http://www.gallup.com/poll/114163/Limbaugh-Liked-Not-Republicans.aspx

But I think Juvers is mostly right too that it’s generally the media doing the “fighting” at this point, not necessarily the politicians. After all, Obama just nominated a very fiscally conservative, Republican senator to be his commerce secretary.

It works currently, however. Simply because Rush is the only one doing any sort of talking. (An argument could be made here that Sean Hannity has roughly the same amount of air time and similar ideas.) Republican / Conservative constituents have nowhere else to turn right now. I’ll be interested to see how long this lasts and who steps up on their side to take a leadership role.

As for Scott’s wish that any of this could cease so that real governing could be done, it’s the evil of American politics. Note however, that few legislators are taking part in this sort of banter. It’s the media gurus. But it’s necessary. We’re a few months shy of gubernatorial/congressional/senate candidates staffing up for their 2010 bids for office. If you aren’t on offense, then you’re on defense, and nobody likes being the guy in the corner. Thus, someone must always be on the front lines.

What I take from that statement is that the Dems aren’t attacking Limbaugh, they are attacking the Republicans in general by associating them with Limbaugh. Maybe he is the most influential person in the party, and maybe he is the moral and intellectual leader. Certainly, though, there are members of the Republican party who are sane, reasonable, intelligent people. Why not paint one of them as the face of the party? Associating those upstanding Republicans with Limbaugh or Palin in an attempt to keep the entire party down is just another version of the divisive politics we have all come to hate.

I want the people in Washington to quit focusing on fighting each other and start focusing on fixing it. Fix it!

I can definitely see what you’re saying about being hypocritical, but I’d say it’s not Obama doing it. It’s unfortunate that the whole party isn’t following suit, but Limbaugh is one of the most consistent leaders of the party. Having already said he hopes Obama fails, I don’t see any issue with painting him into a corner.

Yeah, that’s definitely the strategy you outlined, Juvers.

The White House is preaching bipartisanship pretty hard right now. Wouldn’t you say it is hypocritical to say you are bipartisan and then work so aggressively to keep the Republican party down? Painting Palin or Limbaugh as the face of the party and capitalizing on their stupidity might be a good way to win elections, but it hardly jives with the unifying message that was preached by this administration during the election.

Now, there’s sketchy stuff to how those numbers came about (registered voters, likely voters, interested in politics, etc.) that make this somewhat of a lame poll, but it’s still relevant to the point I’m going to make.

While the GOP is struggling to figure out what they stand for, they Dems are attempting to make Limbaugh the face of the Republican Party. Without being able to go after Bush any longer, they’ve picked a member of the party that has numbers that are just as low.

You all know well my partisan beliefs, but I’m skeptical as to whether or not this will work. As the old saying goes in this arena, “never argue with someone who buys ink by the barrel.” Limbaugh is an entertainer, that only conservatives are listening to anyway. And he has loads of airtime to voice his opinion.

As much as I would like to never have to hear her again, I would much rather we take our chances with Palin as the face of their party, and continually prove how ill-equipped she is to play at this level.