The biggest stories to come out of talk radio this election cycle have been found on the right side of the dial, as it were.

First there was Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and co.'s aggressive campaign against Sen. John McCain. More recently, we've seen Rush spearhead an apparently effective gambit to prop up Hillary Clinton with backhanded Republican support.

What I'm wondering is, with excitement on the left more intense than it's been since, well, 2006, and with Democratic turnout so sky-high, why hasn't there been a boost in listenership for Air America Radio or other liberal talk-radio outlets?

Ratings reports aren't current enough to bear out my hunch — and lefties will charge the game is rigged against them — but I'd be surprised if liberal talk has seen a significant uptick this year.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say this might have something to do with it: National Public Radio's audience is bigger than it's ever been.