And Ed Schultz is supposed to bring in the coveted 18-49 -- HOW?

I've never really trusted Ed Schultz. I don't know if it's the dyed red hair, the faux-Limbaugh bombast from the other side of the fence, or if I'm just still remembering the things that Randi Rhodes said about him being a phony lo these long years ago. But there's just something about Big Ed that I don't like. For that matter, I wasn't crazy about the idea of Cenk Uygur getting the MSNBC 10 PM slot either. I know that many people adore the Cenk-man, but to me he'll always be that guy strutting through the lobby at the Chicago Hyatt two years ago at Yearly Kos like he was King Shit of Turd Mountain. It's no secret that here at B@B, we've been stuffing the ballot box at the various media site polls for Sam Seder, though now that Break Room Live is starting to come together in the way Morning Sedition did after ITS first six months, it would almost be a shame to lose Seder to the constraints of network television. But you could make a strong argument that a show with either or both of those two would certainly help give MSNBC a lock on the coveted 18-49 demographic that the network so clearly craves.

So why on earth the suits at MSNBC decided that Schultz, who sounds like a throwback in so many ways, was the way to cement that demographic, I have no idea. I recognize that there's something to be said for giving a dinner hour slot to an unabashedly pro-union, "shower after work" kind of guy -- a sort of liberal Joe the Plumber only with a brain in his head. After all, Rachel Maddow has become more comfortable of late with showing her endearingly dorky side, such as in last night's interview with the guy who invented the motorized bar stool that seemed to be monopolizing last night's news. But despite her supportive-big-sister affability, she's still too ferociously and obviously intelligent and scholarly to bring in the so-called "Reagan Democrats" that seem to be Ed Schultz' demographic.

From a political point of view, if Schultz can bring in the people who need to hear the stories they're not getting on the John King/Wolf Blitzer whore-for-the-GOP CNN, then he's worth tolerating, if not watching enthusiastically. But if any MSNBC brass are reading this, you might consider checking out what's going on over at Air America Media from 3-4 PM on weekdays. Because there are a lot of young viewers who are not interested in watching David Gregory ask dumbass "gotcha" questions on Press the Meat on Sunday mornings, who might want a more irreverent take on the news. Right now they're watching the previous night's reruns of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report from 8-9 PM during the week, then switching over to Rachel Maddow as the lead-in to the 10 PM Countdown rebroadcast. Imagine if you could turn Sunday mornings into a moneymaker instead of running yet more sleazy prison documentaries.