Ground Game

Rush Limbaugh says he won’t compromise his conservative principles to support John McCain, even if McCain is the Republican nominee for president. So, Limbaugh is steadfast and resolute – except when he’s not. Reading about the radio commentator’s neophytic approach to absolutism reminded me of something remarkably different Limbaugh confessed after the 2006 midterm elections.

First, Limbaugh on McCain:

If a candidate who is asking me and the American people for his vote isn't particularly conservative on a wide array of issues, I'm going to talk about it. It's not my job to get him elected. . . . I'm in the free speech business. I am not a campaign spokesman. I believe it would be a setback for the Republican Party to attract liberals and independents by being like them in order to attract them."

Compare that to Limbaugh in November, 2006, asked about the Republican collapse:

But the way I feel is this: I feel liberated, and I'm just going to tell you as plainly as I can why. I no longer am going to have to carry the water for people who I don't think deserve having their water carried. Now, you might say, "Well, why have you been doing it?" Because the stakes are high. Even though the Republican Party let us down, to me they represent a far better future for my beliefs and therefore the country's than the Democrat [sic] Party does and liberalism.

That’s Limbaugh. Always consistent – except when he’s not.