Columnist: 'Wife Swap' Family Was in it For Money, Not Culture War

Updated 12:15 p.m. April 1.

Gina Loudon told TV cameras for the ABC show Wife Swap she agreed to be on the show to dispel stereotypes about conservatives. On her radio show she said she and her family were part of Wife Swap to fight a conservative Christian culture war.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Kevin Horrigan believes John and Gina Loudon were part of the show to increase their value in the political marketplace and prominence on the national stage.

John and Gina went AWOL from the cutlure wars a long time ago, he said, and instead have tried to make money from their political engagement since he left the Missouri state senate in 2008, Horrigan said.

View the full column on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch website.

John and Gina were the first couple to fail to meet for a final talk in the show's six season history after Gina lived with a polyamory family in New York for two weeks.

Since joining the Tea Party in 2008, the Loudons have championed, among other issues, anti-immigration legislation in Arizona and Alabama, Horrigan said.

Rush Limbaugh believes the Loudons were misrepresented on Wife Swap, he said on his radio show last Friday.

He believes the Loudons were portrayed as close-minded, Bible thumping bigots and the polyamorous family were painted as loving and open minded people whose worst trait is eating too much junk food.

People who watch the show with no morals are softened up to believe certain lifestyles are OK, he said.

"This is not insignificant, folks. This is primetime television," he said. "This is the kind of thing that has been going on and taking place that slowly but surely chips away at what used to be normal and now what justifies all these…perfectly it's cool. 3 people in a relationship, 4 people in a relationship, it's cool."

Limbaugh said conservatives who want fame will be ridiculed if they appear on mainstream media shows.

"I don't care how much you want fame. Do not rely on the mainstream media or the networks to give it to you," he said.