Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine, the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, has jumped into the fray. Let me make clear that I understand the comments from Mr. Kaine to be a press release, and Ben Smith of Politico just posted it.
"I was briefly encouraged by the courageous comments made my counterpart in the Republican Party over the weekend challenging Rush Limbaugh as the leader of the Republican Party and referring to his show as ‘incendiary’ and ‘ugly.’ However, Chairman Steele’s reversal this evening and his apology to Limbaugh proves the unfortunate point that Limbaugh is the leading force behind the Republican Party, its politics and its obstruction of President Obama’s agenda in Washington. Just this weekend, Rush Limbaugh repeated his claim that he is rooting for the President to fail. The last time Rush Limbaugh said he wanted the President to fail, virtually every single Republican in Congress followed his lead and voted against the President’s plan to create or save 3.5 million jobs.
"As Congress works to pass the President’s budget, Republicans need to stop following divisive figures like Rush Limbaugh, stop apologizing to him and put aside the failed politics of the past so we can put our economy back on track, reform our health care system, break our dependence on foreign oil, improve our schools, and lay the foundation for long-term growth in the 21st Century."
What Jesse Jackson was for Republicans in the 70's and 80's, Rush Limbaugh is now for the Democrats. That may sound harsh, but that's the truth. They had Jackson and Carter for decades to focus on, and now we have Limbaugh and Bush. The Republican leadership has got to be concerned about their long-term strategy. I could go over the numerous stories to back-up their long-term problems, especially regarding demographics, but I think we're all familiar with the math. Heck, I heard Ed Rollins(Reagan's campaign manager) say that if today's demographics existed in 1980, Reagan would have lost.
Another note; how goddamn easy was this for Rahmbo? The Republicans all did exactly what we thought they would. I seriously think Michael Steele is unlikely to claim again that Rush is not the defacto leader of the Republican Party, as he did Saturday evening during an appearance that he now surely regrets. When responding to Steele's apology tomorrow, I almost want Rush to say "how do you like me now?" Then again, I'd prefer he stops saying things altogether.
To quote President Obama, Rahm once tried to put Machiavelli's "The Prince" into ballet. I would respond more to Chairman Kaine's press release, but I don't think there's much else to discuss. My grin is way too big right now. Let me end on this thought from Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo;
Dems gloat after Rush awards himself sole custody of Steele's testicles.
Update:
David Brooks of the New York Times says the Republican Party is currently unfit to lead. Will any other Republicans have the balls to say that about the Party of Limbaugh?