Drudge Unplugged: How His Campaign Influence Has Collapsed

In terms of setting the ground rules -- in terms of setting the campaign agenda -- Matt Drudge has been AWOL since mid-September when Wall Street's credit crisis erupted. That's because a sober story like the unfolding economic turmoil knocks Drudge completely out of his element of frivolous, partisan gotcha links.

Think about it. Since Monday, September 15, when word of emergency government intervention to save the economy began to spread, the presidential race, according to all the available data, has gone through a dramatic fourth-quarter shift, with Barack Obama opening up a comfortable lead. Now ask yourself: What role has the Drudge Report played in that burst of campaign movement? The answer, of course, is zero. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. His trademark flashing red lights have gone missing.

Four years ago, Drudge was at the peak of his political power. Today, he's pretty much watching the election pass him by, reduced to the role of frustrated sideline heckler.

Read the full Media Matters for American column here.

Comments

[libbygirl]

I deleted Drudge from my favorites and quit reading his site a few months ago. It just became a drudge to go there.

[Clavis]

Drudge dropped his magic hat in a mud puddle before the first debate, and he's never been the same since -- that jerk!

[cuteaspie]

Drudge has been a must read for me everyday for the past year. However, I stopped going to that site when I realized it became a shill for the McCain campaign. Drudge used to be pretty fair and balanced in my view, but something has happened during this political campaign. I have since deleted it from my favorite and I haven't visited for more than a month. The quality of reporting has gone into the gutter. Adios Drudge.

[brichaz]

I think its a stretch to call the Drudge Report a web site. It's more like someone's cut-out-from-magazines ransom note, but with convenient hyperlinks.

[uheardme]

Yup yup a right wing news clipping service.

[MajorKong]

Drudge exists mainly to inject conservative talking points into the media stream. The life cycle of a typical Drudge story goes something like:

Washington Times -> Drudge -> Limbaugh/Hannity -> Fox -> MSM

[ruffmama]

I agree he is terrible....but I still go to his sight just to check on the "other side".

I also used to listen to his radio show...

[omac112211]

I noticed Drudge had a heading about a poll rating showing Obama with a 1% lead.
Turns out it was for kids. Sad but true

[RobinSeattle]

I've stopped reading the Drudge Report the last couple of weeks because his wingnutiness has just reached the point of parody. His site is now resembling a John Birch Society pamphlet in its attempts to delusionally distort the truth in McCain's favor. He has indeed been flailing to no effect and it's kind of pathetic.

[billofgoods]

drudge doesn't do anything but publish news stories from other sources .. Really ,if yu don't think he is an influence , then why is Obama still only about 4-5-6 points up depending on the day... Again with the year of the democrat he should be up by 20 pts... Hell at this stage in the primaries , Hillary had already conceded......take a look at the hits his page gets a day.

[BottomLine2008]

And it couldn't happen to a not nicer guy!

[PixelMarx]

I used to frequent Drudge Report a lot, because you never knew which story he was going to run. But as the election year has progressed and his sensationalism has fallen into a McCain forum, he's lost his importance.

[MsDebate]

Deep, people I work with love that site.