The Descent Continues...Part II

The Battle Ensues...

In this corner we have Michael "The Man in Black" Steeeeeeeeele...

And in this corner, weighing in at over 20 million listeners, "El Rushhhhhh Booooooooooo"!

As the fight unfolds we realize this is not the simple infighting of an inclusive whole, but a battle to the death for the mantle of "Conservative Leader".  Can Steele  capture the conservative dynamic and deliver it to the republican party, WHILE changing the face of the party?  Will El Rushbo drive his listeners so far away from compromise that there is no hope for a viable republican party?  Let's take a look...

Steele fires the first shot, calling Limbaugh an "entertainer" and his comments "incindiary", trying to bring a moderate tone to the Republican leadership.  The problem with this is that Limbaugh's listeners are anything but moderate, and unfortunately they were a great chunk of what made up  the previous republican party.  So by alienating Rush and his fans, you are essentially giving up the most rabid conservatives in favor of, (or at least hoping for), a more moderate version of the republican party.  Will this work?  Didn't Obama get those moderates already?  If you can't count on Rush's 20 million to vote, then do you push left in the party, (thereby pushing the dem's more left)?  (By the way, after firing this "first shot", Steele promptly apologized for even questioning Limbaugh.) 

The point we are getting at here is that the republican party of the last 29 years is done.  It started with Reagan and ended with Bush.  What is left are the social conservatives that won't drop the abortion debate, and wealthy people.  I've got to tell you, that ain't much of a base to work from.  The main concern, (and should be deeply troubling to conservative thinkers), is that 

Rush Limbaugh is not a superior intellect, nor is he a leader, he truly is an entertainer, with his bottom line ending at a paycheck every week.  Can the republican party moderate itself from the divisiveness that the conservative movement has thrived on?  Can the republican party survive without the Far-Right?  Will Limbaugh realize soon enough that he may kill the republican party completely?

As the Descent Continues...(you would think that there would be a bottom somewhere don't you?)