Sacramento was Rush Limbaugh's last stop before hitting the big time. And, god help me, I listened. I was convinced, then, that he saw himself as an entertainer and couldn't possible take himself seriously. I haven't listened in a long, long time.
One time a caller was trying to move Rush a little closer to the weeds than even he was willing to go and said " You gotta dance with the one that brought you." Meaning, the outliers who supported him needed his support then. Rush wasn't having it (and to be fair, I don't recall the issue).
All of which leads us to this fine column by Courtland Milloy. About the teabaggers he writes:
They aren't racists, the apologists say. They just don't like deficits and government takeover of health care. So what does using vile epithets for black or gay congressmen have to do with that? The tea party people didn't refer to white Democrats using racial epithets. No one yelled "white trash" or "redneck cracker" at any of those congressmen. And none of their own ever stands up and declares that such practices are morally wrong.
I would think the Republics want to be careful about who they get in bed with.