This [1] is an especially exciting announcement for long-time watchers of WSOC-TV news here in Charlotte as well as loyal listeners of our big-time AM radio station WBT:
For 18 years at WSOC (Channel 9), Vince Coakley kept his opinions to himself.
No more.
Beginning Monday, Coakley takes over the afternoon drive shift at WBT-AM (1110). And he’s got some things to say.
On the president:
“I have never been a fan of Barack Obama. I believe there is real danger over where this man is coming from and where he’s taking us. …
“I don’t think we often elect whole people. Very often, we’re putting broken people in office. People with incomplete childhoods and people who often haven’t left adolescence. I think Washington is overrun with people who never left adolescence. I think he’s one of them.
“On the personal level, I’m worried for him. But on a national level, I’m concerned for all of us.”
On politicians in general:
“They have to get positions to empower themselves. Basically, they’re using people to find a place of fulfillment. And as long as they’re doing that, they’re not serving us.
“I think there’s a definition of public servants as people who serve themselves in public. We need more servants, fewer politicians. That’s part of what I hope to get people to think about.
“If I’m sending someone to Washington, I want to know there’s red, white and blue in their blood.”
On his own place in the political spectrum:
“I refer to myself as a conservative. I think the importance of that label is more about values than about a party. I would define myself as one who believes in the politics of common sense.”
Not only is it uncommon to see a mainstream media reporter going to a conservative talk radio station to work as a talk radio host, but many locals here will be surprised to learn that Coakley is a conservative primarily because he’s black, and well over 90% of the black population here in America are liberal Democrats. It’s important to note skin color in this case not because I have a preoccupation with identity politics (quite the opposite, in fact), but instead because people need to know that the numbers of black conservatives are growing – contra to the smears of the left, conservatives are alot more diverse than we’re given credit for.
And when it comes to mainstream media journalists, the percentages of those who are liberal are even higher. Hopefully he’s not picking up too much slack from friends and former colleagues about his “coming out” to the masses as a conservative.
Coakley retired in August 2010 from WSOC-TV, where he worked for 18 years [2]. Since then, he’s emceed Tea Party events [3] here in NC, has filled in [4] as a guest host for presidential contender Herman Cain, and also guest-hosted for local WBT radio personalities in recent weeks. You can learn more about him and welcome him to his first formal radio talk show gig via this Facebook page [5] (and this one [6]). I presume that this [7] is his (new) Twitter page.
Welcome, Vince! We need all the strong conservative voices we can get here in the Queen City. Best of luck. 