Limbaugh Resigns, Cheney Immediately Takes Over as Republican Titular Party Head in GOP Response to Obama

Dear Rush,
I see that you have tried to resign from a position I named you to, along with others in the "drive-by media," on Hardball Wednesday, May 13. Here's the transcript:

MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL. Time for the politics fix. Joining me Jennifer Donahue of the New Hampshire Institute for Politics. Good to have you on. And Mike Allen, two pros.

JENNIFER DONAHUE, NEW HAMPSHIRE INSTITUTE OF POLITICS: (On Sarah Palin's book)...she sees her party in the wilderness. They are deep in the woods. So deep that Rush Limbaugh is the titular head of the party, and Colin Powell, who actually galvanizes independents and Republicans, is being kicked out in a very ugly fashion.

So, as you can see Rush, Titular Party head is not something you can just resign from on the radio.

You have to do it on TV, where the naming happened.

Oh... Check out former Vice President Dick Cheney responding to Obama's GITMO speech live on CNN from AEI. He wants to be Titular Party Head. He timed his speech perfectly by TV standards to be "the Republican response" and therefore is clearly running for TPH. I don't know if you guys worked this out ahead of time, but it is convincing. And I can now say this: Cheney has earned your previously held position as Republican Titular Party Head.

Your resignation is accepted.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Donahue

Comments

[Jennifer Donahue - Huffpost Blogger]

RazeTemple: Interesting point. I think Limbaugh likes to stay outside the party structure so he can be keep elected officlals on edge and be responsive to his audience. He'd rather be able to say anything than be attached to the majority view of the party so that if he thinks they are being too pragmatic or not conservative enough, he can go to his base - his millions of listeners - to repeat his opinion. He has a following that is loyal to his definition of Republican values. When we saw people like Steele play against him then to him, you saw this problem play out: Republicans need the base but also need to broaden the tent. Therein lies Limbaugh's ability to undermine elected officials: all he needs to be popular are his listeners. He doesn't want or need the big tent for his career to thrive, unlike Republicans who run for office and face more kinds of Republican voters on the spectrum. He would create a problem for the Republicans if he did pull his base into a new party. The fracture would grow deeper for Republicans and make it very hard for either group to win elections.