Rush Limbaugh

Rush Limbaugh is a popular radio talk-show host in America for nearly 20 years. He has been credited for mobilizing support for the Republican sweep of Congress in 1994 and the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1999. In more recent times, Rush Limbaugh has galvanized Republican opposition to Democratic plans for an economic stimulus, and said he hoped President Obama would fail. Democrats sought to capitalize on Mr. Limbaugh’s comments by portraying him as the divisive new face of the Republican Party. Mr. Limbaugh sees himself as a thinker as well a showman. In some camps though, he is thought of as just plain hard money lenders crazy, and sometimes, idiotic. He has styled himself as the voice of the Republican Party even as he spews hate-filled rhetoric and brazenly reiterates his hope that the president fails in his attempt to rescue the country from one of the worst financial crises in history. His barbed advocacy of right-wing causes has distinguished him since he first emerged as a talk-radio sensation in the mid 1980s. His idols are William F. Buckley Jr., who became a mentor, and Ronald Reagan. Mr. Limbaugh began his radio career at 16, at the station in his hometown of Cape Girardeau, Mo. His breakthrough came when he went to Sacramento, where he struck a nerve with acid right-wing attacks on feminists and “environmental wackos,” among other targets. His show went national, and revolutionized video camera stabilizer radio in America. Talkers magazine editor, Michael Harrison, puts Rush Limbaugh’s weekly listeners at roughly 14 million. Mr. Limbaugh says it is closer to 20 million. Either way, nobody else comes close. Mr. Limbaugh signed an eight-year contract in 2008 that according to him would bring in about $38 million a year, plus a nine-figure signing bonus. His personal life has put him in a glaring and unwelcome spotlight. He has been married and divorced three times, and has no children. In 2006, Mr. Limbaugh was charged in Florida with “doctor shopping” for prescriptions, after years of addiction to painkillers, notably OxyContin. He pleaded not guilty microdermabrasion machines and made a deal with the prosecutors. This was a big blow for Mr. Limbaugh and a huge serving of comeuppance as before his own drug problems became widely known, he regularly told his listeners that drug users should be sent to jail. Mr. Limbaugh went deaf in 2001. He has a cochlear implant that enables him to hear callers, but an assistant sends him transcripts of on-air conversations as a backup. In 2003, Limbaugh had a short run as a pro football commentator for ESPN but had to resign a few weeks into the 2003 NFL season after he made comments about the press coverage for quarterback Donovan MacNabb that caused plenty of controversy and accusations of racism on the part of Limbaugh. This very comment started the whole brouhaha: “I don’t metal detector think [McNabb's] been that good from the get-go. I think what we’ve had here is a little social concern in the NFL. I think the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. They’re interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well. I think there’s a little hope invested in McNabb and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team that he really didn’t deserve. The tankless water heaters defense carried this team.” He had a syndicated 30-minute television show from 1992 until 1996, produced by Roger Ailes. The television program discussed many of the same issues he tackled on his radio show and was taped in front of a live audience. According to Limbaugh, he loved doing the radio show but not the TV show. Limbaugh, an avid sports fan, teamed with a former Madison Square Garden executive in October 2009 to bid for a 60 percent stake in the St. Louis Rams. But the investors dropped Mr. Limbaugh after players and the commissioner of the N.F.L. criticized Mr. Limbaugh for his comments on race.