Daylife/AP Photo by J. Scott Applewhite
Limbaugh laughs with Rumsfeld, end of days in the White House |
In 1994, Rush Limbaugh was a field marshal in the Republican revolution, rallying troops fervid in their passion, armed with a change agenda and determined to shake Washington upside down.
Fifteen years later, Republicans are politically hobbled and Democrats are fervid in their passion, armed with a change agenda and determined, along with their new president, to shake Washington upside down. And again there is Limbaugh, master of the talk radio universe, unchanged and unbowed. If anything, his prominence and political import have increased.
As Republicans grapple with their fall from power and undertake some inevitable soul-searching, not all are comfortable with Limbaugh’s suggestion that he has become the party’s unofficial leader by default. “He motivates a core Republican, who is a very important part of the Republican coalition, and we need those guys to be interested and active,” said Jan van Lohuizen, a GOP strategist in Washington. “But it’s not enough. The Republican Party has shrunk and it needs to be expanding.”
While the GOP’s star has fallen, Limbaugh’s has soared. As party leaders struggle to find their voice, Limbaugh’s baritone booms loud and clear three hours a day, five days a week on 600 radio stations across America. If a $400-million contract and the title of most influential talk radio personality — as voted by industry pros — aren’t sufficient proof, consider President Obama’s decision to pick a fight with him three days into his presidency.
Hosting Republican lawmakers at the White House, Obama called out his nemesis by name. “You can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done,” Obama said, pitching his economic stimulus plan and offering a priceless advertisement of Limbaugh’s influence.
Though I never espouse “the worse, the better” tactic for winners, I think it’s superb for losers. Little else could better guarantee continuing devolution of Republican leadership in American politics than putting Limbaugh in charge. It looks like Obama has appointed him.
Ewwww. Fat, greasy, old white guys.
Limbaughs voice booms because he is the only voice of true conservatism in the republican party.
Mcain proved that republicans cant out liberal the democrats and that when you stand in the middle of the road you get run over
All Limbaugh is doing is voicing the values of the majority of conservatives not the leaders of the party who think they can out democrat and out spend/buy peoples votes.
The GOP can do two things, either do whats best for America or do whats best for Rush Limbaugh.
I listen to Rush once in awhile,and am always amazed at the propaganda he espouses on his show. Limbaugh is the voice of old, very conservative people (they call themselves “dittoheads,” implying a lack of thought) that still listen to AM radio. Those people vote, but their numbers are far lower than they were four years ago. That’s one reason that Democrats won in the November election.
#2 Paulio Mitchelli
Anyone who takes Anal Cyst Limbaugh any more seriously than Two-Dollar Whore Coulter has gotten just what they deserve during the last eight years.
Anal Cyst is nothing but a wannabe Howard Stern, but without a lick of talent.
#4- I had the same thought about his demographic. The quote from van Lohuizen seems to indicate that some GOP strategists are thinking along the same lines also. Wasn’t he a vocal supporter of Palin? (I bring that up as an example of a “shrink the base” vs. a “big tent” strategy)
I am not a big fan of Rush. I do like talk radio, but I like well reasoned civilized debate, not being preached to for 3 hours. Now that being said, Rush’s views really havn’t changed all that much over the years. The republicans leadership views however have.
This idea that the republicans have to be more liberal in order to get votes is just stupid, and will just garner more failure in the future.
If republicans want to turn their fortunes around. They need to stop being democrats, the democrats already have a monopoly on being democrats, and the republicans are not going to get those democrat voters.
Go back to their principles, Lower Taxes for all, less power for the governments, school choice, ect. The religious part of the party will always be their, but don’t let it be in charge. I am sorry prayer in school is stupid thing for a republican to get behind since its in effect letting the government support a religion.
Oh well just my $0.02 I doubt anyone up in Washington is listening.
“Republicans are politically hobbled”? I don’t think so. They seem to be making the House and Senate dance to their tune. I don’t know why, except that the Democrats are pussies. Put two Democrats in a phone booth and they’ll still be there a week later, each waiting for the other to leave first.
Poster boy of capitalism, FAT, UGLY, LOUDMOUTH. Wasn’t he friends with that other crook who was always bashing Ellen and stole the satellites from Jim & Tammy Faye Baker? Be another great day when this one croaks too.
Please don’t call him just “Rush”. Rush is a band. They even own rush.com.
brian_t, you do know that Geddy Lee is Rush Limbaugh’s love child?
I think he a loser. He marries a hot babe only to split. This was at the time of his TV Show. I bet she got sick of all the hate he spreads.
Him and his buddy Hannity should run for President/Vice-President or shut up they know how to fix everything right? So sick of this guy.
It’s interesting to see the maturity of the liberals here… seems most of you can’t get past Rush’s appearance and name calling.
Rush is not right on everything (though perhaps he is to the right on everything), but compared to the Republican leadership which has led the party off the cliff and into near impotence by becoming “Democrat-lite”, he is a tower of wisdom.
amazing the the gop is being led around by a drug abuser….
RSweeney said “It’s interesting to see the maturity of the liberals here”
Of course it’s not mature, we’re talking Rush Limbaugh here, not George Will or Kathleen Parker.
QB, does that mean that Rush Limbaugh is Jewish? Geddy is, and both his parents were lucky to survive the Holocaust. See: http://cjnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7066&Itemid=86
[Please drop the WWW from URLs as WordPress doesn’t display it properly… plus it’s unnecessary. – ed.]
What I like about Limbaugh is that he is so powerful and influential that he managed, all by himself, to get McCain elected President.
The only reason McCain lost was because he had to wear the economy, even though he had little to with it, just as Obama will now have to do the same.
RBG
MORAN!
brian_t, pull up there buddy, you’re going in.
Can Limbaugh get Palin elected in 2012?
Great idea Rush for Prez Palin for V.P. talk about going down the sewer of politics.
Limbaugh is a waste of human skin and a drug addict, nothing he has to say is relevant.
Rush has the brains of a potatoe (note the spelling).
Anyone dumb enough to think he voices the views of a true conservative is too dumb to know what it means to be a conservative.
Rush is simply a hate monger, just like those morons Hannity and Coulter.
Rush offers no solutions, only blame.
Listening for an hour is a chore; listening for a full three hours is excruciating. His shallowness is utterly oppressive.
As soon as the Rs coalesce behind a leader (i.e. a politician) I’m sure the Ds, the press, and the libs here at Dvorak.org will commence to bash him or her to their hearts’ content.
Till then, we’ll have to listen to them bash Limbaugh.
Politics, like nature, abhors a vacuum.
And libs naturally hate Limbaugh, whom they often refer to as being vacuous.
It’s absolutely hysterical to read what many of you paranoid libs thing about Rush. If the man has the power that you all are falsely claiming he has (great use of Saul Alinsky’s tactics to focus and target Rush as enemy #1) then how is it that McCain lost? Why didn’t Rush use his power to get all of us mind numb robots to get McCain elected as President?
What this boils down to is a concerted effort to try and neutralize one man. The left still can not persuade people with their ideas and only can win by eliminating anyone who disagrees with them by character assassination just as many of you are doing on here. I say keep it up! It’s working!
# 5 Mister Mustard said, “Anyone who takes Anal Cyst Limbaugh any more seriously than Two-Dollar Whore Coulter…”
Like Omama who takes him seriously and is scared to death of him? ROFL
If that fat f*ck doesn’t like what is going on in Washington, then he should get off his a$$ and run for office himself. No wonder Democrats want to bring back the Fairness Doctrine.
#27
And Congress who wants to silence him by resurrecting the hush rush bill aka unFAIRness doctrine.
If there is a true liberal out there, they will understand and vehemently fight against this bill as being unconstitutional and a serious breach of the 1st amendement.
#28
If you listened to Rush’s program, he has on many occasions explained why he does not wish to run for office. But even if he did, you wouldn’t care. It’s in your narrow self interest to character assassinate a man you politically disagree with. Typical of hate filled leftist.