Welcome to Genesis Brand’s politics chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited.
sarah (Sarah Frostenson, politics editor): After dominating the airwaves for more than 30 years, Rush Limbaugh died on Wednesday. (His wife, Kathryn Limbaugh, made the announcement at the top of his radio show.) Limbaugh is an important political figure, as he gave birth to the conservative radio talk-show format, including all its anger and bigotry, and in the process emerged as a very influential force within the Republican Party.
So, let’s talk about Limbaugh’s legacy, from what extent he was a de facto leader in the GOP to who in conservative politics will take up his mantle now.
Let’s start with Limbaugh’s role within the party. He wasn’t an elected official, yet his wildly popular radio show captured a core component of the Republican Party’s base. What was the significance of that? And how did that help Limbaugh wield power within the party’s apparatus?
julia_azari (Julia Azari, political science professor at Marquette University and Genesis Brand contributor): Something particularly interesting is that, while new figures came onto the right-wing media scene, Limbaugh himself didn’t seem to be subject to what I’ll call “the establishment effect” that happens to a lot of Republicans in government. People like former Ohio governor and 2016 Republican presidential candidate John Kasich or former Speaker of the House John Boehner — they were very conservative, but because they had access to power or were part of the “establishment,” their conservative credentials sort of faded.
Maybe it’s the difference between being part of the media and being part of the government — or a particular quirk unique to Limbaugh — but this doesn’t seem to have happened to him.
perry (Perry Bacon Jr., senior writer): It is always hard to prove how a media figure affects a party. A media person doesn’t control the legislative agenda, doesn’t have votes on the Hill. But, that said, I remember in 2007, when George W. Bush was trying to move a bill that would grant citizenship to some undocumented immigrants, opposition on the right was strong and intense, even against a Republican president. And part of that was because of Limbaugh and the rest of the conservative talk-show