Playing the Republicans

Do these guys understand that they're being played?
Observers wondered why Barack Obama evoked the name of Rush Limbaugh back in January when he met with congressional Republicans in one of his high profile bipartisan gestures. The New York Post reported that Obama cited Limbaugh as an example to not follow in his first meeting with GOP leaders after taking office:

"You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done," he told top GOP leaders, whom he had invited to the White House to discuss his nearly $1 trillion stimulus package.

As Sam Stein notes, Rahm Emmanuel picked up on the theme on Sunday:

Not missing any opportunity to make Rush Limbaugh the figurehead of the GOP, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel called the brash talk show host the "voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party" on Sunday.

In an appearance with D.L. Hughley, GOP chair Michael Steele rose to pointed out that if anyone was the head of the party, it was he and not Limbaugh:

HUGHLEY: Like Rush Limbaugh, who is the de facto leader of the Republican Party.
STEELE: No, he’s not.
HUGHLEY: I will tell you what …
STEELE: I’m the de facto leader of the Republican Party.

Predictably, Steele turned around and tried to patch things up with Limbaugh, as reported in Politico:

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele says he has reached out to Rush Limbaugh to tell him he meant no offense when he referred to the popular conservative radio host as an “entertainer” whose show can be “incendiary.”
“My intent was not to go after Rush – I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh,” Steele said in a telephone interview. “I was maybe a little bit inarticulate. … There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership.”

According to a Gallup poll released last month, Limbaugh is viewed favorably by Republicans, but unfavorably by independents by a 25 to 45 percent margin.