Call it what you want, shot in the arm, wind in the sail, kick in the pants, Rush Limbaugh's ‘National Address to the Nation' at the Conservative Political Action Conference was a blast of confetti for the Grand Old Party.

The keynote speaker hit on a few key notes that bring to mind the old Johnny Mercer tune "Mr. In Between." Limbaugh did "accentuate the positive" of President Obama, calling him a gifted politician with extraordinary talent." He encouraged the president to "eliminate the negative," saying "It just breaks my heart that he has not used that extraordinary talent and gift to motivate and inspire the American people to be the best they can be. He's doing just the opposite."

Never to shy from speaking his mind, the conservative talk show host reminded the crowd that Obama is walking a path that punishes achievement and punishes earners.

We witnessed evidence of Obama's prosperity-killing-philosophy on the campaign trail when he told Joe the Plumber we need to "spread the wealth." No mention of motivating people to create their own wealth or rewarding those who have attained it.

Surely, somewhere along the line you've had a coach or a teacher tell you that "we're only as strong as our weakest link." The way to improve is to make the weak points stronger. It's true.

In his first Weekly Address, Obama did little to motivate the country to action in the midst of this economic crisis, saying "we could lose a generation of potential, as more young Americans are forced to forgo college dreams or the chance to train for jobs of the future."

Whatever happened to young Americans taking on jobs to obtain education? What about personal responsibility and self-motivation as a means of earning success.

In his book, "The Audacity of Hope," Obama writes, "we can only compete if our government makes the investments that give us a fighting chance-and we know our families have some net beneath which they cannot fail."

The net is now weaved with the strings attached to the $787 billion stimulus bill and a $410 billion omnibus appropriations measure, to name a few. House Republican leader John Boehner said it best, "the era of big government is back."

Limbaugh said it's time to eliminate the negative tone. The first several weeks of office were filled with the words "unprecedented crisis, bad times ahead, devastating news, Americans who are hurting." Where's the hope? Where's the encouragement to seek excellence? It wasn't until Former President Clinton mentioned that it's time for our President to be a little more hopeful that we began hearing words of confidence, and strength.

Back to the song, the talk show host did "latch on to the affirmative," by encouraging passion in our founding documents. He reminded conservatives to hold on to the unalienable rights which are affirmed in the US Constitution, those of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He said like-minded conservatives think all three are under assault.

The speech comes one day after Obama supporters rolled out an ad which implied Limbaugh had become the unofficial leader of the Republican Party. The ad accuses Republicans of saying ‘No" to the administration's stimulus package, as a result of listening to Limbaugh say he wants Obama to fail.

Limbaugh strongly refuted the claims, saying "That's nothing more than common sense and to not be able to say it, why in the world do I want what we just described, rampant government growth indebtedness, wealth that's not even being created yet that is being spent, what is in this? What possibly is in this that anybody of us wants to succeed? "

Hours after the CPAC address, Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel told Bob Schieffer, "I do think he's an intellectual force, which is why the Republicans pay such attention to him." Emmanuel criticized Republicans for "clinging" to Limbaugh who he says is praying for failure.

This is a classic case: When you don't like the message - kill the messenger. Rush is being attacked for being upfront about his views because they don't fit the mainstream marketing of Obama. I don't recall an ad or an outcry when Chris Matthews gushed about the "chill up his leg" after hearing Obama speak.

Here's the message- Limbaugh doesn't want Obama's liberal reform plans to win any more than he didn't want the Cardinals to win the Super Bowl. He doesn't want socialism, socialized health care, or nationalized banks to win. And he certainly doesn't want Vice President Joe Biden to win "Last Comic Standing."

Mr. In Between reminds us to "have faith or pandemonium's liable to walk upon the scene." I have faith in my founding documents, I have faith in my core principals, and I have faith in my beliefs. We're not ‘in between' a rock and a hard place, we are in the midst of strengthening a party, a Grand Old Party. If we don't check our principals at the door- we will succeed.