by TChris

Will Howard Stern deliver the presidency to John Kerry? He says he will.

Some might dismiss this as bluster, but Stern's words should send a shiver up Karl Rove's spine. Stern has a record of successful election-year activism; political observers in New York and New Jersey remember how his on-air endorsements delivered key votes to George Pataki and Christine Todd Whitman in past gubernatorial races.

What's more, although Stern's approximately 8.5 million listeners are often dismissed as overgrown frat boys, they might more accurately be called swing voters. They are overwhelmingly white and male, many are well educated and well off, and they vote. And millions of them listen to Stern's show in battleground states -- Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee, Florida -- where the election will be decided.

Whether it's the Bush administration's FCC attacking Stern, or Stern attacking the President, the publicity has been good to Stern. He's number 1 in LA among 25 to 54 year old listeners, a position he hasn't occupied since 1995. If he can influence all those new listeners (and the old ones) to go to the polls to cast a vote for Kerry, more power to him!