by Zev Chafets
David Limbaugh was extremely generous during my stay in Cape Girardeau. He took time to show me the town—and the Limbaughs’ boyhood—through his eyes. He is a pundit in his own right, and I very much appreciate his insights into the conservative movement and his brother’s place in it.
In the course of my research I talked with literally hundreds of people who have known Rush—boyhood friends; colleagues in Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Sacramento, New York, and Florida; members of his wide professional and personal circle; and people who have had interesting encounters with him. I can’t mention them all, but I do want to give special thanks (alphabetically) to Nick Adams, Roger Ailes, Michael Barone, George Brett, Bryan Burns, Ann Coulter, Bill Figenshu, Jim and Frank Kinder, Mary Matalin, Frank Nickell, David Rosow, Karl Rove, the late Tim Russert, Dr. Jan Seebaugh, Rabbi Nathan Segal, Dr. Steve Stumwasser, and Joel Surnow. I also benefited from the advice and thoughts of Elizabeth Bland, David Brooks, Lisa De Pasquale, Charles Dunn, Susan Estrich, Ira Glass, Michael Harrison, Nicholas Lemann, Mark Jurkowitz, Mark McKinnon, Chuck Martin, Jay Nordlinger, Brett O’Donnell, Jeff Roteman, Al Sharpton, Nick Trautwein, and Vivian Turner.
Being written about is an invasive procedure, especially for someone as private and (and as media wary) as Rush. Rush had reservations about a Limbaugh book not written by Limbaugh, but he eventually came around and was cooperative and candid. I asked him hundreds of questions in person, via e-mail, and over the phone, many of which he answered promptly and (with a couple insignificant exceptions) on the record. Even more important, he never told me anything about his life that didn’t check out.
Limbaugh is a man who speaks for himself, and I have tried to let readers hear his voice as much as possible. Radio talking isn’t as smooth as writing, and I sometimes cut out a repeated word or irrelevant digression, often using ellipses, sometimes not. But in no case has this changed his basic message.
As always I want to thank my wife, Lisa Beyer, who is also my best friend and my best reader, and my kids, Michal, Charley, Shmuelik, Coby, and Annie for their support, forbearance, and occasional reminders that I am not the smartest man in the room.
APPENDIX
ON THE INFORMATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL LEVEL OF MEDIA CONSUMERS
Pew reports that “readers of news magazines, political magazines and business magazines, listeners of Rush Limbaugh and NPR, and viewers of the Daily Show and C-SPAN are also much more likely than the average person to have a college degree.” And in a “general knowledge test in which ‘media consumers’ were asked to identify the majority party in the House of Representatives, the U.S. Secretary of State and the Prime Minister of Great Britain,” the Dittoheads scored twice the national average at 36 percent—less than NPR listeners (44 percent) but higher than the audience of the Colbert Report, the Daily Show, the PBS News Hour, BBC News, CNN, all three network news shows, and C-SPAN.
Pew also measures the percentage of those who are, by its definition, consumers of “hard news” (as opposed to human interest features, daily horoscopes, sports, and so forth). “Most news organizations attract a wide range of news consumers, including the hard-news core and those who are less interested in such news. But some stand out for their high proportion of hard news viewers and readers. Among the regular audiences for broadcast programs, Rush Limbaugh’s radio show (56% attentive), the Sunday morning interview programs (52%), the NewsHour (52%), the O’Reilly Factor (49%), and Larry King Live (48%) have especially large numbers of hard-news consumers.”
ON THE IDEOLOGICAL LEANINGS OF ACADEMIA
One of the best studies of academic imbalance was published in 2005 by Professor S. Robert Lichter of George Mason University, who heads the Center for Media and Public Affairs, and two colleagues, Professors Stanley Rothman of Smith College and Neil Nevitte of the University of Toronto. They found that, among 1,643 full-time faculty at 183 four-year schools, 72 percent of these faculty members defined themselves as “liberal,” 15 percent as conservative. Fifty percent identified as Democrats, 11 percent as Republicans. At the most elite schools, the gap was greater: 87 percent liberal, 13 percent conservative. The most liberal faculties, the study’s authors found, were in the humanities (81 percent) and social sciences (75 percent). In departments of English literature, philosophy, political science, and religious studies, at least 80 percent of the faculty called themselves liberals and about 5 percent identified as conservatives. Since 1990, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, the faculties of universities, colleges, and schools have donated to Democratic candidates sums roughly three times greater than they have to Republicans. In 2008, the number was 82 percent.
ON THE POLITICAL AFFILIATIONS AND VOTING OF THE ELITE MEDIA
In 1981, political scientists S. Robert Lichter, Stanley Rothman, and Linda S. Lichter reported the results of their survey of 240 journalists at ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report. Going back to 1964, the number who said they voted for the Democratic presidential candidate never went below 80 percent. In the 1964 contest between Johnson and Goldwater, 94 percent voted for Johnson. In 2001, the study was updated. Professors Stanley Rothman and Amy E. Black found that, “three-quarters of elite journalists (76.1 percent) . . . voted for Michael Dukakis in 1988, and even larger percentages (91.3 percent) . . . cast ballots for Bill Clinton in 1992.” Neither Dukakis nor Clinton got anywhere near a majority of the general vote. The Freedom Forum’s poll of Washington bureau chiefs and congressional correspondents found similar trends. A Freedom Forum poll of Washington bureau chiefs and congressional correspondents found 89 percent had voted for Clinton in the 1992 election, compared with 7 percent for President Bush and 2 percent for Ross Perot. The Minneapolis Star Tribune summed it up: “In no state or region, among no race or class, did support for Clinton predominate more lopsidedly than among this sample of 139 journalists who either cover Congress or head a Washington bureau.” Elaine Povich, the study’s director, tried to make the case that this didn’t necessarily mean the Democratic press had favored the Democratic candidates just because they all happened to be Democrats: “One of the things about being a professional is that you attempt to leave your personal feelings aside as you do your work.”
ON OTHER MEDIA
The liberal consensus extends to the rest of the media as well. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, 78 percent of the political contributions of the music, television, and movie industries in 2008 went to Democratic candidates. Over the past twenty years, these industries have supported Democrats by more than a 2-to-1 margin. Presumably, this has no impact on their content.
INDEX
ABC Network, Limbaugh’s national show
Abortion
caller abortions bit
Limbaugh on
Abu Ghraib
Academia, ideological imbalance in
ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now)
Adams, Dick
Affirmative action, Limbaugh on
Afghanistan, troop surge, Limbaugh on
African Americans, Limbaugh racial bias
Agnew, Spiro
AIDS, Limbaugh on
Ailes, Roger
Air America
Alexander, Lamar
Ali, Muhammad
Alinsky, Saul
Alito, Samuel
Allen, Mike
Alter, Jonathan
American Mercury, The
Angelou, Maya
Anti-Semitism
Armey, Dick
Armstrong, Millie. See Limbaugh, Millie (mother)
Atwater, Lee
Axelrod, David
Axis of Evil
Ayers, Bill
Barone, Michael
Beauchamp, Scott Thomas
Beck, Glenn
Begala, Paul
Berman, Chris
Bernstein, Leonard
Berry, Chuck
Biden, Joe
Bierce, Ambrose
Big government, Limbaugh on
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain-Feingold Act)
Black, Roy
Bloomberg, Michael
Blue Dog Democrats
Boehner, John
Bonneville International
Bork, Robert
Branch Davidians
Breslin, Jimmy
Brett, George
Brisker, John
Brokaw, Tom
Brookhiser, Richard
Brooks, David
Brown, Jerry
Brown, Tina
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Bruce, Lenny
Buchanan, Pat
Buck, Jack
Buckley, James
Buckley, Pat
Buckley, William F., Limbaugh’s relationship with
Burkle, Ron
Burns, Bryan
Burton, Bill
Burwell, Bryan
Bush, George H. W.
election of 1992 loss
and Limbaugh, personal relationship
Bush, George W.
Limbaugh during administrations of
and Limbaugh, personal relationship
Limbaugh clash with
Bush Derangement Syndrome
Byrd, Robert
Cao, Ahn Joseph
Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Limbaugh family/background in
Capitol Hill Bank scandal
Caray, Harry
Carnegie, Jim
Carson, Kit
Carter, Jimmy
Carville, James
Casey, Betty
Chambers, Whittaker
Chase, J. Frank
Checketts, Dave
Cheney, Dick
Chinn, Tom
Christie, Chris
Limbaugh as
Civil rights movement
Clark, Abraham
Clark, Wesley
Cline, Wilma
Clinton, Bill
election of 1992 victory
on Iraq war
Kobe Club meeting with Limbaugh
Limbaugh’s attacks on
Limbaugh’s view of
remarks about Limbaugh by
and Vietnam war draft
Clinton, Hillary
and Media Matters
and Operation Chaos
on right-wing conspiracy
Clubb, Peter
Club for Growth
Coburn, Tom
Colbert, Steven
Colford, Paul
Communism, Limbaugh on
Connerly, Ward
Connor, Bull
Conservative Political Action Conference of the American Conservative Union Foundation
Conservative thinking
liberal view of
Limbaugh at CPAC
Limbaugh as influence
and Limbaugh family
Limbaugh’s views. See Limbaugh, Rush Hudson
most influential conservatives
and William F. Buckley
Contract for America
Cooper, Anderson
Cooper, Marc
Coppedge, Thomas
Cornyn, John
Corzine, Jon
Coulter, Ann
Couric, Katie
Creative Coalition
Crime, Limbaugh on
Cronkite, Walter
Cubin, Barbara
Cuomo, Mario
Cutaways, Limbaugh show
Davis, Tom
Dean, Howard
Deeds, Creigh
Defense of Marriage Act
De la Cruz, Dr. Antonio
Democratic Party
Blue Dog moderates
elite media affiliation with
and health care reform
on Iraq war
Limbaugh’s view of
and Media Matters
reaction to “phony soldiers” comment
view of Limbaugh
Dittoheads
Florida population of
influence on elections
profile of
Dole, Bob
Dowd, Maureen
Downey, Morton, Jr.
Drive-By Media
Drudge, Matt
Drudge Report
Economy
Buckley (William) on
Limbaugh on
Obama plan, Limbaugh on
Education, Limbaugh on
Egan, Timothy
Ehrenstein, David
EIB One
Eisenberg, Emma (grandmother)
Eisenberg, Heinrich
Eisenhower, Dwight
El Rushbo, Limbaugh as
Emanuel, Rahm
Environmental movement, Limbaugh on
ESPN, Sunday NFL Countdown problem
Estrich, Susan
Excellence in Broadcasting (EIB) Network
Excellence in Broadcasting tour
Fairness Doctrine
Falwell, Jerry
Farah, Joseph
Feminism, Limbaugh on
Figenshu, Bill
Firing Line (TV program)
Fitzgerald, Marta Maranda. See Limbaugh, Marta (wife)
Flowers, Gennifer
Foley, Tom
Forbes, Steve
Ford, Gerald
Foreman, George
Fortier, Michael and Lori
Fox, Michael J.
FOX News
Limbaugh on
Obama statement about
Reverend Wright broadcasts
Frank, Barney
Franken, Al
Frazier, Joe
Friedman, Milton
Frum, David
Fulbright, William
Fund, John
Garofalo, Janeane
Gates, Henry
Gay marriage, Limbaugh on
Gibbs, Robert
Gibson, Bob
Gingrey, Phil
Gingrich, Newt
Contract for America
Gitlin, Todd
Giuliani, Rudy
Glass, Ira
Global warming, Limbaugh on
Godwin, Linda
Golden, James “Bo Snerdley”
as conservative
Maya Angelou, counterpoem to
as Official Obama Criticizer
as phone call screener
and unpredictable moments
Goldwater, Barry
Goodell, Roger
Goodman, Walter
Gorbachev, Mikhail
Gore, A1
green enterprises of
-Limbaugh debate
as Limbaugh target
Graham, Lindsey
Green, Mark
Green Stephen
Grossberger, Lewis
Guantánamo POW camp
Hannity, Sean
as influential conservative
on Limbaugh’s drug use
relationship with Limbaugh
Harrison, Michael
Hart, Gary
Harvey, Paul
Health care reform
Democrats against
Limbaugh on
Henderson, Nia-Malika
Hertzberg, Hendrik
Hightower, Jim
Hirsch, Oscar
Hirschfeld, Abe
Hise, Conrad
Hoffer, Eric
Hoffman, Doug
Holder, Eric
Huberman, Jack
Huckabee, Mike
Hughley. L.
Hunter, Karen
Hussein, Saddam
Immigration reform, Limbaugh on
Imus, Don
Ingraham, Laura
Iraq war, Limbaugh on
Irvin, Michael
Iseman, Vicki
Jackson, Jesse
dialect of
Limbaugh’s view of
St. Louis Rams bid protest
Jackson, Michael
Jackson, Tom
Jennings, Peter
; Jews, Limbaugh anti-Semitism
Jindal, Bobby
Jones, Paula
Jones, Van
Judicial activism, Limbaugh on
Justice Brothers
Kagan, Daryn
Kansas City Royals
Kay, Dan
Keillor, Garrison
Kemp, Jack
Kennedy, John F.
Kennedy, John Forbes
Kennedy, Robert
Kennedy, Teddy
and Bork nomination
on immigration reform
Limbaugh on
Kerry, John
Keyes, Alan
Keynes, John Maynard
KFBK
KFIX
KGMO-AM
Kinder, Frank
King, Larry
King, Martin Luther, Jr.
King, Rodney
Kissinger, Henry
Kondracke, Mort
Koppel, Ted
KQV-AM
Krauthammer, Charles
Krischer, Barry
Kristol, William
Krugman, Paul
KUDL-FM
Kudlow, Larry
Kurtz, Howard
Labor unions, Limbaugh on
Lacey, Sam
Landon, Alf
Lanier, Bob
Latzman, Phil
Lauer, Matt
Leadership, Limbaugh on
Lehrman, Lewis
Leibovich, Mark
Leno, Jay
Letterman, David
Levin, Mark
Lewinsky, Monica
Liberals
Bush (George W.), view of
on conservative thinking
Limbaugh’s view of. See also Democratic Party
and media. See Media
Reagan on
view of Limbaugh
Liberty University
Lichter, Linda S.
Lichter, S. Robert
Limbaugh, David (brother)
background information
collaboration with Rush
and Hannity