Cheney picks Rush over Colin

If the Democratic Party were assigned the task of creating the official "poster boy" for the Republican Party, it's doubtful it could do any better for itself than to pick Rush Limbaugh.

Over the past several months, Limbaugh has positioned himself effectively as the "pure" Republican, with values and philosophies that represent the "true believer" wing of the party. The only problem is that, while that "wing" remains relatively strong, the party itself is disintegrating.

At present, only one in five Americans has a favorable view of the Republican Party, down considerably from just a few years ago.

While there is little doubt Limbaugh has great appeal within his own "circle" of ditto-heads, it seems clear he is not fully appreciated by the broad mix of Americans -- and the demographic projection for the coming years is unlikely to turn that around.

Okay, so let's say Republicans simply will not let the Democrats pick Limbaugh as the GOP standard-bearer.

Who possibly could be the fill-in?

Why, how about that ever-popular former Vice President, the ubiquitous Dick Cheney?

When one thinks about it, maybe he would serve Democratic purposes even better. Limbaugh might actually beat Cheney in a "favorability" poll. Maybe a more accurate way to phrase the question in this case -- "which of the two do you view the most unfavorably?"

The reality is that, almost unbelievably, the two most prominent Republicans in the current political atmosphere are indeed Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney.

That has intensified in recent days as Cheney told his Meet The Press interviewer he prefers Limbaugh over Gen. Colin Powell in the well-publicized conflict between the latter two.

And what a spat it has been.

"Can we continue to listen to Rush Limbaugh?" Powell asked after the radio entertainer made his famous remark that he hopes President Barack Obama fails. "Is this really the kind of party that we want to be when these kinds of spokespersons seem to appeal to our lesser instincts rather than our better instincts?"

That prompted Limbaugh to retort -- "What Colin Powell needs to do is close the loop and become a Democrat instead of claiming to be a Republican interested in reforming the Republican Party."

Of course, going back even farther, Limbaugh ramped up the feud with his (in our view, unbelievably crass) remark that Powell supported Obama for president for racial reasons:

"He's just mad at me because I'm the one person in the country who had the guts to explain his endorsement of Obama. It was purely and solely based on race."

Powell later said "I think what Rush does as an entertainer diminishes the party and intrudes or inserts into our public life a kind of nastiness that we would be better to do without."

Enter Cheney.

"Well, if I had to choose in terms of being a Republican I'd go with Rush Limbaugh, I think. I think my take on it was Colin had already left the party. I didn't know he was still a Republican."

One wonders why Cheney has decided to become so visible in recent days, not only in the Rush-Colin War, but in his continued high-profile defense of waterboarding and other forms of interrogation that many consider torture.

Many wish he would just ride off into the sunset at this point -- but it appears Cheney has a strong "got to have the last word" approach to it all. At this rate, his next "testimony" might come in an actual court.

One observer calls all this the "circular firing squad" that is the Republican Party. Despite all their own problems with trying to solve the nation's domestic and foreign issues now that they are in power, the Democrats currently are getting a "free pass" on the partisan political front as long as mug shots of Cheney and Limbaugh are so openly and frequently plastered above the words Republican Party.

--REK