Rush shaped the Republican Party into what it is today because he’s been doing it for so long. For 30-40 years Republicans were afraid to cross him. He was the de-facto leader of the Republican party. That’s just the way it is.
In today’s fragmented media world, 14 million or so is a very strong base upon which to build a sphere of influence. 14 million people thinking in lockstep can easily become a dominant force. If you can count on a base of 14 million people to think…and vote…the same way all the time regardless of situation, you’re going to have HUGE political influence.
Think of Trump himself. In a fragmented field of 17 candidates, he turned a very small advantage over the other 16 candidates into first the Republican nomination, then the Presidency.
I dunno, politicians are vulnerable to forces like Rush and Hannity because their listeners are so much more engaged than normal. They vote, in generals and primaries.
And perhaps more importantly, they’re very vocal and are the type to phone up their congressman and write them letters, or even write to the local papers. All of which can have much more impact than expected.
Oh, and it’s not just the tweets that follow from watching F&F’s, it can literally set the agenda of the President for the day.
"Kelly has done away with “meeting crashers,” the West Wing aides who showed up for meetings uninvited, according to a White House aide, but he has not been able to curb Trump’s practice of adding and subtracting advisers to meetings throughout the day or of turning scheduled gatherings into freewheeling discussions of subjects that suit his interests — including those suggested to him by his coterie of outside advisers, including Fox News host Sean Hannity.
“He comes down for the day, and whatever he saw on ‘Fox and Friends,’ he schedules meetings based on that,” said one former White House official. “If it’s Iran, it’s ‘Get John Bolton down here!’ … If he’s seen something on TV or [was] talking to Hannity the night before, he’s got lots of flexibility to do whatever he wants to do.”"
This has nothing to do with the discussion at hand, but I wanted to pluck this quote out of the story you posted to give Trump a little credit, and hope he’s learned something about future appointments.
“They have blinders on,” the president has said, arguing that they “don’t understand anything except for military tactics” and “they’re not businessmen,” according to a Republican close to the White House.
That’s right Mr. President…maybe ypu shouldn’t have appointed so many generals and former generals to key positions on your staff, then…As I said…hope you learned this for future appointments.
Seriously? You really need to get your head examined if you honestly believe that lunacy.
