Limbaugh becomes the center of the conservative universe

February 5, 2008

As far as I can tell, Rush Limbaugh is more than just a right-wing entertainer; he’s like a kid who can’t get enough attention. If so, the talk-radio clown must be loving life right about now.

It may be the best sideshow in presidential politics: the nation’s top radio talker trying to take down the Republican front-runner in today’s Super Tuesday showdown.

Rush Limbaugh has been relentless in his criticism of John McCain, prompting suggestions that he may have to soften his stance if the Arizona senator wins the nomination and faces off against Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. But if that happens, Limbaugh said in an interview over the weekend, he would rather see the Democrats win the White House.

“If I believe the country will suffer with either Hillary, Obama or McCain, I would just as soon the Democrats take the hit . . . rather than a Republican causing the debacle,” he said. “And I would prefer not to have conservative Republicans in the Congress paralyzed by having to support, out of party loyalty, a Republican president who is not conservative.”

Yesterday, apparently, Limbaugh’s pre-Super Tuesday tirade was aimed almost exclusively at tearing McCain down, arguing, among other things, that he has “lied about his reason for opposing the Bush tax cuts.” Limbaugh added: “I think McCain has an animus toward the Republican Party. I think ever since South Carolina 2000 he’s had it in for the Republican Party, and one of his objectives is to destroy it and change it.”

Limbaugh went on to say that McCain “stabbed his own president in the back on legislation, a number of times. He doesn’t support his party or his president when the chips are down. He called people who want to protect the border racists, nativists, protectionists, and worse. And what kind of character is it that tries to slide all that through under cover of darkness, in a back room.”

It’s reached the point that the campaign finds it necessary to respond. Yesterday, Bob Dole implored Limbaugh to go easy — or at least easier — on the senator.

Bob Dole, the former Senate Republican leader, wrote an insistent letter to Rush Limbaugh on Monday and suggested that for the good of the party, the conservative talk-show host should stop his strafing of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). […]

In a letter released Monday evening by McCain’s campaign, Dole strongly defended the senator’s conservative credentials, noting that his voting record is opposed to abortion and supportive of gun-owner rights. […]

Dole wrote that as the former Senate Republican leader, he could vouch for the fact that McCain supported the party on all “critical votes.”

Dole’s letter seems to be getting quite a bit of attention, but I can’t help but find the whole thing a little odd. Does Bob Dole suddenly carry weight with Limbaugh and the GOP base? Does the McCain campaign realize that press stunts like this only bring attention to the fact that McCain has struggled badly to connect with the far-right activists who serve as the party’s footsoldiers?

For what it’s worth, Dole’s letter doesn’t seem to be winning over some of McCain’s far-right critics. Malkin wrote, “Hey, Bob Dole, get back in your cage” — a sentiment that seemed rather common. (Another far-right blogger said, “John McCain is Bob Dole minus the charm, conservatism and youth.” Ouch.)

I get the sense Bob Dole won’t help McCain solve his base problem. Call it a hunch.

Live by the loose cannon blowhard, die by the loose cannon blowhard…

  • Since when does the far right fringe represent “the base?” Certainly, Bush led them to believe they were “the base” and they now think they are “the base”… but as McCain”s success has shown, and tonight will show, the majority of the GOP primary voters left of “the so called base” in ’08.

    Rush is watching his franchise quickly slip away and is trying to turn up the volume to simply gain more attention. His pledges of wishing for another Clinton in the White House are clearly self serving as his ratings would probably get a very nice boost for the next 4-8 years. Just think of the “fun” he will have with her.

  • I don’t know that Limbaugh is the center of the conservative universe but he does have enough mass to hold a small solar system together.

  • Ya man. I was listening to the windbag at lunch in my car yesterday. He has a full blown case of McCain Derangement Syndrome.

    Usually I think the guy is just spouting BS. Some of the BS is hilarious, i.e., defending Fmr Senator Maccaca (R-VA) against the unfair accusation of being a scumbag.

    But in shilling for Rhomney (a total phony) shows how much he really must HATE the guy. Or maybe it show’s how much he’s looking forward to a Third Clinton term so he can spread the hate around all that much more.

    Anyway the R’s have been riding this guy for quite some time now and you have to dance with the one who brung you.

  • This morning on the Today Show, McCain was asked about people (like Santorum,Cochran, Grassley, etc) who complained about him for various reasons. McCain responded, “In all due respect to a couple of those people who are criticizing me, they’re not the most respected members of the US Senate.”

    Ouch.

  • Rush has certainly taken the low road on this issue, so much so that I can’t stand to listen to him lately. The ultra conservative republicans need to wake up and smell the coffee. Mainstream American Republicans are NOT ultra conservative. Pro-life is NOT the only issue they care about. The Iraq situation is NOT the only issue they care about. By the way, I say “they” because I am an Independent, since there is no party that I can proudly associate with. It’s time for a third party folks.

  • Lush Bimbo is all about himself and no one else. It’s entertainment pure and simple. Hillary in the White House gives him endless slime to throw around since miscogyny is accepted easily in his circle. But so is racism and homophobia. How the drug-addled slob would deal with Barack is a good question. Blatant racism is harder to sell to the ‘base’ than not-so-veiled miscogyny or rampant homophobia.

    Lush is not a conservative in any case. He’s a fascist, as is the deranged ‘base’. They don’t believe in democracy, the Constitution, or civil rights for anyone, even themselves. If Grandpa McCain succeeds in isolating them into the caves they belong in then his candidacy will have achieved much for this country. Grandpa, in the White House, however, would certainly not be good for the country, but would present Lush with a big problem: He can’t rant against a Rethug president for four years, and not make himself into a bigger lying idiot than he already is.

  • “I don’t know that Limbaugh is the center of the conservative universe but he does have enough mass to hold a small solar system together.” ~Dennis – SGMM

    The question then becomes: is there intelligent life in that solar system?

    I hate to say i’m rooting for Rush, but it sure seems like a Romney candidacy is a slam dunk for the Democrats.

  • What Rich said.

    I think that the ‘conservative’ clowns like Limbaugh and Coulter are worried about any Republican winning the race. They know that the house of cards they’ve helped build is starting to come crashing down and they’d rather be outside peeing in than inside peeing out.

  • “stabbed his own president in the back on legislation, a number of times.”

    Hey Rush, you mean just like you are going to do over and over to McCain if he becomes President? That would be almost interesting enough to make a McCain presidency palatable, if it wasn’t for all the invading countries and killing innocents that McCain plans to do.

  • Limbaugh is disgusting. A pig. That our major corporate media airs him is even more disgusting. That people repeat his hate spewing rhetoric is also in that category…even when he comes out against McCain, the man I don’t want to see on the Republican ticket.

  • “And I would prefer not to have conservative Republicans in the Congress paralyzed by having to support, out of party loyalty, …”

    “He doesn’t support his party or his president when the chips are down.”

    Shouldn’t he only have to listen to his constituents and follow his own moral code Limbaugh? Isn’t this why we choose to elect “representatives” of the people? Why should he stick to party lines- or back something he doesn’t believe in? Isn’t this the whole idea of freedom to believe what you would like to believe in.

    Go read the Constitution then venture on to Washington’s Farewell Address. Washington clearly warns the a bipartisan system will only divide a country on issues and seek to further the agendas of the of two opinions while not listening to the real issues. It will destroy the constituency’s faith in the system… sound familiar?

  • As with the Clintons, McCain is fortunate in his enemies. Hearing that a twisted slimebag like Douche Limpdick hates him almost makes me wish to see McCain win.

  • I like how Rush says that McCain voted against Bush “under cover of darkness” like that was something he did alone, for evil purposes, when it was the Repugs who voted in the middle of the night behind closed doors to exclude Dems…If evil is implied, they all need to wear the mark of the AntiChrist.

  • Of course, the truth is that Limbaugh isn’t a conservative any more than Fox News is. He’s got better credentials to be considered one, but in the end, he’s nothing but a Republican shill. And that’s the problem he has with McCain, while McCain hasn’t always been a loyal conservative, the bigger problem he has is that he hasn’t been a loyal Republican. His biggest mistake was in ever opposing Bush for the nomination in 2000, as Bush was supposed to be invinvicible, and McCain forced them to do things they didn’t want to do. Heck, just think of the dirty tactics that they used in South Carolina, which people still talk about. McCain forced them to do that, and it helped expose what dirty cheaters they were.

    Rush Limbaugh is a pied piper for conservatives. He makes them all believe that they’re dancing to some great ideological song, but in the end, he’s just leading them where the GOP needs them to be. Romney was the candidate for the Republican Establishment, and McCain hasn’t belonged in that for a long time. It’s not about right v. left, but loyalty. Authoritarians have little use for mavericks.

  • Ironic.
    I’d rather see McCain win than Hilary.
    That way Iraq will be exclusively a GOP debacle.

    It won’t be a bad thing when McCain has to handle the same double digit inflation Carter got either since taxing his GOP brethren and cutting defense in order to pare down the debt will cause all holy hell to obliterate party discipline.

    Trust a Vietnam vet to take the bullet when he’s forced to slice the defense budget.
    Hil won’t and I’m not sure Obama can to any significant degree.
    Only Nixon could go to China.
    Only McCain could cut “defense”. (an Orwellian term in an age of pre-emptive war)

  • Hey, I have an idea. Why doesn’t Rush form a third party (Blowhardians?) and run himself? Then we’d see just how much influence he has (heh). On a more reality-based note, I think the real reason Rush hates McCain is that the old boy won’t bow down to him. How can you be the Pope of Conservatives when the party’s standard bearer refuses to kiss your ring?

  • I would love to see mittens win enough to stay in and that would encourage rush that he helped it happen……..then on and on they go………….doing the only real good they ever did for their country , helping to elect a Democrat…………….

  • I’m unenrolled, planing to vote Democratic today, but I’m almost tempted to pull the Repub ballot and support McCain, just to twist Rush’s knickers.

    Almost…

  • Limbaugh knows the Dems are very likely going to with the White House this cycle. And from his point of view, this would be a good thing, particularly if Hillary gets to be president – another four years of Clinton material to work with! Manna from heaven after the purgatory of having to defend the chimp. By attacking McCain now, he can blame McCain for losing (“We’d have won if we ran Mitt!”) without much risk of having to walk all the criticism back due to a McCain victory in November.

    Bottom line: he’s just looking a few moves ahead and positioning himself for the next four years.

  • Four years ago I took a ration of caca from my neighbors for supporting McCain out of pure contempt for the Shrub (which goes back to his campaign against Gov Ann Richards in Texas).Since then, McCain has embraced the Shrub’s war and plastered his nose up the Fundy crack. Now I read that Dole vouches for McCain’s support of gun owner rights. Oh, really? Which gun owners? Remember this…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-taU9d26wT4

    Why is it that all the viable presidential candidates bloviate about taxes and health care but can’t bring themselves to passionately support the fundamental stuff like the bill of rights? As Dole once said, where is the outrage? Did McCain demand prosecution of law enforcement officials for violating citizen’s rights to bear arms and protect themselves when it actually counted? For that matter, did the Democratic candidates? Oh, that’s right. Even with a majority they don’t have the cajoles to impeach for torture or bust the media cabal. They will only stand up for your rights if they have a veto-proof majority and the electorate screams loud enough.

    Tonight I shall renew my neighbor’s contempt by caucusing for Dr Ron Paul. I suspect they will once again decline to solicit my service as a delegate.

    BTW, my mother was in the US for 50 years before she was granted citizenship and only then because, at the age of 72, they finally quit asking her if she would swear to bear arms to protect this country. I was drafted 1A-O (conscientious objector) during the Viet Nam war and subsequently assigned 91B20 (combat medic) because of my aversion to indiscriminate killing. I suppose it should come as no surprise that I am also apposed to the death penalty. But I strongly support an armed citizenry and a National Guard under STATE control to protect the local citizenry against enemies both foreign and DOMESTIC (like a Federal Government or an illegal private army like Blackwater run amok).

    Bring those troops home and impeach NOW!!!

  • Limbaugh is the poster child for all that is wrong in the Republican party. I wonder how a man feels when he look back on his life and finds his greatest claim to fame was as a hate monger. Do you suppose the guy has any semblance of a conscience?

    What was his life like?

  • “I think McCain has an animus toward the Republican Party. I think ever since South Carolina 2000 he’s had it in for the Republican Party, and one of his objectives is to destroy it and change it.”

    This is likely true, if you consider that over the past 30 years the Republican Party has been hijacked by a gaggle of white supremacists, unreconstructed Confederate traitors, brownshirt wannabees, and theocratic fascists. Destroying that “Republican Party” is an excellent goal. One I hope we see this year as the radical right gets kicked into the gutter when they were born and where they belong.

  • the sheer entertainment value of watching a president st. john trying to work with his former senate colleagues (on both sides of the aisle — but especially the repubs), would almost make the thought of a mccain presidency worthwhile.

    almost… but not quite.

  • Rush cares nothing about the Republican Party except when he can use it to bring in more cash to his account.

    This is not about being conservative. This is not about principles.It is about money. Rush see’s McCain as the anti-thesis to talk radio. McCain wins, talk raido takes a hit. Sponsors pull out and the money dries up. Rush and his ilk have to go and get real jobs.

  • Poor Rush.

    Comedian Ann Clouter beat him out of the gate last week with the frothing McCain hatred schtick, so now he’s desperately trying to catch up to her in the eyes of the mouthbreathers. Unfortunately for him, that’s like trying to out-crazy a drunken squirrel.

    Comedy gold.

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  • I’m starting to wonder if Kurt Vonnegut is up in Heaven telling God how to manipulate the universe to make this situation high-larious. I imagine Rush as an anti-hero who’s been spouting crap for so long, but now he, with the Republican Party as a whole, is starting to lose his mojo. Forced to put party above his own ego, he starts blasting the most electable candidate the GOP has, because now his opinion is SO meaningless, people would be willing to do the opposite of what he says. So to insure McCain gets the nod, he screams for people NOT to vote for McCain. Sure, it destroys his rep, makes him look foolish, but the Republican teat he’s sucked on lo these many year maintains its power base for a few more years, and that’s more important than anything or anyone else. And then Rush retires and starts performing in a one-man dinner-theater production of “Mother Night” in Sarasota, FL, except the show keeps getting interrupted as he keeps asking the audience “ya gonna finish those fries?”

  • This is the guy Cheney and Bush tried to validate by appearing exclusively on his program. imagine…the president and the vice-president appearing on this clown’s show. That threw respect for the office right out the window. They knew they could count on Rush to control the message. That in itself should have told all America what deceitful crooks these guys are. If the GOP still pays any attention to this loon’s opinions then they are mindless followers of bigots.

    Rush will vote republican no matter who gets the nomination. He peddles outrage for attention…he and Malkin and Coulter…that’s how they make their money.
    One thing for certain…Americans are growing tired of hate radio, of Fox propaganda and piss journalism which flourished under this administration and the divisive tactics they promoted in order to rob Americans of their freedoms. The pendulum will swing in the opposite direction due to the urgency of the issues (global warming, energy consumption etc.) where uniting under common purposes and civility will be the order of the day. These are the last days where creeps like these struggle desperately for relevance like fish on shore flopping and gasping for air.

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