DALE McFEATTERS Who will they target?

WASHINGTON -- Right-wing talk radio is badly in need of a new demon, or, more accurately, a new person to demonize.
I am an AM-radio addict -- good show, bad show, it doesn't matter because you're going to be out of range in 45 minutes anyway -- and this fall I had occasion to do lots of long-distance driving.
Sadly, local AM-radio shows are disappearing. You can still find ample religion and country-and-western on AM, but that's a little too much sin and adultery for my tastes. That leaves your reliable right-wing hosts -- Rush, Laura, G. Gordon, Michael and the gang.
In retrospect, the golden age of right-wing radio talk was the Clinton years. Something about Bill and Hillary tapped deep reservoirs of venom and outrage. And when calm and civility threatened to break out, the Clintons always seemed ready with a fresh scandal, even, as they exited the White House for the last time, thoughtfully issuing wholesale pardons to a colorful collection of rogues and scoundrels. Truly, demons walked the Earth in those days.
Alas for the vibrancy of the right-wing talkers, their man George W. Bush was elected president and their party, the Republicans, controlled Congress. They went through the motions, but the old flash and fire weren't there.
I began to realize how dire the lack of demons was early in the Bush administration when, in response to political columns, I would get e-mails asking if I were aware of the threat to civilization posed by one Tom Daschle. The common phrasing of many of the e-mails was a tip-off to their origin in right-wing talk radio.
Now I'm all in favor of people taking an interest in current events and public affairs, but, really, there's no reason a person with a reasonable life has to know the name of the minority leader of the U.S. Senate.
Bill Clinton was still on the loose, but he was writing a book, mourning his dead dog, opening a library and having heart surgery, all stuff that's hard to attack.
Targets
Mercifully, the Democratic primaries came around again, and a fine collection of targets they made, and the best target of all, John Kerry, got nominated. The more he explained his positions, the more impenetrable they became, and he had a puzzling inability to hit back.
His wife, the charming and intelligent Teresa Heinz Kerry, somehow became a cross between Madame Defarge and the Dragon Lady. His running mate, John Edwards, was a little harder to work with since the talkers had to explain to their audiences who he was before they attacked him.
And then on Nov. 3, it was all over. The two Johns and Teresa, all the demons, were gone.
The right-wing talkers have been flailing in a demon-free environment ever since. Not too long ago I heard Rush Limbaugh tell his audience, "Don't be fooled, my friends, by this Harry Reid." Harry Reid? Of course his listeners weren't fooled; most of them probably had no idea who Harry Reid is.
Harry Reid is a Democratic senator from Nevada and next month he will become the new minority leader of the U.S. Senate. The demon situation is that desperate.
Scripps Howard News Service.