hypercrites

Since nobody seems to be in a great hurry to answer my question I'll take a swing at it myself.

In a nutshell, the reason talk radio is successful on the right and struggles on the left is because there is lots to talk about for conservatives and little to talk about for liberals. Simple huh? I'd better explain.

The reason conservatives have lots to talk about is because conservatism is based in reason, logic, and American tradition whereas liberalism is based almost entirely in emotion.  This makes conservatism deep subject matter.  Conversely, since liberalism doesn't stand up well to reason or logic, only raw emotion, discussions tend to be shallow and superficial.

Also, since the liberalism is based on emotion rather than reason, it appeals to the intellectually lazy and if you're the type of person who is uninterested in the world around you, you're not likely be be listening to radio programs discussing politics and culture.

Liberalism captures the hearts of the uninformed and it captures the minds of professors who spend their lives cloistered in universities professing Utopian dreams to the young and impressionable. But for us regular people who live our lives with our eyes open we can find plenty to talk about and listen to on the right side of the radio dial.