Did Marco Rubio convince Rush Limbaugh to support immigration reform?

The conservative radio demigod seemed oddly awed by the GOP star's pitch to legalize undocumented immigrants

Sen. Marco Rubio got Rush Limbaugh to gush over immigration reform? Win.
(Image credit: Steve Pope/Getty Images)

On Monday, conservative kingmaker Rush Limbaugh suggested he would lead the charge against a comprehensive immigration reform push from President Obama and a bipartisan group of senators, including Republican star Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). On Tuesday, Limbaugh took the unusual step of having Rubio on his radio show — and Rubio slew him, says Jon Ward at The Huffington Post. Limbaugh and his conservative talk radio colleagues were a big reason the 2006-07 push for an immigration overhaul failed, and this was the big test for reform proponents of the new legislative effort. "It probably could not have gone better." Limbaugh started out with some tough questions, but by the end he was gushing, "What you are doing is admirable and noteworthy," and apparently voicing support for the border-security-first bipartisan Senate bill as an alternative to whatever Obama has in mind.

By that logic, Limbaugh is essentially OK with the five-page outline released yesterday by Rubio and the other senators, and sees his job now not as defeating any bill, but as defeating the president's effort to undermine the Senate initiative. Limbaugh in league with Chuck Schumer, the New York Democratic senator? Limbaugh may not see it that way, but that is where the logic of his argument leads to.... He sent Rubio off with a blessing that sounded like a conferral of the Reagan mantle on the 41-year-old senator's shoulders. [Huffington Post]

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.