?

     

     

    • #1
  2. WI Con Member
    WI Con
    @WICon

    Oh good grief! Sykes has been getting killed in the ratings for years by 1130 WISN and their capable hosts (Jay Weber being my favorite-podcasts available for free anyone) – the 1130 hosts essentially gave Ted Cruz the primary win, swallowed their pride/recognized the mortal danger of Hillary, and delivered the state for Trump. Trump wasn’t their (or my) favorite either but Sykes, like too many other Never-Trumpers, we’re tacitly willing to let Hillary Clinton rule, appoint judges, write additional administrative law & Executive Orders.

    He can go be Lindsay Graham’s pool boy for all the good he’s done this year. He’ll be the MSM’s new favorite Conservative Voice of Reason.

    Birds of a feather Mrs. Charen. Don’t let the door hit your… Charlie.

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  3. DocJay Inactive
    DocJay
    @DocJay

    Still can’t handle it huh?    Your little conservative island had Hillary elected and our scotus lost for the rest of my life.  No thanks!

     

    • #3
  4. Petty Boozswha Inactive
    Petty Boozswha
    @PettyBoozswha

    Don’t let them get you down Mona. There is a time and a purpose to every season under heaven. Someday integrity and being true to what you believe will come back into fashion.

    • #4
  5. Quake Voter Inactive
    Quake Voter
    @QuakeVoter

    Petty Boozswha:Don’t let them get you down Mona. There is a time and a purpose to every season under heaven. Someday integrity and being true to what you believe will come back into fashion.

    I don’t mean this with malice, but you cannot stay true to what you believe by never challenging what you believe.

    What’s next: a year-end roundup with David French, JD Vance and Jay?

    Instead of blowing bubbles inside bubbles inside bubbles, why not try an article about and interview with Walter Russell Mead?

     

    • #5
  6. MBF Inactive
    MBF
    @MBF

    Sheriff Clarke is an outspoken conservative that wins a significant percentage of black urban votes. Frankenstein? More like a unicorn if you ask me. I stopped listening to Sykes long ago (he’s always been a squish to some degree) so wasn’t aware that he had turned on Clarke. That’s probably as sad as any part of his recent meltdown. How can you not be a fan of the Sheriff? He is one of the very few voices that has a chance to move the goalposts in urban America. Although I guess it lines up with the view of the NeverEver faction as preferring their own self assured “purity” over political relevance.

    Charlie was expecting a huge payoff on the MSM circuit as the house conservative that bashes the right while finger wagging “I told you so.” Trump’s win threw a wrench into his plan.

    • #6
  7. Larry Koler Inactive
    Larry Koler
    @LarryKoler

    Petty Boozswha: Someday integrity and being true to what you believe will come back into fashion.

    You forgot the other attributes that most of us find more insufferable: preening and posturing.

    The NeverTrumpers in the elite conservative world are the very people who have been the problem in the party and the movement for years. I didn’t know before just who they were (although I had some suspicions about the people who don’t like Newt or Cruz or Rush) but luckily now we have them all self-identified into a neat little package called NeverTrumpers. Thanks for that — it saves us all a lot of time.

    • #7
  8. Petty Boozswha Inactive
    Petty Boozswha
    @PettyBoozswha

    I agree my comment was preening and posturing, but Mona was just trying to give a valedictory to a great conservative. I don’t think her intention was to continue to stir the pot but her critics just won’t let it go. I will do my best to avoid this issue in the future, there is nothing constructive that can come out of it, only bad feelings between people who should be on the same side.

    I wholeheartedly agree an interview with Mead would be appreciated by all.

    • #8
  9. Larry Koler Inactive
    Larry Koler
    @LarryKoler

    Quake Voter: Instead of blowing bubbles inside bubbles inside bubbles, why not try an article about and interview with Walter Russell Mead?

    Or Mona: how about talking with Victor Davis Hanson?

    • #9
  10. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Mona Charen: He was there, manning the microphone, during Gov. Scott Walker’s recall fight in 2012 as well, and drew attention to the abuse of power during the John Doe investigations – two other crucial victories for the right.

    I’ve probably heard the name Charles Sykes somewhere before – it sounds vaguely familiar – but if he was part of the effort to stop this particular abuse of power he is entitled to some pro-Trump or anti-Trump heresies or whatever he wants.  That was big.  That was leftwing totalitarianism not just on our doorstep, but a forced entry.  If he was one who helped stop it, I can only say that we owe him a huge debt of gratitude.

    • #10
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