My journey to becoming White House press secretary began in a pickup truck, alongside my Dad, who played Rush Limbaugh religiously.
Though I was in elementary school, there was something magnetic, alluring and just so passionate about the conservative radio host who had such conviction and assuredness.
My rides in my dad's trucks through Plant City, Fla., later turned into drives in my own car to my all-girls Catholic high school. My friends knew if they chose to ride with me, they would be listening to "Maha Rushie," as he affectionately dubbed himself.
GEORGE W. BUSH REMEMBERS LIMBAUGH AS 'INDOMITABLE SPIRIT WITH A BIG HEART'
Rush was a giant in the conservative movement for a reason: he exhibited unrelenting boldness for the truth. He never backed down. You knew where he stood. And he was never, ever afraid to speak truth to power and challenge the mainstream media.
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Rush's show propelled my entry into politics as a young high school intern for the Bush-Cheney campaign, a road that would eventually lead me to the podium in the White House press briefing room. In that role, Rush's boldness inspired a boldness of my own, as a young woman who also chose to challenge the media.
I can easily say that one of the highlights of my career was learning that Rush Limbaugh was willing to interview me for "The Limbaugh Letter." Ahead of that interview, I was able to personally express my admiration for him – a moment that I will never forget.
Rush had a word for people like me: a Rush Baby.
You see, Rush inspired tens of thousands of young men and women all across the conservative movement. Though Rush has departed this life for the next, he leaves behind a generation that will catapult forward the movement he created.
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Last night, my husband, 1-year-old daughter, and I prayed for "Uncle Rush" – that he would beat the cancer he battled. Like many in this country, my family did not know Rush personally, you felt you knew him through radio. You felt, indeed, he was part of the family.
As my dad said to me upon learning of Rush's passing: "He was the best friend I never met." My dad learned of Rush's passing right there on Rush's radio program, fittingly, while driving in his pickup truck.
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Millions and millions of Americans know that very drive-time radio my family so cherishes.
Rush has passed, but his legacy endures.