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Bear in mind, I don't think he's anywhere near a moderate. He's a lefty. He just isn't afraid to publicly disagree with the Left when he privately disagrees with the Left.

So they hate him because he's a heretic to the cause. And the Right hates him because he's a lefty.

I just think he's funny and puts together a good and thoughtful show.

He has definitely shifted farther to the right on economic issues over the past 4-5 years.  I'd actually say he's probably damn square center on economic issues.  He's just still very leftist on social issues.

I actually saw him quoted recently, and I'm paraphrasing, but it was to the effect of "If government is a car, the left is the gas, and the right is the brakes.  You need both, but I've always felt like the car should be moving forward.  But not when the car is heading towards a cliff."

I view him as an entertainer who needs clicks.

You are also describing elected officials though

I view him as an entertainer who needs clicks.

Well, yeah. He hosts a [mostly] weekly political talk show on HBO and if people aren't tuning in, he'll get himself cancelled. (In the traditional TV way, not the "he said something horrible so we're going to deplatform him" way.)

But he does things a little differently. In a cable news / social media environment that is mostly all about feeding red meat to your base, he's sincerely engaging both sides. That's something we don't see a lot of these days. The fact that he's been popular going all the way back to the Politically Incorrect days starting three decades ago suggests that he's providing a product that people want to "click on". 

He has definitely shifted farther to the right on economic issues over the past 4-5 years.  I'd actually say he's probably damn square center on economic issues. He's just still very leftist on social issues.

I actually saw him quoted recently, and I'm paraphrasing, but it was to the effect of "If government is a car, the left is the gas, and the right is the brakes.  You need both, but I've always felt like the car should be moving forward.  But not when the car is heading towards a cliff."

I don't think he's particularly close to "damn square center on economic issues" but he's somewhat less left extreme than he used to be.  I guess that's progress.

Overall I agree with bwar's take, though-- I believe that he's genuine in his beliefs and not just parroting tribal rhetoric.  And that makes him disliked by both the right and the left.

Unfortunately I also think he's one of those guys who believes he's far more clever than he actually is, similar to Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert.  I find their smug syllogistic summaries of complex issues to be simplistic, insulting, and ultimately dangerous given how much influence they seem to have on their devotees.

I don't think he's particularly close to "damn square center on economic issues" but he's somewhat less left extreme than he used to be.  I guess that's progress.

Overall I agree with bwar's take, though-- I believe that he's genuine in his beliefs and not just parroting tribal rhetoric.  And that makes him disliked by both the right and the left.

Unfortunately I also think he's one of those guys who believes he's far more clever than he actually is, similar to Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert.  I find their smug syllogistic summaries of complex issues to be simplistic, insulting, and ultimately dangerous given how much influence they seem to have on their devotees.

Oh he definitely thinks hes smarter than he is.  But he hangs around with Hollywood types, so hes used to being the smartest person in the room.

The one guy Im no longer willing to lump in, is Jon Stewart.  I definitely felt that way for a long time, but he has put himself out there over the past few years, outside of the heavily edited "gotcha" comedy journalism in a way that I think he is educated on the issues hes willing to discuss.  I have no time for the John Olivers.  Hes funny, but hes never made me think.  Which I guess is better than a Trevor Noah who never even made me laugh.

I liked Colbert when he had his satirical show, but there wasnt enough material for it to be nightly.  If it had been a weekly thing, it could have been sharper.  Hes bad as a Late Night host, but all of those shows are awful.  I think Seth Myers is the only halfway decent one.  Colbert is awful.  James Corden is somehow worse.  Jimmy Fallon is so desperately trying to befriend celebrities, its tough to watch.  I barely remember late Carson, but in my time Letterman and Conan were. the only two I enjoyed

Is there more left than Cobert?  Scary if yes. 

Mainstream comedy?  Depends on how you define that, considering every streaming service has deals with multiple standups.  But on network television, I would say no.  To the point that its really just cheap pandering.

Credit to our X algorithm overlords, but I dont watch a lot of network comedy, because I get the clips I like.  My wife, who is way to the left of me, and has a very different algorithm than me, based on what she shares with me, still doesnt get Colbert clips, simply because they arent funny.  She gets all kinds of John Oliver and Trevor Noah clips in her feed.  No Colbert.  And I truly dont understand who they are pandering to.  Im 40, and I feel too young to watch late night talk shows.   My in laws get off the phone to watch NCIS live, because thats how they watch TV.  Thats why CBS is Americas. Most Watched network.  By pandering to 70 year olds who want to watch 8 dofferent CSIs and NCISs.  And then they pivot so hard away from them woth Colbert

These folks found a market and largely cater to it, similar to "sports analysts", fine with me.