Limbaugh's Party

Score one for the leader of the Republican Party, Rush Limbaugh (video below for illustration of his power). And give him credit for a rare burst of honesty when on January 16, 2009 he forthrightly confessed

I don't care what the Drive-By story is. I would be honored if the Drive-By Media headlined me all day long: "Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails." Somebody's gotta say it.

Call it the "good cop" to virtually the rest of the Repub Party playing the "bad cop." Examples abound, but this is a pretty good one. House Democratic staffers are contending the GOP alternative to President Obama's stimulus plan actually raises taxes on some Americans. In response, Brad Dayspring, spokesman for House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, sent to Greg Sargent an e-mail led by this curious sentence (for a description of this controversy,see Sargent's blog posting here.):

These are the type of untruths spread by House Democrats that continue to undermine President Obama’s desire to work together to provide real solutions to the challenges faced by hardworking Americans.

Isn't this statement coming from the party whose members voted unanimously against Mr. Obama's stimulus package? 177-0? Every member against Obama, none for? It's easy for Repubs to bash Democrats in Congress, always an institution unpopular with the American people, rather than the (now) immensely popular President. And thus the "biggest danger," as Mike Lux posts today in Open Left and The Huffington Post, is

the media, in their worship of bipartisanship, will really start hammering Congressional Democrats. Progressives need to be full tilt ahead in defending our Congressional Dem friends from this line of attack. And President Obama should not get in the triangulation trap, because what that delivered for Clinton was his own personal survival, but in every election while he was President, the Republicans won the majority in Congress, allowing him to get very little important done in his Presidency.

The GOP understands this. While Rush Limbaugh rants and raves and reassures the right-wing base, the bulk of the Republican Party will emphasize opposition to Pelosi, Reid, Congressional Democrats, Congress, liberalism, and the kitchen sink while downplaying direct criticism of President Obama.