Posted on 03/03/2009 10:24:42 PM PST by lowbridge
EDITOR'S NOTE: August 1, 2003, marks the 15th anniversary of The Rush Limbaugh Show. In the September 6, 1993, issue of National Review James Bowman wrote about Limbaugh, his role in broadcast media, and leadership among conservatives. Bowman's article, an NR cover story, is reprinted here.
Which is the real Rush Limbaugh — the merry prankster of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, or the unifying voice of conservatives across the country? Just tune in . . .
To begin with, he's not Mr. Limbaugh. You've got to call the ornament of the EIB (Excellence in Broadcasting) network, the man so used to the adulation of his fans that he long ago asked them to skip the praise with which they prefaced every phone call and just say "Ditto," the man who likes to claim he has "talent on loan from God," just plain Rush. That's what the ever-courtly Ronald Reagan, who has never met him, calls him. A month after George Bush's defeat by Bill Clinton last year, Reagan sent him the following unsolicited note:
Dear Rush,
Thanks for all you're doing to promote Republican and conservative principles. Now that I've retired from active politics, I don't mind that you have become the Number One voice for conservatism in our Country.
I know the liberals call you "the most dangerous man in America," but don't worry about it, they used to say the same thing about me. Keep up the good work. America needs to hear the way things ought to be."
Sincerely, Ron
To some of those close to Reagan, the letter is evidence that the former President is losing his grip. "If Limbaugh is leader of the opposition in the true political sense," one of them told me, "then we're in serious trouble."
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
(in the background: UN Ambassador Kirpatrick, Bill Bennett, Newt Gingrich, Jack Kemp and Bob Dole)
I’m not shilling for Rush and I’m still not completely convinced that he didn’t usher in Obama with his Operation Chaos, but... I believe Rush should seek the GOP nomination in 2010. He is every bit as qualified to be president as anything the Democrats can dig up (with the possible exception of The Beast) and Obama will spend the rest of his term in a panic or in a hurry to shut him up. Either way, Rush has 11 million votes in his pocket (including mine) and he can easily convince the American public that they’ve been screwed by Obama. If Arnold can win in California because he’s famous, Rush can win the White House. I think he should do it.
The office is below his pay grade.
With all of Rush’s money, he can afford to take 8 years off. Plus, think of the Saturday morning presidential addresses!
And... the State of the Union messages!
If Rush went after the nomination in the usual way - making speeches, taking donations, running in primaries - he’d have to quit his radio show almost a year before the actual election, giving up his great 15-hr-a-week forum.
That won’t do.
We need some way to “draft” him at the last minute, after the GOP has put up some sacrificial cow like Mitt Romney as the “official” candidate.
David who?
LOL!
Operation Chaos did NOT bring Obama into office.
It kept Hillary in the race a lot longer than she would have been otherwise. It was the only thing that prevented Obama from running away with the nomination a heck of a lot earlier than he did.
Rush will not seek elected office. Rush did not get Obama elected in Operation Chaos. On the contrary, he ran all out pro-Hillary in Operation Chaos for the purpose of extending the Donkey primaries. He went out of his way to point out the totally in the tank media coverage of Obama and their unfair coverage of Hillary. This perception of Operation Chaos has been misreported a lot. Rush’s purpose was to extend the primary to allow more political bloodying up of Obama because the media had failed to cover him properly.
As for the presidency, he is right. The GOP needs to find and nominate the right candidate. This means a hard core conservative who will not back down against Obama and will not spend their time making nice with Democrats (like McCain).
There’s no way he’d do it. That is not his strength. He would be too curtailed and he would not have 3 hours each day to explain what he’s doing as president.
Why? The law doesn't mean anything anymore. Foreign born? No problem. Illegal foreign campaign contributions? No problem. Corrupt appointees? No problem.
Why should Rush bother to follow the laws when nobody else does?
If Romney the RINO is the best we can do, I doubt Rush would be able to save us from ourselves. We need to get our conservative acts together and either find a conservative candidate that is true to principle or we need to start a third party and broker power to achieve our goals. Ranting on chat boards isn’t going to stop the communist takeover of our country. Its time for Action!!!
Because he has what the other side lacks: honesty and integrity. He wouldn't be who he is if he stooped down to their level.
I agree. You make a good point. He wouldn't break the law and that would put him at a disadvantage. But... he'd make a great president!
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