Don’t forget that Rush endorsed Rubio as being a “full-throated” conservative AFTER he his Gang of Amnesty activities, so Rush is NOT always right.
He does not recognize the enemy within.
“He [Rush] does not recognize the enemy within.”
Rush has a dilemma with respect to the RINO Republicans. He has knows many of them on a social and insider basis. He engages with them frequently in non-public venues - golfing, telephone conversations, private social events, and even off the record visits in their homes. He has been particularly friendly with Bush family.
His personal relationships allow him to influence politicians and policy makers behind the scenes as well as receive insider information about the workings and machinations of the movers and shakers. If Rush were to directly attack these figures daily on his show, he would be cut off from most of his inside information sources as well as a significant part of his social life. Rush has made an accommodation with the upper echelon of the power establishment that works to his benefit as well as theirs.
As to Rubio specifically, Marco Rubio is the only Republican senator from Florida, Rush’s state of residence. Rubio is also young senator with influence greatly exceeding that of most junior US senators due to his national prominence, close association with the GOP inner circle, and the importance of Florida’s electoral votes. Here again Rush can influence Rubio more behind the scenes than he can by attacking him directly in public on the radio.
Today Rush enjoys nurturing his inside relationships and tones down his message to preserve these relationships. In effect he is compromised and the softening of his show over the decades speaks to him moving from an outside voice challenging power to an accommodation with the brokers of power. Personally I enjoyed Rush’s show in the early years (1980’s and 1990’s) when he was a hungry young outsider trying to build an audience. Today he is a comfortable ultra wealthy media pundit who enjoys the good life which includes hobnobbing with the wealthy and powerful.
The Rush of 2018 is no longer a revolutionary. He enjoys his expensive cigars and private golf games with the movers and shakers more than he enjoys upsetting the applecart. The days of the “Rush to Excellence” tours, Dan’s bake sale, and cruises where Rush rubbed elbows with his growing audience are long gone. His increasingly frequent absences from his show are likely associated with private events where he mingles with the elites he once enjoyed satirizing.
He does not recognize the enemy within.
And remember that Rush flew up here to NYC to have dinner with the Gang of Eight to be influenced to stifle criticism of amnesty. If you have forgotten, the Gang of Eight is comprised of: Marco Rubio, Jeff Flake, John McCain, Lindsay Graham, Dick Durbin, Robert Menendez, Chuck Shumer and Robert Bennet. Read that list a couple of times and let it sink in.
Rush, of course, never told his listeners of the meeting until it was revealed by the NYT.
I have never trusted nor listened to Rush since!
Rubio, a full-throated conservative - indeed.
For 20 years Rush was a loyal flunky for the Bush No Borders Republicans. He never brought up the exploding illegal immigration problem, and he refused to take calls on it. He was approached over and over by all the major border control groups, beginning with the Prop 187 fight in the early 1990s. And he probably would never have changed if we hadn’t melted the DC phone lines when his buddy Dubya tried to ram through an amnesty that Obama would have been proud of.