THE ENTERTAINER

                      THE POLITICIAN

For about two decades Rush Limbaugh has enjoyed extraordinary  success as the undisputed superstar of the entertainment medium known as Talk Radio.

His success can be measured in the political influence he exerts over his core group of listeners, which measures perhaps in the low double digit millions. But even more remarkable has been his success in the realm of earning money.

Credible estimates suggest he recently signed a $400 million contract to keep his show on the air through 2016. His earnings from sources other than his radio show further add to his enormous wealth.

Like his politics or not, he's the best at what he does.

Which brings me to the question: 

Without nothing else to prove in the way of his chosen trade, is Rush-- like John Corzine, current NJ Governor and former Goldman Sachs mega-millionaire and Meg Whitman, former E-Bay CEO and mega-millionaire now vying for the Republican Governor nomination in Cali, and the slew of mega-rich people who enter politics after having reached the summit of the for-profit  world--is Rush coveting the Republican Presidential nomination in 2012 for himself?

This writer thinks the answer is Yes.

Long saddled with the physical appearance of a cigar chomping glutton, Limbaugh is exhibiting himself on TV as a rather healthy looking, if not handsome, man in his late 50's. The jowls of self-indugence are gone, as is the porcine so long the trademark of the Rush so many have loved to hate. The merciless TV camera is no longer his mortal enemy.

And he's doing what modern day national pols do:  Appearing on Leno's show, guesting on Fox News' Sunday Morning with Chris Wallace, stuff Obama and Gingrich and McCain do. (Palin would do it as well, but her inexorable and patently obvious inarticulateness prevents her from entering these heavyweight arenas:  Twitter and Facbook ask no questions of its contributors.)

Early on in its adminstration, the Obama White House thought it a clever tactic to deign Rush "the de facto leader of the Republican Party." The thought was Rush had such limited, narrow appeal and astronomically high negative ratings among the general electorate, who better to designate as the enemy.

But did Axelrod and Rahm underestimate Rush's talents? And by doing so create a Frakenstein monster that may come back to haunt them?

Limbaugh is as glib an extemporaneous speaker as exists in the public realm today. His rants to his disciples are garden variety ultra-right wing family-centric moralism seasoned with fear and loathing; but his personal lifestyle belies with his rantings.

Several divorces, no wife, no children, lives alone, addicted to drugs, religious affiliation and practices murky....In other words, the recipe for a perfect disingenous, hypocritical politician.

And he's smart enough to keep his hardliner supporters firmly in his pocket while subtly broadening his appeal to the non-fringe element of the voters--just like Reagan did--to perhaps put together a winning coalition.

As it used to be said of Al Gore, watch his weight. If Limbaugh has serious electoral ambitions he'll stay in relatively decent physical shape. If not, the non-lovable Pillsbury doughboy version of Rush will once again pop through.

And watch closely how often and in what venues Limbaugh's physical body appears, not his voice.   

Watch too how the White House reacts to Limbaugh's emergence as a potential candidate:  Do they go after him and by doing so give him even more legitimacy; or do they sit mute?