The few times that I’ve listened to Michael Savage--mostly on long road trips when I ran out of CDs to listen to at odd hours--I thought that he was a borderline racist and a full on jerk. I never imagined, though, that he was a full on fraud.

As the San Francisco Chronicle reports, Savage is a top contributor to Brown’s campaign against conservative state senator Chuck Poochigian. His gift of $5,600, the maximum allowable under state law, was merited, Savage told the Chronicle after being outed. Why? Because “You have to make choices in an imperfect world.”

Undoubtedly so, but that’s hardly the red-faced extremist talking that Savage plays on the radio. So what explains the generosity?

There is much about him that would suggest, not an ideologue at all, but simply a performer. Then again, sometimes you get the feeling that a refugee from Air America (the failed experiment in liberal talk radio) has been writing scripts for him based on a lefty’s cartoon mental picture of a ranting right-wing caveman.

This might make Savage’s supporters a little pissy, but I’m relieved. I’m relieved that this jerk isn’t on my side of the political fence, that his more-conservative-than-thou act is all some opportunistic act from a closeted leftist who realized that money was worth more than his own personal dignity or beliefs.

Whew.

H/T to the American Spectator blog.