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tweakabelle -> RE: George Will... Republican Leaders Are Afraid of Rush Limbaugh (3/5/2012 1:52:28 AM)
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I hope I'm wrong but it seems to me that a lot of people are failing to realise the full extent and critical importance of Rush's role and function within the GOP and Right wing of US politics.
Rush connects with, speaks to and for the more uglier, nastier part of the GOP constituency - the. racists, American supremacists, the crude thugs who want to destroy all welfare and medical assistance for the disadvantaged, the xenophobes, the religious fanatics and other assorted nuts found at the more extreme end of the Right, the people who don't read the George Wills or other thinking conservative commentators. So the hideous agenda these people have gets aired, the constituency feels recognised, nurtured and the haters realise that the GOP really is the party that shares and promotes their horrible agenda. And while Rush cultivates these elements, the GOP is free to publicly and plausibly deny that it is extremist or the party of extremists.
The GOP needs these people's votes, their money, their support in order to maximise its influence and vote. Yet it can't be seen publicly to court these unacceptable elements - that would alienate too many moderate votes. So Rush fills the gap in a manner that is 'unofficial' yet convincing. It's a kind of plausible deniability. It delivers all the results the GOP needs without any of the risks that chasing extremist votes entails. And if, as often happens, it all goes belly up, then it can be dismissed as merely the rant of an 'entertainer' and not official GOP policy at all. It's almost all upside with little downside, as long as it's managed properly.
This is Rush's core role in the GOP scheme of things. His position in the media offers many other advantages too - eg. friendly interviews, favourable editorial, broadcasting smears and lies to discredit opponents or their policies and so on. Rush can do all these things in a way that suits the GOP, that ensures they get all the gains while minimising the risk of an adverse reaction from the middle ground. From a GOP perspective, Rush's role is connect with the extreme elements, to keep them within the GOP umbrella and to ensure that the GOP prospers from its covert cultivation of the ugliest elements of the looney Right.
It's easy to dismiss him as a buffoon and a thug - but do so at your peril.
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