The power of Limbaugh, and what Obama plans to do about it
Amid the turmoil that historians may label the Battle of the Stimulus, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) did something unthinkable, at least for a Republican congressman: he publicly rebuked Rush Limbaugh. The conservative faithful did not look kindly on Gingrey’s comments, and he soon appeared on Limbaugh’s radio program to say, “I just wanted to tell you, Rush, and all our conservative giants who help us so much … that I regret those stupid comments.”
This cautionary tale makes clear that Limbaugh’s popularity among the Republican base gives him significant influence over the direction of the party. Because of this influence, liberals have often felt compelled to respond to Limbaugh: probable Senator Al Franken wrote a book called Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot, and liberal bloggers and watchdog groups make sport out of chronicling Limbaugh’s controversial diatribes. But now Limbaugh is getting perhaps what he has perhaps most wanted: a response from the Democratic leadership, particularly President Obama. Some might think that Obama simply has a responsibility to respond to Limbaugh’s attacks. But Obama and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs seem to have something other than their own honor in mind. They have recently engaged Limbaugh, it seems, because they have found a way to turn him against the very people who are most influenced by him: Republican politicians.
Rush’s Rise to Power
In the past half-century we have seen an evolution in media. The national television networks that used to monopolize news production competed for government licenses, which ensured that their coverage was relatively centrist, Professor Michael Traugott of the University of Michigan told the HPR. But now there is more airtime to fill, and audiences are larger and more fragmented, creating a market for partisan media outlets. Professor Philip Seib of the University of Southern California, the author of Rush Hour: Talk Radio, Politics, and the Rise of Rush Limbaugh, told the HPR that “the media has lost that centrist mindset.”
Rush Limbaugh was able to grab hold of this media climate and create a juggernaut. He is a rallying point for the conservative base, though both Traugott and Seib agreed Limbaugh wins no converts, but rather “preaches to the choir.” According to a recent Gallup poll, Limbaugh has 60 percent favorability among Republicans, compared to 25 percent among Independents, and six percent among Democrats. Because the Republican choir is most likely to pressure Republican representatives, and is often encouraged by Limbaugh to do so, Republican politicians are either Rush disciples themselves, or else fear getting on his bad side. Traugott said that Limbaugh urges intra-party solidarity; Limbaugh claimed credit for the unanimous rejection of the stimulus bill by House Republicans. Seib said that there is a vacuum of leadership in the Republican party, and that Limbaugh is filling it.
Obama and Rush
But in President Obama, Limbaugh may have found an even fight from the other side of the political fence. One might assume, Seib said, that “Barack Obama was the best thing that’s happened to Rush in years.” But the Obama administration has not ignored Limbaugh’s comments, as Democratic leaders tended to do over the last 20 years of Limbaugh’s radio reign. Three days into his presidency, Obama told Republican leaders, “you can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done.” Karl Frisch, a senior fellow at MediaMatters, a liberal media watchdog group, told the HPR that Obama needed to recognize Limbaugh’s influence: “Limbaugh said he wanted Obama to fail, and congressional Republicans walked to the floor and gambled on his failure.”
But those who think that such acknowledgment of Limbaugh’s influence will backfire, perhaps by dragging Obama into the mud, may underestimate the new anti-Rush strategy. For Obama is doing more than acknowledging and responding to Limbaugh himself: he is daring Republican leaders to ally themselves with the “conservative giant.” As Frisch said, the problem “doesn’t have to do with his listeners, it has to do with the people his listeners influence.” When Republicans respond to Obama’s criticisms by defending Rush, as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) did at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February 2009, Obama can tie them to Limbaugh’s controversial antics, frequent misstatements, and angry tirades. In what can be accurately called political jujitsu, Obama is trying to use Limbaugh’s influence against the very people who most trust in him.”