Politico is reporting that Democratic strategists James Carville and Stanley Greenberg first hatched the idea of depicting Rush Limbaugh as the face of the Republican party last October. A poll they conducted found that Rush had an overall favorable rating even lower than Jeremiah Wright or William Ayers; and, among voters under 40, only 11% had a favorable opinion of him.
Then Rush played into the strategy when he made the controversial statement that he hoped Obama would fail. Of course, reporters were then going to ask Republican politicians whether they agreed with Rush -- pushing them either to support the hero of the conservative base or to repudiate him.
Then it turned into a media circus -- and a nightmare for the GOP.
Rush has such a passionate following that it's surprising to find how narrow that base really is. If the Republicans don't wake up quickly and realize that, they'll just keep going down the wrong road to recovery. And that's all right with me.
Ralph
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"El Rusho" is playing with fire to my delight. His "following" is a group never courted by the Democrats, so nothing's being lost. What Rush doesn't know is that he was much more potent disseminating Talking Points to the faithful that then diffused out into the world. By putting himself on the front burner, he's "sourced," meaning the venom won't flow in the silent but deadly channels anymore, it'll be attributed to him directly. Rush isn't exactly a "heartland" kind of guy. The larger the stage, the greater the circus-like atmosphere. It couldn't happen to a more deserving guy...
ReplyDeleteThe latest is that Rush is challenging Obama to a debate on his show. He may at last be overstepping himself: imagine a response from Robert Gibbs that says President Obama has better things to do than go on an entertainment show to spar with a man who has an 11% approval rating.
ReplyDeleteCampbell Brown of CNN challenged Rush to an on air debate several months ago, and he didn't take her up on it.
ReplyDeleteSo he won't have much credibility to criticize Obama for not taking up his offer.