Hedrik Hertzberg writes about Rush Limbaugh’s approval rating — it’s 21% among likely voters. Rush’s fans love him, in fact they love him enough to forgive him for being a hardcore drug addict. If I were a Democratic strategist (and we can all be glad that I’m not), I’d be shoving Rush Limbaugh down the GOP’s throat. This guy is an embarrassment, happy to cheer for America to go down the tubes because the right wing is waning in influence. Now that Democrats don’t have George Bush to inveigh against, they need to start making Rush Limbaugh the new right wing bogey man. I think some concerted effort could drive that 21% number even lower, and he’d take a lot of Republican elected officials with him.
February 5, 2009 at 1:39 pm
While I would like to agree with the sentiment that people don’t like Rush Limbaugh (I know I don’t) I wouldn’t put too much stock in poll results about him gathered by a “Democratic research firm.” It’d be more interesting if that result had come from a Fox News poll…
February 5, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Agreed, Jason…but if Fox did the poll we’d never hear the results.
February 6, 2009 at 1:54 pm
I have to admit that I kind of think that Limbaugh is to the Republican Party as GG Allin was to the Punk scene. Yeah, there are some hardcore fans, and at first it’s somewhat fascinating, but as the show goes on and it becomes apparent that it’s not an act, continuing to be a spectator just feels all creepy.
So, yeah, using Rush as the “this is what Republicans are like” demon seems like a practical strategy. And, yes, back in the early ’90s I used to listen to Rush occasionally, nowadays I can’t.
February 24, 2009 at 8:15 pm
I used to listen to Rush, but now I have to turn him off. It seems like he is so critical of anyone who disagrees with him, that it gets to be mentally unbalanced. I would not be surprised to hear that he has gone off the deep end. Rush has been married three times and all three mariages have FAILED. Is he thinking about his known failures when he hopes Obama fails. To me it sounds like reality and fantasy.