Last week, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said that the Republican Party is in deep trouble because it is getting smaller and being led by far-right polarizing figures. Specifically, he said that right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh “diminishes the party and intrudes or inserts into our public life a kind of nastiness that we would be better to do without.” Limbaugh then responded that Powell ought to close the loop and leave the Republican Party instead of claiming to be interested in reforming it. Yesterday on CBS’s Face the Nation, Vice President Cheney said that if he had to choose a model Republican, he would choose Limbaugh over Powell. The episode underscored an unexpected result of the 2008 election: Though a significant majority of Americans continue to reject the policy prescriptions and political rancor of old guard Republicans like Limbaugh and Cheney, the Republican establishment is now turning to those same conservative ring leaders to guide them out of the political wilderness.

From: thinkprogress.org