on the events I heard him talk about . When I was 11 , I once spent several hours trying to call his show , redialing after every busy signal , over and over . I never got through . It 's probably just as well ; I think I had planned to try to talk him into running for president . I no longer think he 'd make a good president -- we 're all much better off when he sits behind the EIB microphone . Rush taught me a lot about personal responsibility , the value of freedom of speech and the love of country . At 26 , I 've outgrown many of my childhood habits , but I never outgrew Rush . Have conservatives outgrown him ? Is it time to distance ourselves by dismissing him as just `` an entertainer , '' as Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele initially did before apologizing ? My friend John Mark Reynolds wrote recently that Rush is `` a shallow thinker '' who will alienate today 's young adults rather than draw them in . He argued that Rush 's `` insider lingo '' and harsh demeanor are
Editor 's note : Rachel Motte blogs at www.evangelicaloutpost.com and writes for Wheatstone Academy , a Christian educational program for high school students . She is a graduate of Biola University and the Torrey Honors Institute . Rachel Motte says Rush Limbaugh still can animate conservative popular opinion . -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- It 's no secret that liberals throughout the nation are rejoicing at Rush Limbaugh 's supposed status as leader of the Republican Party . I can see why . He 's easy to pick on . His rhetoric is extreme , and his personal life has at times been less than picture-perfect . I 've heard some pundits refer to Vice President Joe Biden as `` the gift that keeps on giving . '' I imagine the left feels the same way about Limbaugh . Rush was an integral part of my childhood . I must have been 6 or 7 when I started listening in the late 1980s . I remember that my parents and their friends found him refreshing , and I remember that he made them laugh . I memorized his song parodies and even tried to write a few of my own based