A liberal pundit, Rachel Maddow, soars to a prominent perch

[DeepModem Mom]

Boston Globe: A liberal pundit soars to a prominent perch
By Sasha Issenberg

....(Rachel) Maddow was part of the original lineup on Air America, founded in 2004 to counter conservative dominance of talk radio under the market-friendly promise that liberals, too, could be entertaining. More than anyone else, Maddow fulfilled that pledge, with an affable and erudite approach to the day's news and the rhetorical combat that inevitably surrounds it.

(Monday night), "The Rachel Maddow Show" debuts on MSNBC, leaving her on the cusp of full-blown stardom in the mainstream media that her most devoted fans see as an enemy.

Maddow, 35, was an accidental radio personality. She got her start on Holyoke's WRNX-FM only after winning a tryout to be a morning-show sidekick; Maddow had moved to the Pioneer Valley after college to pursue a career in AIDS policy, and still spends every weekend there, prizing the Massachusetts fishing license that allows her to catch trout near her Northampton-area home.

She brings a studied ambivalence about her newfound TV fame, which has come thanks to steady appearances as an MSNBC pundit....

***

Although she happily holds up the liberal position in left-right debates, Maddow prides herself on being "cripplingly patriotic" - she signs radio-station bumper stickers "Your Country Needs You, xox" - and, the daughter of an Air Force captain, she has a yen for national-security issues.

The former Rhodes scholar, with a doctorate in political science from Oxford, is writing a book about military politics in postwar America and is famous at MSNBC for bringing a scholarly rigor to her preshow research and preparation. She has been known to arrive at Rockefeller Center from her Manhattan apartment nine hours before she is due to go on air, cloistering herself in a cubicle with an iPod as she reads and writes on the day's news....

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Maddow, who came out as a lesbian as a teenager, says that one of the galvanizing moments in her political development was Pat Buchanan's declaration of a "cultural war" at the 1992 Republican convention. Now the two are frequently used as good-humored, left-right sparring partners on MSNBC. Maddow praises Buchanan as a "gentleman." "Pat enjoys debating, and I enjoy debating," Maddow told her fans in St. Paul. "When Pat is saying something outrageous, you know when you yell at the TV? I get to yell at him in person. I get to yell at the TV and it hears me."

As a host, Maddow says, she expects to continue debating on her show, but only as part of a broader repertoire of reported pieces, interviews, and commentaries....

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/09/08/a_liberal_pundit_soars_to_a_prominent_perch/?page=full

[Gregorian]

1. Rachel! She's on the new set right now.

I didn't know she had a doctorate in poly sci. Aha!

She's phenomenal. One more upward step.

Do you feel optimistic?

[DeepModem Mom]

2. She looks great! Go get 'em, Rachel!

[Stinky The Clown]

3. I find her on-air relationship with that same Pat Buchanan quite interesting.

There seems to be some genuine mutual respect ...... dare I say, even affection ..... between them. I also find it interesting that he seems to be her political 'straight man" (no gender issues intended) whereby he sets up a right wing talking point and then she riffs off that for a while and he seems to sort of retire a bit and allow her to go. It is an interesting dynamic.

[DeepModem Mom]

4. I agree! I was surprised to see Pat on her first show --

but then when I remembered what was said in the article, it wasn't so surprising. His history in politics, his views on so many things are so toxic that I keep telling myself that I can't possibly like the man. But, I confess, I enjoy watching him on MSNBC. I feel less guilty knowing that Rachel likes, and enjoys, him, too.

And it just occurs to me as I'm writing this -- Rachel, on her first show, had someone with an opposing viewpoint. This is a departure from the Olbermann model. I'm wondering if she'll just have Pat as a sparring partner, or will have other guests she'll debate with.