Some Backstory for LG on Limbaugh and the GOP

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volinbham

volinbham

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#1
Before you buy into all the "Limbaugh is the leader of the RNC" BS, perhaps you should read this story.

Rush Job: Inside Dems' Limbaugh plan - Jonathan Martin - POLITICO.com

Top Democrats believe they have struck political gold by depicting Rush Limbaugh as the new face of the Republican Party, a full-scale effort first hatched by some of the most familiar names in politics and now being guided in part from inside the White House.

The strategy took shape after Democratic strategists Stanley Greenberg and James Carville included Limbaugh’s name in an October poll and learned their longtime tormentor was deeply unpopular with many Americans, especially younger voters. Then the conservative talk-radio host emerged as an unapologetic critic of Barack Obama shortly before his inauguration, when even many Republicans were showering him with praise.
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Neither Democrat would say so, but a third source said the two also began pushing the idea of targeting Limbaugh in their daily phone conversations with Emanuel.

Conversations and email exchanges began taking place in and out of the White House not only between the old pals from the Clinton era but also including White House senior adviser David Axelrod, Deputy Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Woodhouse.
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By Sunday morning, Emanuel elevated the strategy by bringing up the conservative talker, unprompted, on CBS’s “Face the Nation” and calling him the “the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party.”
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And Gibbs served up a made-for-cable-TV quote to end his daily briefing Tuesday.

“I was a little surprised at the speed in which Mr. Steele, the head of the RNC, apologized to the head of the Republican Party,” Gibbs quipped with a grin, before striding out of the press room.
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It’s something of a back to the future tactic for Democrats: painting the GOP as the party of the angry white male. But unlike Newt Gingrich or other prominent Republicans, Limbaugh doesn’t have to mind his tongue.

And the liberal political apparatus is at battle stations taking note of his every comment.

Media Matters, the left-leaning media watchdog and advocacy group, began a “Limbaugh Wire” web-site Tuesday to track him. “For a long time Americans haven’t really been aware that he’s so influential,” said Eric Burns, the group’s president.

Democrats are now working hard to ensure that changes.
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“The television cameras just can’t stay away from him,” Carville said Tuesday, a day when cable news played images of Limbaugh seemingly on a loop. “Our strategy depends on him keeping talking, and I think we’re going to succeed.”
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Congrats on being duped by Team Obama once again.
 
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hatvol96 said:
Of course, if Limbaugh's ideas, which are obviously shared by a huge portion of the GOP, weren't so incredibly unpopular this tactic wouldn't work.
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Some of his ideas are since some are since of his ideas are truly conservative ideals.

I would bet less than 25% of Republican voters buy into all his crap.

On the other hand, I'd say more than 25% of Democratic voters believe Republicans = Limbaugh.
 
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volinbham said:
I would bet less than 25% of Republican voters buy into all his crap.
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Then maybe they should clue in party leaders like Cheney and Rove. When those two are all over TV saying they'd rather have Limbaugh in the party than Powell, it sends an indisputable message. "We are the party of fat, angry white chicken hawks." If that's what they want to be, I'm sure nobody is going to stop them.
 
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hatvol96 said:
Then maybe they should clue in party leaders like Cheney and Rove. When those two are all over TV saying they'd rather have Limbaugh in the party than Powell, it sends an indisputable message. "We are the party of fat, angry white chicken hawks." If that's what they want to be, I'm sure nobody is going to stop them.
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They could certainly tone it down and do themselves some good.

No need to trash people in the party to get points.
 
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volinbham said:
They could certainly tone it down and do themselves some good.

No need to trash people in the party to get points.
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There's value to it if you are more interested in amassing your own power and financial base than you are the long term consequences of what you are spewing as just rhetoric.
 
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volinbham said:
No need to trash people in the party to get points.
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Trashing people is the only skill Cheney and Rove have. If you make them stop that, Cheney will be reduced to counting the money he's siphoned from the government to Haliburton & Co. and Rove will have to go back to his job as a character actor playing "Fat, dorky kid as an adult" in Disney Channel movies.
 
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volinbham said:
Bottomline. Do you believe there was/is a strategy by Carville, Emmanuel, etc. to paint Limbaugh as the leader of the Republican party?
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Of course it's a strategy. A very effective one. Why? Because Limbaugh and his supporters/defenders are out of touch loons.
 
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hatvol96 said:
Trashing people is the only skill Cheney and Rove have. If you make them stop that, Cheney will be reduced to counting the money he's siphoned from the government to Haliburton & Co. and Rove will have to go back to his job as a character actor playing "Fat, dorky kid as an adult" in Disney Channel movies.
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Fine with me.
 
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hatvol96 said:
Of course it's a strategy. A very effective one. Why? Because Limbaugh and his supporters/defenders are out of touch loons.
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So - if you say Limbaugh is the leader of Republicans then you imply Republicans are out of touch loons.

That's the entire point. When you parrot these talking points about Limbaugh you are buying in or playing along with a strategy that distorts the situation. Presenting the link as fact is clearly wrong (factually).
 
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volinbham said:
So - if you say Limbaugh is the leader of Republicans then you imply Republicans are out of touch loons.
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That's the strategy. Since the fascist right of the party has done a good job driving anyone capable of independent thought out of the leadership, the Democrats have zero problem executing their plan.
 
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hatvol96 said:
That's the strategy. Since the fascist right of the party has done a good job driving anyone capable of independent thought out of the leadership, the Democrats have zero problem executing their plan.
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Understood - just distinguishing between successful strategy and illusion and the true facts of the situation.

I find it interesting that those who aren't Republican are so adamant that RL represents Republican thought - that is the success of the strategy.
 
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volinbham said:
I find it interesting that those who aren't Republican are so adamant that RL represents Republican thought - that is the success of the strategy.
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The strategy is successful because the GOP has done such a pathetic job of cultivating any other voices.
 
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volinbham said:
Understood - just distinguishing between successful strategy and illusion and the true facts of the situation.

I find it interesting that those who aren't Republican are so adamant that RL represents Republican thought - that is the success of the strategy.
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No, no, that's not what I'm saying at all.

The established party of the GOP is not Rush-centric by any means. In the past, however, they could count on RL and Hannnity and others to tout the GOP agenda. And it worked pretty well with George Bush in 2000 and in 2004, for example.

But as the mainstream party has been more practical over the years, and less ideological, it has steadily driven a wedge between the traditional party leadership and the conservative commentators.

The 2008 election cycle is a PERFECT example of the tension. RL and Hannity and their fellow right wing commentators picked up the McCain ticket, but did so grudgingly because they viewed McCain as the lesser of two evils.

For a time, they were enthused by the addition of Palin. But then she started to wilt and a rift developed between her and the McCain people, and you could sense that RL & Co. were very unhappy that she was being cut loose like she was.

Now that Obama is in, the far right naturally thinks that the reason is that the GOP went too easy on him and didn't put up their own more conservative choice.

As we move to 2012, folks like Limbaugh are dead set on the GOP putting up a right winger, like Palin (or at least a Christian conservative), to challenge and reclaim the party. If its another vanilla candidate that the party elite select, you are going to see some serious shifts in support by RL and others away from Steele and the entrenched leadership.
 
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I don't doubt RL wouldn't support a moderate/centrist candidate (depending on what aspects of their platform are moderate).

I also don't believe that Colin Powell style Republican is what the party is looking for either. A fiscal conservative, socially moderate (or unconcerned), limited government candidate would do better than a Powell-style Republican. So long as the candidate isn't a hardcore social conservative (e.g. Palin) I think things would be fine.

A guy like Gulliani (if it weren't for his checkered past) represents the style that could be quite successful.

Obama is a perfect example of how you don't have to be anywhere close to the middle to gain popular support.
 
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volinbham said:
I don't doubt RL wouldn't support a moderate/centrist candidate (depending on what aspects of their platform are moderate).

I also don't believe that Colin Powell style Republican is what the party is looking for either. A fiscal conservative, socially moderate (or unconcerned), limited government candidate would do better than a Powell-style Republican. So long as the candidate isn't a hardcore social conservative (e.g. Palin) I think things would be fine.

A guy like Gulliani (if it weren't for his checkered past) represents the style that could be quite successful.

Obama is a perfect example of how you don't have to be anywhere close to the middle to gain popular support.
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Gulliani is an interesting choice. He would appeal to the center of the party. Strong on defense, can pass for fiscal conservative.

But his organization did poorly last time out and he has some personal baggage that is going to piss off some. He's not perfect, but with his post 9/11 image, he might could get the job done.

Particularly if at the time there is a serious national security and military issue in the fore.
 
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lawgator1 said:
Gulliani is an interesting choice. He would appeal to the center of the party. Strong on defense, can pass for fiscal conservative.

But his organization did poorly last time out and he has some personal baggage that is going to piss off some. He's not perfect, but with his post 9/11 image, he might could get the job done.

Particularly if at the time there is a serious national security and military issue in the fore.
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He doesn't have a chance. I use him as an example though of how you don't have to be a middle of the road player to be successful. A Palin-style is too imbued with the negative stereotypes of conservatism. A Huckabee-style could prevail but he's a disaster to me - socially conservative but fiscally moderate. A Gulliani-style could be successful (not sure one is out there now though - possibly Jindahl).
 
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volinbham said:
He doesn't have a chance. I use him as an example though of how you don't have to be a middle of the road player to be successful. A Palin-style is too imbued with the negative stereotypes of conservatism. A Huckabee-style could prevail but he's a disaster to me - socially conservative but fiscally moderate. A Gulliani-style could be successful (not sure one is out there now though - possibly Jindahl).
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When Huckabee went on FOX with a regular show, he abanadoned any shot he might have had. Not because its FOX, but because he's now on record way too much, and with video. Any opponent could put together a montage of his worst, and he'd be doomed.

Look at the last few presidents. Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, Obama. They come out of relative obscurity to win. A tv personality has no prayer.
 
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