February 09, 2009 11:16 PM UTC

Limbaugh Takes Command

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• by: Colorado Pols

The Los Angeles Times profiles one of our favorite open thread quote machines–prominent like never before? The “unofficial leader” of a leaderless GOP?

While the GOP’s star has fallen, Limbaugh’s has soared. As party leaders struggle to find their voice, Limbaugh’s baritone booms loud and clear three hours a day, five days a week on 600 radio stations across America. If a $400-million contract and the title of most influential talk radio personality — as voted by industry pros — aren’t sufficient proof, consider President Obama’s decision to pick a fight with him three days into his presidency…

By his own account, he is the most prominent voice of conservative thinking — “the last man standing” — now that Republican lawmakers have decided to, in his judgment, bow before the president. Indeed, Limbaugh seems more energized than ever. “Things just keep flying out of my fertile mind,” he said during a recent reckoning of how “Obama the Unifier” had sprinted to the liberal left.

Limbaugh’s listening audience is relatively narrow — it is predominantly white, male and politically conservative — but highly motivated. Many of the 20 million or so who tune in each week are willing, even eager, to pummel their opponents with letters, phone calls and e-mails to make their voices heard.

They can make a difference. Among their achievements, talk radio listeners helped kill President George W. Bush’s immigration reform effort. Recent polls suggest that, despite Obama’s high approval ratings, public support has declined for his stimulus bill since Limbaugh and his broadcast peers began railing against it.

Limbaugh has plenty of critics, not all of them liberal or Democrats. Some Republicans worry that the 58-year-old AM radio icon, highly effective at rallying disenchanted conservatives, may be turning off the less ideological voters whom Republicans need if they hope to again become a majority party.

“The question is: Are we going to have an all-white-man litmus test under the Republican Party? Or is there room for diverse opinion on environmental issues, on the issue of right to life, the issue of taxes and spending?” said Rich Bond, a GOP strategist and former chairman of the Republican National Committee…