It's hard to succinctly define the powerful place Rush Limbaugh commanded on America's stage through radio in the past 30 years.  Perhaps keeping it simple is one way.

He gave voice to conservative parents as their children grew up into adulthood.  He was as authentic as they come, and he articulated timeless conservative principles and values in contemporary context.  Who else could have made listening to talk radio cool and captivating for a generation that grew up on TV?

Rush made sense of things that sounded old-fashioned coming from your parents.  That was the draw; he bridged the generation gap.  He created common ground between family members with conservative bloodlines being divided by culture and the pull on youth by liberal politics.  It worked the other way, too — helping young conservatives bring their liberal parents into the fold.

Rush conversed with his listeners in a funny and warm way, yet his hyper-passionate intelligence blew your hair back like a wind tunnel.  In an exhilarating fashion appealing to the young and old, he communicated intergenerational conservatism.  His "talent on loan from God" helped validate a belief system rooted in God-faith-family-country that patriotic parents strived to pass on to their children.

Rush explained things you didn't even know you didn't understand.  He was optimistic, persuasive, entertaining, and bigger than life.  He connected us.

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