Rush Limbaugh: Using Pat Hill's Playbook

 Sphinx - photo by JoAnn Sturman

by Scott Sturman

While driving to work a few days after the recent Presidential election, I decided to tune into AM radio and do something I rarely do: listen to Rush Limbaugh’s commentary.  If there ever was a time to be circumspect about Republicans expanding their base of appeal, this was it.  Instead the listener heard a sermon about the necessities of scrupulously adhering to the tenets of conservatism.  One rightly could ask, “Who’s conservatism?”  Rush's ego was palpable, as if he could will the non believers into seeing things his way.  Despite the changing demographics of the American political scene, the movement should stay the course, and if it was unattractive to women, minorities, or youth that was their problem.  The rigidity and absolute reliance on traditional strategies was oddly analogous to the career of Fresno State’s former football coach Pat Hill.

Pat Hill came to Fresno State in 1997 and until his departure in 2011 put the program in the national spotlight.   “Play anyone, anytime, anywhere,” became his mantra. Coach Hill took the Bulldogs to numerous post season bowl games, placed a bevy of players in the NFL, and developed one of the most academically sound football programs in the country.  Yet as the years continued, the win-loss record took a turn for the worse.  Although the team could play competitively at times, all too often mediocre opponents dominated the Bulldogs.  The coach played an old fashioned style which had become predictable, and his adversaries took full advantage of the stereotypical strategies.  Fruitlessly running the ball up the middle and refusing to blitz the quarterback when the secondary was being picked apart became hallmarks of the program and the subject of snide remarks.  The coup d‘ tat came in 2011 when the Bulldogs hosted their arch rival Boise State at home.  At the end of the first half it was Boise 50 - Fresno State 0, and Coach Hill’s fate was sealed.

Fresno State hired a new coach, Tim DeRuyter, for the 2012 season.  He plays the same talented players Hill recruited, but now late in the season the Bulldogs are the favorites to win the conference championship.  Sometimes success is determined by looking at a problem from a different direction and making appropriate adjustments.

Rush Limbaugh has done much to energize the conservative movement and counteract the pervasive influence of an uncontested liberal media.  His vigorous denunciation of national health care and profligate government spending are to be commended.  Until lately Mr. Limbaugh was able to rally voters to the conservative cause, but of late he preaches to the choir and ignores the need to expand the base to voters who are intellectually and emotionally conservative but disagree with the party’s social agenda.

There is an untapped trove of voters for whom the social aspects of conservatism are secondary to concerns about the economy, national defense, health care, and the expansion of the welfare state.  Social conservatives alone cannot resurrect the Republican Party in a national election; their numbers don’t add up and with every succeeding year the goal will prove more ellusive.

Pat Hill now works as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Falcons which has the best record in the NFL.  A new challenge and role gave him the opportunity to once again travel on the road of success.  It’s time for Rush to follow suit and make way for new personalities with fresh ideas.