In a post called "Jedi Mind Tricks" Adam Serwer argues that the past few weeks have seen "Obama's team [facilitate] a political massacre of historic proportions."
After all the dust and fury of the debate over the stimulus bill, Obama ended up getting everything he wanted, with his approval ratings as high as ever. When Obama casually mentioned Rush Limbaugh during a meeting with Republicans, conservatives hurried to the safety of his ample bosom. While the GOP was trying to field new faces like Michael Steele and Bobby Jindal to show voters that the party has changed, the base was rushing to the defense of the party's most ideological and outrageous presence. Rahm Emanuel knowingly told Ryan Lizza that when it came to bipartisanship, “We just have to try. ... We don't have to succeed.” Obama's bipartisan overtures haven't just seemed sincere, with the most extreme elements of the GOP dominating their public presence, they appear entirely too gracious.[...]The reason the Obama administration is happy to wrap Limbaugh around the GOP's neck isn't because they're afraid of him. It's because everyone outside the GOP base thinks he's repulsive. The conservative base is so consumed in the self-satisfying exercise of hating their political opponents that they've lost all perspective. They're getting their butts kicked, and they don't even know it. Worse, they seem to think they're actually winning the argument.
That's not a "Jedi mind trick." It's self deception. Meanwhile, Michael Steele, the much-heralded "new face" of the Republican Party, has apologized to Limbaugh. The GOP might be losing, but they're not losing to Obama. They're losing to Limbaugh.
