I am usually not naive. I don't think I am today either when I say that Rush Limbaugh just killed the Republicans' chance in the presidential election in 2012, if they ever had a chance. His comments were so offensive, both to the individual involved and to women in general, that it is truly difficult to not be offended. He really said that if you have sex for reasons other than procreation, you are a slut, and you owe him a video tape of it. This was not about religious freedom. This was not even "just" an attack on birth control. This was an all out assault on all women, and assuming Rush's rules apply to both sexes, all men as well (have you ever used a condom? SLUT!).
The fact that the GOP machine did not within 5 minutes order every single one of them to distance themselves from Limbaugh absolutely kills their political chances. The GOP, and not just the sad presidential field, just lost the political middle.
As a political junkie, this almost makes me sad. It is not going to be a close election, which means that the process to get there is going to substantially less interesting. If you watch the workings of politics the way some people watch sports, our team just got to that point where you know they will win, and win big. Might as well turn off the TV and go to bed.
I'm really not convinced that the GOP can do enough damage control to become relevant on the national scene in 2012. Does anyone think Olympia Snowe's departure today is completely unrelated to the war on women? That it was not a factor? Snowe is the kind of politician who represents the exact political middle that both parties have to compete for in order to win elections. When Snowe walks out and (between the lines) says "You guys are crazy. I quit.", how long will Susan Collins last? She already issued statements to the effect that the GOP (and likely some blame to our side as well, but make no doubt that she's unhappy with her side of the aisle) is engaging in the worst kind of election-year politics, and are not doing the job they were elected to do.
The educated voters in the middle will do what Snowe and Collins are doing. They will have some major reservations with these clowns in office -- especially the three stooges (and the old "libertarian" that nobody thinks is a republican) left standing on their side of the presidential tickets, but it will go down ticket as well. Many will simply quit voting for these people (they may very well not vote at all). Assuming that people are paying attention (and for our side, there's the rub), the political middle in the country is now solidly in our camp. Welcome, everyone; it's a big tent.
A front pager on redstate.com just conceded 2012. He said that the GOP will lose, and lose big, and he goes into detail of all that went wrong. He's absolutely right. It will take a while for all of this to trickle down to the non-political junkies, but come election time, everyone who has even marginally paid attention, will know what the GOP really thinks. And if the Democrats play it right, it can be a long pendulum swing this time. If the pendulum swing is big enough, we can do some amazing things on social issues like marriage equality and abortion, as well as health care.
Politically, it's a wonderful implosion that we're witnessing. A few weeks of war on women (including public policy in private parts -- literally) culminating with Limbaugh's sluts, Arpaio coming out of the birther closet, Romney with his one-flip-flop-to-rule-them all with first reacting reasonably and sincerely to the birth control madness and then being beaten down by his handlers (who are looking to secure the nomination) to change his mind shortly thereafter to stand with the crazies. After this, who thinks that either one of the four GOP candidates has a chance to win the middle? Want more? How about a Dubya-appointed judge sending out incredibly racist emails about Obama, thereby calling into question all his rulings including black people? Resigning in three, two, one, ...
And the sad, ironic, ending to this: Rush Limbaugh just marginalized himself. He essentially just unintentionally announced his retirement as the standardbearer of the republican party. Who would have been a good person to take his place? Andrew Breitbart, who died on the very same day. He'd be almost as liable to open his mouth and spew crazy, but he was capable of debating with anyone without losing it. He would have been the Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann, or Lawrence O'Donnell on the other side. A true visionary with lots of ideas inside politics and outside, who happened to be our ideological opposite. No doubt he thrived on making outrageous remarks, and perhaps did it for fame and influence. His public persona was something we most despise in ultrapartisan politics. But he was well regarded among peers, and it's hard to find people who have met him who don't like him, even if they disagree with his views, and sometimes how he expresses them.
Limbaugh now has fumbled the ball, and is going to slide into irrelevancy, politically speaking. He will never again be truly politically relevant. Few of us will miss him. Breitbart would have been a worthy successor, and who would have been respected. Still full of crap on the issues (and sometimes over the top), but he was a smart and driven man, and unlike Mr. Limbaugh, he was capable of listening, and have an actual discussion. To the extent that Mr. Limbaugh's torch is one worth carrying, Breitbart would've been the one to carry it. Instead, we (they) will likely get a lesser person.