politics

Frank Rich on Maddow: Limbaugh Blew the GOP’s Contraception Cover

Appearing on The Rachel Maddow Show Thursday night, New York writer-at-large Frank Rich notes that Republicans’ missteps in the ongoing national debate over contraception and women’s health have handed Obama and the Democrats “a soft ball right over the plate.” After all, contraception coverage remains incredibly popular, with one recent poll showing two thirds of Americans and a similar proportion of Catholics in favor. Even 40 percent of Republicans support the notion, with that number rising above half for the 49-and-younger crowd. And yet the Republicans continue to purge their ranks of any contraception apostates, Rich points out. “Even the Democrats can’t screw this up,” he tells Maddow. And all thanks to Rush Limbaugh, whose particularly foul-mouthed contribution to the conversation may have exposed the Republicans’ greatest wedge issue.

Frank Rich on Maddow: Limbaugh Blew the GOP’s Cover