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Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Rich Galen :: Townhall.com Columnist
What Was He Thinking?
by Rich Galen
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Will the Dems' health care Christmas Present to America be an improvement or detriment to our health care system?


Here is some un-asked-for advise for the Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele: Go after the other guys.

If you've missed this (because it is so insignificant in the face of the Obama Administration ending Capitalism as we pointed out the other day) here are the basics: Michael Steele and Rush Limbaugh are in a spat.

How did this happen?

It happened because the Democrats are reprising their 1996 theory which was to fire a huge percentage of their ammunition not against the GOP party nominee, Bob Dole, but at Newt Gingrich.

At the time, we estimated that the DNC and its affiliates in the labor movement and other Left Wing organizations spent something north of $60 million to demonize Newt.

Why Newt? Because he was such a well-known commodity the Dems didn't have to spend a dime introducing him; they could spend every penny making him into the devil.

Newt, at the time, was the equivalent of McDonald's. If you drive past a McDonald's and see the Golden Arches you know everything you need to know about what is available inside that restaurant.

By the time the Democrats were done with Newt, it didn't matter what the issue was. All they had to say was "Newt's in favor of this" and 55% of the population was against it. No matter what "it" was.

The Obama White House is using the same technique against Rush Limbaugh. No surprise. The Chief of Staff at the White House is Rahm Emanuel - he was in the Clinton White House during the anti-Newt era and he saw how effectively it worked.

Now to the Republican National Committee.

Being the chair of a national committee when your party has control of the White House is not much fun. The White House calls all the shots and you can say or do nothing that some 23-year-old hasn't approved.

If you are the chair of one of the national committees when the other team controls the WH, it is - or should be - a great deal of fun. You can, like a child in a T-ball game, put the ball on the T, close your eyes, and swing as hard as you can. There are no policy implications if your party isn't in the White House.

Consider the RNC's position during the immigration debate of 2007. President Bush wanted comprehensive immigration reform and it didn't matter what the leadership of the RNC thought; the RNC was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the WH.

Smile and nod. Continued...
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About The Author

Rich Galen has been a press secretary to Dan Quayle and Newt Gingrich. Rich Galen currently works as a journalist and writes at Mullings.com

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(36 comments so Far)
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Reply # 1
Date: Mar 5, 2009 - 7:17 PM EST
The Message From Rush
In that I work construction I don't have as many opportunities to hear Rush as I would like. When I do listen the main message I hear him emphasis is the need for greater personal freedom and responsibility for every American. Isn't the reason this country was created in the first place was to guarantee freedom and allow each American to chart their own path in life? The pursuit of happiness is why we became the United States of America.

Apparently extolling the virtues of freedom and promoting the ideas of men like Washington and Jefferson make you some kind of right wing radical. The people that think that way must feel a lot more comfortable with leaders like Hugo Chavez, Vlad Putin and Barack Obama. Don't worry, Jefferson is out and Obama is in. That would mean freedom is on the way out too.
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Reply # 2
Date: Mar 5, 2009 - 4:37 PM EST
Conservative media to blame here!
Why didn't TH & other media write about
Rush's CPAC speech before NOW? I was so incredibly impressed that I couldn't wait to open my TH email the next day and read all about one of the best speechs on conservative principles since Ronald Reagan. However, there were none. As well, none the next day that I can recall. When will the conservative thinking media STOP WRITING, BROADCASTING, or PRINTING REACTIONARY RESPONSES? Everyone complains about the liberal media, let the ding dongs take their swipes or worse, and then wastes time writing a defensive piece. THAT IS PLAYING RIGHT INTO THEIR HANDS! They have control because they are allowed to dictate the subject, twist it up, and spit it out in the most obvious attempt to inflame the citizens. AND THEY ARE SUCCEEDING WITH A WHOLE LOT OF THESE LEMMINGS! The fact is, many people can't be "educated" however, some of their opinions can be swayed by truth when presented as Rush did it. What is the goal here? Is it to make one group right and therefore the other wrong? How will this lead to new ideas Rush spoke of? How will we ever get Americans to wake up if this remains a constant war of words? Using only the text of Rush's speech, highlighting conservative principles and ideology, one can win over those least informed by appealing to their core principles. I find it hard to believe that one of the most salient points of his speech was EVERY human being's natural and inalienable right to their self interest and preservation, as the root of their happiness, was not touted EVERYWHERE. Even liberals have self-interest in mind! Conservative media ought to be the first to highlight great ideas like Rush's. After all what matters to most, if not all, people is the freedom to be themselves.

SHAME ON ALL CONSERVATIVE MEDIA FOR BEING LED AROUND AND BAITED INTO THE BRAWL!
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