Rush Limbaugh: You're either with Bobby Jindal or you're against us

Overnight after Bobby Jindal's primetime rebuttal speech, there were many conservatives who were underwhelmed and began underplaying his legitimacy as a possible Presidential frontunner for 2012. Interestingly, Sarah Palin (another 2012 contender) under similar pressure from conservatives yearning for a bold political figurehead was more convincing in her early primetime tests.

But if you though Bobby Jindal was going to have trouble rehabilitating his image as a top contender. He gets an enviable endorsement from Rush Limbaugh that not only instantly reaffirms his frontrunner status but possibly shields him from future slings.

Why We Love Bobby Jindal
RUSH: Let me just say it right out. I love Bobby Jindal and that did not change after last night. I respect Bobby Jindal; I have great enthusiasm for Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, and nothing that happened last night changed my mind...

Because if you think people on our side, I'm talking to you, those of you who think Jindal was horrible, in fact, I don't want to hear from you ever again if you think that what Bobby Jindal said was bad or what he said was wrong or not said well, because, folks, style is not going to take our country back. Solid conservatism articulated in a way that's inspiring and understanding is what's going to take the country back. Bobby Jindal's 37 years old. I've spoken to him numerous times. He's brilliant. He's the real deal. I'm not coming here to defend him, he doesn't need that. We're going to have to figure out what we want. Do we want to have somebody in our party who can sound as smart as Obama regardless what he says and convince people to vote for us, or do we believe in a set of principles that defined this country's founding and will return it to greatness again? And if we do, we cannot shun politicians who share those beliefs simply 'cause we don't like the way they say it.

Rush raises a good point about the priorities people will need to reevaluate - do we want style or do we want substance? The reality is most casual viewers only see style. Something spin doctors, politicians, pundits and campaign managers are well aware of. Least of all Rush.

It's the genesis of the wrestling analogy. People tune in for the theatrics, charisma and the name calling. Not actually the wrestling. In the case of politics (and punditry), people aren't tuning for the policy discussions.

AllahPundit, blogger on conservative HotAir.com fitting Rush's "I don't want to hear from you" criteria had this to say

Rush: If you think Jindal reeked last night, I don’t want to hear from you again
...it’s amazing that a guy who worships the Great Communicator [Ronald Reagan] and whose own net worth has reached nine digits on the strength of his communication skills would pose that as an either/or...