He always had way more fun in attack mode than defense. Inisde he’s dancing the happy dance.
Definitely.
If Hilary wins president in 2008, he’ll be like a pig in shit, well, moreso.
Such slander against pigs. I think you owe shit an apology as well.
Just as the Hollywood Left went into hiding for the benefit of the Democratic Party, so should Rush and some others for the benefit of the Republican Party.
The Dems didn’t figure it out right away, so I don’t expect the GOP to figure it out either. Certain members of each political party are so jazzed up and negative about the other party that it has the reverse effect and makes their party look bad.
Rush has lotsa material now. And the more he has, the more the GOP might need to cringe. His act was good for a while, but given this new fuel, he is purely detrimental.
But the Hollywood left cares about actually accomplishing certain political goals. All Rush Limbaugh cares about is stirring the pot and making more money for Rush Limbaugh. I can’t see him changing.
I have to say that I have heard conserative talk radio the day after the elections, and it was in general upbeat, basically OK we have a setback, now lets get back into the game.
And I have heard Air America the day after some of the elections where their side lost big and it was very depressing, like the world has ended.
Just my humble observation
Yeah, you guys are better. We totally suck. 
It’s called denial, plain and simple. Ignoring reality has been a conservative coping-mechanism since as long as I’ve paid attention, one I will concede is remarkably effective at making the delusory seem credible.
I wonder if excessive virol could backfire on Rush, though – I mean, are his listeners going to quickly forget that he was backing the Bush Administration’s disastrous policies? If he was untrustworthy when he said “Bush is doing a great job,” why should they trust him when he says “Nancy Pelosi is a subversive atheist commie”? (Yeah, I know, critical thinking isn’t a strong point of Rush’s audience…)
And in a quasi-related note, Al Franken opened today’s Al Franken Show with the line, “Now that the Democrats have taken Congress, Air America’s job is done! …and we can go bankrupt.”
rjung, the problem with that is that the people who listen to Rush Limbaugh saying that Bush is doing a great job actually believe that Bush is doing a great job, so they’ll believe it when Rush says Nancy Pelosi is a commie.
Rush Limbaugh and his fellows are always ranting. They succeed at swaying the electorate when they have something to rant about. Their big moment came in ‘94. What was special about ‘94? Was it that Rush & Co. accused the Democrats of being tax-raisin’, big-spendin’, gay-lovin’, commies. Nope. They’d been leveling such accusations for many years. '94 was special because the right-wingers actually had tangible charges to pound on: tax hikes, the Clinton medical plan, gays in the military.
Rush can rant about Spekaer Pelosi to his (considerably smaller) audience from now until November of '08 if he wants. He won’t shift votes by generic ranting. He can only move votes if the Dems hand him a big issue to work with.
For the Dems, caution and moderation is the key. If they stick to simple, popular items (minimum wage hike, pay-as-you-go spending, reduced deficits, student loan assistance) then the furious right-wing attacks will only look desperate. If the Dems get too aggressive (a major move towards socialized medicine, for instance) then '08 will be '94 all over again.
I, too, thought Rush would be doing a big ole happy dance seeing as how he’s sure to keep his job for at least 2 more years but today he sounded downright sad.
He talked quite a bit about how the ‘so called medical science people’ were wrong about Atkins and the Atkins diet, sequae abruptly to a small polical complaint or comment, seque back to Atkins, repeat again, etc. I’ve never heard so much hemming, hawing and paper shuffeling on his show as I did today.
He seemed to be deflated or at a loss for words today.
Haw haw!
I don’t listen to him regularly, but if you look at his website pics it’s obvious he’s put some weight back on vs where he was a year or two ago.
Rush wouldn’t be a household name if Clinton hadn’t been elected, he admits this. Limbaugh may be a twit, but he knows his medium and his audience very well.
garygnu:
I’d love to know where you saw an admission of this. His program was already the # 1 rated on talk radio for years before Clinton was elected, and his first book, on the bestseller list for months, pre-dated Clinton’s election as well.
I suppose it’s possible that Clinton-hate caused some growth in his audience, but to credit (or blame, depending on your point of view) Clinton’s election for his immense name-recognition in general is insane, and I can’t imagine he would have said so himself.
Okay, these guys don’t deserve to have anybody carry their water. That’s true. But I have to grin at the funny, pretentious implications of what Rush said. he’s too good to carry their water? Please. That’s all he knows how to do. He is a mountain of self-importance, a professional loudmouth who doesn’t think for himself and answers to nobody. And “they” failed “him?” Sounds like he doesn’t want to carry their water anymore just because they lost. Gimme a break. He’d be singing a different tune if the GOP still had the Senate.
When you get right down to it, Rush is saying in seriousness what Stephen Colbert said in jest on Election Night, when he yelled “you don’t deserve a Republican majority!” and stormed off the set, only to change his mind when he was told that the Democrats had only been in power for a few minutes, and they’d already gotten us stuck in this unwinnable war.
Although I’m a Pub, there were some folks in my party who had to go, and I voted against them. Now, I hope that the Dems don’t squander their opportunity to make improvements. Clean slate-what is written is up to them, and will determine my vote in '08
I can’t find a cite. IIRC, Rush said something* to the effect that the Clinton election was a boon to his career because fewer people would listen to his show if he was just agreeing with a Republican administration. It’s the common-enemy effect. He was popular before, but his show took off like a rocket in 1992 and he became a leading voice of the opposition, which couldn’t have happened if he wasn’t the opposition.
*: It is possible he was only agreeing with a statement by someone else.