Gravagne and his partner aren’t the only ones. The network of hard-core O’Reilly fans is growing. Working- and middle-class conservatives say they’ve been ignored by a liberal-leaning media for too long. With O’Reilly’s encouragement, they’re letting their voices be heard. While network anchors might get a few dozen letters and e-mails a week, a Fox News Channel publicist says O’Reilly received about 60,000 e-mails last month–down from the 110,000 he was getting during the election crisis. His fans critique each show and opine about O’Reilly’s “talking points.” More than a few have urged him to run for office. On the FNC Web site, O’Reilly fans debate cabinet appointments, gun control, even Hillary’s new haircut.
Their political clout, though, is difficult to measure. “I don’t think people see O’Reilly and run to the barricades,” says Stuart Stevens, a Republican media consultant. “O’Reilly’s strength is as a skeptic, not a provocateur.” But at least one O’Reilly fan has become an advocate–for O’Reilly. Las Vegas business consultant Joe Gelman is running a grass-roots campaign aimed at pressuring his local cable company to air O’Reilly. “It’s entertaining,” says Gelman. “People here should have a chance to see it.” Just the kind of fan a network anchor could love.
