I dunno about “generally loved” but “appreciated by those neoconservatives who are intelligent enough to have a political strategy beyond 'shut the hell up and accept what I'm telling you without question'” is probably correct. The Big 3 network “news”casts long ago turned to nauseating fluff to pad their ratings, and the cable “news” outlets are nothing but trashy 24-hour reality shows polluted with heavy doses of simplistic ideological propaganda. Both network and cable “news” organizations assume that viewers are stupid. Stewart, on the other hand, knows the score. One of his many great moments was his appearance on CNN's Crossfire in which he ripped liberal Paul Begala and neoconservative Tucker Carlson, and the networks that host such shows, new rectums. For the few who never saw the footage, Stewart called them “partisan hacks” and asked them to stop “hurting America”. He was 100% correct then, and—except perhaps for PBS' The News Hour and Washington Week—his broadcast is still more thoughtful, more honest, and more about what citizens actually need to know than any other on television. Intelligent people of all political stripes are able to appreciate that.