Why has Barack Obama taken such an interest in who Republicans listen to?

Via FoxNews/NYPost:

WASHINGTON — President Obama warned Republicans on Capitol Hill today that they need to quit listening to radio king Rush Limbaugh if they want to get along with Democrats and the new administration.

“You can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done,” he told top GOP leaders, whom he had invited to the White House to discuss his nearly $1 trillion stimulus package.

One White House official confirmed the comment but said he was simply trying to make a larger point about bipartisan efforts.

“There are big things that unify Republicans and Democrats,” the official said. “We shouldn’t let partisan politics derail what are very important things that need to get done.”

Show of hands how many people believe he turned to his colleagues on the left and advised them not to listen to Air America nor pander to the Daily Kossites? I sincerely doubt it, considering it’s something not only Democrats in Congress have done on Kos’ website, but it’s something they’ve done in person at the Yearly Kos conventions … Barack Obama included.

Double standards, anyone?

Read related thoughts via Ed Morrissey.

Semi-related: Bill Kristol asks, “Will Obama Save Liberalism?”

19 Responses to "Why has Barack Obama taken such an interest in who Republicans listen to?"

Buffoon says:

January 26, 2009 at 9:49 am

I’m sure you’ve all heard the references to Alinsky tactics being used here.
Its pretty cut and dry what his handlers are trying to do…
Obama does nothing until his puppet masters pull his strings
CZ says:

January 26, 2009 at 10:07 am

Obummer has handed Rush the best P.R. he has had in years.
Anthony (Los Angeles) says:

January 26, 2009 at 10:19 am

More than just double-standards, it’s another example of PBO having very thin skin: as Harry Truman would say, he “can’t stand the heat.” Remember how prickly he was when asked questions during the campaign, or how we were treated to the odd site of the Democrats’ #1 (Obama) attacking the Republicans’ #2 (Palin)? This is someone who’s easily threatened, and is thus insecure.
DavidL says:

January 26, 2009 at 10:59 am

Barack Obama will have better luck, albeit not much, trying to get the republicans to listen to him than he ever will having Mrs. Pelosi. The so-called stimulus plan is Mrs. Pelosi’s and not Obama’s.
Great White Rat says:

January 26, 2009 at 11:12 am

This is all political strategy. It’s right out of the Alinksy playbook.

I can see where the Dalai Bama is going with this. For the next six months or so, he can get by with blaming everything that goes wrong on Bush. By mid-summer, that tune will no longer be fresh or convincing. He will need to find another scapegoat for his failures, and he thinks he has one.

So when the economy continues to tank because his economic plan is a disaster, or if another 9-11 occurs because AQ finds him weak and he’s made capture a joke, he will blame Republicans and claim that if they weren’t listening to Rush and opposing him, everything would be wonderful by now.

The next political debate should be on whether Obama’s policies are helping or hurting America. He doesn’t want that debate.

Instead, he wants to frame the next political debate as Obama the Munificent versus Rush the Malevolent. He knows him MSM lickspittles will support him there and ignore the substantive debate over the course America is taking.

One of Alinsky’s rules is to personalize every issue.
Obama’s trying to make Rush the face of the enemy and hopes that will be enough to take your eye off the damage his policies cause.
Carol says:

January 26, 2009 at 11:58 am

And many Republicans are falling hook, line and sinker behind his BS.
Lorica says:

January 26, 2009 at 12:57 pm

And let’s not forget that these guys are setting the stage to bring back the “fairness doctrine”. – Lorica
alchemist says:

January 26, 2009 at 1:51 pm

Lorica: Any evidence of fairness doctrine coming back? Every one I’ve ever seen interviewed denied it vehemently.
Lorica says:

January 26, 2009 at 2:45 pm

Alchemist, this is the 2nd time that Limbaugh has been marginalized by the liberals in DC. If they do decide to re-introduce the fairness doctrine, you don’t think this will be the justification. I want to know why liberals were not extremely po’d at the waste of tax dollars to create a reprimand letter of a private citizen on the floor of the Senate??? Are these the same people who tried to make it look like Bush wanted to bring back the draft??? When every politician who supported that legislation was a Dem, and now it has been re-introduced into Congress, by a Dem. Too funny.

Perhaps you have been listening to Nancy Pelosi who believes that infanticide of poor babies will be good for the economy?? I am sorry Alchemist, but I question everything a lib politician would have me believe. Never have I seen a more power hungry group of people, and I have no doubt that they will do whatever it takes to rid themselves of any opposing opinion. – Lorica
Lorica says:

January 26, 2009 at 2:51 pm

Also, why does Nancy Pelosi want to destroy social security??? I thought all these good libs wanted to save SS?? By increasing abortions you minimize our SS base and then we have old people starving in the streets. So why does Nancy want to kill old people?? – Lorica
yo says:

January 26, 2009 at 2:59 pm

i support president obama.
i just want everything he does to fail.
Nina says:

January 26, 2009 at 3:03 pm

Obama is threatened by Rush because he knows Rush is the one with high IQ. BO is the poster child of affirmative action. He doesn’t even understand the orders he is signing. He is just a shrewd politician being dictated what to do by the extreme left. I give him 6 months before the whole country is against him.
Neo says:

January 26, 2009 at 5:11 pm

And many Republicans are falling hook, line and sinker behind his BS.

Exactly, who is “his” referring to ?
Tom TB says:

January 26, 2009 at 6:10 pm

To quote Alinsky, “The Prince was written by Machiavelli for the Haves on how to hold power. Rules for Radicals is written for the Have-Nots on how to take it away”. Which one is Barack H. Obama today, and whose book is he reading?
Great White Rat says:

January 26, 2009 at 6:22 pm

Neo, based on her previous posts, I’m thinking Carol means Obama when she says “his”.

Maybe from now on we should all capitalize any pronouns referring to Obama, out of respect to those on the left who think he is a god.
Great White Rat says:

January 26, 2009 at 6:38 pm

alchemist asks naively:

Any evidence of fairness doctrine coming back?

Well, lets look at the evidence. Not that facts or evidence generally make an impact on you, but others who visit here might benefit from that link.

* Democrats in Congress want to bring back the Fairness Doctrine. Not just backbenchers…people like Pelosi and Schumer have this on their to-do list.

* His appointments to oversee the FCC transition favor restoring it.

* His strongest constituency on the extreme left is already braying for it.

Every one I’ve ever seen interviewed denied it vehemently.

There are a few things we know about your hero. All his statements come with an expiration date. He takes both sides of every issue as often as possible. And there’s always room under the bus for any policy or person that becomes inconvenient. I wouldn’t put too much faith in the statements of an administration being run the Chicago Way.
Desert Rat says:

January 26, 2009 at 6:46 pm

ST, Obama and his progressive followers are cousins to fascism. The scream about a supposed erosion of Constitutional rights under the Bush Administration, but then trample on First and Second Amendments without blinking an eye.
Great White Rat says:

January 26, 2009 at 7:08 pm

By the way, have you noticed how the left always dresses up their totalitarian impulses with grand-sounding names? Like this attack on free speech, with political officers telling radio stations who they must air, becomes the “Fairness Doctrine”. And the pending bill that will take away the right to a secret ballot in union elections becomes the “Employee Free Choice Act”.

It’s right out of Atlas Shrugged, where the socialists labelled bills that killed market competition as “Equalization of Opportunity” acts. Ayn Rand wasn’t right on everything, but more than 50 years ago she saw perfectly the way the left would try to deceive us.
Carol says:

January 26, 2009 at 7:15 pm

Sorry, Neo, I meant Obama. I happen to agree with Rush about wanting Obama’s policies to fail.

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