Rush to the exits

The dynamics within the Republican party right now are quite interesting.

Rush Limbaugh, ever incendiary--except in that rare moment captured in a WSJ op-ed I've already linked to--told audiences at CPAC (i.e. conservative heaven) that he wanted Obama to fail.

Michael Steele, the new chairman of the DNC, censured and then backpedaled. (In between awesome (ok, maybe just weird) references to hip hop?) But you don't have to read David Frum's "Vanishing Republican Voter" to recognize the obvious:

"But to get back to the majority, we need to also connect to independents who may not be listeners of his show."

For a more eloquent account, see Obama advisor David Plouffe's even-handed contribution to the op-ed page. Sure, there are brief moments of homage to Obama. And sure, it's not quite fair to depict the refusals of (some) Republicans to cooperate as obstinate, rather than principled. (Um, hi? Iraq war?)

Nonetheless, he's got a point. A very good one:

Thus far, Republican leaders have let their strategy be guided by their most conservative base, capturing perhaps a third of the nation's voters. For Republican candidates seeking the support of right-wing activists in Iowa, who will exercise outsize influence in the presidential selection process in four years, that strategy -- while not entirely defensible in the midst of an economic crisis -- is understandable.

But any party that hopes to actually govern must appeal to moderates. Today, "moderate" is not an adjective that many would associate with the GOP minority in Congress. And a strategy designed chiefly to satisfy the 33 percent of voters who approved of George Bush's performance last fall -- while turning off first-time and swing voters -- hardly seems like the best way out of the political wilderness.

Amen.