Maybe Dittoheads Don't Take Their Marching Orders from Rush

That's my take on reax to Rush Limbaugh's temper tantrum regarding criticism of Bobby Jindal's address Tuesday night.

Up front, I will admit I watched neither the POTUS nor the rebuttal. I had better things to do, like Girl Scouts. But I read the reactions this morning and they were uniformly good for Teh One and uniformly bad for Jindal. From that, I can assume that the Obamessiah read well again and Jindal read poorly.

Here's what Republicans are going to need to realize very quickly, or else we won't be making a comeback any time soon: Barack Obama reads well and people want to like him. Because of those facts, he's going to start out with an advantage over any opposition. What will trip up Obama is having to make decisions (something leadership experiences helps one do) and not being able to wait for everybody else to do the deciding for him. It's going to be Obama's wont to allow others (say, Pelosi and Reid) to do the heavy-lifting, but eventually, he will be responsible for the policy of the U.S. I expect the American people to give Teh One three to six months before they tire of his all-campaign-all-the-time shtick.

If Republicans want to out maneuver Teh One, it's going to take substance and style. We can't pretend that being able to read well doesn't count, because the American Idol watchers respect it. But substance will also be in the mix. Jindal has the substance; he just needs to work on the delivery. And I don't think snapping at anyone critical of our side is helpful. If Limbaugh (or Sean Hannity or anyone else) wants Republicans to return to power, it won't happen by pretending bad performances are good ones.

Gee, I wonder if those who accuse me of being a Dittohead will read this?