Media Credit: Michael Jon Roy Marvin Kalb discusses talk radio with radio personalities Al Franken, G. Gordon, Liddy and Jim Bohannan at Monday night´s Kalb Report at the National Press Club.

A panel of radio hosts discussed the impact of talk radio on this year's presidential campaign at a forum moderated by journalist Marvin Kalb Monday night at the National Press Club.

The panel, which featured liberal commentator Al Franken and conservative host G. Gordon Liddy, differed over Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's war record and the Iraq war.

"According to a recent Gallup Poll, 67 percent of Republicans believe that Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11, which is completely untrue," said Franken, host of "Air America Radio." Franken, a former "Saturday Night Live" regular, is now a vocal liberal who penned the bestseller "Lies And The Lying Liars Who Tell Them."

Some Republicans are confused about the facts surrounding the Iraq war because they are under the influence of right-wing radio talk shows, Franken said. He added that conservative radio hosts constantly smear Kerry and his service in the Vietnam War.

Liddy, host of "The G. Gordon Liddy Show," explained what he called the dubious circumstances surrounding Kerry's war medals. Liddy served five years in prison after being convicted of conspiracy, burglary and illegal wiretapping for his role in the 1972 Watergate break-in.

In articles, commercials and a book, some Republicans have argued that Kerry did not deserve the medals he won in Vietnam. Democrats have gone to great lengths to document their candidate's valor and question President Bush's stint in the National Guard.

Liddy said Kerry's first Purple Heart was for a "self-inflicted injury" and that he reapplied for the award after he was originally denied the honor. As the debate of Kerry and Bush's military careers continued between Franken and Liddy, Jim Bohannon, host of the moderate "Jim Bohannon Show," interjected.

"My opinion of John Kerry is based on his accomplishments in his twenty years as a senator," Bohannon said. "The whole military debate is pointless."

As the forum progressed, Kalb said talk radio first had a great impact in the 1992 presidential election. Bohannon said radio's influence today is just as great but is no longer a novelty. He compared talk radio to the opinion pages of newspapers, arguing that people must read the front-page news and form their own opinions before reading the thoughts of others.

Continued...

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