Limbaugh lights up CPAC

Conservative radio star Rush Limbaugh lit a flame under thousands of conservatives Saturday night in an address at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C.

In an hour and fifteen minute speech, which came before he received CPAC’s “Defender of the Constitution Award,” Limbaugh called on Republicans not to stray from their core principles and explained why it’s fine to attack President Obama. He also took a number of shots at Democrats, who he portrayed as the party of big government.
 
{mosads}“(Republicans) want the country to succeed and for the country to succeed its people, its individuals must succeed,” Limbaugh said to an adoring crowd that gave him about 18 standing ovations. Some conference attendees stood in line for up to four hours to get a seat in the ballroom where Limbaugh spoke.
Limbaugh said the country will succeed if individuals pursue their excellence, and he criticized Democrats for puttting forth a message that people they can only succeed with a hand from the government.
 
“Everyone among us must be pursuing his ambition or her desire, whatever, with excellence. Trying to be the best they can be,” he said. “Not told, as they are told by the Democrat Party:  You really can’t do that, you don’t have what it takes, besides you’re a minority or you’re a woman and there are too many people that want to discriminate against you. You can’t get anywhere. You need to depend on us.”

Limbaugh said there was more racism displayed in the Democratic party in the last election cycle than in the GOP.
“You know what the cliche is, a conservative: racist, sexist, bigot, homophobe. If you were paying attention, I know you were, the racism in our culture was exclusively and full on display in the Democrat[ic] primary last year,” Limbaugh said.
 
The conservative talk show host was criticized in some quarters for playing a song entitled “Barack the Magic Negro” that parodied a newspaper column written by a liberal writer. He has also been criticized for stating that he hoped Obama’s presidency would fail because of Obama’s push for bigger government.

Limbaugh also criticized his own party, including 2008 GOP presidential contender Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), for compromising conservative principles for the sake of winning an election. If conservatives want to succeed there is no room for compromise or bipartisanship, he said.

“Everybody seems to go orgasmic over the concept of bipartisanship,” Limbaugh said. “Bipartisanship occurs only after one other result, and that is victory.”
 
He also said he does not see Obama and Democrats compromising.
 
“Somebody tell me where is the compromise on all of this spending?  Where is the compromise on all this punishment of the achievers,” he said.
 
Limbaugh defended his comments about hoping Obama fails.
“That’s nothing more than common sense and to not be able to say it, why in the world do I want what we just described; rampant government, growth indebtedness, wealth that’s not even being created yet that is being spent, what is in this,” he said. ” What possibly is in this that anybody of us want to succeed?”
 
Limbaugh asked if Democrats wanted the war on Iraq to fail. The crowd answered, “Yes.”

In a straw poll conducted over the course of CPAC’s three-day conference, Limbaugh came in first as the “King of Conservative Media.” Fox News hosts Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity came in second and third, respectively.