One of the surprise stars of Wednesday night was brought to us by none other than Rush Limbaugh.

Sandra Fluke, the recent Georgetown Law School grad and liberal activist, rocketed to fame this year when her advocacy on behalf of requiring insurers to cover birth control prompted Limbaugh to call her a slut. She brought down the house Wednesday night with a speech asking Americans to consider the very different futures we would be deciding on come November.

She ran through all the ways in which Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would turn back the clock on women’s rights and relaunch battles that our foremothers had already fought and won.

With a nod to the Rushbo incident, she noted that among the choices we face is the difference between a man who would sit silent while a young woman was verbally attacked for her beliefs and a man who, when he heard what had happened, would invite her to speak to the nation and give her a microphone to amplify her voice.

The crowd went wild for her.

The smart money says this will not be Fluke’s last appearance at one of these things.

With her newfound stardom and undoubtedly bright political future, Fluke is a dramatic example of how political extremism can backfire. Makes you wonder what the ultimate impact of Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape” kerfuffle will be.