Limbaugh vs. Steele

[baldheadeddork]

There was something else in Limbaugh's CPAC speech that I think will have longer legs than the spat with Michael Steele.

Earlier in the convention, Newt Gingrich gave a speech that hit on his points that "It’s not our job to be the opposition party. It’s our job to be the ‘better solutions party," and declaring that "the era of Reagan is over."

Now, Gingrich's solutions are the same one's he's been pushing for almost 20 years. He's not going to be a Gorbachev for the GOP. But his words still brought a stinging and a stunning rebuke from Limbaugh.

Everybody asks me — and I’m sure it’s been a focal point of your convention — well, what do we do, as conservatives? What do we do? How do we overcome this? … One thing we can all do is stop assuming that the way to beat them is with better policy ideas.

What?

He's serious. He thinks the solution for the Republican party and the conservative movement is to continue singing the praises of Reagan, a president that no one under the age of 38 ever cast a vote for.

Our own movement has members trying to throw Reagan out while the Democrats know they can’t accomplish what they want unless they appeal to Reagan voters. We have got to stamp this out within this movement because it will tear us apart. It will guarantee we lose elections.

Daniel Larison at American Conservative has a great take on this:

Not to worry–there seems to be no great danger of this “better policy idea” approach catching on anytime soon, but this is a practical suggestion that everyone who wants to heed Limbaugh’s words can follow. Yes, this is something you can do every day from the comfort of your own home. You can do this without getting up in the morning. Indeed, you can do this in your sleep, or perhaps even in a vegetative state. The latter would be the most appropriate condition in which to do this, as the higher brain functions will have already ceased, and you will never become aware of just how unsuccessful an approach Limbaugh’s recommended course of action really is.

If we want to take it seriously, there are two ways to take Limbaugh’s statement. He is either saying that conservatives cannot possibly come up with better policy ideas, so there’s no point in trying, or he is claiming that policy ideas are entirely irrelevant to all of conventional American politics*. If he meant it in the first way, there are two options for conservatives: surrender or wait until Democrats fail and try to pick up the pieces. If he meant it in the second way, this would seem to be an endorsement of an even more intensified use of gimmickry, phony populist rhetoric and symbolic biography politics.

(Side note - Larison is one of the smartest political writers on either side. If you've been looking for intelligent conservative writing, you should check him out.)

[SXSMITH]

Originally Posted by cacapants

I wonder why Limbaugh is so popular. I guess its because he say the things that most Republicans think and sends his maid out to get the drugs that most republicans get addicted to.

I'd say I found him funny 10 years ago. And then turned it off.

So the only thing I can guess is that he can comment on what's wrong with the Left's ideology in a way that people can relate to.

But of course you might not get it as you think you are perfect.

[cacapants]

Originally Posted by SXSMITH

I
But of course you might not get it as you think you are perfect.

Compared to you, Hitler Jr., absolutely.

[baldheadeddork]

The sun rises in the east.

Babies cry.

Limbaugh says he's the victim.

Originally Posted by Cartman at 50

Well I don't hurt. I am not hurt by any of this. What this is, though, is cruel. It is cruel because it is a game of manupulation emanating from the Oval Office. It is an attempt to distract Americans from the destruction of their ability to earn a living. It is an attempt to distract you from your plunging economy. It is an attempt to distract you from your ability to save for retirement and to pursue happiness. You see, honest face-to-face discussions are fair ...

This ongoing game of naming me the head of the Republican party... The point here is to take me ... malign me, take me out of context, what I said, attach it to the Republican party in general because President Obama wants no debate. President Obama wants no discussion. President Obama, as has been his modus operandi since he got into politics, is not a level playing field, is to clear the playing field and he has, of course, this army of the drive-by media assisting at every turn.

[baldheadeddork]

Former Bush speechwriter David Frum:

President Obama and Rush Limbaugh do not agree on much, but they share at least one thing: Both wish to see Rush anointed as the leader of the Republican party. Here’s Rahm Emanuel on Face the Nation yesterday: “the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican party.”

What a great endorsement for Rush! (And we know Rush is fond of compliments – listen to his loving account in his CPAC speech of the birthday lunch given him by President Bush just before Inauguration Day.)

But what about the rest of the party? Here’s the duel that Obama and Limbaugh are jointly arranging:

On the one side, the president of the United States: soft-spoken and conciliatory, never angry, always invoking the recession and its victims. This president invokes the language of “responsibility,” and in his own life seems to epitomize that ideal: He is physically honed and disciplined, his worst vice an occasional cigarette. He is at the same time an apparently devoted husband and father. Unsurprisingly, women voters trust and admire him.

And for the leader of the Republicans? A man who is aggressive and bombastic, cutting and sarcastic, who dismisses the concerned citizens in network news focus groups as “losers.” With his private plane and his cigars, his history of drug dependency and his personal bulk, not to mention his tangled marital history, Rush is a walking stereotype of self-indulgence – exactly the image that Barack Obama most wants to affix to our philosophy and our party. And we’re cooperating! Those images of crowds of CPACers cheering Rush’s every rancorous word – we’ll be seeing them rebroadcast for a long time.

Rush knows what he is doing. The worse conservatives do, the more important Rush becomes as leader of the ardent remnant. The better conservatives succeed, the more we become a broad national governing coalition, the more Rush will be sidelined.

But do the rest of us understand what we are doing to ourselves by accepting this leadership? Rush is to the Republicanism of the 2000s what Jesse Jackson was to the Democratic party in the 1980s.

[cacapants]

Next to line up to swallow the Limbaugh load.......................Piyush!

Jindal on Obama: I'm 'not nearly as good of a speaker' - CNN.com

King: One more thing. It may be moot now, but RNC Chairman Michael Steele took some shots at Limbaugh and then apologized. What do you make of all of that?

Jindal: Well, I didn't follow the day's events. I'm glad he apologized. I think the chairman is a breath of fresh air for the party. As I said before, I think Rush is a leader for many conservatives and says things that people are concerned about. [He] articulates very well the concern people have about growing government spending without an end in sight.

[ARozanski]

Originally Posted by Baldheadeddork

Cartman at 50

Sorry, there is a lot of good stuff in here, but this is great!

[baldheadeddork]

In case Steele had any questions about his place on the organizational chart..."GOP to Michael Steele: Quiet About Rush Limbaugh or You're Fired"

Apology to Rush Limbaugh aside, new Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is coming under fire from his own GOP troops to shut up and focus on his job of organizing the party and raising money, not fighting with his own political kind. Several Republican advisers to Congress and the previous Bush administration told Whispers that they are worried that the war of words is fracturing the party when it should be healing the division between conservatives and moderates in the wake of the 2008 election.

"What is amazing is that Steele was elected because of his communications skills, and it is those skills that are damaging the Republican Party. Before people begin to completely judge him as worthless, Steele needs to focus and knuckle down on building a strong foundation at RNC so we can begin rebuilding our majority," says a top GOP strategist who has worked for House and Senate Republican leaders. "If his implosion continues, RNC members are likely to call a special session to dump him for an effective chairman. There is not much patience for failure."

Others want Steele to re-evaluate his role in the party. Of concern: For no reason, he is dividing the GOP between conservatives who like Limbaugh and moderates who don't and jeopardizing future fundraising efforts, his key responsibility. "The general sentiment of the conference is that Steele needs to step back and get a handle on his role in the party," says an influential congressional aide. Namely, advisers want him to stay out of the media and focus instead on hiring his staff and revamping the RNC. "He needs to hire staff for the RNC, get the operations up and running, start raising money, and understand that his role is to win elections," says a senior party adviser. Officials are concerned that Steele either doesn't understand his responsibilities or has an inflated vision of his role. "At this point, it is as if he has a fundamental misunderstanding of the job description. An RNC chairman who attacks Republicans and insults conservative icons is about as counterproductive as any Democrat could hope for," says the adviser.

Ouch.

[flylooper]

Originally Posted by jim schmidt

As I said, Limbaugh is the perfect sucker for this strategy. This is not merely a repeat of a useful political tactic, I think its the perfection of it.

Pick the biggest fathead in the room and make him imagine he can be King of the Hill. Then wait for the inevitable rhetorical excesses -- AND MAKE SURE EVERYONE HEARS THEM. Then make sure everyone puts two and two together.

Limbaugh does the hard work and the opposition further fractures. Brilliant!

Au contraire! Limbaugh is making out like a bandit in the thing. He's getting headlines every damn day! This is the best thing that ever happened to his show. I can't imagine the number of new listeners he must be picking up. Hannity must be pissing in his jeans these days.

As they say, as long as they spell his name right, he can't do anything but win.

I'm just waiting for the massive triple coronary that fatass is gonna get. It's gonna happen and prob. sooner rather than later. Then we can really partay!

Michael Savage will be the man, then.

[BusaDave]

Originally Posted by baldheadeddork

In case Steele had any questions about his place on the organizational chart...

Interesting! So it is Steele who is a mouthpiece for the party and Limbaugh is the uniter of the party. Who'd have thunk?

[BDFINALLY]

Originally Posted by cacapants

Next to line up to swallow the Limbaugh load.......................Piyush!

Jindal on Obama: I'm 'not nearly as good of a speaker' - CNN.com

Not surprising, Rush is Bob's #1 cheerleader.

RUSH: Let me just say it right out. I love Bobby Jindal and that did not change after last night. I respect Bobby Jindal; I have great enthusiasm for Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, and nothing that happened last night changed my mind.

Why We Love Bobby Jindal

[jim schmidt]

Originally Posted by flylooper

Au contraire! Limbaugh is making out like a bandit in the thing. He's getting headlines every damn day! This is the best thing that ever happened to his show. I can't imagine the number of new listeners he must be picking up. Hannity must be pissing in his jeans these days.

As they say, as long as they spell his name right, he can't do anything but win.

I'm just waiting for the massive triple coronary that fatass is gonna get. It's gonna happen and prob. sooner rather than later. Then we can really partay!

Michael Savage will be the man, then.

You're scoring the short game. I'm explaining the long game.

[baldheadeddork]

Originally Posted by jim schmidt

You're scoring the short game. I'm explaining the long game.

Speaking of the long game...

Don’t kid yourself. While L’Affaire Limbaugh is incredibly entertaining political theater – among others, it dominated Matthews, Cooper, Olbermann, Maddow and Jon Stewart last night – the tactic has a calculated purpose and an immediate context: votes on the budget bill. Soon enough, it’ll be votes on health care legislation. There are really only three attendees at this play.

Senators Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe, and Susan Collins.

(A fourth might be Sen. George Voinovich, whose state gets a visit this Friday when Barack Obama travels to Columbus.)

Upcoming legislative fights are expected to be brutal, tougher than the stimulus bill. The votes of Specter, Snowe and Collins, critical for passage of the stimulus, are still considered the first gettable Republican votes. The spectacle of Limbaugh as Republican-in-Chief sucks all the oxygen from the room when these moderate Republican senators may want cover for any potential “no” vote – or “no” leverage in negotiations.

(snip)

Do Snowe and Collins want Obama showing up in Portland, Maine, name-dropping Limbaugh in a speech, and then facing those inevitable questions Gibbs urged the press to ask of them? It’s increasingly clear that, having already taken control of the public perception of bargaining in good faith, Obama is willing to become more rhetorically aggressive.

Without any Republican willing to stand up to Limbaugh, there’s no middle ground between him and Obama, and nowhere to hide for the few moderate Senate Republicans Obama needs. Ultimately, this tactic is about the votes this year, the ones that will make or break the Obama presidency. If successful health care legislation is passed because Arlen Specter votes for it, Obama is willing to trade off a few more bucks in Limbaugh's pocket.

Yep. The way the Dems are stoking this fire is great fun, but there's a serious-as-a-heart-attack purpose behind it, too. They want to deny these moderate Republicans any cover for voting with their party.

[jim schmidt]

I find these tactics hugely entertaining although I'm somewhat embarassed to admit that.

The vast majority of Americans are embarassed by the things that Limbaugh says, even most Republicans and Conservatives I know say he's a boob and they don't listen to him.

Some of you may remember that I commented early in the election that Limbaugh and the other AM talkers were trying to hijack the party and this was the real purpose of their efforts to derail McCain. It was at that moment that I'd bet he revealed himself (to Emmanuel) as the perfect foil for this greek tragedy.

I'd bet Rahm's been waiting for just the right moment since then.

[flylooper]

Originally Posted by jim schmidt

I find these tactics hugely entertaining although I'm somewhat embarassed to admit that.

The vast majority of Americans are embarassed by the things that Limbaugh says, even most Republicans and Conservatives I know say he's a boob and they don't listen to him.

Some of you may remember that I commented early in the election that Limbaugh and the other AM talkers were trying to hijack the party and this was the real purpose of their efforts to derail McCain. It was at that moment that I'd bet he revealed himself (to Emmanuel) as the perfect foil for this greek tragedy.

I'd bet Rahm's been waiting for just the right moment since then.

Okay, I'll take out the 1-iron and comment. You guys are right. The polarization continues and Emanuel is certainly laying out the playing field.