Idaho Values Alliance

In political circles, there has been much bloviating about the role and influence of Rush Limbaugh in the conservative movement in general and the GOP in particular. There is little question in my mind that, when it comes to thinking about public policy, he is the single most influential voice for conservatism in America today. The conservative movement is, in large measure, Rush Limbaugh and the Seven Dwarfs.

His supposed pomposity, in my judgment, is nothing more than a part of his entertaining shtick. Even he refers to himself frequently as a “harmless little fuzzball,” indicating he’s just having fun. But his political philosophy is dead serious.

GOP leaders tied themselves up in knots over the weekend trying to figure out how to position themselves vis-à-vis Mr. Limbaugh and his thunderous reception at CPAC, with party chairman Michael Steele suicidally calling Limbaugh’s remarks “incendiary” and “ugly,” and Eric Cantor trying to finesse the “I hope he fails” position Limbaugh has taken with regard to President Obama’s policies.

But if they have a problem with Limbaugh being the leader of the conservative movement, then they had better get busy finding another champion. Limbaugh has become the de facto leader of conservatives because there is a vacuum at the top and he’s the one filling it. Steele certainly forfeited his chance to be that guy by using the leading exponent of conservatism for target practice on national TV.

If for some reason they want to distance themselves from Limbaugh, they need to zero in on this question: What public policy positions has Limbaugh ever advocated that they disagree with? I’m guessing they won’t find any.

As the constant stream of critical press releases from the RNC prove, Limbaugh’s critics do not want President Obama’s policies to succeed any more than Limbaugh does. Obama’s policy prescriptions are bad for the country, bad for our economy, bad for the moral fiber of the American people, and contrary to virtually every element of principled conservatism.

Until they can come up with someone better, they’ll need to be content for Limbaugh to be the spokesman for the movement, and cheer Mr. Limbaugh while he pulls the oar. After all, he’s got 20 million people a day listening to him. How many people are listening to them?

If they distance themselves from Limbaugh, they risk alienating his 20 million listeners (read: voters; read: conservative base). Does that make any sense unless he’s just flat wrong on the issues?

If they like Rush’s message – and they better, because it is undiluted, unapologetic conservatism – then they’d better get past the superficial issue of the way he presents himself and become his biggest cheerleaders. The bigger his audience is, the better for the conservative movement in America, the better for America’s future, and incidentally the better for the GOP. And the sooner Michael Steele gets it, the better.

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