Rush Limbaugh, Leader of the G.O.P.? I Think Not..

This would be a complete joke, if the accusation wasn't arising from the White House. Rahm Emanuel, Obama's Chief of Staff, insinuated over the past weekend that Limbaugh was thetitular head of the Republican party.

"He is the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party," said Rahm Emanuel on CBS' "Face the Nation. " I think that's the wrong philosophy for America, because what Americans want us to do and what President Obama has been very clear about is working together, setting our goals."

Limbaugh, never to shy away from a fight, took the White House accusations head on, especially about the comment about wanting Obama to fail:

"I don't want economic failure. I don't want the kind of pain and suffering that we have now to get any worse. It's the exact opposite. I don't want this economy to get worse just so people learn the truth about Obama. Now, if Barack Obama all of a sudden came out and said, "You know what? I think we need to do something here in the midst of this recession. I'm going to resend my capital gains tax increase and I'm going to suspend capital gains. And, you know what, I think we can really improve the economic circumstance if I would cut the corporate tax rate in half, and maybe just suspend capital gains for three months. Maybe have a tax holiday on FICA, Social Security withholding. Well, I tell you, I would become Barack Obama's biggest cheerleader in this country. If he actually proposed ideas to jump-start this economy, so there isn't any more economic pain and we can bottom out at some point and start building this back."

But this is deja vu all over again. Remember 1994? Bill Clinton went on the attack against Rush at the time, for some off the cuff remarks about Janet Reno. Limbaugh used it to have a surge in his rating. Clinton had to deal with Limbaugh for his entire tenure, and Republicans still believe that Limbaugh helped them win the 1994 elections. Chuck Todd, on the Today Show, had a similar comment to Meredith Viera.

Democrats and the White House are ecstatic that Michael Steele apologized. They've been trying to make the case all weekend that Rush Limbaugh was the face and the leader and the intellectual force of the Republican Party. Here Michael Steele, the newly elected chairman of the Republican Party, criticized him. Looked like it was going to be a rift, and in less than one news cycle, he apologizes making that point. But Democrats ought to be careful. The last time they thought and they were giddy about the idea, uh, of a talk radio guy being the face or the inspiration of the party, he helped lead them out of the wilderness and get them back into power.

What is more interesting is the plot the Democrats have been planning for months to use Limbaugh as the key to their attack against conservatives. Rahm Emanuel, James Carville, and others have been polling and planning this attack against Limbaugh since last October, according to the Politico. But it was a more far reaching plan than just the White House; groups from the Democratic National Committee, the Center for American Progress, labor unions, and others have admitted to planning to work in unison against Limbaugh.

In the end, the whole thing is ridiculous. First of all, those that love Rush will continue to love him, and those that hate him will do the same. That isn't going to change, regardless of what the President or his Chief of Staff say. Second, Limbaugh loves the spotlight, and the White House is dumb enough to give it to him. He revels in it. And generally, when he gets this much attention his ratings go up. I am not sure that is the kind of response the Democrats want. Third, and most important, the public doesn't believe the nonsense that Rush is leading the G.O.P. Hell, Limbaugh said he would be embarrassed to be running the Republican Party with their recent track record.

Again, the Democrats are making a tactical mistake. They are unifying the Republican base, while at the same time not accomplishing anything in return other than get their own supporters to hate Limbaugh, which they already do. This is a boon to the Republicans. Additionally, they do realize that Rush loves noting more than this kind of attention, right? You watch; his ratings will surge over these weeks. And he is using the controversy to his advantage; today he challenged the President to a one-on-one debate. Liberal phone callers deluged his show, which tells you that first of all, they were listening, when last week they likely weren't. I am not sure if what the Democrats want out of all this is more Rush Limbaugh listeners. The more Mr. Obama and his surrogates talk about Limbaugh, the better it is for those fighting against them.