Rush slams Daniels on big tent

Politico ^

[Sub-Driver]

Rush slams Daniels on big tent By: Jennifer Epstein February 14, 2011 02:42 PM EST

Mitch Daniels called on the GOP to look beyond talk radio listeners to find voters — but Rush Limbaugh isn’t having it.

“You don’t diss the people who are already audiences of those shows — you don’t say that they’re irrelevant or unnecessary,” Limbaugh said on his show Monday afternoon when asked about Daniels’ comments. “Who won elections for your party year after year after year?"

Speaking Friday at CPAC, Daniels said that Republicans needed to broaden their appeal to win elections.

“We will need people who never tune in to Rush or Glenn or Laura or Sean, who surf past C-SPAN to get to SportsCenter,” he said.

Daniels's speech was well-received and has sparked speculation that he is seriously considering a run for the Republican presidential nomination.

Attacks on talk radio, Limbaugh said, were "of course done to impress the mainstream media.”

The conservative talker suggested that Daniels was pushing to discredit talk radio and the tea party movement.

“Now he did say that we need to move beyond the audiences of Rush and Sean,” Limbaugh said. “There’ s a context here maybe … that I assumed people understand and know, maybe you don’t.”

Though “it’s going to be interpreted as being petty,” Limbaugh continued on.

[Artemis Webb]

Mitch Daniels continues to take one step forward and two steps back. I suspect if he got the nomination he might be quite electable but he seems insistent on dumping on those conservative primary voters who’s votes he obviously needs.

I’m starting to think he’s a little stupid.

[lormand]

Yes, we win in a huge landslide.

FudgePAC reaction: we need to "expand our tent"

[lormand]

Mitch Daniels is an ethanol drinker isn't he?

[skeeter]

He's desperately trying to find a way forward that doesn't involve having to listen to the conservative base.

Good luck with that Mitch. Dummy.

[truthguy]

“You don’t diss the people who are already audiences of those shows — you don’t say that they’re irrelevant or unnecessary,”

And Daniels said nothing of the sort. I listened to Daniels speech and replayed it several times. This burns me up about Limbaugh. He mischaracterized the nature of Daniels speech which simply pointed out a demographic fact. That fact is that Conservatives do NOT constitute a majority in the US and that they ALONE are not sufficient to bring about a victory in 2012. I simply invite those of you who think Rush Limbaugh has a monopoly on wisdom to go onto Ytube and listen carefully to the speech. Then make up you own mind. Please stop letting Rush Limbaugh do your thinking for you.

[Servant of the Cross]

Mitch Daniels is a Trucer. He is also:

[twister881]

Daniels is short, balding, and a nebbish. He cannot win, particularly with women who vote based on tall, distinguished, and a full head of hair.

[BigSkyFreeper]

“We will need people who never tune in to Rush or Glenn or Laura or Sean, who surf past C-SPAN to get to SportsCenter,” he said.

Most people who watch nothing but Sportscenter, ESPN, MTV, Comedy Central, don't give a rats rear end if the world is coming to an end.  They're not "plugged-in" as it were.

I have relatives and friends like this.  They walk up to you and say, "Did you see the football game last night?", and I'm like, "Uh no.  Did you hear Obama is spending us into oblivion and putting all that debt on the backs of future generations not even born yet?" and they'll look at me like I was speaking gibberish and their eyes just glaze over, then they guffaw and say, "Well!  You missed a really good game!"

[icwhatudo]

So much for any mojo he got from the Drudge listing. I was starting to take a look but now—NOPE!

[Psalm 144]

The only thing keeping the GOP in business is the Democrat party.

[truthguy]

Mitch Daniels continues to take one step forward and two steps back. I suspect if he got the nomination he might be quite electable but he seems insistent on dumping on those conservative primary voters who’s votes he obviously needs.

I’m starting to think he’s a little stupid.

Did you even listen to Daniel's speech? I invite you to and then come back and tell me he's a little stupid. That was one of the best speeches I've heard since Ronald Reagan. Reagan won because he was able to unite the disparate groups within the Republican party. We will lose for sure in 2012 if we don't have a candidate who can unite the party.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Sounds to me like you don’t think very highly of women.

[Batman11]

“Daniels is short, balding, and a nebbish. He cannot win, particularly with women who vote based on tall, distinguished, and a full head of hair.”

I don’t know enough about Daniels yet, but they elected MuBarack and he’s clearly gay!

[truthguy]

Daniels is short, balding, and a nebbish. He cannot win, particularly with women who vote based on tall, distinguished, and a full head of hair.

You are correct about the issue of being short and follically challenged. But Nebbish. You couldn't be more wrong.

Neebish- A person regarded as weak-willed or timid.(Webster's)

Boy are you off base on that one.

[Gipper08]

Limbaugh understands Mitch Daniels, you do not. Mitch Daniels is not “one of us” on any issue, and yes he is anti conservative and looks down on us.

[OldDeckHand]

"I listened to Daniels speech and replayed it several times."

I've watched the speech, and I've read it several times. I think it's remarkable. It was well-delivered, but it reads even better. I'm afraid your defense will fall on deaf ears.

We are, as a conservative movement, in a post-intellectual period. That is to say, we no longer value deep, reflective examination of complex issues in a serious way. Instead, we value red meat and vitriol that can best be reduced to the 140-characters of a Tweet. The age of Buckley is over, and the age of the conservative showman reigns supreme.

Daniels is saying nothing more than what Carville & Begalla said in 1992 - it's the economy stupid. Clinton didn't run on a platform of a pro-choice, gun grabbing homosexual side-show revival. Instead, he picked a message - the economy - and stayed with it. Of course, Clinton delivered on everything he didn't talk about it, because the liberal base knew that, with a wink and a nod, they'd be taken care of after the ballots were counted, and they were.

If we try to re-litigate the social wars of the 1990s in the 2012 campaign, we're toast. Obama will win walking away, doing untold damage to the down-ballot Republican candidates.

[truthguy]

Sounds to me like you don’t think very highly of women.

He's correct to a degree. There are millions of women who will vote for the best looking or youngest candidate regardless of any other qualifications. I know at lease a half dozen of these types. They are mostly unmarried women under 30 who went for Obama in very large numbers. These women would vote for Brad Pitt if he was running. These women gave Jack Kennedy victory in 1960, and that's a fact. The numbers prove it that they can make a difference in a close election.

[nhwingut]

I’m not supporting Daniels (and think he sticks his foot in his mouth too often). But his comments were taken out of context. I watched it.

He said we need to reach out to the folks who are basically apolitcal - who may surf by Hannity to watch ESPN or something.

I didn’t take it as a diss at all on Rush.

[truthguy]

I can’t improve on your post. 100% agreement.