The Cringe Of Recognition

Written by David Frum on Tuesday March 3, 2009

My friends and former NRO colleagues Rich Lowry, Kathryn Lopez, and Andy McCarthy have some scolding words for my comments below about Rush Limbaugh’s speech at CPAC.

McCarthy:

What takes my breath away, though, is David Frum's span>rant<. He's got a point of view about reshaping the conservative movement, and while I often disagree with it, he can be very effective making it. But even allowing that he disagrees with Rush, what is the point of the ugly personal insults?

Lopez:

I’m disappointed in a number of friends and fellow-travellers who have taken the opportunity to pile onto talk-radio of late [citing myself and John Derbyshire.]

And Lowry:

I find the attacks on Rush from the right mostly stupid, cringe-inducing, and wrong. (Andy flagged this particularly nasty and personal span>post< by David Frum.)

One of the most admirable things about our conservative political culture is our fearless sympathy for the underdog!

Less admirable, though, is our aversion to unwelcome realities. Rush Limbaugh is a seriously unpopular figure among voters conservatives and Republicans need to reach. 45% of independents have a negative impression of him, according to the January Gallup poll.

Rasmussen found that only 16% of Americans would be more likely to support a candidate endorsed by Limbaugh – while 46% would be less likely to support such a candidate.

Limbaugh is especially offputting to women: His audience is 72% male, the most lopsidedly unisexual of any major media offering on radio, TV, or print, according to the Pew survey.

Just last week, Limbaugh himself took note of his unpopularity among women.

I have a 37% approval with women, 49% disapproval. "Thirty-one-point point gender gaps don't come along all that often." Now, ladies and gentlemen, this is an opportunity here, because this takes us to the age-old question: What do women want? Not even Freud was ultimately able to answer the question. Women generally, for the most part, can't answer it, either. But it has never stopped people from asking the question: What do women want? Given this massive gender gap in my personal approval numbers, a 31-point gender gap, it seems reasonable for me to convene a summit.

Rush was kidding about that summit of course. But to his credit, he is at least aware of something that eludes many of those who would make him the arbiter of Republican authenticity: From a political point of view, he’s kryptonite.

My blogpost sought to explain why this was so – and to sound a warning against acquiescing in the Limbaugh-Obama treaty to elevate Rush to the role of de facto leader of the opposition.

Leaders are measured not only by what they say, but by what they do and how they live. When conservatives agree to be represented by Limbaugh, they are accepting the whole man. They may wish it were otherwise, but it is not otherwise. If it makes us cringe to hear Limbaugh described as others see him – well, good. A cringe is the spasm that accompanies a first recognition of reality. And if there’s one thing we conservatives could benefit from, it is a much more substantial diet of reality.

"Audience Profile by Gender" chart courtesy of Pew Research Center.
Category: News