WTMJ has rewritten “It’s a Wonderful Life” so that the leading character isn’t benevolent local banker and affordable housing developer George Bailey but a lightly fictionalized version of local talk radio personality Charlie Sykes as he ponders a life after radio. Sykes is stepping down at the end of the year after 23 years as the biggest, most influential, and most feared voice on local radio, presumably opening a void in his life (that’s the story, anyway) similar to the one faced by Bailey, who is complete wreck on Christmas Eve. The radio play will be recorded at Turner Hall on Nov. 29 before a live audience, with a supporting cast of Wayne Larrivee (the voice of the Packers), fellow conservative talker Jeff Wagner and an untold number of “well-known surprise Wisconsin celebrities.”
Earlier this month, Sykes was on something of a one-man tour questioning the role of conservative media during this time of Trump. While the presidential race didn’t trigger his retirement, he says, it didn’t hurt (help?), either. Pro-Trump breitbart.com says that Sykes, “a liberal when young,” has lost “much support from Wisconsinites who are backing Trump in 2016.”
Many prominent Wisconsin Republicans have disavowed Trump, although Sykes was early to the party. There’s evidence in the most recent Marquette Poll of an enthusiasm gap between Wisconsin liberals supporting Democrat Hillary Clinton (still dogged by concerns in her own base) and conservatives supporting Trump. Among likely voters, only 77 percent of “very conservative” respondents said they would vote for Trump. Clinton, on the other hand, picked up 89 percent of “very liberal” voters.
