Filling in for 1 hour of a 3 hour segment is not an equal substitute in time nor substance.
Whomever ultimately wins some favor with the public will earn it over time, not be allotted time segment and that's, that.
I took a long time to warm to Rush because he copied a man called "Golden Tonsils" who sat behind the "Golden microphone" awarded to him by Sennheiser for having the most perfect broardcasting voice. A man who had already been on radio 40 years, (already longer than Rush) before he started in 1988 and a man who after starting on radio in 1953 is still on radio today. He also coined the phrases "Watermelons" Green on the outside and Red in the middle and "Feminazis" which I heard him same daily long before Rush started on radio. He also "was" the news having the ability to call a State Premier or the Prime Minister of the country directly and have them on air over the sacred hard stop, top of the hour news, as all media was listening for the sound bites they could steal for their own shows.
That is power no radio commentator ever had. Given that, Rush was very good, a great communicator and had a feel for the pulse of the country at any time. That is a gift both men had/have.
