Rush Job: Inside Dems' Limbaugh plan

*** From Politico.***

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.

Soon it clicked: Democrats realized they could roll out a new GOP bogeyman for the post-Bush era by turning to an old one in Limbaugh, a polarizing figure since he rose to prominence in the 1990s.

Limbaugh is embracing the line of attack, suggesting a certain symbiosis between him and his political adversaries.

"The administration is enabling me,” he wrote in an e-mail to POLITICO. “They are expanding my profile, expanding my audience and expanding my influence. An ever larger number of people are now being exposed to the antidote to Obamaism: conservatism, as articulated by me. An ever larger number of people are now exposed to substantive warnings, analysis and criticism of Obama's policies and intentions, a ‘story’ I own because the is largely the Obama Press Office.”

The bigger, the better, agreed Carville. “It’s great for us, great for him, great for the press,” he said of Limbaugh. “The only people he’s not good for are the actual Republicans in Congress.”

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19596.html

This is interesting.

The prevailing thought is that the hard right is on its death bed. And Rush seems to think he is going to be the man who will give the hard right a renewal.

Its a gamble, and the odds are stacked against Rush.

The moderates of the party probably know this as well and figure if they give the hard right enough rope, they will hang themselves. Once they are done hanging, begin the process of rebuilding. The hard right is in denial.

BUSH-LIMBAUGH. We need to prevent the Republicans from "re-branding."

Limbaugh has been dogging Carville to death for 17 years. I have been hearing Limbaugh's Clinton and Carville imitations for at least that long. Now suddenly its a masterstroke to go after Limbaugh? Ingenius?

This is so stupid its funny. If its true that these guys used polling, and high-level operatives to figure this out, then we are in worse trouble than I thought.

This is not an ingenius strategy, its called self-defense. Thing is, it took 17+ years for our side to figure it out.

After Bush was gone. No one would agree that Rush was the head of the GOP during the Bush years. Bush (really Cheney) was obviously the head. Now this is not just a political trick. There is enough evidence out there for people to think that he actually IS the party leader. The Steele apology cemented that idea for a lot of people.

for misrepresenting my views.

... who thinks the premise of the OP is absurd. Writers are writing about it. Pundits are talking about it. Here comes sampsonblk who outsmarts them all.

There are always opportunites. People who have courage take them. Others wait around and take polls.

Given that it wasn't until last October that the polling evidence mentioned in the piece was found.

But I do know where you're coming from - you hate to see Carville's name attached to anything successful.

But perhaps you can point to any obviously organized effort by the Democratic party to go after Limbaugh pre-October 08.

I have no problem with Carville. Never have.

My point is that Rush Limbaugh has been around for ages. Only a complete idiot would need a poll to figure out that we need to go after him immediately. This has to be the dumbest thing I have seen in years. A poll??? Someone needed a poll???

Oh wait. Maybe the GOP will wait a decade or so and take a poll to see who (if anyone) they should go after people on our side.

C'mon. Some stuff is common sense. And if anyone takes this long to arrive at common sense, they don't deserve any brownie points for it.

dinner parties at Limbaugh's house in
the company of Alito and others.

Carville is a self promoting slime
merchant just like the large one.

This controversy has been concocted
by Rushbo and Carville so that they
and others so they can keep their
jobs.

Personally I don't think Pres Barack
gives a damn what Limbaugh, Carville or
Rove have to say.

:)

I think Republicans are.

Why else would they all have to apologize to him when they question his ideas and/or authority?

and they're just playing into this strategies hands..