Rush Limbaugh: An Army of One

by Zev Chafets

  David Limbaugh was extremely generous during my stay in Cape Girardeau. He took time to show me the town—and the Limbaughs’ boyhood—through his eyes. He is a pundit in his own right, and I very much appreciate his insights into the conservative movement and his brother’s place in it.

  In the course of my research I talked with literally hundreds of people who have known Rush—boyhood friends; colleagues in Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Sacramento, New York, and Florida; members of his wide professional and personal circle; and people who have had interesting encounters with him. I can’t mention them all, but I do want to give special thanks (alphabetically) to Nick Adams, Roger Ailes, Michael Barone, George Brett, Bryan Burns, Ann Coulter, Bill Figenshu, Jim and Frank Kinder, Mary Matalin, Frank Nickell, David Rosow, Karl Rove, the late Tim Russert, Dr. Jan Seebaugh, Rabbi Nathan Segal, Dr. Steve Stumwasser, and Joel Surnow. I also benefited from the advice and thoughts of Elizabeth Bland, David Brooks, Lisa De Pasquale, Charles Dunn, Susan Estrich, Ira Glass, Michael Harrison, Nicholas Lemann, Mark Jurkowitz, Mark McKinnon, Chuck Martin, Jay Nordlinger, Brett O’Donnell, Jeff Roteman, Al Sharpton, Nick Trautwein, and Vivian Turner.

  Being written about is an invasive procedure, especially for someone as private and (and as media wary) as Rush. Rush had reservations about a Limbaugh book not written by Limbaugh, but he eventually came around and was cooperative and candid. I asked him hundreds of questions in person, via e-mail, and over the phone, many of which he answered promptly and (with a couple insignificant exceptions) on the record. Even more important, he never told me anything about his life that didn’t check out.

  Limbaugh is a man who speaks for himself, and I have tried to let readers hear his voice as much as possible. Radio talking isn’t as smooth as writing, and I sometimes cut out a repeated word or irrelevant digression, often using ellipses, sometimes not. But in no case has this changed his basic message.

  As always I want to thank my wife, Lisa Beyer, who is also my best friend and my best reader, and my kids, Michal, Charley, Shmuelik, Coby, and Annie for their support, forbearance, and occasional reminders that I am not the smartest man in the room.

  APPENDIX

  ON THE INFORMATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL LEVEL OF MEDIA CONSUMERS

  Pew reports that “readers of news magazines, political magazines and business magazines, listeners of Rush Limbaugh and NPR, and viewers of the Daily Show and C-SPAN are also much more likely than the average person to have a college degree.” And in a “general knowledge test in which ‘media consumers’ were asked to identify the majority party in the House of Representatives, the U.S. Secretary of State and the Prime Minister of Great Britain,” the Dittoheads scored twice the national average at 36 percent—less than NPR listeners (44 percent) but higher than the audience of the Colbert Report, the Daily Show, the PBS News Hour, BBC News, CNN, all three network news shows, and C-SPAN.

  Pew also measures the percentage of those who are, by its definition, consumers of “hard news” (as opposed to human interest features, daily horoscopes, sports, and so forth). “Most news organizations attract a wide range of news consumers, including the hard-news core and those who are less interested in such news. But some stand out for their high proportion of hard news viewers and readers. Among the regular audiences for broadcast programs, Rush Limbaugh’s radio show (56% attentive), the Sunday morning interview programs (52%), the NewsHour (52%), the O’Reilly Factor (49%), and Larry King Live (48%) have especially large numbers of hard-news consumers.”

  ON THE IDEOLOGICAL LEANINGS OF ACADEMIA

  One of the best studies of academic imbalance was published in 2005 by Professor S. Robert Lichter of George Mason University, who heads the Center for Media and Public Affairs, and two colleagues, Professors Stanley Rothman of Smith College and Neil Nevitte of the University of Toronto. They found that, among 1,643 full-time faculty at 183 four-year schools, 72 percent of these faculty members defined themselves as “liberal,” 15 percent as conservative. Fifty percent identified as Democrats, 11 percent as Republicans. At the most elite schools, the gap was greater: 87 percent liberal, 13 percent conservative. The most liberal faculties, the study’s authors found, were in the humanities (81 percent) and social sciences (75 percent). In departments of English literature, philosophy, political science, and religious studies, at least 80 percent of the faculty called themselves liberals and about 5 percent identified as conservatives. Since 1990, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, the faculties of universities, colleges, and schools have donated to Democratic candidates sums roughly three times greater than they have to Republicans. In 2008, the number was 82 percent.

  ON THE POLITICAL AFFILIATIONS AND VOTING OF THE ELITE MEDIA

  In 1981, political scientists S. Robert Lichter, Stanley Rothman, and Linda S. Lichter reported the results of their survey of 240 journalists at ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report. Going back to 1964, the number who said they voted for the Democratic presidential candidate never went below 80 percent. In the 1964 contest between Johnson and Goldwater, 94 percent voted for Johnson. In 2001, the study was updated. Professors Stanley Rothman and Amy E. Black found that, “three-quarters of elite journalists (76.1 percent) . . . voted for Michael Dukakis in 1988, and even larger percentages (91.3 percent) . . . cast ballots for Bill Clinton in 1992.” Neither Dukakis nor Clinton got anywhere near a majority of the general vote. The Freedom Forum’s poll of Washington bureau chiefs and congressional correspondents found similar trends. A Freedom Forum poll of Washington bureau chiefs and congressional correspondents found 89 percent had voted for Clinton in the 1992 election, compared with 7 percent for President Bush and 2 percent for Ross Perot. The Minneapolis Star Tribune summed it up: “In no state or region, among no race or class, did support for Clinton predominate more lopsidedly than among this sample of 139 journalists who either cover Congress or head a Washington bureau.” Elaine Povich, the study’s director, tried to make the case that this didn’t necessarily mean the Democratic press had favored the Democratic candidates just because they all happened to be Democrats: “One of the things about being a professional is that you attempt to leave your personal feelings aside as you do your work.”

  ON OTHER MEDIA

  The liberal consensus extends to the rest of the media as well. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, 78 percent of the political contributions of the music, television, and movie industries in 2008 went to Democratic candidates. Over the past twenty years, these industries have supported Democrats by more than a 2-to-1 margin. Presumably, this has no impact on their content.

  INDEX

  ABC Network, Limbaugh’s national show

  Abortion

  caller abortions bit

  Limbaugh on

  Abu Ghraib

  Academia, ideological imbalance in

  ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now)

  Adams, Dick

  Affirmative action, Limbaugh on

  Afghanistan, troop surge, Limbaugh on

  African Americans, Limbaugh racial bias

  Agnew, Spiro

  AIDS, Limbaugh on

  Ailes, Roger

  Air America

  Alexander, Lamar

  Ali, Muhammad

  Alinsky, Saul

  Alito, Samuel

  Allen, Mike

  Alter, Jonathan

  American Mercury, The

  Angelou, Maya

  Anti-Semitism

  Armey, Dick

  Armstrong, Millie. See Limbaugh, Millie (mother)

  Atwater, Lee

  Axelrod, David

  Axis of Evil

  Ayers, Bill

  Barone, Michael

  Beauchamp, Scott Thomas

  Beck, Glenn

  Begala, Paul

  Berman, Chris

  Bernstein, Leonard

  Berry, Chuck

  Biden, Joe />
  Bierce, Ambrose

  Big government, Limbaugh on

  Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain-Feingold Act)

  Black, Roy

  Bloomberg, Michael

  Blue Dog Democrats

  Boehner, John

  Bonneville International

  Bork, Robert

  Branch Davidians

  Breslin, Jimmy

  Brett, George

  Brisker, John

  Brokaw, Tom

  Brookhiser, Richard

  Brooks, David

  Brown, Jerry

  Brown, Tina

  Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

  Bruce, Lenny

  Buchanan, Pat

  Buck, Jack

  Buckley, James

  Buckley, Pat

  Buckley, William F., Limbaugh’s relationship with

  Burkle, Ron

  Burns, Bryan

  Burton, Bill

  Burwell, Bryan

  Bush, George H. W.

  election of 1992 loss

  and Limbaugh, personal relationship

  Bush, George W.

  Limbaugh during administrations of

  and Limbaugh, personal relationship

  Limbaugh clash with

  Bush Derangement Syndrome

  Byrd, Robert

  Cao, Ahn Joseph

  Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Limbaugh family/background in

  Capitol Hill Bank scandal

  Caray, Harry

  Carnegie, Jim

  Carson, Kit

  Carter, Jimmy

  Carville, James

  Casey, Betty

  Chambers, Whittaker

  Chase, J. Frank

  Checketts, Dave

  Cheney, Dick

  Chinn, Tom

  Christie, Chris

  Limbaugh as

  Civil rights movement

  Clark, Abraham

  Clark, Wesley

  Cline, Wilma

  Clinton, Bill

  election of 1992 victory

  on Iraq war

  Kobe Club meeting with Limbaugh

  Limbaugh’s attacks on

  Limbaugh’s view of

  remarks about Limbaugh by

  and Vietnam war draft

  Clinton, Hillary

  and Media Matters

  and Operation Chaos

  on right-wing conspiracy

  Clubb, Peter

  Club for Growth

  Coburn, Tom

  Colbert, Steven

  Colford, Paul

  Communism, Limbaugh on

  Connerly, Ward

  Connor, Bull

  Conservative Political Action Conference of the American Conservative Union Foundation

  Conservative thinking

  liberal view of

  Limbaugh at CPAC

  Limbaugh as influence

  and Limbaugh family

  Limbaugh’s views. See Limbaugh, Rush Hudson

  most influential conservatives

  and William F. Buckley

  Contract for America

  Cooper, Anderson

  Cooper, Marc

  Coppedge, Thomas

  Cornyn, John

  Corzine, Jon

  Coulter, Ann

  Couric, Katie

  Creative Coalition

  Crime, Limbaugh on

  Cronkite, Walter

  Cubin, Barbara

  Cuomo, Mario

  Cutaways, Limbaugh show

  Davis, Tom

  Dean, Howard

  Deeds, Creigh

  Defense of Marriage Act

  De la Cruz, Dr. Antonio

  Democratic Party

  Blue Dog moderates

  elite media affiliation with

  and health care reform

  on Iraq war

  Limbaugh’s view of

  and Media Matters

  reaction to “phony soldiers” comment

  view of Limbaugh

  Dittoheads

  Florida population of

  influence on elections

  profile of

  Dole, Bob

  Dowd, Maureen

  Downey, Morton, Jr.

  Drive-By Media

  Drudge, Matt

  Drudge Report

  Economy

  Buckley (William) on

  Limbaugh on

  Obama plan, Limbaugh on

  Education, Limbaugh on

  Egan, Timothy

  Ehrenstein, David

  EIB One

  Eisenberg, Emma (grandmother)

  Eisenberg, Heinrich

  Eisenhower, Dwight

  El Rushbo, Limbaugh as

  Emanuel, Rahm

  Environmental movement, Limbaugh on

  ESPN, Sunday NFL Countdown problem

  Estrich, Susan

  Excellence in Broadcasting (EIB) Network

  Excellence in Broadcasting tour

  Fairness Doctrine

  Falwell, Jerry

  Farah, Joseph

  Feminism, Limbaugh on

  Figenshu, Bill

  Firing Line (TV program)

  Fitzgerald, Marta Maranda. See Limbaugh, Marta (wife)

  Flowers, Gennifer

  Foley, Tom

  Forbes, Steve

  Ford, Gerald

  Foreman, George

  Fortier, Michael and Lori

  Fox, Michael J.

  FOX News

  Limbaugh on

  Obama statement about

  Reverend Wright broadcasts

  Frank, Barney

  Franken, Al

  Frazier, Joe

  Friedman, Milton

  Frum, David

  Fulbright, William

  Fund, John

  Garofalo, Janeane

  Gates, Henry

  Gay marriage, Limbaugh on

  Gibbs, Robert

  Gibson, Bob

  Gingrey, Phil

  Gingrich, Newt

  Contract for America

  Gitlin, Todd

  Giuliani, Rudy

  Glass, Ira

  Global warming, Limbaugh on

  Godwin, Linda

  Golden, James “Bo Snerdley”

  as conservative

  Maya Angelou, counterpoem to

  as Official Obama Criticizer

  as phone call screener

  and unpredictable moments

  Goldwater, Barry

  Goodell, Roger

  Goodman, Walter

  Gorbachev, Mikhail

  Gore, A1

  green enterprises of

  -Limbaugh debate

  as Limbaugh target

  Graham, Lindsey

  Green, Mark

  Green Stephen

  Grossberger, Lewis

  Guantánamo POW camp

  Hannity, Sean

  as influential conservative

  on Limbaugh’s drug use

  relationship with Limbaugh

  Harrison, Michael

  Hart, Gary

  Harvey, Paul

  Health care reform

  Democrats against

  Limbaugh on

  Henderson, Nia-Malika

  Hertzberg, Hendrik

  Hightower, Jim

  Hirsch, Oscar

  Hirschfeld, Abe

  Hise, Conrad

  Hoffer, Eric

  Hoffman, Doug

  Holder, Eric

  Huberman, Jack

  Huckabee, Mike

  Hughley. L.

  Hunter, Karen

  Hussein, Saddam

  Immigration reform, Limbaugh on

  Imus, Don

  Ingraham, Laura

  Iraq war, Limbaugh on

  Irvin, Michael

  Iseman, Vicki

  Jackson, Jesse

  dialect of

  Limbaugh’s view of

  St. Louis Rams bid protest

  Jackson, Michael

  Jackson, Tom

  Jennings, Peter

 
; Jews, Limbaugh anti-Semitism

  Jindal, Bobby

  Jones, Paula

  Jones, Van

  Judicial activism, Limbaugh on

  Justice Brothers

  Kagan, Daryn

  Kansas City Royals

  Kay, Dan

  Keillor, Garrison

  Kemp, Jack

  Kennedy, John F.

  Kennedy, John Forbes

  Kennedy, Robert

  Kennedy, Teddy

  and Bork nomination

  on immigration reform

  Limbaugh on

  Kerry, John

  Keyes, Alan

  Keynes, John Maynard

  KFBK

  KFIX

  KGMO-AM

  Kinder, Frank

  King, Larry

  King, Martin Luther, Jr.

  King, Rodney

  Kissinger, Henry

  Kondracke, Mort

  Koppel, Ted

  KQV-AM

  Krauthammer, Charles

  Krischer, Barry

  Kristol, William

  Krugman, Paul

  KUDL-FM

  Kudlow, Larry

  Kurtz, Howard

  Labor unions, Limbaugh on

  Lacey, Sam

  Landon, Alf

  Lanier, Bob

  Latzman, Phil

  Lauer, Matt

  Leadership, Limbaugh on

  Lehrman, Lewis

  Leibovich, Mark

  Leno, Jay

  Letterman, David

  Levin, Mark

  Lewinsky, Monica

  Liberals

  Bush (George W.), view of

  on conservative thinking

  Limbaugh’s view of. See also Democratic Party

  and media. See Media

  Reagan on

  view of Limbaugh

  Liberty University

  Lichter, Linda S.

  Lichter, S. Robert

  Limbaugh, David (brother)

  background information

  collaboration with Rush

  and Hannity