The Limbaugh-Coulter axis of the GOP

A lot of ink has been spilled the last few months on the Republican Party’s desperate search for a new identity.

The feud over who will chair the Republican National Committee continues and President George Bush finally weighed in this week, cautioning that the GOP has at times appeared to be “anti-immigrant.”

“Look, obviously we got whipped in 2008, and there will be a new wave of leadership arriving on the scene,” Mr. Bush said, in a Fox interview.

“But it’s very important for our party not to narrow its focus, not to become so inward-looking that we drive people away from a philosophy that is compassionate and decent.”

One big problem for the GOP is what I call the Limbaugh-Coulter axis. Professional gad-flies who were once little more than entertaining provocateurs have gained enormous influence.

Rush Limbaugh’s program needs no introduction. His approval can make or break a conservative politician; his on-air agenda often echoes eerily in the halls of Congress.

Coulter’s influence, on the other hand, had seemed on the wane, in part because of her sometimes amazingly irresponsible rhetoric.

(She described one of Barack Obama’s books as a “Dimestore Mein Kampf,” referring to Adolf Hitler’s autobiography.)

So it was startling this week to see her interview with former Arkansas Governor and presidential candidate (turned talk show host) Mike Huckabee.

At first, Huckabee seems to be challenging Coulter for her inaccurate “reporting” on his campaign.

“You said I was stupid! Do you think I am stupid? Look me in the face, Ann, and tell me. Am I a stupid person?”

But it quickly becomes apparent that Huckabee is simply trying to re-establish his conservative credentials with Coulter.

“Are you running again?” Coulter asks. “Cause you’re ‘clarifying’ a lot of things.”

“I want to make sure the next time you write about me, you get all the stuff straight.”

“Well,” Coulter says, “a little more conservative and you would have my vote.”

The conversation devolves to the point where Huckabee, with a big, aw-shucks grin, declares, “Nope! I am definitely not pro-sodomy. I promise! Scout’s honor!”

With her jaw set, Coulter says bluntly, “I am the enforcer…I keep Republicans staying on the straight and narrow.”

There’s a lot of evidence that Coulter’s path isn’t winning much support from American voters. But this kind of shock-jock culture is deep-rooted in the GOP.

One of Mike Huckabee’s proteges, former campaign manager Chip Saltsman, is a contender to lead the Republicans.

Saltsman is the one who sent around a CD that included Limbaugh’s “Barack the Magic Negro” parody.

The truth, of course, is that every political movement has its share of fringe-whackos, saber-rattlers, and ranters.

These days, those are the loudest voices in the Republican Party.

While the bickering and hand-wringing goes on behind closed doors, Limbaugh and Coulter will go on gleefully shouting from the rooftops.