However, the fact that many on the right feel he moves the party too far to the center is a valid argument as well. This is an honest intellectual debate for conservatives to have. In that vein the quote below is from David Brooks. I'd love to here people's thoughts on this.
So the myth returns. Just months after the election and the humiliation, everyone is again convinced that Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity and the rest possess real power. And the saddest thing is that even Republican politicians come to believe it. They mistake media for reality. They pre-emptively surrender to armies that don't exist.
They pay more attention to Rush's imaginary millions than to the real voters down the street. The Republican Party is unpopular because it's more interested in pleasing Rush's ghosts than actual people. The party is leaderless right now because nobody has the guts to step outside the rigid parameters enforced by the radio jocks and create a new party identity. The party is losing because it has adopted a radio entertainer's niche-building strategy, while abandoning the politician's coalition-building strategy.
The rise of Beck, Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and the rest has correlated almost perfectly with the decline of the G.O.P. But it's not because the talk jocks have real power. It's because they have illusory power, because Republicans hear the media mythology and fall for it every time.
3 comments:
Are you saying that you find it hard to believe that Beck and Limbaugh are popular because people simply AGREE with them? It seems like you are dismissing that very real possibility. Therefore, your attempt to redefine the Republican party by taking it to the middle is really going to mean they will keep losing.
I do not doubt for a second that people agree with them. I actually like Hannity and O'Reilly quite a bit. What I am wondering is whether or not the Republican Party is aligning itself with a movement which is represented by Beck et al.
While their collective audiences are impressive, they do not seem to be enough to elect a national candidate. I think political parties should be about building coalitions in order to further an agenda. The movement lead by Beck et. al. can and should be part of the Republican coalition, but they can not be the only part if we want to move forward.
I'm not sure the Republicans want the Beck people to be honest, and the Beck people seem to be fine with going Independent from what I can tell.
I do not put Hannity in the same league as Beck; Hannity is a Republican hack. O'Reilly I like, but he tries to be too impartial.
Beck and Limbaugh are the voices of the Reagan style conservative movement, and many people (such as myself) who follow them do so because we believe in the basic Constitutional values our country was founded on, and wish for a return to it.
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