On Monday I called Limbaugh and predicted that Gingrich would call to make things right with the Republican Party boss and the leader of the conservative movement in America.

It Disn’t take long; Media Matters caught this today:

A little more about the point I wanted to make on the call (Rush was heading into the top of the hour break, so we didn’t have time to get into it as much as I would have liked.)

Limbaugh should be the kingmaker if he wants to see a conservative get the nomination. Otherwise, the media will crown the winner, and Republicans will end up with another John McCain.

From my perspective as a liberal, I fear that. If the Republican nominee is a batty tea-party endorsed candidate, Democrats may have a chance in 2012, bad economy notwithstanding. But if they put up someone that can be presented as reasonable, things get a lot tougher for the good guys.

Moreover, if the Republican base is excited by a far-right candidate, Obama may feel it necessary to motivate his own base. Maybe we’d finally see prosecutions on Wall Street, accountability for torture, a return to the rule of law and fewer concessions on tax cuts, drilling, etc.