So Rush Limbaugh is now patting himself on the back for thwarting none other than President Obama. He declares that Obama tried to "marginalize me"- and failed in the effort.
The same Rush Limbaugh that earlier said that he would either have anyone taking drugs in any amount executed or banished from America with no opportunity to return, then was compelled to admit to being an addicted Oxycontin user, has been declaring victory over a turf war in which he proclaims triumph over the president.
The incident Limbaugh refers to was a reference made by Obama to House Republicans at a time when he was seeking bipartisan support for his stimulus package legislation. Obama made a reference to the mistake of having the Republican Party tied to Limbaugh.
Pat Buchanan seized on proclaimed opportunity before Limbaugh. The same Buchanan who confidently asserted that Sarah Palin had "wiped the floor up with Joe Biden"- in the only vice-presidential candidate's debate last fall, an assertion the vast majority of Americans rejected, stated that by mentioning Limbaugh as he had to House Republicans that he had made a serious tactical error that strengthened Limbaugh.
Given the political mindset of Obama demonstrated over a successful two year campaign for the presidency when he catapulted from a first term senator waging an uphill race where at the outset he was given scant chance, he knows how to gauge public opinion and appeal successfully to a broad consensus of Americans.
In the light of that context, Obama was gently warning Republicans of the devastating results of not listening to the public.
This is an America in which Obama holds a much higher level of support than the loquacious Limbaugh, who plays to a segment of the populace that is becoming more marginalized with each subsequent poll.
Most Americans today, based on broad polling indices, support Obama's idea of a stimulus package. They also oppose including the same kind of tax cuts that the Bush-Cheney regime implemented with the support of a then Republican majority in Congress.
Obama's message was that Limbaugh is the loquacious voice for an ever diminishing viewpoint. To appeal to his mindset, with his supporters referred to by Limbaugh himself as "Dittoheads"-, is to risk defeat for the Republican Party on a national level.
This is the reality of what Obama said. This is why Limbaugh was a relevant symbol to raise.
Republicans once more did not get the point. As always, Limbaugh spews hot air and eschews reality.
