Left-Wing Unions Begin Anti-Rush TV Ads

TALK RADIO STIMULUS

Could Anti-Limbaugh Ads Have Unintended Consequences?







Could a new series of union-sponsored anti-Rush Limbaugh ads provide a further boost to the talk titan's already-considerable audience base? With a new campaign set to begin shortly, that's the unintended outcome that has even one prominent leftist worried.

Call it the El Rushbo Ratings Stimulus Act of 2009.

Funded by dues-paying members of AFSCME, the far-left public sector union, the new TV ad claims Republicans take orders directly from the talk titan himself. Though it's hard to tell what its backers hope to achieve from this, the spot faults the GOP for daring to oppose the Dem-sponsored, pork-laden "stimulus" legislation.

From CBS News:

The commercial begins with a shot of a foreclosure sign juxtaposed with a still of President Obama signing a bill (presumably the stimulus act).

"An economy in crisis, a president determined to act," the narrator intones. "But what did Republican leaders say to President Obama's jobs and recovery plan?"

The ad soon cuts to a series of Republican congressional leaders saying "no," before the narrator asks rhetorically, "So who are Republican leaders listening to?"

Footage of Limbaugh flashes across the screen.

"I want him to fail," he says.

The commercial closes with the narrator urging viewers, "Tell them America won't take no for an answer anymore."

Limbaugh has long been a source of liberal animus, but there has been something of a resurgence in disdain for the talk show host in progressive circles lately. This is not the first time he has appeared in television advertisements that accuse the GOP of standing in the way of economic recovery: The same two groups released radio commercials during the debate over the stimulus bill that urged Republican senators not to listen to Limbaugh and oppose the legislation.

Here's the ad:





On Friday's show, Limbaugh seemed positively giddy to once again be targeted by far-left special interest groups. Here's part of his reaction:

RUSH: Bush Derangement Syndrome is now Rush Derangement Syndrome, and they are deranged. They need demons. They need a demon to get everybody's attention focused away from what they are doing. Liberalism cannot flourish in the free market. Liberal talk shows demonstrate this. Liberalism cannot...

"Now, Rush what about television and...?" I wouldn't call it a free market. Those people can force-feed whatever they want, and if they have a monopoly, for example, on television -- which they don't, the monopoly is gone, but liberalism doesn't flourish in the free market.

Liberals do not even argue. Liberalism, as Karl Rove wrote in the Wall Street Journal this week, set up straw men. It's like Obama and his speech. (doing Obama impression) "And to those who say, we must do nothing..." Rove is saying, "Who says do nothing? There's nobody saying we should do nothing," and he used about ten or 12 of these straw dog arguments during the campaign. He claims to the brain-dead, IQ-less minions watching him that there are all these mean, rotten SOBs trying to stop him from making this utopia; and he characterizes them.

"These people who say we should do nothing. These people who say X..." There are no people saying what he's claiming are being said, but it doesn't matter because the people watching him think there are people saying so 'cause The Messiah just said there were.

According to Scott Whitlock at NewsBusters, former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown, an entrenched society liberal, believes the ad may backfire, serving only to promote Limbaugh's show:

Former Vanity Fair and New Yorker editor Tina Brown appeared on Friday's "Morning Joe" to lament that a new liberal ad featuring Rush Limbaugh would only elevate the status of the "blow-hard bullfrog" conservative host. The liberal group Americans United for Change has a spot running that slams Republicans as a party of no and features a clip of Limbaugh's now famous comment that he wants Obama's liberal policies to fail.

After "Morning Joe" co-host Willie Geist played the ad, Brown asserted of the commercial, "I adore the 'party of no.' I think it is wonderful." She then complained,

"The only thing I do regret though is that this giant, you know, blow-hard bullfrog, you know, Rush Limbaugh is being turned into this big icon."

In response, Limbaugh notes that he became a cultural icon years ago, a point that is probably not in dispute from either side of the political fence.

But Brown's certainly on to something: this ad campaign could well pique the curiosity of non-listeners, causing them to tune in to Rush's show to find out what all of the fuss is about.


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