I'm sure that's part of the conventional wisdom about Rush's hold on his audience, but I wonder if that really holds any more (if it ever did in practice).
Pundits and political personalities only have overt power as long as their power isn't challenged. Rush is smart enough not to make categorical statements, at least not for very long. Recall that he was strongly opposed to McCain. But even after blasting him for weeks on his show after the New Hampshire primary, and causing a shift in opinions about McCain among his listeners, his power to shift the nomination to someone else was overstated.
http://www.annenberg...hreleasefinal.pdf (8 page .pdf). Of course, Rush fell into line and supported McCain once it became clear that he had the nomination.
The Limbaugh Effect was found to be overstated in 1998 as well -
http://www.ingentaco...00000003/art00007
I think the Republican establishment is unsure of what to do right now. They don't want internecine warfare at the moment, so they'll let Rush be BMOC for a while. Once they start heavy planning for the 2010 elections, they'll get into fundraising mode and won't worry about him so much. Major changes to the party will have to wait until someone wins the nomination in 2012. Whether Rush is further marginalized by then is anyone's guess, but I'm sure he won't be running the national party the way he is now....
But we'll see.
Cheers,
Scott.
Rush the Entertainer.
