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The infighting is really bad

Submitted by CJK on Tue, 03/03/2009 - 15:15
in

Conservatives really need to stop the infighting whose most recent incarnation is Limbaugh vs. Steel.

To catch everyone up, Steel described Limbaugh's show as "ugly" to the media, which infuriated Rush and the grassroots. Steel was forced to reconcile himself with Limbaugh. But now moderates are complaining that we're doing exactly what the Democrats want us to do by making Limbaugh into a leader in the Republican party.

So who exactly benefited from this exchange?

The Democrats of course. They were able to present the following information to the American people:

1. Even Republican insiders think Limbaugh is bad.

2. These same Republicans are too cowed to stand up to him because of his influence (at the same time they accuse Obama of catering solely to Liberal interests and their agendas).

3. The GOP is so fractured between moderates and hard-liners that it can't come up with a coherent policy.

I don't want to cast blame for this on Limbaugh or Steel, because this is just one example of the larger infighting that is gripping the Right. Republicans and conservatives of all stripes are doing the Democrat's dirty work for them: portraying the party as too caught up in internal squabbles to create any coherent policy for the American people.

Maybe my memory is faulty but I don't remember this sort of infighting from the Dems in 2005. It would be as if in 2005 Howard Dean decided to trash Michael Moore or some lefty hero, and then was forced to back down. The Democrats would have been portrayed as the party held captive to deranged loons.

So we need to get serious and direct the guns towards the Dems and not each other.

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The Republicans have no idea what they stand for

Submitted by lagomorph on Tue, 03/03/2009 - 15:27.

Thus, the infighting.  Frum's another recent Limbaugh attacker in, of all venues, The Huffington Post...

I've often said that Rush is outrageous, but I'll take him over David Frum any day.  I thought his speech was excellent, and if I had the time I'd record my observations about how his body language and conversational techniques almost precisely model Obama's in terms of modality, tonality and subliminal messaging. 

A GOP candidate could learn a lot from Rush's delivery and the amount of energy and emotion it rendered.  This is precisely the style and result that should be employed successfully by anyone hoping to capture votes and influence ideas.  Notice I didn't say copy all of his content (some if it is spot-on conservatism, some is rather incendiary entertainment) - but definitely copy his speaking techniques.  They are extraordinary.

I'll let you in on one technique that he uses to great effect - his phony elitist accent is actually an affectionate tribute to an old and now-departed friend of his, elite conservative William F. Buckley.  I don't recommend anyone else trying to pull this off, it's mainly an inside joke to those who remember Rush's appearances on Buckley's Firing Line.  For those who think Rush is anathema to elites, Buckley held Rush in very high esteem as an effective conservative voice railing against liberal failures.  You can't really get more elite than that. 

Gosh I wish conservatives would study their own history.

Take personalities out of it to understand.

Submitted by artigiano on Tue, 03/03/2009 - 16:55.

You can analyze this thing from an Obama/Rush/Steele/Anyone perspective. But that will only get you part way to comprehending the problem.

Maybe my memory is faulty but I don't remember this sort of infighting from the Dems in 2005. It would be as if in 2005 Howard Dean decided to trash Michael Moore or some lefty hero, and then was forced to back down. The Democrats would have been portrayed as the party held captive to deranged loons.

There's your key point. It could never in a million years happen to Democrats. Simply because any Democrat is free to harshly criticize the views of any other Democrat, and both still remain Democrats in good standing with all the other Democrats. It can devolve into an unattractive hissy fit (as the current situation is) and no Democrat would really care, except to be embarrassed for the two participants. There are no sacred pooba's who must be kowtowed to in the Democratic party. It's called tolerance. And it is a foreign concept in the GOP.

A Big Tent party is going to have room for all political stripes from near-anarchists to near-totalitarians, and everyone in between. That's how you make sure everyone gets a place at the table and a slice of the pie (not a whole pie). And all the zillions of happy pie eater votes are thus no problem. The base problem is that the GOP has devolved into a pointless withhunt of, "I am a true conservative. And thou are a shameful heretic!"

In that battle there will always be those at the top of the hierarchy and those below. The fact that Rush has appointed himself top of the heap is immaterial. If it were not him, it would be someone else, because the game is rigged to have one winner and everyone else loses. The bloodbath has begun. And all of you in the GOP will eventually lose. There will be one left standing as the divine and most pristine conservative. And I'm pretty sure one vote isn't going to swing any elections.

Stop now because your party is becoming a reality TV show. We Dems will keep tuning in as long as you are willing to provide free entertainment.

Damn, now you made me agree with you

Submitted by lagomorph on Tue, 03/03/2009 - 17:04.

You had me at

The base problem is that the GOP has devolved into a pointless witch hunt of, "I am a true conservative. And thou are a shameful heretic!"

Great analysis, Arti.  Mad props for that.