Conservative Author: "Rushification" Is Result of GOP Leaders' Incompetence

Conservative Author: "Rushification" Is Result of GOP Leaders' Incompetence


Broadcasters and commentators such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck and Michael Savage are seen as the de facto leaders of the Republican Party for a simple reason, according to a longtime conservative activist and author.

"It's because no one else is acting like a Republican leader," says Richard Viguerie, author of Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause.

Viguerie's comments relate to a controversy that blew up last weekend between radio host Limbaugh and new Republican Party chief Michael Steele. In a speech to a Washington gathering of conservatives, Limbaugh said he wanted President Obama to fail. Steele appeared on television, calling Limbaugh an “entertainer” and “incendiary.” Steele subsequently relented and apologized to Limbaugh.

"The 'Rushification' of the GOP is the natural and inevitable result of the fact that those who are supposed to provide leadership – Republican elected officials and party officers – are doing little to bring the party back," says Viguerie, chairman of the website ConservativeHQ.com and a pioneer of direct mail fundraising for conservative causes. "Nature abhors a vacuum, and there is no vacuum in nature as empty as the leadership of the Republican Party today."

Democrats have seized on the Limbaugh/Steele imbroglio, casting the bombastic Limbaugh as the face of the modern GOP. Although Limbaugh is popular with the Republican base, he is not viewed favorably by most Democrats and independents, according to published polls.

Viguerie has frequently criticized GOP congressional leaders in recent years, and called for their resignations following Republican losses in the 2008 elections.

In contrast to GOP officials, "Limbaugh and Hannity and most all of their conservative colleagues have something to say," Viguerie says. "They actually believe in something. They have the confidence of their convictions. They don't cower in fear of the president's popularity. They know that his popularity is built on the sand of false promises and false premises. Like Ronald Reagan facing the Soviet Union, they know how this story ends."

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http://onthehillblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/conservative-author-rushification-is.html

bush did not hijack the conservative cause, he was leader of the conservative cause for eight years. Our failures today are the direct result of the utilization of conservative values by conservative george bush and conservatives in congress. But you and your kind know your audience and the message they want to hear. limbaugh is a failure of a human being loaded with conservative values. He is the perfect person to lead the No We Can't Party.

"Nature abhors a vacuum, and there is no vacuum in nature as empty as the leadership of the Republican Party today."

There is not a leadership vacancy in the gop, viguerie and his fellow spinners would like us to think so.

how you can say that. I also haven't heard one valid contribution to counter everything the Dems have suggested for our country in the form of stimulus, healthcare, etc. I'd say the GOP has big problems that start with their leadership.

and will be for at least the next four years.

Yet no one has said otherwise, so I have to agree with you.

However, I think he is a great "representative" of that political party. Party members are afraid of him and will not dare disagree with him.

And nobody has the guts to take charge and set a course for the party to follow. The talking heads mentioned in the article are willing to spew their messages of "hate" and "fear" because it is what they do, and they make money doing so. The so called "leaders" of the republican party in congress have no idea what to do, so they have taken up following the advice of idiots like Rush, and Rush loves it! He can go on his show and say anything he wants, claim to be the most "powerful" man in the country, bash anyone he pleases no matter what party they belong to, and he gets away with it because nobody has the courage to stand up to him! This is great for us because it will not only keep independents from voting for republicans in 2010, but it is going to also, at least in my opinion, bring in moderate republicans who are tired of what their party stands for, or should I say what they party does "NOT" stand for! How can they claim to be the party of high morals with Rush as their leader?

Very few tyrants in history have had a bigger, weaker-minded pool of followers than the Savage Weiners, Hannidiots, and Dittoheads, et al.

I think the GOP's incompetence has always been and is just coincidental. "Rushification" is the result of their media/propaganda campaign and started back in Jimmy Carters presidency. It's a runaway freight train now. Like a mad dog that's attacking and eating it's owner. Ain't it grand.