The progressive group Americans United For Change is certainly not the first to attempt to paint GOP opposition to the Obama administration as a set of directives that come straight from the mouth of Rush Limbaugh. But they're certainly making one of the more direct attempts, in a video released yesterday.
[WATCH]
According to Brad Woodhouse, the President for AUFC, the ad will be appearing "on national cable and in the Washington, DC market -- including some Sunday shows - thru the early part of next week."
Woodhouse lays out the thinking behind the ad thusly:
Rush Limbaugh is the leader of the Republican Party. He says jump and Eric Cantor and other Republican leaders say how high. Limbaugh is better known among Republicans than any of the Republicans Leaders in Congress and when he speaks they listen and follow just as they did in opposing en masse President Obama's recovery package.
If you look at the polls which came out earlier this week - Rush Limbaugh led Republicans off a political cliff on the recovery package - and now they are - at his instruction - lining up to oppose the Obama budget and the rest of his agenda hoping - as Limbaugh does - that Obama fails. Of course - the vast majority of Americans want Obama to succeed and they know if he fails America fails. Republicans have adopted this strategy and this ad and a bunch of other stuff our side in planning is gonna make them own it and Limbaugh.
That overall point of view has the potential to gain traction as a core part of the Democratic Party message, as Woodhouse will be leaving his post at Americans United For Change to take over as Communications and Research Director of the Democratic National Committee.
[UPDATE:]
And just like that, comes this news from Greg Sargent:
Top Democratic operatives are planning a stepped up campaign to promote Rush Limbaugh as the public face of the GOP -- an effort that will include recruiting Dem governors to make this case on talk shows, getting elected officials to pen Op eds arguing it, and running more ads pushing it, a senior Democratic operative says.
Key leadership staff in the House and Senate, and in all the political committees, have been encouraged by senior Dem operatives to push this message wherever possible, the operative says.
"I'm encouraging everybody to go out and say this," Paul Begala, the well-known Dem strategist, just told me by phone. "I'm hot for this. Let's get this out every way we can."