Limbaugh to CPAC: 'Take Country Back'

Unrivaled Rush is becoming the embodiment of the right: Schaller

(NEWSER) - Rush Limbaugh whipped last weekend's CPAC meeting into a frenzy, railing against Barack Obama and the socialists of the "Democrat Party" while Fox News and CNN rolled tape. For Thomas Schaller of Salon, the message was clear: Limbaugh, and not any elected official, is the leader of the Republican Party. The talk show host has made himself into a Louis XIV-style embodiment of the right wing—and the GOP is right to be worried. More»

(NEWSER) - Talk about your right-wing star power: The annual CPAC convention for conservatives later this month has both Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin as speakers, notes US News & World Report. Limbaugh will give the closing speech on Feb. 28 and is expected to expound on his "I hope he fails" sentiment toward President Obama. Other notables for the three-day event: Bobby Jindal, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Joe Scarborough. More»

He accuses Romney of insulting conservative base

(NEWSER) - Mitt Romney has ticked off Rush Limbaugh by saying he's not willing to make outrageous accusations against President Obama just to excite the conservative "base," and win votes. "It’s very easy to excite the base with incendiary comments,” Romney told reporters ahead of the Arizona and Michigan primaries. "I’m not willing to light my hair on fire to try and get support. I am who I am." Limbaugh claims the remarks show Romney has a low opinion of the conservative base, reports the Huffington Post . More»

CPAC gives Santorum a standing ovation

(NEWSER) - Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney have given their speeches to the Conservative Political Action Conference (Newt Gingrich goes on later), and the themes were no surprise:

• Romney: "I fought against long odds in a deep blue state, but I was a severely conservative Republican governor," he said. Romney again emphasized that he "never worked a day in Washington," in contrast to Santorum and Gingrich. More at USA Today .

They cry racism, but they still don't know what it is: Michelle Goldberg

(NEWSER) - When did the right discover racism? Apparently, earlier this week, when Herman Cain was attacked for sex harassment accusations against him , notes Michelle Goldberg in the Daily Beast . Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh , and Donald Trump are all singing the same different tune now that, as Coulter calls Cain, one of "our blacks" has been attacked. Just last year Coulter was blasting "institutional racial hoaxism," writes Goldberg, who calls the cries of racism outlandish. "When a major presidential candidate has been accused of sexual harassment, that’s news. Indeed, that’s so obvious it seems absurd to have to write it," she notes. "Just imagine how much decorousness we could expect from Fox if such a scandal were discovered in Obama’s past." More»