The Circus is Back in Town

Last June, I wrote a column about the impending return of Rush Limbaugh if Obama won the presidency. I was dismissed as being unrealistic because Rush already had his 15 minutes of fame back in the Clinton 90s. Surely, our country and the Republican Party, had matured enough that Mr. Limbaugh would be kept at the fringe of political discourse. Well, I have to say it… I Told You So!

Make no mistake about it – The Circus is back in Town and Rush Limbaugh is P.T. Barnum. I can’t believe I am doing this but Britney Spears in her song “Circus” explains why Rush has found center stage of influence within the Republican Party. “There’s only two types of people in the world:
The ones that entertain, and the ones that observe.” Rush Limbaugh is the leader of the Republican Party because everyone else is ill equipped for the job of facing Obama.

Let’s look at the potential competition:

Michael Steele – the Queen of England of the Republican Party who talks a good game but is not sure whether he wants build the party or implode it before the 2010 midterm elections.

Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter – the Marsha and Jan Brady of the conservative movement. It is problematic to try to build a political party by alienating everyone else. It is not enough to say what the other guy is doing wrong… how about offering solutions? Nah, that won’t happen.

Bobby Jindal – the hope of the Republican Party who almost looked like Obama. It took only one shot at the national stage for this guy to mess up a year of good press coverage. If I didn’t have my egg timer, I would have missed his presidential aspirations as it left the confines of reality.

Why Rush? He is smart, charismatic, and has been through the public perception war against a popular Democrat (Bill Clinton). He understands that politics in America is not about ideology but infotainment. We want information but we want to feel good about ourselves when we hear what is going on. To rank and file Republicans, Rush was the leader behind the Contract with America, not Newt Gingrich… and by the way, Rush never had to give up his position of Speaker of the House of Representatives so there is none of that baggage.

Finally, Rush has gone through the cycle of being the Party Favorite to being the guy that no one wants to talk about in polite company. Rush gets the joke that the Republican Party needs him to lead them back out of the political wasteland. Plus, he knows two things that is sure about American political influence: 1) this rebirth won’t last very long, and 2) he is going enjoy it while last.

Cartoon by Taylor Jones, Politicalcartoons.com. The above cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to appear on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.