Rush Limbaugh Leads GOP In Pondering How To Deal With Improving Economy

there’s another idea gaining traction fast on the right as well: ditch the economy entirely and instead return to the 2004 God/guns/gays plan that re-elected President Bush. Since Rove-style national security demagoguery is pretty hard to use against Barack “Bin Laden Sleeps With The Fishes” Obama, that means social issues would likely become the dominant part of the campaign. Let’s call it the Santorum Approach.

“I suspect if I’m Mitt Romney, I’m getting a little nervous because maybe that jobs picture won’t look so bad in November,” Santorum said last month after the latest jobs report. “And then, what’s his pitch to all of you? ‘I’m the guy who can put you back to work.’ The president of the United States is more than a guy in the private sector who knows how to create jobs. You’ve got to be the commander in chief. You’ve got to look at bigger issues. You’ve got to look at what the role of a leader is in this country.”

Given that Republicans have been losing almost every fight this year over abortion, gay marriage, and contraception in the court of public opinion, this may come across as a dangerous move. But it has at least one very powerful sympathizer in Rush Limbaugh (who, by the way, has no qualms about openly rooting for the economy to fail this year).

“Something tells me, that if the upcoming election could be decided on social issues, the Republicans could win that in a landslide, because we are on the right side of the culture war,” Limbaugh told listeners on Thursday. “The problem is, we’re scared to death of it. The Republican establishment wants no part of it.”