the kicker

Glenn Beck; PoMoCon

September 24, 2009

Statistical wunderkind Nate Silver has the over/under on Glenn Beck’s popularity on his site, Fivethirtyeight.com.

Silver digs up and analyzes a question buried in a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll that finds Beck is viewed fairly favorably, considering that 57 percent of those polled are indifferent/don’t know who the heck he is.

Silver goes on to break down the exact political niche that Beck fills, which turns out to be “Post Modern Conservative.” And all this time, Beck thought he was a “rodeo clown.”

Alexandra Fenwick is an assistant editor at CJR.