Yesterday in the Los Angeles Times, a writer named Zev Chafets extolled the power of Rush Limbaugh to inspire the right-wing Republican base. He said (here) that Limbaugh
got his way with the choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Limbaugh now believes, with more than a little justification, that the pick was an effort by McCain to satisfy him and fellow conservatives. And he is indeed satisfied. In an e-mail last week, Limbaugh informed me that, post-Palin, his support for the McCain ticket was "balls to the wall."
This is a very big deal. A satisfied Limbaugh means an enthusiastic Limbaugh, and an enthusiastic Limbaugh could be the difference in a close race. Between 14 million and 20 million people listen to him every week, by far the largest audience in talk radio. His show energizes the Republican base, but, even more important, it appeals to a great many conservative Democrats and independents of the kind McCain needs to win swing states.
Absolutely true. Limbaugh was a huge fan of Palin -- "Guns, Babies, and Jesus!" he crowed, when she was named to the ticket. "Hot damn!" (By the way, Limbaugh was a huge fan of going to war in Iraq for oil, and now hugely opposed to the bail-out. Could he be equally wrong this year, as he was in 2003?
Yes, says David Brooks (here) in The New York Times. Unlike Limbaugh, he fairly distributes the blame, from President Bush ("who has squandered his influence with Republicans as well as Democrats"), to Henry Paulson ("an inept legislator"), and including House leaders Barney Frank ("media darling") and Nancy Pelosi (for giving a speech as if she was "at a Democratic fund-raiser").
But most of all he blames the "the loudest and angriest voices" on the right -- talk radio hosts, whom he calls "nihilists."
They showed the world how much they detest their own leaders and the collected expertise of the Treasury and Fed. They did the momentarily popular thing, and if the country slides into a deep recession, they will have the time and leisure to watch public opinion shift against them.
House Republicans led the way and will get most of the blame. It has been interesting to watch them on their single-minded mission to destroy the Republican Party. Not long ago, they led an anti-immigration crusade that drove away Hispanic support. Then, too, they listened to the loudest and angriest voices in their party, oblivious to the complicated anxieties that lurk in most American minds.
Now they have once again confused talk radio with reality. If this economy slides, they will go down in history as the Smoot-Hawleys of the 21st century. With this vote, they’ve taken responsibility for this economy, and they will be held accountable. The short-term blows will fall on John McCain, the long-term stress on the existence of the G.O.P. as we know it.
Perfect example. Some quotes from yesterday's Rush Limbaugh show as the market takes its biggest fall in decades. (As a Wall St. disaster-maker, Bush is now bigger than 9/11.)
Limbaugh blames the Democrats, of course, mentions Bush, and then like Nero with his fiddle, happily blathers on, pointing the finger at everyone but himself, as the market melts down...
There goes the Dow, down 603.49 since the thing has failed. This is a monumental day. There is so much to learn in what happened here today... This tells me that the Democrats easily holding the House and Senate is not a slam dunk. This tells me that a lot of Democrats in the House really fear not being reelected, and you see how those Democrats voted. So, folks, once again, the lesson is ignore the conventional wisdom...I shouldn't say this, but I'm going to say it anyway. Screw the market! ...When the government fails to pass a socialism bill and the market goes south, let it go south.
You got it, Rush...
