Another bit o’ data for my debate with Ace over whether Beck’s serious about independent/third-party challenges or just trying to scare the GOP into tacking right. I’d say this clip is a point in his favor, the coffin metaphor notwithstanding. GB does seem to be saying it’s not too late for the party to repent, although I wish he’d knock it off with the disingenuously nonpartisan “I’ll vote for the Democrats if they turn libertarian too” nonsense. That’s like saying you’ll become Catholic if the Church renounces the Bible. His message is aimed at one party only and every last one of his viewers knows it.

Exit question per this weekend’s announcement of “The Plan”: If Barack Obama announced education “conferences” (purely voluntary) to teach people the joys of statism and benevolent government, how many weeks of material would GB get out of it? Eight? 10?

Update: Commenters are already objecting to the hypothetical on grounds that Obama’s megaphone as president is so much bigger than Beck’s. Fair enough, although I can’t think of a media figure on the left who’s quite equivalent to Beck (or Rush, for that matter) in stature. Maybe … Oprah? She seems not quite political enough. How about Gore or Bill Clinton? Beck would object that they’re eminent former government officials while he’s just a “rodeo clown” (who’s, um, planning his own March on Washington), but you could argue that these days he has more influence over the right’s base than they do over the left’s.