In a discussion Tuesday with conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer over conservative voter disenchantment with the current GOP presidential field, Bill O’Reilly observed that the era of conservative political influence was on the wane. “The world is changing,” O’Reilly acknowledged. “In the Nevada vote, most people who describe themselves as conservative voted for Mitt Romney. I don’t know if really, hard core conservative Americans are wielding the influence that they once did.”

After a heated segment on the calls by conservative groups to have Ellen Degeneres removed from a JC Penney ad campaign, Bill O’Reilly invited regular Bernie Goldberg on to talk about the fight between Planned Parenthood and the Susan G. Komen Foundation, to showcase “the other side of intolerance.” But Goldberg had a few words to say about Degeneres, too– namely, that “there is a strain of bigotry running through conservative America” that he was just “sick of.”

You can’t get much more controversial in the world of American politics when you bring up the link between personal philosophies, intelligence, and prejudice. But that’s exactly what happened earlier this week when a study found that low intelligence is connected to prejudice and social conservatism. On his show tonight, Bill Maher read the findings of the study and did not make any kind of strong editorial opinion on the subject, stating that he was “agnostic” about the results.

Apparently Limbaugh slept through the entire 2007 Republican primary campaign. Reacting to a self-identified tea party caller that suggested Rep. Ron Paul, Rep. Michele Bachmann, and former Senator Rick Santorum were the only true conservatives left in the race, Limbaugh reacted in shock at the idea that Rep. Paul would be associated with the Tea [...]

Rep. Ron Paul decisively won the Value Voters Summit straw poll with 37% of the vote, with Herman Cain taking the silver and being trailed by conservative darling Rick Santorum, at 16%.

Rep. Michele Bachmann‘s attacks on Texas Governor Rick Perry for mandating HPV vaccines in Texas may have elicited cheers from the crowd at last time’s CNN/Tea Party debate, but it may have lost her Rush Limbaugh‘s confidence. Telling his audience on the radio today that he did think Perry “goofed up” on the executive order, he found Rep. Bachmann’s attacks to have “jumped the shark.”

Last night, Rachel Maddow compared billionaire candidate Mitt Romney to fictional billionaire Thurston Howell III. If you’re looking for a rich-person caricature, there is no better person to cite than the oil baron of Gilligan’s Island. But it seems that 2011 is the year where both liberals and conservatives are pulling out the “You’re more like Thurston Howell than I am” card.

The most entertaining subplot of the 2012 race so far just got a tad bit goofier. Jobs for Iowa, a SuperPAC supporting Texas governor Rick Perry, seems to have not taken so well to being mocked by rival group “Americans For A Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow.” In a hilarious press release dropped last night, Jobs for Iowa challenged that SuperPAC’s president, Stephen Colbert, to an “old-fashioned tractor pull” at the Ames Straw Poll for SuperPAC Supremacy.

It was the perfect fledgling anchor moment: at some point earlier today, controversial MSNBC hire Al Sharpton tried to read an impassioned plea to protesters to “resist,” but his point was lost amidst the wrath of the teleprompter gods, snatching the words away. It was also a perfect moment for those arguing that that the Sharpton hire was at best unwise; at least disrespectful and the product of quid pro quo.

Don Lemon‘s heated interview with Sen. Rand Paul on Sunday over the weekend’s budget debate earned him as many accolades as complaints from viewers, and Lemon made no apologies for keeping the Senator on topic without delving into talking points. This morning, Glenn Beck had little good to say about the interview, as he noted that, while he had asked similar questions of Republicans, the attitude Lemon took to Sen. Paul was “condescending” and counterproductive.

The Communist Party USA is the sort of fringe third party that rarely gets any attention in the national spotlight, but a recent speech by a party leader asserting that the group seeks to “reclaim” the Fourth of July as their holiday landed them squarely in Glenn Beck‘s crosshairs. On his radio program today, Beck played a clip of the speech and warned that, just as the Communists were trying “reclaim” Independence Day,” they were after American history.

In 2006, legal commentator Jeffrey Rosen wrote that the Roberts court was among the most united and civil in history. In this month’s New Republic, however, Rosen revisits the Court to find it factionalizing in surprising ways, threatening the existence of any single definition of legal conservatism. While Rosen puts the blame on no one, one new phenomenon of the past five years seems directly related to this rift: the Tea Party, for which Rosen argues Justice Clarence Thomas has emerged as its “legal arm.”

In December 2008, cable news’ premier debate couple, Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes, split up, one to host his own program and the other to contribute to the debates of many on Fox News. At the time, it was unclear to what extent Colmes would remain with Fox News or what a program without Colmes to balance out Hannity’s conservatism would look like. When discussing the run of Hannity & Colmes, many tend to look back at the heartfelt goodbyes (featuring a fairly nationally unknown Tim Pawlenty!) Colmes’ fans gave him, but seem to overlook the fun Colmes had with the departure in the immediate aftermath.

The media treatment of Rep. Michele Bachmann‘s several gaffes this week have raised eyebrows on the right from those that have followed President Barack Obama‘s supposed gaffes. Among them in particular is Sean Hannity, who put together a montage of Obama gaffes in preparation for his guest, Ann Coulter, tonight. Coulter argued there was a double standard for conservatives, and blamed “sexism” on the left for rumors that Rep. Bachmann and Sarah Palin are feuding.

After last Friday’s historic gay marriage vote, one of the most forceful media narratives was the contrast between the leadership styles of Andrew Cuomo and Barack Obama. So it was only a matter of time before people started speculating on Cuomo’s national aspirations.

Herman Cain seems to have no interested in ending his newly-minted feud with Jon Stewart. On The O’Reilly Factor tonight, Cain came out swinging against Stewart again– who initially courted Cain’s wrath by making fun of his claim that bill longer than 3 pages would be vetoed automatically– explicitly stating that, although Stewart’s “Amos and Andy” voice was offensive to him, he wasn’t playing the race card. But Stewart had a problem, he asserted, with him being a “black conservative.”

The Daily Caller has emerged as a bona fide member of the internet right, in part by drawing refreshing distinction from a crowded landscape through its willingness to critique those whose ideas its right of center writers may share. The latest damning exposé revealing a member of Palin’s staff attacking fellow conservatives is merely one example that has sparked infighting among conservative bloggers, fueling a surprising zeal to slam its publisher, Tucker Carlson.

Rep. Ron Paul has some big news to break tomorrow, but he broke it to Sean Hannity today, anyway: he is launching an exploratory committee for the 2012 presidency tomorrow which, “if I don’t get booed too much,” may lead to a presidential bid. As this was the first time the two met, Hannity pressed Rep. Paul on his conservative bona fides and found himself on a side of the argument he rarely sees: his concern with Muslims, Rep. Paul argued, challenges the principles that make America great.

Andrew Breitbart isn’t angry; he’s just enlightened. That’s the message of his contentiously-titled new book, Righteous Indignation, a work that may look and sound like the fruit of rage, but at its core, is an exposition of the power structure Breitbart sees himself fighting against. It’s a recruiting tool to build his army in the war against what he calls “Democratic media complex” that leaves no stone unturned on the left. In turn, Breitbart leaves many questions on how to police the right unanswered. I sat down with Breitbart on Monday to get a deeper look into who he’s fighting, why he’s fighting them, and just how much bad behavior he is willing to overlook from conservatives in order to take liberals down.

Americans are an enterprising people, one that have managed to find fashion inspiration in the most peculiar of places. On Rush Limbaugh‘s radio show this week, one such American called in to ask Limbaugh what to do about the fact that her skin tone didn’t take very well to the color orange, and to offer some free advice to First Lady Michelle Obama: yellow makes her look “like a tub of mustard.”

Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough took a little time to comment on Glenn Beck‘s recent comments (and blackboard diagrams) connecting union protests in the U.S. to the myriad revolutions and demonstrations popping up in the Middle East. “I’ve been telling conservatives for about two years,” said Scarborough, in between bites of breakfast, “this guy is bad for the movement.”

Rachel Maddow found herself arguing something she appeared to be surprised to find herself saying: George W. Bush, agreeing with Barack Obama, was correct– at least compared to Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity. Maddow argued that the American right, now that the Republicans were weak, was working on shifting the political spectrum right and have succeeded so efficiently that now the two presidents are essentially the same dot on the spectrum.

The American right may have won a significant victory in November, but it seems that at least once a year, during CPAC season, they suffer a tremendous public identity crisis, with civil libertarians going after the “family values” conservatives at a convention that often feels like more of a negotiation meeting than a union of like minds. To discuss these sentiments, Judge Andrew Napolitano has been debating members of all side of the right on priorities, and how important civil liberties are compared to the increasingly desperate national economic situation.

Donald Trump is making it to known to any audience that will listen that he is seriously considering running for President. Today at the CPAC convention he gave a crowd-pleasing speech and, given by the audience reaction, it seems like he very well could be an unanticipated force in the Republican primaries.

In a revelation that’s sure to make many liberals scratch their heads and say, “Wait, what? Conservatives have brains?”, a new study by Great Britain’s University College London has found that conservatives’ brains have larger fear centers, and smaller courage and optimism dealies. The study did not, however, address any correlation to cable news ratings.