Is Limbaugh the Leader of the Republican Party?

Somebody should get the message to Michael Steele that he may be the chairman of the Republican National Committee, but his identification as the leader of the GOP is titular at best.

The self appointed Generalissimo of the movement conservatives; the grass roots fanatics who steer the party, is none-other than the self righteous one himself, the ideologue and talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

It was Limbaugh, the great proclaimer himself, who four days before Barack Obama was inaugurated to the presidency of the United States declared that he hoped that Obama "fails."

Sitting in a bunker below his estate in Florida, Limbaugh has been issuing his marching orders to Republicans who are only too eager to comply with the radio talk show celebrity's every pronouncement for years.

But why are so many members of the media as well as numerous political commentators making this distinction regarding Limbaugh's extraordinary power over the Republicans now?

Nothing makes the point of Limbaugh's godfather-like powers than what recently occurred to Phil Gingery, a Republican Congressman from Georgia who had the audacity to complain while standing at the House podium that Limbaugh should "back off" from making so many unbridled criticisms and that it's easy to "stand back and throw stones."

The very next day, Gingery was genuflecting before Limbaugh, showering apologizes to Limbaugh for (Gingery) "putting my foot in my mouth."

That's mafioso-type power on display for the whole nation to observe. That's the kind of power that makes Rush the leader of the most active segment of the GOP.

As James Carville observes in the video footage seen above; the Republican's real ruler is Rush Limbaugh. Carville thinks it's rather odd that a radio talk show host should lead a party and he's got a very good point; aren't politicians supposed to lead political parties?

Carville accurately explains in the video of the Republican's submission to Limbaugh that: "They've submitted to him in the Congress. They quake at mighty Rush, and he's the one that's setting the Republican agenda. They don't care what Michael Steele says."

The Republicans have decided on a strategy that lets Michael Steele hold the scepter of power on his throne as the 'elected' chair of the RNC while Rush stands behind the curtain and pulls the strings of power.

Oddly enough, the Republicans are conducting the affairs of their party just like the Russians run their country; with Dmitry Medvedev, the titular leader who attends to official events as the 'officially elected president while Vladimir Putin stands in the shadows and controls the country.

Interesting how many similarities the Republican party shares with the Russians, both before and after the fall of communism. But that's a topic for another time.

Rush's latest pronouncement was recently addressed by Carville in a recent commentary and concerns Limbaugh's crazy scheme that since in the election of 2008: the Democrats got 54% of the vote while the Republicans got 46%; that should mean that the stimulus package deserves to be divided along ideological lines and allow the Democrats to submit 54% of the bill while the Republicans get to submit the remaining 46% of the bill.

In other words, Rush isn't just content with ruling the Republican party, he now feels he should have the extra-constitutional power to declare the rules of the U.S. Senate.

That's quite a coupe for a man who must undergo regular, court ordered drug testing for his previous conviction for using an illegally obtained controlled substance, Oxycontin. such is the state of the Republican Party since they lost the 2008 presidential election.

Steele Advocates GOP Support for Candidates in Favor of Abortion and Gay Rights.

On Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace interviewed the newly elected chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele, who talked about the importance of Republicans making inroads and attracting larger numbers of gay and pro=life voters into the Republican Party

Mr. Steele played a delicate balancing act with Chris Wallace as the interview turned into a discussion of chairman Steel's intention to win over more candidates who will run as Republicans while holding pro-choice and gay marriage rights views.

One of the ways Steele hopes to accomplish this task is to use the Republican Leadership Council which will act as an important go-between organization to reach out to individuals with views that have until now been largely ignored by the Republican establishment. Steele mentioned his partnership with Christy Todd Whittman which sought to bring moderates together with conservatives as an example of enlarging the party base.

Steele, during his R.N.C. acceptance speech had challenged Republicans to work with him or face the possibility of being pushed aside.

Challenged by Wallace to provide names, Steele shifted the question and mentioned finding new solutions to problems that cannot be solved by following the ways of the past. Mr. Steele further softened his tone and would not name specific individuals as obstructionists but turned his remarks to focus on those 'inside and outside of the party including Democrats who are attempting to hold back the Republicans from focusing on the truly important issues of the day

Steele mentioned the importance of the party rising beyond criticisms that there is only one way to move the party ahead and win elections. Steele pledged to do whatever is necessary to bring the GOP back to power.

Sounding like a right wing Democrat, Steele said Republicans must be prepared to set aside petty differences of opinion that hampers the Republicans from fixing the economy, attending to the war, and issues regarding poverty.

When asked how he intends to reach out to Hispanics; Steele held firm on the current GOP position on immigration by reiterating the need to secure U.S. borders first and foremost. Steele said the only way to deal with the immigrants who are already in the U.S. is to insure that no more are allowed into the country and for the GOP's tactics to achieve these ends, Steele said it simply becomes a matter a developing a more effective message and marketing campaign to promote current Republican policies on immigration.

Steele described himself as a pro-life Roman Catholic conservative who believes it is imperative for his party to be better informed with the different types of diversity found in America today.

Mr. Steele admitted that the GOP will never attract all of these fringe-type voters, but cited Ronald Reagan's observation that if the party can succeed 80% of the time that's good enough for Mr. Steele and sufficient enough to be able to move the party forward.

When pressed on the power that abortion and anti-gay sentiments hold within the party; Steele changed the subject and tried to argue that the GOP holds other appealing positions such as those on the economy that would attract that 80% figure he kept reverting to as essential to ensuring Republican electoral sucesses in the future.

Steele declared that he intends to fight those who try to claim that the GOP is a party of only two issues; abortion and gay marriage. He wants to include a wide range of issues that he believes are more widely accepted by the American people when given a choice between the Republican and Democratic positions.

In closing, Steele commended the entire block of Republicans who voted against the House Stimulus Bill because of it's highly flawed construction. And by voting against the stimulus, steele claimed that the GOP actually protected the American people from a spending bill disguised as a stimulus package.

Obama's New Media Network: Organizing for America Will Help to Keep Supporters Informed

Yesterday, President-elect Obama made the unprecedented decision to announce the formation of a new media network that will be called Organizing for America, and according to Peter Wallsten, writing for the Los Angeles Times; Mr. Obama has determined the time is right for such a media framework to be assembled in order to ensure "what you built can't stop now." Mr. Wallsten called the network, Obama's "first public steps toward transforming his massive grass-roots political machinery into an unprecedented national network to help pass his policy agenda."

According to Mr. Wallsten's reporting: "Obama said Organizing for America, the new network, would be used as a tool to press for policies on major issues, including the healthcare system, the Iraq war and the development of new energy sources. He also said the effort would be housed in a distinctly partisan place: the Democratic National Committee.

The creation, use and expansion of the organization over time will create a tremendous tool for Obama that Mr. Wallsten explains: "... will be well-positioned to be used as a vehicle for his reelection campaign, to bolster the campaigns of Obama-friendly Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections, and to pressure those in his party who do not agree with him."

Reflecting on his innovative achievement; Obama provided only sketchy details to over 13 million backers during a YouTube and email presentation in which he stated: "The movement you've built is too important to stop growing now," and while aides remarked that answers to many issues remain as yet to be determined; it is clear that intended media capabilities of Organizing for America provides Obama with the advanced, technical means to continue "to mobilize tens of thousands of volunteers" that originally worked to elect Obama to the presidency.

Mr. Wallsten adds his thoughts that: "Some former Obama campaign officials had hoped that the network would be kept separate from the Democratic National Committee to avoid alienating supporters who were inspired by Obama but did not consider themselves Democrats."

Mr. Wallsten paraphrases "sources familiar with the planning say Organizing for America will employ a full-time staff of hundreds of professional organizers -- possibly an average of between one and two workers per congressional district in certain politically important states. One source said that Obama aides have discussed an annual budget of $75 million -- an unprecedented standing political army that will await orders from a president."

One possible downside to Organizing for America according to Mr. Wallsten is that: "The network also has the potential to cause tension within the Democratic Party, because Obama is expected to mobilize the organization to target Democratic lawmakers in Republican-leaning districts who might hesitate to vote for his agenda when it comes to universal healthcare, for example, or imposing limits on carbon dioxide emissions.

Mr. Wallsten also reports that: "Some state-level party strategists have expressed worry about donors being asked to contribute to a new network that would be focused on Obama's needs. They fear the group would overshadow the party's traditional job of getting local officials elected, including Democrats who may not always agree with the president but can appeal to a more conservative district."

Democratic National Committee Chairman designate Tim Kaine, current governor of the state of Virginia added his voice to Obama's remarks regarding the formation of Organizing for America, by explaining, as reported by Mr. Wallsten that the new media network will: "work at two levels to bolster the new president: supporting candidates sympathetic to his agenda and pressing to get that agenda passed." Governor Kaine went on to say: "We can succeed only if we build grass-roots support for the administration's agenda,.. As the DNC works to elect candidates who will support the change agenda, we will also invest in bottom-up efforts that ensure that the priorities of everyday Americans are heard in Washington."

In related news: Already under a great deal of stress caused by it's electoral defeats in 2006 and 2008, the Republican National Party remains without a chairman, a vision for the future, viable policy alternatives to provide clear differences with the Democratic agenda; a well-defined strategy for battling the new Democratic president and Democratic Congressional majority finds itself at an even greater disadvantage with Obama's several tens of millions of dollars, well-funded direct link to millions of grass-root supporters. Maybe, just maybe, things are beginning to turn around in America and our nation will emerge from it's eight year nightmare caused by the Bush administration and witness the initiation of real, productive change that will lead us out of the current economic recession; raise the public's' general mood that better times will soon arrive; strengthen the economy and bring about greater opportunity and success to lift the lower and middle classes of America to a new era of economic stability and successes.