"John McCain to Rush Limbaugh: Calm Down, Reach Across Aisle"
February 6, 2008
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: McCain had a press conference today, standing in front of the Straight Talk Express bus, was heading out there, standing with Joe Lieberman, and who else was there, Lindsey Graham. Here's the AP version:
- "Boosted by his big night, John McCain asked his loudest conservative critics Wednesday to 'calm down' and support his Republican presidential candidacy, as Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton girded for more rounds of their protracted struggle for the Democratic nomination.
... McCain was referring primarily to radio talk show hosts and other pundits of the right when he appealed for unity now that he has a leg up in the nomination race.
- 'I think they've made their case against me pretty eloquently,' he said, adding wryly, 'if that's the right word.'
Now, this is what nobody seems to get.
- When did the measure of conservatism,
when did the measure of success,
when did the measure of progress,
when did it become reaching out to Democrats?
Ronald Reagan created what's known as the Reagan Democrats, Southern Democrats, who joined the Republican Party as conservative voters. They may have stayed Democrats, but they were voting for conservatism.
We are reaching out and asking liberals to come join us as liberals. And somehow this is a great masterstroke?
If this were a war, what we're saying is,
- "Enemy, come on in, and come be who you are when you get here."
- "I'm going to have no border on my nation, the Republican Party.
And if those people in that enemy party want to come in, infiltrate our party, that's great. I'm going to show that I'm the guy that can get it done.
I'm going to be the guy to not protect the borders."
I'm serious. This one escapes me.
Why is it so hard to understand that what we want is to defeat those people?
We view those people as threats to the American way of life, as we've always known it.
We view liberals as a threat to the founding of this country.
We view them as a threat to the future.
We view them as a threat to the traditions and institutions that have defined this country's greatness.
We view them as people who need to be defeated, not worked with.
Working with them, history has shown, ends up being a one-way street. They get what they want,
- the neutering of conservatism,
the neutering of the Republican Party.
We see liberals as trying to co-opt culture, education, and government in ways that it can never be gotten rid of because they want people in positions that are appointed, and of course for which there are no elections.
Somehow we now define maturity and greatness, electability, success, as, (doing McCain impression)
- "I can reach out to Democrats. I'm the only one who can do it. I can reach out there and I can bring 'em in,"
So you reach out, you tell the people that want to destroy your party, you tell the people that want to destroy conservatism,
- "Come on in and do it."
There is no such thing as bipartisanship anymore.
Bipartisanship has come to mean one thing:
- The Democrats get what they want.
He said it.
- "I can reach across the aisle, and I can work with the Democrats."
And what do you ever get for it?
What does the Republican Party get for all of your working with the Democrats? Versus what do they get.
They're going to get their global warming deal. They're going to get massive tax increases and incursions on liberty, dealing with this hoax.
What do they get with McCain-Feingold? They get the premise that government can shut people up at a certain time.
What do they get with McCain-Kennedy? They get amnesty, a never-ending flood of potential new Democrat voters.
What do we get when we reach across the aisle? What do we get when we bring Democrats in?
Lest we forget, certain Republicans worked with Democrats to get Bill Clinton off the hook during impeachment. We'll always remember that, those brilliant House managers were sold down the river, thrown under the bus, and thrown overboard, all because the Republicans in the Senate didn't want to deal with the problem attached with it.
So once again, we show that we can work with the Democrats, and we can reach across the aisle and we can show a spirit of cooperation,
while what really happens is that we lose a little bit of our identity and soul founded within this party each time it happens.
Now they're telling us to get over Reagan.
There was only one Reagan.
You guys gotta get over Reagan.
We got people on our side (saying),
- "that's true, that's true, we gotta move on, it's 2008".
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: I have another question, before I get back to your phone calls, one more point and a question.
When is the last time -- I know you people pay attention -- when is the last time that you heard Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama talk about reaching across the aisle to work with us?
No, seriously.
I mean, stop laughing.
I'm being serious.
Do they ever say this?
In fact, last night, Hillary, in her speech, went on and on and on about us. She was attacking Bush, she was attacking the Republicans, and Obama hasn't gotten to that point yet because he's still out there flying around on Vapid Airlines with all this flowery lingo, but I don't hear them talking about reaching across the aisle to work with us.
Now, here's the rub with me about McCain's popularity.
John McCain is always allowed to have it both ways. He is instrumental in obstructing what conservative measures we do want to implement, and as a result of obstructing those measures, he gets lauded for it by the Drive-By Media.
Then after that, after McCain stands in the way of conservatism moving forward and being lauded for it, Republicans get blamed for getting nothing done!
McCain gets credit for being a maverick, as if that's evidence of his great character, because he'll always follow his conscience rather than the party line, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, but he's always a maverick in furtherance of principles that we find abhorrent and principles that liberals love.
He's getting credit on both sides, never paying a price, and Republicans get the blame for it, among voters.
- "I'm sick and tired, we've had the White House, we've had Congress for eight years, six years, what do we have to show for it?"
While he's out there obstructing conservatism, thumbing his nose at us, he's being lauded and praised. Big maverick, gets credit for that.
Then Republicans get blamed for nothing getting done.
By the way, not to mention, it really takes no courage for Senator McCain to stray from the party line because he gets nothing but adulation from it, from the Drive-Bys. They love him. Sabotage his own party; they love him.
But now as the primaries are making clear, he's paying no price for any of these betrayals,
and I think that probably spells out and explains the root of the rage that lies beneath these primary votes that the Republican Party has no idea is occurring.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Apropos what I was just discussing, this being enamored -
- Republicans being enamored, defining greatness -- by "reaching across the aisle" and "working with Democrats."
- (doing McCain impression) "That's what Reagan did. I saw it! I was there!"
He reached across the aisle to bring 'em to us, as conservatives! I'm sorry for yelling.
David Brooks was on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. (interruption) No, no, listen to this. He had this to say. He has a theory.
- BROOKS: I have a theory about why they don't like McCain --
LEHRER: What is that?
BROOKS: -- and I think it's your attitude toward the other side.
LEHRER: Yeah.
BROOKS: Limbaugh's whole mentality is they are the enemy. We are going to attack them, attack them, attack them --
LEHRER: Yeah, that's true.
BROOKS: -- and McCain may disagree but he doesn't necessarily hate them -- and I think a similar sort of theory goes on, on the Democratic side.
LEHRER: Mmm-hmm.
BROOKS: Some people think you can never deal with Republicans.
RUSH: They don't have to "deal with" Republicans, David!
McCain's dealing with them and giving away the house. He's giving away the store.
We don't hate 'em! We want to defeat them.
This is politics; it's not personalities.
We don't like their ideas. For crimanitly's sake, what is so difficult to understand about this?
Maybe to these people there's not that big a difference in the ideas that we have.
- "We just need to work around the edges. Smooth them out! Come up with brilliant compromises and move the country forward."
We don't hate 'em.
They are the enemy!
They are to be defeated. Politically.
He just evolved that theory -- and, of course, the theory is only applied to us. We're the weird ones.
They're giving away the story right underneath their noses. They don't even see it, probably don't even care.
END TRANSCRIPT
Read the Background Material...
- • AP: McCain Appeals for GOP Unity
*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.
" Suzanne from Hagerstown, MD, Launches Nuke at GOP Sellouts"
February 6, 2008
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Suzanne, nice to have you. Hagerstown, Maryland. Welcome to the EIB Network.
CALLER: Hi, Rush.
Listen, I don't think the media gets it.
I don't think these Republican pundits get it.
I'm 50 years old. I've been a Republican since I was a child because my mother was a Republican Party precinct leader, and I have never voted in a federal election for anybody but the Republican candidate, not because they were Republican, but because they were conservative.
I cannot vote for John McCain. I don't care what he says between now and --
RUSH: Why not? Why not?
I hear so many people say that, why not?
CALLER: Because, as Thomas Sowell so well put it, you know, people are looking at it, he betrayed us.
You know, Hillary and Obama can go out there and be liberal and say what they are.
He said he was one of us.
And then, because he lost an election, he turned around,
and because he hated Bush, you know, he always has to hate somebody, he hated us,
he hated the conservatives,
he hated the Christian right,
he turned around and slapped us over and over and over again.
He twice wanted to leave the party, and now the Republicans have the audacity to ask me, a person who has supported them, given them money, given them time, to support this man.
I'm not going to do it.
I don't care what he says. He can reincarnate Reagan and run with him; I will not vote for this man for president.
And this hurts.
This is a hard thing, to come to this realization.
RUSH: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute.
Are you just going to not vote,
or are you going to go out there and vote for the Democrats?
CALLER: At this point, I'm not going to vote.
If I think McCain can win, I will vote for the Democrats,
but I do not want him as a representative of all the things Republicans have fought for,
and Rush, I'm not the only one.
Nobody in my family, I know a lot of people, my husband, his wife, my cousin, his wife, my grown children.
Nobody gets this.
You know, Thomas Sowell wrote a piece last week, and he said something which I think is really profound.
RUSH: What was that?
CALLER: And that was that Benedict Arnold was a war hero, too, before he betrayed his country.
RUSH: (laughing) Geeez. Whoa. I didn't see that.
CALLER: He wrote an article called "McCain's Straight Lies." He didn't say it exactly like that,
but what he said was that, you know,
and this war hero stuff, when is the Vietnam War going to end?
You know, I'm tired of it. For God's sake, it's 2008.
Can we move on?
RUSH: Well, the Vietnam stuff is purposely up front to help obscure the problems in Senator McCain's record.
CALLER: Right.
RUSH: That story is there to cover up or to relegate to insignificance in terms of this primary race, McCain's record on things.
So that's why. And of course the media loves it.
CALLER: What has he done since then?
I mean, that's the point, everybody gives him a pass. I don't know at what point
-- how much they think we're going to take.
You know, they called me for money last week and I told them no way.
RUSH: Let me ask you a question.
CALLER: Hm-hm.
RUSH: Can you name the chairman of the Republican National Committee?
CALLER: Currently?
RUSH: Who?
CALLER: You mean right now?
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: The chairman of the Republican --
RUSH: National Committee.
CALLER: No, I cannot.
RUSH: I can't either. Can you name the chairman of the Democrat National Committee?
CALLER: Yeah. Dean.
RUSH: Right. (interruption) No, it's not Martinez. Martinez is a figurehead. There's an actual chairman of the Republican National Committee
-- I don't know who it is, either.
CALLER: I was going to say --
RUSH: I would have to look it up. It doesn't matter.
I was just trying to illustrate a point. They're not on the field.
CALLER: No, and not only are they going to lose the presidency, they're going to lose down ballots.
It's bad now, and, well, my theory is in all of this, you know, is that there's not going to be anybody that's going to put up a fence. There's not going to be anybody fighting for it. McCain's more likely to build a bridge than a fence.
RUSH: Right.
CALLER: And the people voting for Huckabee,
listen, I'm a Christian, I'm Catholic, I'm Christian right.
Those people that voted for Huckabee, I understand because he's evangelical and they want one of us and they have been spit upon,
but the problem is, is they not only threw their vote away, they threw away all their power because, believe me --
RUSH: I've got a theory about that.
CALLER: -- John McCain hates them, too.
RUSH: I have a theory about that.
Look, Suzanne, I appreciate it. I'm getting close to break time, and I gotta run.
CALLER: That's fine.
RUSH: I love your passion.
You've led me here and you've transitioned me here into some of my in-depth analysis.
As far as the regional vote, what's been called the regional vote, the Southern vote for Huckabee, there are a number of things that go into this.
- And one of the things that I think is relevant here is, in fact, geography, the Southern component, the regionalism of Huckabee being an Arkansas governor.
Second thing, of course, is the evangelical vote, and I think you heard the anger from Suzanne, and she said that she is Catholic, she's Christian, so she thinks she's Christian right,
- but I think there's starting to be in the Republican Party sort of an equivalence between blacks in the Democrat Party and evangelicals in the Republican Party in this sense.
Now, we've looked at blacks for 50 years. They keep voting for Democrats. The Democrats do nothing but destroy their families.
They do nothing to increase their economic circumstances.
They do nothing to redress the grievances and yet the blacks keep voting for them on the basis of the promise and the notion that Republicans are racists, sexists, bigots, homophobes, and are going to really make 'em be bad,
so they keep hanging with Democrats, and nothing changes.
Evangelicals, since 1973, have stuck with Republicans, basically on the promise,
- "We're going to do something about abortion.
We're going to fix the cultural rot that's going on in this country.
We're going to make sure there isn't any gay marriage.
We're going to stop this overall lurch to depravity that's occurring in our culture,"
- "I'm your man, we're going to do that,"
And so they, the evangelicals, are a little bit quicker to realize when they're being taken for granted.
So their votes,
- "Look, we're going to go with one of ours.
At least we can trust this guy, plus we do hate the IRS, you haven't heard us.
You keep promising tax reform, not tax cuts, tax reform and every year it gets harder and harder for us to pay our taxes and we're paying more and more and we can't get ahead because of taxes
and this guy wants to get rid of the IRS,"
I think there's genuine support for Huckabee.
I think the IRS factors a big deal in his support. I've gotten enough e-mail to know this.
There are a whole host of reasons that make up this vote,
but you also have, in certain evangelicals, just no stomach whatsoever for Mormons.
All of these things, it's not just one thing, it's all these things combined that I think explain the regionalism,
- Huckabee being from Arkansas, being one of them,
dissatisfaction with all the false promises that have come from Republicans, just the lip service,
opportunity to vote for one of their own finally who will not take 'em for granted because he is one of them.
Getting rid of the IRS is huge. I'm telling you, it is.
Then of course the Mormon factor.
-- look, I got an analysis here from John Judis, New Republic, a lib: - "'Who Won Super Tuesday?'
-- It's hard to say, but if you put a gun in my head, I'd say John McCain and (very slightly) Hillary Clinton,
but the elections revealed weaknesses in McCain and in both of the leading Democratic candidates.
McCain blunted Mitt Romney's challenge, but he failed consistently to win over conservative voters.
Hillary Clinton won the big states she had to win, and arrested Barack Obama's momentum, but she is going to have problems with white male voters.
Obama is having trouble with white working-class voters and Latinos,"
McCain failed to win a majority of Republicans. McCain beat Romney in California, and that's the end of Romney.
But McCain continues to depend on moderate, nonevangelical Republicans for his victories. In California,
- conservatives made up 62% of the primary electorate, McCain won 30% of them.
In Tennessee, 73% of the voters were conservatives. McCain won 22%.
In Missouri, 65% were conservatives. McCain won 25%.
In these states, California, Tennessee, Missouri, McCain failed to win a majority of Republicans, and he might face a revolt of those conservatives in the fall.
They're not going to vote for a Democrat, they might not vote at all. You just heard one of them on the phone from Maryland. This is John Judis in the New Republic in his analysis today.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Wow, folks. I have to say to Suzanne from Hagerstown, Maryland:
- Suzanne, you have (laughing)
-- you have launched a nuke!
I am being inundated with e-mails from friends, from subscribers at Rush 24/7, saying,
- "She is speaking my language! She is right!
Could we please get past Vi-et-nam?
She is so right about what's going to happen down the ballot.
The Republican Party in my state," pick your state, "is nonexistent."
Why all of this anger/apathy?
Well, I have a theory.
It's because the conservatives are the base of this party, and they have been told for all these years, and they have been told, Just get over it."
- "Just get over it.
We're going to grow the government along with the Democrats because we believe in active government to get our agenda done."
There are too many in our party... We know the liberals and who they are, and we know the Democrats are who they are.
There are too many on our side, who have simply succumbed to the notion that government's the end all.
Government's the answer.
Government should do this on global warming.
Government should do that on people being obese.
Government should do that on the price of heating oil.
Too many people on our side have bought into this, and the reason for it, ironically, I think, is
-- well, not the reason. One of the factors is that we have promoted an active government in dealing with the war. Now, that's constitutional. That's one of government's jobs: the military, defending and protecting the country and the Constitution. In the process of speaking out in favor of executive power, presidential power to do these kinds of things in the war, the message has been sent that maybe government should do other things, too.
Of course it's been creeping. It's not just that. It's been creeping 50 years of FDR and liberalism, and I don't have time to fully develop this now, but I'm going to in the next hour.
This is not something that's subliminal with Republicans. I mean, those of us who identified with Suzanne from Hagerstown. We see all this stuff, and it frosts us and it doesn't make any sense.
We're not the party of Big Government.
We're not the party of an active Big Government.
We're not the party that says,
- "In order to exist, we have to prostitute ourselves;
get on the floor and let Democrats run all over us."
- "In order for ourselves to be viable, we've gotta deal with them on their terms,
and that way we can be called adults."
all for the sake of being part of a growing government; a bigger government,
in which there are a lot more positions of power to be dispensed by the people that win elections and dole those positions out.
You couple that with the tax bite, and all of the frustrating things that are happening economically. We see so many Republicans who are just out there with their tongues hitting the floor, they're so excited to sign onto this global warming hoax
-- and we know why they're doing it. It's because they think a majority of the American people think that it's something to deal with, and so,
- "That's democracy, Mr. Limbaugh.
We're elected officials and we gotta do what the people want."
If it's wrong, it's wrong,
and you tell 'em so instead of caving and capitulating,
and it's caving and capitulating that's got everybody's noses out of joint.
I hear you.
END TRANSCRIPT
Read the Background Material...
- • Townhall: McCain's Straight Lies - Thomas Sowell
• New Republic: Who Won Super Tuesday? - John B. Judis
