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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated
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From: LindyBill9/15/2010 12:34:05 PM
1 Recommendation  Read Replies (4) of 794043
 
looks like Powerline will stay establishment on this one.

Rush suspends the Buckley rule

By Scott

Rush Limbaugh added an interesting footnote to our disagreement with Mark Levin on the Delaware Republican Senate primary contest. We thought that Rep. Mike Castle was the preferable candidate under William Buckley's rule of thumb that conservatives ought to support the rightwardmost viable candidate in a given race. Levin supported Christine O'Donnell as the rightwardmost candidate in the race.

Yesterday Rush Limbaugh expressed his disagreement with the Buckley rule and suspended it in favor of the Limbaugh Rule: "In an election year when voters are fed up with liberalism, you vote for the most conservative Republican in the primary -- period." There is some tension between Rush's expression of disagreement in principle with the Buckley rule and the limited terms in which he frames the Limbaugh Rule. Rush explained:

>>> [It]'s time, ladies and gentlemen, for the Limbaugh Rule to supplant and replace the Buckley Rule, because the Buckley Rule requires clairvoyance. The Buckley Rule requires people who can't possibly know the outcome of anything in the middle of September to support or not support somebody based on what they think's going to happen in early November. Christine O'Donnell can't win, she's 25 points down. Can't win? If a constitutional conservative can't win in this climate coming down from 25 points, we need to find that out, find out where we are. Why not go for it? The stakes dictate it, do they not? Here's the Limbaugh Rule: In an election year when voters are fed up with liberalism and socialism, when voters are clearly frightened of where the hell the country is headed, vote for the most conservative Republican in the primary, period.<<<

I find Rush's argument in favor of the Limbaugh Rule lacking on its own terms as well as in terms of the prudence one should ordinarily apply to matters of practical politics. Among other things, the Limbaugh Rule does not take account of the advantages of majority status in the Senate. Rush's formulation of the Limbaugh Rule nevertheless clarifies the issues of judgment that have divided conservatives in Delaware and elsewhere this primary season.
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