This Newsweek piece about Glenn Beck's audience is pretty far off the mark:
For liberals, Beck serves a similar purpose. In an era of massive problems and extreme change—the Great Recession, the health-care overhaul, etc.—liberals can avoid the difficult question of whether Obama is leading America in the right direction by simply telling themselves that the only alternative would be someone like Glenn Beck: hyperbolic, demagogic, irrational, and slightly unhinged—"just like all conservatives."
Speaking for myself, I don't think Glenn Beck is an alternative to President Obama. And I don't think Glenn Beck is "just like all conservatives." When I think of real conservatives, I think about Joe Scarborough or George Will or Andrew Sullivan. When I think about scam artists, I think about Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh. And this crew of fringe bullshitters are the alternative to conservatives.
As for avoiding "the difficult question of whether Obama is leading America in the right direction," Andrew Romano, the author of this piece, probably hasn't fully sampled the bitter fights among liberals about the successes (or failures, depending on who you ask) of the Obama administration. I assure you, there is no monolithic liberal embracing of the president, and the fierce debate among progressives over healthcare, for example. is indicative that we're not avoiding anything.