The GOP's real go-to guy

What Rush Limbaugh wants, he gets, when it comes to McCain's campaign.
By Zev Chafets
LATimes

September 29, 2008

If John McCain is elected president, he will have a lot of people to thank. Improbably, first on the list will be the man who didn't want him in the White House, Rush Limbaugh.

Limbaugh vociferously campaigned against McCain throughout the primary season. He accused the Arizona senator of being a closet liberal and a collaborator with Democratic enemies such as Sens. Russ Feingold and Teddy Kennedy. This caused a lot of glee in Democratic circles. Some optimists even predicted a devastating split in the GOP.

This was a false hope. Limbaugh never had any intention of breaking with his party. When he saw that he couldn't stop McCain, he swallowed hard and began trying to push McCain to the right. Limbaugh made it clear that he wanted a vice presidential candidate from the Republican wing of the Republican Party.

He got his way with the choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Limbaugh now believes, with more than a little justification, that the pick was an effort by McCain to satisfy him and fellow conservatives. And he is indeed satisfied. In an e-mail last week, Limbaugh informed me that, post-Palin, his support for the McCain ticket was "balls to the wall."

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