Posted on 02/26/2021 4:00:01 AM PST by MtnClimber
In a trail of observations that began with Trump's campaign in 2015 and peaked during the last year of his life, the late Rush Limbaugh, as he was in and out of the studio battling cancer, was on a path to the previously unthinkable. He was ready to let go of the ideology he'd spent three decades promoting — Reaganite conservatism — and replace it with right-wing populism. Specifically, the right-wing populism of the just-defeated Republican president. Why?
Limbaugh, the self-proclaimed "mayor of Realville," was constantly trying to see around corners. What he saw was a political movement that offered more staying power and strength against the left than the ideological one he'd been associated with since 1988. That calculus wasn't based on election outcomes. It was informed by the first Republican voter realignment to occur since Reagan's election. Here is how Limbaugh described it in the days after Trump's Republican convention speech on the White House South Lawn last year:
Now, what emerged was the new Trump Republican Party. And it's a fascinating change. It's the party of the little guy. It's the party of working America, not politicians, not elitist think-tank denizens. It is literally the party of working Americans.
Limbaugh never missed the chance to rib what might be called Cruise Ship Conservatism. As an entertainer with a massive following, he found it ridiculous that other media personalities would cultivate the small-time celebrity role. But "elitist think-tank denizens" was a stand-in for the country club set, too. With a small-town upbringing and blue-collar audience, Limbaugh relished the idea of his being "the party of the little guy."
Limbaugh realized that right-wing populism was more appealing than conservatism to the little guy.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
I hope Trump launches Rght Wing Populism at CPAC. He is going to have leftist prosecutors trying to give him a colonoscopy for years so he will have baattles on multiple fronts.
After 2016 I also noticed that Rush was beginning to see the failure of conservatism, post Reagan. I welcomed his conversion. Bush #41 failed to carry the movement after 1988. Bush #41 was responsible for free trade, Dick Cheney and endless war, the abandonment of any push back on social issues including abortion and, of course, his evil seed, Bush #43.
This is nothing new for Trump......he prospered and succeeded mightily in the dog-eat-dog worlds of
gaming, reality TV (topping the ratings for 14 years) and real estate development's dangerous dark environs.
What Trump had to put up with in those venues makes politicians and their toadies look like mental defects.
I think Reagan Conservative and Trump populism are the same. They both was fighting Communism... and RINOs...
I always thought Limbaugh’s “Undeniable Truth” that the Republican Party was the “modern home of conservatism” was shakey. It may have been mostly true, but Limbaugh himself was certainly Mr. Republican throughout his career. If I am right about that then Limbaugh’s oddessy toward populism was more a matter of getting pulled along in the Trump tide.
Rush was about done with the Republican Party. Not conservatism.
Rush never abandoned conservatism. Period.
Rush was always a populist to a great degree. Had he just spouted the Country Club Republican line, he would have had no audience. The airwaves have been full of country club types since the Rockefeller days, and they’re a dime a dozen. Rush was always for the small businessman, because he was one.
If Reagan were alive today he'd enthusiastically support a wall. He'd enthusiastically support drilling. He'd enthusiastically support Israel's demand that Iran not be allowed to have a nuke. He'd firmly oppose the "Paris Accords". He'd firmly believe that there are only two sexes,two genders and that you can't actually change either...not even with a scalpel or with hormones.He'd enthusiastically support expelling all 30 million of the wetbacks living here. He'd enthusiastically support low taxes. He'd enthusiastically support "if you want peace,prepare for war".
I could go on...but basically there's not a hint of a doubt that he'd be an enthusiastic supporter of Trump...and Rush.
The author tries to paint a false dichotomy Conservatism vs America First Populism. Consequently the rest of the article is pure garbage.
Conservatism was NEVER at “home” in the GOP.
Real Conservatism IS Populist
(My old tagline: “They hated Reagan too!).
Exactly. This is like an extensive article that goes to great effort to differentiate between somebody's "mobile number," and their, "cell number."
The only comfort I take from this article is that the author wasted more time writing it than I did reading it.
I guess as far as the other side is concerned i.e. Democrats,they’ve gone full blown commie.
No. Rush did NOT abandon conservatism. Sometimes he supported candidates that weren’t exactly Reaganites, but it was out of pragmatism. He understood that he who is not elected can never govern.
“the late Rush Limbaugh”
Still very painful words to read.
Rush never abandoned conservatism. Period.
Establiment Republicans abandoned Conservatism. Period.
I don’t agree that the term ‘Conservatism’ deserves the bad rap that it gets. To me, conservatism has always meant doing what’s best for the country, and in the 1990s, we needed to crush unions (who literally HATE this country), and the best way was with free trade. But it went too far, obviously, and we got China and an army of middle-class Americans thrown out of work.
So we SELF-CORRECTED with Trump. Time to bring the work back here (hopefully without the union crap), while the Democrats became took over the Globalism.
In my lifetime the Democrats have been on the WRONG SIDE of every damn issue in this country (other than, maybe, going to the moon). They LOVED Russian when Russia was threatening to level our cities, they HATED Reagan for wanting to defend those same cities, and then they HATED Russia once they stopped threatening us.
They are totally f’d up, and yet here we are...
The sad truth about our govt is that 100% of democrats and 70% of Rep are utterly and thoroughly corrupt and they all need to go.
“...but Limbaugh himself was certainly Mr. Republican throughout his career.”
Naa, not true. Rush fought TOOTH AND NAIL against Bush Jr’s Amnesty pushes in 2005 and 2006, and that was DESPITE the GOP begging him for support of Amnesty. Rush knew full-well, even back then where the country was on the issue, not just his listeners, not just the Republican base, but the ENTIRE COUNTRY. The GOP just saw $$$ from Amnesty and didn’t give a crap about the damage it would do here.
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