Michael Smerconish has been on the radio for years in Philadelphia, but he shot to national recognition on Aug. 20 when he broadcast his interview with President Barack Obama from the White House. And six months ago, his radio program went into national syndication; he can now be heard on 54 affiliates nationwide.

But his appeal to a national radio audience has yet to be determined. Smerconish is typically considered a conservative. Trouble is, in a format that rewards aggressive, cocksure voices, he’s less brash and more ideologically centrist than most right-leaning talk show hosts. He describes his ideology as a “mixed bag.”

“I’m somebody who is tolerant of torture. I believe in profiling on the war of terror,” says Smerconish. “I’m for the death penalty. But I’m also somebody who believes in legalizing pot and prostitution. I’m pro-choice. I’m for stem cell research, and I haven’t a clue on global warming.”

Americans for Tax Reform’s Grover Norquist isn’t quite sure whether Smerconish is a tried-and-true conservative.

“He endorsed Obama,” says Norquist. “If he knew this meant ‘cap and tax,’ the post office running health care, more taxes and several trillion in additional spending, he is not much of a small-government conservative. If Obama the president is an unwelcome surprise to Smerconish, then he didn’t pay attention to the small print in the campaign. He might mean to be our team, but he sure points his gun in odd directions.”

Liberal radio talk show host Bill Press likes Smerconish’s political ambiguity. “I like him because he’s not crazy,” says Press. “He actually thinks before he talks, and sometimes he even makes sense. He is what I usually consider a contradiction in terms: a rational conservative. And that’s why I hope he succeeds.”

So if this former lawyer is a free agent in terms of politics, can his ideological centrism succeed in radio, when it’s the extremes that seem to ignite the most passion?

“The conventional, successful talk radio program is a very conservative, talking-points-oriented program with very little room for dissent,” says Smerconish. “I’ve never done that. And I’ve been able to succeed in one major market without having to do that, and now we’re going to find out if the country is ready for that different approach. I’m betting my livelihood that it is.”

Michael Harrison, editor of the radio industry magazine Talkers, doesn’t think that stridency is the only way to succeed in radio. “I think that intelligence and originality play an equal role in success in talk radio as attention-getting devices and that Smerconish could certainly be successful in both ways. He has an intelligence about him that people like.”

He also has a jocular and charming demeanor going for him. During our interview, he not only poked fun at himself but also cracked jokes about marijuana and booze that a more image-conscious person would probably regret.