There is no political observer, analyst, commentator whom I admire more than Rush Limbaugh.
Perhaps that is why I find his behavior and his commentary over the past two days disturbing. Rush has rightfully prided himself on his objectivity regarding GOP presidential primary campaigns and his commitment to making no candidate endorsement. He went to great pains in recent days to explained how difficult it is for him to remain rigorously objective about the various candidates. He knows personally many, most, or even all to one extent or another and has great respect for all.
It was obvious over the past several weeks that Rush was unswervingly committed to maintaining his objectivity in analyzing and discussing the various candidacies, but it was not easy for him.
Some long time Rush fans detected that he had a certain admiration for some candidates over others and despite great effort seemed to show it. Donald Trump was one but Rush gets high marks for effort to conceal it.
But some of that changed this week, in our opinion. And it was not regarding Trump.
Instead it was Marco Rubio. It seemed that Limbaugh’s efforts to be objective simply fell away.
On Tuesday, Rush made the most forceful defense of Mr. Rubio to charges that Rubio is an “establishment” candidate, I have heard him make on any candidate’s behalf.
He followed on Wednesday reiterating and reinforcing his assessment and in an exchange with a caller who was critical of Rubio, ended the call with what I would describe as anger and hostility, wildly uncharacteristic of the popular radio host.
The caller claimed she was a supporter of Rubio in his Florida Senate run and charged that Rubio had assured supporters that he was opposed to any form of amnesty for illegal immigrants, but his “Gang of Eight” involvement almost as soon as he arrived in Washington she considered a repudiation of that position and a huge betrayal.
Even though amnesty has always been a major issue for Limbaugh, he reacted to the caller with extraordinary disrespect, cut the conversation off and went to a break.
When he returned he reiterated his assertion that Marco Rubio is NOT an establishment candidate, and suggested that this one little lapse (the Gang of 8) was insignificant.
As a fairly regular listener, and a Rush “fan”, I found the whole episode troubling and disappointing.
Rush may not consider Rubio “establishment” but I believe the “establishment” does and he has shown nothing to disabuse it of that impression.
