RUSH: WE NEED TO PUSH OUR NOMINEE TO THE RIGHT, NOT THE LEFT!

www.RushLimbaugh.com ^ | January 10, 2012 | Rush Limbaugh

[Yosemitest]

We Need to Push Our Nominee to the Right,
Not the Left!

January 10, 2012

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Wayne, Charlotte, North Carolina. You're next.
Great to have you on the program, sir. Hi.

CALLER: Yes, sir! That's where I am, sir.
I -- I -- I am livid with you today.
It's the first time I've ever been livid with you in over 20 years, Rush!
You know, you're negatively painting Speaker Gingrich when you just perfectly delineated my whole point, or at least part of it.
At one point, sir, Newt Gingrich came into this campaign with a campaign of ideas --
positive ideas, criticisms of the Obama administration and only criticisms of the Obama administration.
You said earlier with that other caller that was tired of the negativity in the campaign,
"Well, some people have been being positive."
The only person, sir -- the only person -- who created a positive agenda in the campaign and in the debates was Speaker Gingrich.
He refused to attack other people. He always said,
"Everybody on this platform would be better than what we have in the White House."
That was the tone he set.
It wasn't until Mitt Romney and it wasn't until Ron Paul came out with the attack dogs.
At what point, how many millions of dollars need to be spent broadcasting live against you until
you're able and allowed to defend yourself?

RUSH: What in the world are you disagreeing with? I've said all of this!
I've said all of this all day long.
I've gotta take a break, so you hang on.
You got time to hang on through the break?

CALLER: Yes, sir.

RUSH: I knew you would.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Back now to Wayne in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Wayne, thank you for holding on during the break.

CALLER: My pleasure, sir.

RUSH: Now, I'm gonna tell you something.
I have said everything that you made a point of saying right before the break.
I have pointed out precisely why this is happening, and I explained to everybody that this is because of what Romney did to Newt,
and I even asked, what would you do if you were faced with millions of dollars in the --
when you didn't have any dollars, and it happened in two weeks and you were the frontrunner,
what would you do?

It's beyond that, sir, it's not because he didn't have any dollars.

RUSH: And I have practiced remarkable restraint in face of these Newt sound bites.
These ads that Newt's running are more negative than anything I've seen in a long time on the Republican side.

CALLER: Look, you're now trying to cast Newt to be a spoiler, you know,
and you give historic references that he's a spoiler like Perot was.
You know, that is just nonsense.
Newt has come up with -- he's been working for years to develop strategies and ideas.
Why can't he be allowed to bring his ideas to the table without being ripped apart personally by his fellow Republicans?
The whole idea was supposed to be
to compare ideas, to compare concepts on how we can improve this government,
how we can answer the Obama administration abandonment of the Constitution and abandonment of capitalism,
and you want to cast Gingrich as the villain here.

RUSH: I didn't.

CALLER: You vilified him for his talking about Bain Capital.
Well, why is that not legitimate?
Because Romney is using Bain Capital to bolster his record of job creation.
Well, if that's why he's doing it, then the job creation that Bain capital achieved, not after he left,
which was what Romney wants to take credit for,
but while he was still there should be fair game,
and if he's liquidating companies and taking all the money out, and leaving entire towns unemployed,
that should be fair game.

RUSH: But that's not what happened.
It happened in two of the over 100 buyouts that Bain Capital was involved in.

CALLER: During Romney's tenure.

RUSH: And it happens to be the same two things that the New York Times is writing about in trying to take out Romney.
Where do I fit into this anyway?
I'm trying to do what I can here to maintain a field where ideas are discussed, but at some point this has devolved to where it is.
I've tried today to explain to people why.

CALLER: I don't think you can blame Speaker Gingrich for defending himself.
And when 45% of all television ads in Iowa over the month of December were anti-Gingrich ads mostly from Romney's PAC --

RUSH: Right.

CALLER: -- and also from Ron Paul's PAC --

RUSH: Right.

CALLER: -- when that's the case, at what point -- how many candidates did we have then?
Bachmann was still in the race then.
We had a lot of candidates and 45% of all aired television ads in Iowa were attacking Gingrich.
At what point do you say,
"You know what, I didn't want to answer these charges.
I didn't want to devolve the campaign into this, but at some point I have a reputation to uphold.
At some point I'm going to defend my ideas and my ability to express them."

RUSH: Look, Romney had the money.
Newt was in second place. Why is this so amazing?
This is what happens in politics.

CALLER: Well, it should be happening after the convention, not before.
We should be able to express ideas,
and if Mitt Romney can't expect to win by exchanging ideas and comparing his record fairly, then he doesn't deserve the nomination.
But, you know what, Rush?

RUSH: Why the attacks from the right?
These attacks are coming from the right.
Newt is not sounding like a conservative when he's making these attacks.
He's not giving people reason to vote for him. Trust me on this.
Not because of what I'm saying. I'm practicing restraint.
Do you realize how many people in this audience are livid when they hear these Newt bites?
They think it's what Obama says.
This is what Chuck Schumer says.
This is what Harry Reid says about us.

CALLER: And there you go again --

RUSH: No.
I'm telling you what -- I'm telling you what -- (crosstalk)

CALLER: -- Newt should have Obama at the end of his commercials?
Come on, Rush.

RUSH: I'm just helping people translate.

CALLER: Yeah, well, you know, obviously with a very broad bush,
and I think unfairly, and that's not like you.
You know, but like your caller earlier in the day, I still love you, Rush.

RUSH: Thank you.

CALLER: I still do love you.

RUSH: Who do you think I'm for in this race, can you tell?

CALLER: I can't really tell, but I think you'd be very happy with Mitt Romney.
I think you'd be very dissatisfied with Newt,
because otherwise I can't explain why you're unfairly attacking him today and --

RUSH: I'm not.

CALLER: -- you're trying to couch it by saying you're just explaining, but you're doing more than that.
You know that.

RUSH: I think more than anything here
I'm defending conservatism.
And I'm defending capitalism.
Capitalism is under assault here in the Republican Party.
I'm telling you, I don't care how much you love Newt, that is not good.
Capitalism being under assault in the Republican Party is not gonna help us at all.
It's what Michael Moore does. Michael Moore makes his career attacking capitalism.
We don't need to do that on our side.

CALLER: Job creation is a fair concept, it's a fair topic.

RUSH: Who defines fair?
What is fair job creation?

CALLER: Wait, what I'm saying --

RUSH: Who sits in judgment of that?

CALLER: Job creation is fair to talk about,
and when Romney talks about job creation, his record on job creation, he talks about Bain Capital.
Now, he wants to take credit for jobs created at Bain after, way after he left. Jobs created yesterday.
He hasn't been there, but he wants to take credit for all those jobs.
But the jobs that he actually threw away, the jobs that he took huge profits for, and then lost, he doesn't want to take the blame for.
That's not fair suddenly.
Well, it should all be fair.

RUSH: Oh, this fair business, that's another thing.
There's no enforcement mechanism for fair.

CALLER: You're right.
But it should be fair to bring up, and, you know, I'm bringing it up with you --

RUSH: You are.

CALLER: And it's fair --

RUSH: You are.

CALLER: And it's fair for you to bring it up with me.

RUSH: You are.

CALLER: We should be to talk about it.

RUSH: We are.

CALLER: And if Romney would take that plastic perma-smile off of his face
and actually answer some of the questions
he'd be better off as a candidate.

RUSH: (laughing) Plastic perma-smile off his face, I love it. (laughing.)

CALLER: Plastic perma-smile.

RUSH: I know
you think he's a Ken doll.


CALLER: Well, I do, I really do.
Because I don't think he has any core beliefs other than, you know, beliefs that guide him in his personal life.
He's a politician.

RUSH: I'm worried that we're looking at Richard Nixon II.
I'm worried that we've got a moderate here, there's no question.
But Newt is taking himself out by doing that.
I'm telling you, he's not helping himself here.

CALLER: Well, and you're not helping him to help himself, either, let me tell you.

RUSH: Well, but that's not my job.

CALLER: (laughing)

RUSH: (laughing) What do you want me to do, say,
"Screw you, Romney. You SOB. You GDP,"
whatever the word. What do you want me to say?

CALLER: That was good enough.
I'll use that as a sound bite.

RUSH: All right, there you go, okay.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Let me try to 'splain this in another way.
I don't even know that I'm letting you in on a little secret here.
I have quoted a great column by Daniel Henninger in the Wall Street Journal about Romney.
I've mentioned this a number of times.
It has appeared that the establishment wants Romney, and Romney's been leading in every poll,
and don't get mad at me for saying that he's the presumptive nominee.
That's the case that everybody's been trying to make and that's what the polling data has all showed.
Okay, so you deal with what you got.

Henninger's column was about the fact that
Romney was gonna have to be pushed to the right if he was gonna get there,
that his natural inclination is not conservatism.
Despite what he says, his natural inclination, his core, is not conservatism.
He's going to have to be pushed toward conservatism.
I don't mind Gingrich attacking Romney. I am not defending Romney.
What we have known, what we have said, is that
Mitt Romney needs to be pushed to the right.
He needs to be made a little bit more conservative, to run as a conservative, to campaign as a conservative.
Which the elites do not want him to do.

Newt is not pushing Romney to the right.
Newt is coming at him from the left.
We're seeing Newt now running to the left of Romney. That's what's going on.
That's what's so mind-boggling about this.
In a conservative Republican primary, we got Gingrich, and Perry, too, running to the left of Romney.
Gingrich and Perry running to the left of Romney.
Now, since when do Republicans hate capitalism? When did that start?
I don't hate capitalism.
Now, I know we've got some squishy moderates and some establishment types in our party that are afraid to defend it.
And we've got some squishy types who are afraid to even defend the whole profit motive and concept.
And, frankly, I have no patience for them.
But we as Republicans, we as conservatives do not hate capitalism.
We don't oppose capitalism and we do not want to talk about capitalism the way the left does.
And we're certainly not gonna push our candidates to the right in the process of coming at them from the left like this. We're pushing them to the left.

Now, in the case of Romney, Romney supported TARP and says he supports capitalism.
Those two don't go together.
So it's tough to find anybody here who's got clean hands.
Who of these candidates would you say has obvious conservative core beliefs?
Isn't it true, folks, isn't it true that when we look at the field of those remaining,
that the full-fledged pedal-to-the-metal conservative isn't there?
They've all got one degree or another or a series of degrees of flaws.
They all in one way or another end up thinking that using government to advance their policies is a good idea.
We don't think that.
So what are we left with? We don't have the ideal conservative.
So whoever's gonna win this thing has got to be pushed to the right and has got to be reminded that if they win this thing it's because that's how they did it,
and they're gonna pay a huge price if they abandon it after they're elected.

You deal with what you have. It's like Rumsfeld said,
"You go to war with the Army you have,"
and they raked him over the coals for that, but he had no choice.
Same thing here. So who has clean hands?
I mean that's the issue here when looking for a candidate, that's the big issue.
Who's got clean hands? Nobody wants to say it.
Romney people out preaching capitalism now and their supporters would never say
Santorum deserves another look even though he opposed TARP.
I mean there's hypocrisy all around.
I wouldn't have voted for TARP, but I would not have attacked Romney over Bain.
So what does that leave? Will the Romney supporters answer that?

Nobody's got clean hands here,
but whoever ends up with this is going to have to have won it by being pushed to the right.
And you're gonna have to admit with me here, folks, the past couple days that's not happening.
What is Romney supposed to do to defend?
He's gotta move left if he's gonna defend himself from this stuff.
That's not what we want.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: So there's hypocrisy everywhere in this campaign.
There is hypocrisy all around.
I would not have voted for TARP, but Romney did.
Practically everybody else did, too.
Santorum was opposed to it, though.
I, at the same time, would not have attacked Romney over Bain.
So who does that leave?
Will the Romney supporters have an answer for that?
Bottom line is this, folks.
The Republican nominee, whoever it is, is only going to win the general election
by being conservative.
You know it and I know it.
The Republican establishment does not know it.
The Republican establishment is going to have to be pushed to the right.
Whoever the Republican nominee is, is going to have to be pushed to the right in the campaign, if we are to win.
We are not going to win when we say things about ourselves that the Democrats are also saying.
There will be no difference.
Since when do Republicans hate capitalism?
We don't.
And we're not gonna start now. Not on my watch.

END TRANSCRIPT

Related Links


• Wall Street Journal: The Unsinkable Mitt Romney - Daniel Henninger
  
  
• The Rush Limbaugh Show - Newt Sounds Just Like Obama: 01.10.12
  
  

[faucetman]

Rush was so full of $hit today and this caller wasn't having any.

Today a cabal somewhere told all the minions that it is over. Romney will be the nominee. Everyone get behind him and trash all his opponents. Use the Bain Capital attacks as a vehicle. We can't have our guys attacking Romney, our nominee, any longer.

Rush was first, followed by Hannity. They were reading from the same talking points.

Rush was over the top against Newt. Comments about his ex-wife and Freddie mac were not one bit funny. If I were Newt I'd never talk to Rush again.

Rush making statements about Bain that I doubt he has any real knowledge about. Propping up Romney.

Hannity had Juan McCain on, sucking up to Captain Queeg who of course has endorsed Romney. It was sickening.

Rush and Sean were talking out both sides of their mouths today, so when called on their attacks on Newt, they would point out to the couple positives they had said while really stabbing him in the back the majority of the time.

I guess I am DONE with both of them. (I already fired Beck).

When people have to keep telling me just how Conservative they really are, I begin to wonder.

Our only hope is that the voters don't listen to these pundits and do the right thing. I am not optimistic. Looks like the “FIX” is in.

[Tramonto]

Rush was 100% for Romney last time around and he still is. Its a little bit disturbing that FReepers aren’t able to see this.

[BigSkyFreeper]

I pay Rush sixty dollars a year, just for him to defend a rino

What do you expect us to do about that?

[Pelham]

“The South was no bastion of Conservatism until recently”

Dude, put away the crack pipe. It only makes your yankee mind more benighted than nature created you, and its original state was handicap enough. Huey Long and FDR were not Agrarians, nor were they supported by Agrarians. The last politician the Agrarians admired was likely Jefferson.

While your version of what you think Agrarian conservatism might have been is highly entertaining it doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to reality. Quit using that copy of ‘I’ll Take My Stand’ for a door stop and read it, and then we can have a rational discussion.

[Yosemitest]

Rush hasn't said who he supports, yet.
Neither has Sean Hannity, or Glenn Beck, or for that matter, Michael Savage.
Calm down, and listen to what he's saying.
Rush is only wanting the best for our country.

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

Rush is worthless. He NEVER endorses the conservative candidate in the primary and waits until the nominee is elected, then complains the entire time that a conservative isn’t the nominee.

As far as I know, he doesn’t donate very much to elections either, or go about using his name recognition and influence to raise money for conservative candidates.

http://www.newsmeat.com/media_political_donations/Rush_Limbaugh.php

Never a penny’s donation to Bachmann or Santorum or anyone he thinks is conservative.

Talks a good game though.

That is the difference between conservatives and liberals. The liberals are out their street fighting and stealing every possible vote. The conservatives sit back and pontificate.

[exhaustedmomma]

On every channel tonight/and early evening were talking-heads reciting the same mantra. They must have got a memo. The ONLY one who didn't spout the agenda was Sara Palin; but Fox cut her off mid-sentence to break to Huntsman's victory (???) speech. They were suppose to let Palin finish afterwards, but I wasn't willing to listen to Huntsman or wait around to see IF they let her finish.

Newt stirred up a hellfire! GEAUX NEWT!!!!!!!!!!!

[exhaustedmomma]

"Mitt Romney needs to be pushed to the right...So whoever's gonna win this thing has got to be pushed to the right...The Republican establishment is going to have to be pushed to the right...Whoever the Republican nominee is, is going to have to be pushed to the right..."

At that point, Rush lost me... and pist me off.

You can push to the right all you want; but you can't change a leopard's spots. GOP "establishment" possibly can be pushed back to the right IF voters refuse to accept being pushed to the left. Otherwise, it's called a third party. Historically, that's what happens. At this point, the current two parties are meshed. And conservatives are being squeezed out as fringed radicals. I'm done compromising to vote left of center; the center keeps getting moved left. Rush knows this. Where was the hailstorm when Newt, Cain, Palin, etc., were being lamblasted? And what the heck is up with all this "it's _______________'s turn" stuff?? IMHO, the game is rigged.

[Sprite518]

Amen! I agree with you 100%

[Diogenesis]

Rush is a leftist RINO who defended Romney,
while putting down CONSERVATIVES,
during the NH Election.

RomneyBOT Rush = supporter of LIARS,
BACKSTABBERS, anti-CONSTITUTIONALISTS
and VULTURE CAPITALISM.

[aruanan]

Rush is a leftist RINO who defended Romney, while putting down CONSERVATIVES, during the NH Election

Ha ha ha ha ha ha, good one. Ha ha ha ha.

[Diogenesis]

Backstabber Rush for Backstabber Romney:
"I, Rush Limbaugh, support Romney's VULTURE CAPITALISM because he makes Obama's MARXISM MOOT.
I, Rush Limbaugh, support Romney because he makes Obama's liberalism MOOT.
I, Rush Limbaugh, support Romney because he makes Obama's ineligibility MOOT.
I, Rush Limbaugh, support Romney because he makes Obama's ObamaCARE/RomneyCARE MOOT.
I, Rush Limbaugh, support Romney because he makes Obama's IAG issues MOOT.
I, Rush Limbaugh, support Romney because he makes Obama's Sharia issues MOOT.
I, Rush Limbaugh, support Romney because he makes Obama's 911 Victory Mosque MOOT.
I, Rush Limbaugh, support Romney because he makes Obama's RomneyMarriage/Gay Marriage issue MOOT.
I, Rush Limbaugh, support Romney because he makes Obama's bad governmental history MOOT.
I, Rush Limbaugh, support Romney because he makes Obama's AGW issue MOOT.
I, Rush Limbaugh, support Romney because he makes Obama's liberal judge issue MOOT.
I, Rush Limbaugh, support Romney because he makes Obama's ineptitude MOOT.
I, Rush Limbaugh, support Romney because he has a history of the BIG DIG and its coverup.
I, Rush Limbaugh, support Romney because he has a history of destroying the Mass. Constitution which because he makes Obama's overturning the US Constitution MOOT.
I, Rush Limbaugh, support Romney because he makes Obama's lying as an issue MOOT.
I, Rush Limbaugh, support Romney because he has a history of backstabbing the GOP, itself, and is hated widely.
I, Rush Limbaugh, support Romney because he has a history of narcissism which make Obama's MOOT.
I, Rush Limbaugh, support Romney because he has a history of destroying evidence while Governor, which because he makes Obama's destruction of evidence also MOOT. "

[Lakeshark]

I think Rush messed up yesterday, and maybe went kneejerk with his diatribe. Capitalism itself was not attacked, rather the wrong use of the freedom inherent in capitalism was what was criticized. I understand there were some places where the line got crossed using leftist rhetoric, but he missed the mark by a lot and he usually does not do that.

Some (not all) of Bain Capital's dealings are simply not defensible, and he needs to know those are the ones that are wrong, and those are the ones that will destroy Romney and the party if he wins the nomination.

Just like Larry Flint's businesses are not the kind of free enterprise we can be proud of, neither were some of the examples of Bain Capital business practice something we can be proud of in trying to defend capitalism. Rush should not have come to the defense of Romney on this one, nor should his defense of Romney go uncriticized.

He really made a big mistake with this one and needs to read what Bain Capital actually did before he says anything more.

[livius]

I get the feeling that Rush goes kneejerk a lot. I used to respect him because I felt that he did some research and wasn’t just flipping on a switch for his response, but now he often seems to neither listen to the question/comment nor to have a coherent response. He’s all over the map and I think he often says things without really thinking them through.

I wondered if it was because he wasn’t hearing the callers very well, but I’m sure he’s had his equipment adjusted by now and can hear them. Maybe it’s the influence of his latest wife or something. But whatever, I think he is really confusing people now (probably because he’s confused himself).

[Lakeshark]

I still like Rush a lot, I just think he made a mistake and pulled the trigger too quickly on this one.

I hope he does some more research for today.

[TADSLOS]

Conservatives should NEVER be placed in a position to have to PUSH a candidate to the right. Conservatives want a candidate that walks the walk from the right and leads others to him or her.

[A'elian' nation]

I agree with you that Rush wants what is best for our country.

Rush also always tells us that in war one takes no prisoners.

Yet, Rush is telling Newt to keep his ‘anti-capitalism’ powder dry.

It is like trying to siege the castle, but you can’t use the long bow.

If there are capitalism schisms in conservative orthodoxy, best that they be exposed and challenged now. You can be sure the king in the castle will.

[Pan_Yan]

I’m still waiting for Rush to apologize for pushing NAFTA and remaining absolutely silent while we got chained to the World Trade Organization.

Of course most of the people bashing Rush on this thread are supporters of the man responsible for both of those passing Congress.

[VegasCowboy]

Rush is a leftist RINO

You have got to be kidding me.

[A'elian' nation]

Sad isn’t it that conservatism only got 22% of the vote in New Hampshire.

Newt 11%
Santorum 10%
Perry 1%