Posted on 11/08/2006 11:54:25 AM PST by Ol' Sparky
'Liberated' Limbaugh flays GOP for lame campaign
Radio host: Conservative values not trumpeted by 'I'm-afraid-of-my-shadow Republican Party'
Posted: November 8, 2006
2:10 p.m. Eastern
By Joe Kovacs
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh says Republicans are to blame for their own demise at the polls by failing to run a campaign trumpeting conservative values.
"You and I hunger for ideological leadership and we're not getting it from the top. Conservatism, conservative ideology was nowhere to be found in this campaign from the top," Limbaugh said today in his post-election analysis. "The Democrats beat something with nothing. They didn't have to take a stand on anything other than their usual anti-war position. They had no clear agenda and believe me, they didn't dare offer one. Liberalism will still lose every time it's offered."
Democrats took control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 1994, with the fate of the Senate still uncertain.
Limbaugh said Republicans allowed themselves to be defined by Democrats and the media, and says they instead should have gone on the offensive.
"It's silly to blame the media. It is silly to blame the Democrats. It is silly to go out and try to find all these excuses," he said. "We have proven we can beat them. We've proven we can beat Democrats. We've proven we can withstand whatever we get from the drive-by media. Conservatism does that. Conservatism properly applied – proudly, eagerly with vigor and honesty – will triumph that nine times out of 10 in this current political environment and social environment in this country. It just wasn't utilized in this campaign."
Limbaugh, a longtime proponent of conservative ideology, believes the primary reason Republicans didn't campaign on their beliefs is "fear of criticism from those in the so-called establishment; and nobody wants to be criticized and nobody wants to go through their life in fear."
He listed a number of benchmarks which should have been the basis for successful campaigns including no terrorist attacks on the U.S. since Sept. 11, 2001, gasoline prices averaging $2.08 per gallon, increased take-home pay, a strong economy and an unemployment rate at a historically low level.
"We all know that there's very positive things happening out there, but it was not trumpeted by the people who should have been shouting it from the rooftops because they were proud of it," Limbaugh said. "They should have been shouting it from the rooftops, 'Look what we've done! Look how America can improve. Look how your future is brighter!' ... instead of allowing the template to be set by its critics. ... You have a defensive, Gee-I'm-afraid-of-my-shadow Republican Party."
In answering questions about how he feels about the election results, Limbaugh said, "I feel liberated. ... I no longer am gonna have to carry the water for people who I think don't deserve having their water carried. ... If those in our party who are going to carry the day in the future both in Congress and the administration are going to choose a different path than what most of us believe, then that's liberating. ...
"There have been a bunch of things going on in Congress. Some of this legislation coming out of there that I have just cringed at. And it has been difficult coming in here trying to make the case for it when the people who supposedly in favor of it can't even make the case themselves."
During the last mid-term congressional election in 2002, Limbaugh proclaimed the Democratic Party to be in total chaos, and advised it to drop failed strategies if members wish to see political gains in the future.
"They're a party in total disarray, total collapse, total chaos," he said at the time.
During the 2004 campaign, Limbaugh said the Democratic Party was completely without a leader in its hunt to regain the White House, and members were desperately trying to invent one.
"They are so absent leadership right now it's a joke," said Limbaugh, "and everybody knows this in the media, and the Democrats are out trying to manufacture one – they're trying to create one. And they've got this list of nine candidates for the Democratic nomination, and nobody can name one of them."
Conservatism didn't lose if you were not reading any posts. Dems had to run as such to get elected. Liberal ideas, the war notwithstanding here in California lost out. We stopped massive oil taxes and tobacco taxes that would drive a pack of cigarettes to nearly 7 bucks a pack. Republican complacency was the idea behind this thread and that was my point. Conservatism lost because virtually no candidates embraced this. If Reps had been harder about immigration, the war issue could have been a lesser issue. I believe the war was the right thing to do and I still do, but no conservatives voiced this as there were none running to be found, hence a party lost, not an ideology.
Kind of a low blow from Rush. No Republican candidate turned me off as much as Rush when he gets into a cronyism groove: "I know Don Rumsfeld. I like Don Rumsfeld. Don Rumsfeld's a nice guy." etc. Rush, we needed to win over the people who weren't so crazy about Rummy.
Ah yes, the elephant in the room that nobody wants to admit.
America seems to be moving back to the center---and the extremes of BOTH parties should better start paying attention.
btt
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1734745/posts
Point number 3 in the 3 things Republicans learned last night according to Mehlman.
Perhaps you could elucidate on what issues the Republican party need to "moderate" on in order to avoid these conservative defeats.
Good point about RINOs, they do serve a purpose. Anybody doubting that need look no further than AZ8, RINO Kolbe retired and the hard right GOP lost to the lefty Dem. Now I'm not sure the GOP could have gotten somebody RINO enough to replace Kolbe, but they certianly would have had a better chance than they got with a non-RINO.
Can't blame the Libertarians though. The job of a candidate is to get the votes, successful politicians pull in those non-hardliners (like Reagan did with the Libertarians), for the same reason that RINOs are occassionally necessary too.
"Scott McClellan should have never been hired for such a visible position. There had to be someone other than Ari Fleischer or Tony Snow who could present a cogent counterpoint to the MSM and not just stand there like a punching bag."
I got that impression as well. He just stood there and took it and 'well, yes, well' them (the lib media) until he just looked like THEY WERE RIGHT with their badgering because he didn't offer any counterpoints!
A whole new breed of Conservatives like Newt Gingrich, Tom DeLay, etc. is needed for the R's survival in power position!!!
I wouldn't say that. Many of the democrat candidates were running as conservative democrats. Hell, in some cases they were MORE conservative than the republican candidates!
Conservative America hasn't, but the Repubilcan congress did for a decade.
Doubling the Dept of Educations budget?
Bridge to Nowhere
A Toilet Museum!
The list goes on and on and on and on.
95% or more of the Bush administration and the GOP congress has NOT been conservative in any way, shape, or form.
Bravo! Blackbird.
I agree with you about the press. One of their guys estimated that the press is worth about 10 percent to Dems, and that sounds about right. But it is a fact of life, like the sun coming up. You can complain that the sun blinded you when you looked at it, or you can wear sunglasses. And the GOP failed to don sunglasses.
Maybe he was trying to stave off FBI raids on more and more congressional offices because of the rampant corruption.
This is true...........LOL.
Exactly, methinks the raid hit a little too close to home for Hastert's sake.
He lost because of the same hate machine that has been targeting W since 2000. They succeeded this time.
Sure makes more sense to take that approach...'cause telling conservatives to "hold their noses" and vote for pro-abortion, anti-Second Amendment, pro-amnesty, pro-gay-marriage liberals sure ain't cuttin' it, now is it?
Ack-pfft!
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