Posted on 03/05/2009 9:16:31 AM PST by upchuck
There's a reason White House aides have dubbed conservative radio ranter Rush Limbaugh the new face of the GOP - polls showed he's a big, fat target of opportunity.
Only a tiny fraction of voters younger than 40-11%--have a positive view of the talk king, a survey James Carville and other Democratic advisers to President Obama took last fall found.
That - combined with Limbaugh's more recent wish to see Obama "fail"--was all the White House needed to launch its coordinated campaign this week to cast Limbaugh as the hydra-headed leader of the temporarily headless GOP.
"Who in the Republican Party commands more fear than he does?" Carville asked the Daily News. "Nobody."
Limbaugh, clearly enjoying the attention, upped the ante Wednesday by challenging Obama to a debate on his radio show - while conceding that, yes, he is the GOP's "last man standing." The White House declined to comment.
"If you can wipe me out in a debate ... do you realize you will own the United States of America?" Limbaugh said on-air. "You will have no opposition."
Stoking the flames, Limbaugh mockingly urged the President not to send in his place any "lightweights," including "the ballerina, Emanuel."
The reference was to Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, a serious ballet dancer in his youth, who kicked off the strategy by calling Limbaugh "the voice and intellectual force" behind the GOP.
The White House's central aim, insiders say, is to stoke the anger of independents, a key bloc always more interested in solutions than in partisan naysaying.
Wednesday, the strategy came into full bloom when former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe penned an Op-Ed in The Washington Post headlined, "Minority Leader Limbaugh."
But the self-reinforcing power of the strategy, others noted, is that it depends on Limbaugh continuing to talk in ever-more divisive tones--a bet many are happy to make.
"As long as he's talking, we're happy," said Carville, whom Limbaugh referred to Wednesday as "a second-rate talking head" who--along with Emmanuel and adviser Paul Begala--looks like "a reunion of the Village People."
"It looks like that is going to work out," Carville said of Limbaugh's rhetorical ramp-up.
Of course BHO will wuss out.
buck buck buck buck buck
BA-RAAAACK!
I’d pay to see that debate...
Kenny is another liberal journalist. He’s probably worried about his job. Poor Kenny.
Rush should pull out his birth certificate during the debate....
Hello upchuck — this Rush/Obama thing is nothing more than a distraction.
Rush would mop the FLOOR with zer0...I would pay a considerable amount of money to have front-row seats to that slaughter...
“Stoking the flames, Limbaugh mockingly urged the President not to send in his place any “lightweights,” including “the ballerina, Emanuel.”
Bahahahahaha! Did Rush really say that? Bring it on Ballerina Boy!!
Rush would mop the floor with Obama, Carville, Emmanuel and Begala.
Rush had to grow on me, but now my hat is off to him. What a brilliant extemporaneous speaker. You know they will not accept the challenge; they will resort to dirty tricks.
The ‘Coward in Chief’ continues to fail.
Agreed.
He doesn’t need to wait until the debate, though. He should make his birth certificate public, now. It would put the usurper on the defensive. It would also make Americans aware of the eligibility issue.
If Rush really wants the Marxist to fail, this is another arrow in his quiver. Sling ‘em all. Let the Obamites defend them, instead of Republicans/freepers trying to play nice and surrrendering on this issue.
0bama has neither the courage nor the intellect for a real ,sans teleprompter debate with Rush. Or anybody else for that matter.
Watch who your calling old partner! LOL
Yes he did. He was on fire. Follow the link at reply #1 to read all he said. Well worth the time.
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