Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has finally addressed the controversy swirling about conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh’s three day dissing of Georgetown University Sandra Fluke for her advocacy of insurance covering birth control with the same bold, decisive, courageous assertiveness as the trees that he so loves in Michigan:
Mitt Romney steered clear of the Rush Limbaugh controversy until Friday evening, even avoiding a CNN reporter earlier in the day, when he addressed the issue after an event in Cleveland.
“I’ll just say this which is it’s not the language I would have used,” Romney said. “I’m focusing on the issues I think are significant in the country today and that’s why I’m here talking about jobs and Ohio.”’
Oh.
The reality: Romney can’t afford to lose Limbaugh — especially now that the same thing is happening as with all controversies involving Limbaugh: many conservative pundits and new and old media commentators begin adopting his line, in variations. The big thing going on among Rush’s many fans in the new and old media is: demonize and ridicule Fluke.
Will many women — particularly independent women voters — remember the silence, support of tip-toeing around Limbaugh when it comes time to cast their ballots?
It’s highly likely the Democrats will use this to hammer home a key message they hope to promote that Republicans are conducting a war on women.
Limbaugh has helped the Dems as if he handed it to them as a gift out of his formerly nicotine stained fingers.
Watch future polls on how GOPers are doing with women voters. I suspect the numbers will not be good for them. Limbaugh is gleeful: he is truly untouchable: he’s too big to rein in even if he loses some advertisers. He is a world to himself — consquence free, knowing that whatever he says his followers or those who fear his political wrath will quickly adjust their viewpoints so they can say:
“DITTO..”
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.