Rush is only a good debater when he is unopposed.
I don't believe this is true. At all.
I don't know if he still does this, but at one point, he took more calls from people with opposing views than from those who agree with him -- which is, of course, consistent with the entertainment value of the program.
In the first several years he was on, before he was smeared by the Left, he received calls from people on both sides of every issue, and I can't say I ever really heard anyone "out-debate" him. I heard Leftists get irate, start shouting, and carry on as Leftists are prone to do. But in terms of the important points, Limbaugh pretty much can cream anyone who calls.
I do believe it is a highly controlled environment -- which is a key reason for his success.
However, I would love to see Limbaugh against Al Franken in a true debate -- where jabs in the eye with a sharp stick don't count. I think Limbaugh would ROLL over Franken, or really, just about any other left-leaning individual.
Now, there are some liberal intellectuals who could clearly take Limbaugh on. Chris Hitchens, for example, is probably the most intelligent liberal I can think of, and Limbaugh could not out-debate him. But most of the liberal commentators -- Franken, Randi Rhodes, Jim Hightower, etc., Limbaugh would cream them. |
