Back to that matter of cooperation from Limbaugh's people--While evenhanded treatment of its subject was hardly demanded, the cooperation seems to have ensured that the Chafets book would be published. It would be mildly interesting to know whether that was ever in doubt, something the publisher's not saying.
Some elements are clear enough. Thirty pages (154-185), or three chapters, are devoted to recent episodes in Limbaugh's career that have helped solidify Limbaugh as hero of racists in the right wing. "The Magic Negro," about Obama, key phrase drawn from a far more intelligent newspaper column by David Ehrenstein; "The Guns of August," about Limbaugh's attacks on now-Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor; and "Welcome to the NFL," on Limbaugh's ill-fated short-term gig as ESPN sports host undoubtedly help Limbaugh appeal to the hearts and pockets of the audience that has made him a multi-millionaire--the self-pitying "Everybody's-getting-freebies-but-me' bauerisch types who lack the guts to vent their own racial stereotypes.
This later chapter outline, such it is, plays into the broader game plan already dimly outlined in current "hearings' on Supreme Court nominee, where GOP senators have seized on the opportunity to dump on the distinguished Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall.
"Southern strategy,' anyone?
In this vein, Chafets' last chapter, "Forward to the Past," focuses on dreams of what Limbaugh might still accomplish for the right in 2010. Short on political foresight and precision, it seems mainly partisan boosterism and anti-Obama polemic. Similarly, an epilogue titled "The Party of "Hell No'" is pretty much cheer-leading.
Fortunately for Chafets, the book went to press before the partial verdict of some 2010 primaries had come in. Perhaps that is why the book came out so early, rather than in the traditional slow-news and beach-reading days of August: Limbaugh has not had a track record of unmixed success in the 2010 election cycle. He was tepid about Scott Brown in Massachusetts' special election, touted as the premier example of "Republican renaissance'. He picked the right horse in Texas Gov. Rick Perry against Kay Bailey Hutchison and Florida's Marco Rubio against Gov. Charlie Crist in GOP primaries--not hard calls--but Crist is running ahead of the major party candidates in Florida as an independent, and Perry faces highly possible defeat by former Houston mayor Bill White. Meanwhile, Limbaugh also favored J. D. Hayworth against John McCain in Arizona. Hayworth is being crushed by McCain, as are Tea Party candidates in some other states though not all.
Limbaugh also opposed health-care reform, opposes reforms on Wall Street, inveighs against information about climate change, and heartily endorsed "Drill, baby, drill"--a line of thought rapidly losing popularity following the BP gusher in the Gulf of Mexico. This is not a good time to be a spokesman for deregulation, if you seek influence, with runaway acceleration in automobiles, the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf, the deaths of miners in West Virginia, and rampant abuses in the financial sector. Limbaugh even lambasted GOP officeholders who demurred at Rep. Joe Barton's apologizing to BP.
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