GOP Congressman Apologizes For Offending Limbaugh Fans

Original Link: http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/bipartisanship/gop-congressman-apologizes-for-offending-limbaugh-fans/

By Greg Sargent

Okay, here’s a tale that sheds some light on the whole question of whether Rush Limbaugh has become the new face of the GOP, something we debated here yesterday.

Yesterday GOP Congressman Phil Gingrey of Georgia made some perfectly ordinary comments to The Politico about Rush Limbaugh. Gingrey said that it’s easier for outside opinion-makers — such as Limbaugh and Sean Hannity — to aggressively attack Democrats than it is for elected GOP leaders, who have to work with the Dems.

“I think that our leadership, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, are taking the right approach,” Gingrey said. “I mean, it’s easy if you’re Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh or even sometimes Newt Gingrich to stand back and throw bricks.” Many interpreted these remarks as the equivalent of telling Rush to “back off.”

Turns out that Gingrey’s measured remarks provoked such a violent outcry that he has now been forced to apologize.

“Because of the high volume of phone calls and correspondence received by my office since the Politico article ran, I wanted to take a moment to speak directly to grassroots conservatives,” Gingrey said in a new statement released by his office. “Let me assure you, I am one of you.”

“I never told Rush to back off,” Gingrey continued. “I regret and apologize for the fact that my comments have offended and upset my fellow conservatives—that was not my intent…Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Newt Gingrich, and other conservative giants are the voices of the conservative movement’s conscience.”

This is pretty instructive about the political plight the GOP finds itself in. Republican leaders are working to portray Congressional Democrats as the partisan ones amid the wrangling over the stimulus bill and other matters. But the GOP’s shrunken minority is ensuring that the angrier and most aggressively partisan voices of the right become dominant and even representative of the party — especially given its leadership vacuum right now.

After all, Rep. Gingrey simply said that it wouldn’t constitute good leadership, should GOP chiefs “throw bricks” at Democrats — which is perfectly sensible advice, particularly given Republican efforts to paint Dems as the partisans. And he was forced by the ensuing outcry to apologize for this.