TALK SHOW HOST LIMBAUGH DISCOVERS REFUGE IN VISITS BACK HOME

Rush Limbaugh III blithely anticipates his trips home as a welcome refuge from the public attention he's become accustomed to since launching a nationally syndicated radio talk show in 1988.

Despite the program's meteoric growth, to many local residents who know him personally the name Rusty Limbaugh likely invokes thoughts of a pudgy, freckled Babe Ruth leaguer who had a pretty fair curve ball.

Limbaugh, 40, is in Cape Girardeau this Christmas to visit his family. He said Tuesday that most of his childhood friends and acquaintances are largely unaffected by his tremendous success.

"I think the reaction of most people who knew me as I was growing up has been one of sincere happiness," he said. "But it's really not that big a deal to most of them.

"The familiarity is one of the reasons I like to come here."

The Rush Limbaugh Show, broadcast locally on KZIM, 960 AM, started in 1988 with 56 stations and an audience of 250,000. The show now boasts 450 stations and more than eight million listeners weekly. Advertising rates that were about $150 three years ago now are $6,000.

As the program expanded, so did Limbaugh's prestige as one of the nation's most prominent mouthpieces for conservatism.

Limbaugh uses irreverent humor on the program to depict his right-leaning analysis of current social and political issues. He has no guests, so the show's success or failure hinges entirely on himself.

So far the formula has been successful. But such prestige can be a two-edged sword: some opponents of Limbaugh's brash verbal swaggerings call the Cape Girardeau native "the most dangerous man in America."

Limbaugh scoffs at the charge. He said history is more likely to record him as "just a harmless, lovable little fuzz ball."

Limbaugh graduated from Cape Girardeau Central High School in 1969. He got his first taste of radio when he worked evenings and weekends as 16-year-old jock Rusty Sharp on KGMO-AM in Cape Girardeau.

His parents hoped he would

grow tired of radio, but he dropped out of college after a year and headed to Pittsburgh, to pursue a radio career.

But Limbaugh grew tired of radio and went to work in the publicity department of the Kansas City Royals baseball team. He said it was during his stint in Kansas City that he began to view his life and where it was headed in a different light.

"The last three years I lived here were probably the most agonizing years of my life for a lot of personal reasons," Limbaugh said. "After leaving Cape Girardeau, for the next 10 years of my life, everything I did was framed by, `I'll show them.'"

He said the memories of Cape Girardeau and the motivation to make a name for himself "haunted" him until he decided in 1985 to go back into radio. This time he had a different motivation.

"I came to the point where I decided, `Just do the best you can, Rush.' I know it sounds like Miss America or something, but it was at that point in my life that I began to enjoy success," he said.

Limbaugh's return to radio in Sacramento, Calif., was a huge success, and in three and one-half years he was offered an opportunity to take his show into syndication in the nation's top market, New York City.

Limbaugh said the psychological jolt of an aloof New York audience that initially was unimpressed by him and his show was the most difficult part of the move.

"In Sacramento I was a whale in the bathtub," he said. "I was by far the biggest media personality in the city. I expected to come into New York with all the fanfare associated with the credibility I had built up at Sacramento.

"But I became an instant nobody. That was a tough thing. It took six months for me to fully realize that I was starting all over."

Limbaugh said the challenge made him a better broadcaster and helped him to cultivate the show's formula. He said that in order to be on "the cutting edge of societal evolution," and to evince possession of "talent on loan from God" routine, Limbaugh claims the show must always maintain its audience appeal.

"I've got a winning formula, but I have to constantly change the program," he said. "This show is totally dependent on me. People who listen to this show listen to me.

"And being on the cutting edge of societal evolution really means nothing more than being intuitive enough to know what people are interested in."

The struggle to keep the audience informed of current affairs while providing a sufficient dose of entertainment is a continual challenge, Limbaugh said.

He said he must constantly try to keep a finger on the nation's pulse and find new targets for the show's unshackled liberal-bashing.

"I think some of the new issues that are on people's minds are things like health care," he said. "That's an issue that's not just affecting consumers, but businessmen. If I fall behind on things like that, that's where I'm in trouble. That's one of the reasons why I travel and try to meet a lot of people.

"From my standpoint, topics like economics and the Soviet Union are not sexy issues," he said. "But they are to people who understand them. It's my job to find a way to tell people what's going on in a way they understand and relate to."

Limbaugh said he believes the show has had a "profound impact" on the political views of, particularly, middle-class Americans, encouraging conservatives and converting liberals.

"It's tough because so much of liberalism makes you feel good while it accomplishes nothing," Limbaugh said. "So many people in this country are liberal democrats only because their parents were, but they can't tell you why they are.

"They can't go beyond the cliches, and when you hit them with logic, it at least opens their eyes."

Limbaugh has few "idols" or role models who helped shape his world view with the exceptions of God and his father, who he called "the smartest, most knowledgeable man I ever spent any amount of time with." Other influences include conservative writer and columnist William F. Buckley and former Chicago radio personality Larry Lujack.

Limbaugh is more likely to extol his Midwestern upbringing and the role it played in molding his conservative values.

"Of course, I had great parents who are responsible for the way I turned out and the values I have," he said. "But there's also something intrinsically valuable about being from the Midwest.

"I've lived on both coasts, but in the Midwest and in the small towns of the Midwest there is a unique morality. I owe a lot to those values."

Limbaugh said success has its price, and some people have tried to capitalize on his popularity by trying to persuade him to join various business ventures.

He also said high performance expectations can add pressure to what can be an already stressful job.

"The performance expectation is so high," Limbaugh said. "It's akin to being at the plate with bases loaded and two outs for three hours and fouling off every pitch knowing there are people out there expecting you to fail and wanting you to. But it's toughening me. It also makes me distrust about everyone."

Despite the pressures, Limbaugh obviously loves his work. "I've never liked work," he said. "But this isn't work, it's instinctive."

He continues to expand his activities and plans to release a book, tentatively titled "The Way Things Ought To Be," in the fall. Also, the Rush Limbaugh television show, a syndicated TV version of his radio show, is scheduled to debut in September.

Limbaugh said that despite his national popularity and subsequent affluence, his motives have changed little since his radio days in Cape Girardeau.

"I'm doing what I do because I love it, and I want to be the best at it that I possibly can," he said. "I've had people come up to me and say, ~~`You've had all this success; I can't believe you're not some kind of egomaniacal jerk.'

"I tell them I don't have time to be egomaniacal because I've got a great show to do today. I refuse to quit trying to do a better job. That's what keeps you from losing your head in this business."