As Sponsors Flee Fluke Furor, Rush Limbaugh Says 'Democrats are Desperate'

The furor over Rush Limbaugh's "sluts" and "free sex" rant over contraception is chipping away at his advertising base.

Bowing to pressure from feminists and other groups, several sponsors have stopped airing what Limbaugh has heretofore affectionately called "obscene profit center breaks" on his show.

Among the dropouts: Sleep Train and Sleep Number mattresses, Legal Zoom and Quicken Loans. ProFlowers had more than 2,600 comments on its website from posters demanding that they, too, pull their ads.

Limbaugh sparked a storm of controversy last week when he mocked Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke, 30, for demanding that her Catholic college provide co-eds with free birth control.

"What does it say about the college co-ed Sandra Fluke, who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex; what does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute," Limbaugh said.

"She wants to be paid to have sex. Shes having so much sex she cant afford the contraception. She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex. What does that make us? Were the pimps."

Limbaugh had no comment on the advertising loss, but posted this statement on his website under the heading, "The Democrats are Desperate":

"They want people to fear me. This is all they've got, is to go out and try to discredit their critics, to impugn and discredit the people who disagree with them," Limbaugh wrote.

On Saturday, Limbaugh issued an apology at his site: "My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices."