RUSH: I’m watching the news also at the top of the hour break, and no matter what channel I turn to: ‘Hillary Clinton exiting race on Saturday. Hillary Clinton is going to praise Obama on Saturday. Hillary Clinton getting out,’ blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. That’s not what’s happening here. It is not what’s happening. What you’ve gotta read between the lines… You gotta understand how to understand what a Clinton is saying. She did say that at some event so Saturday that she would ‘extend…’ Let me give you the quote: ‘extend my congratulations to Senator Obama and my support for his candidacy.’ Congratulations for what? She doesn’t say there, ‘I would extend my congratulations to Senator Obama on winning the Democrat nomination and I will support his candidacy.’ She’s not saying that. Then she said, ‘I have said throughout the campaign that I would strongly support Senator Obama if he were the Democrat Party nominee, and I intend to deliver on that promise.’
Well, she’s admitting he’s not the nominee as far as she’s concerned. If she was going to acknowledge that he was the nominee, she would say, ‘I have said throughout the campaign that I would strongly support Senator Obama if he got the Democrat Party’s nomination. I intend to deliver on that promise since he is our party’s nominee.’ She didn’t say that. Let me go through the two sentences again. Quote, ‘I will extend my congratulations to Senator Obama and my support for his candidacy.’ Candidacy for what? And then she said, ‘I’ve said throughout the campaign I would strongly support Senator Obama if he were the Democrat Party’s nominee, and I intend to deliver on that promise.’ Parentheses: If he is the Democrat Party nominee. But she’s not acknowledging that he is. So you have to look — as our buddies here at NewsBusters.org, as Mark Finkelstein said — at what she didn’t say. She didn’t say, ‘I lost.’ She didn’t say, ‘I’m withdrawing from the race and asking my delegates to support Obama.’
In fact, she said just the opposite. She’s going to ask to hold onto her delegates for now. She’s going to hold — folks, she thinks something’s going to drop out there. I’m telling you, the only reason to do this — well, she may still be angling for veep, but it’s amazing how many Democrats don’t want her or Bill anywhere near that. No, no, no, no. Now they’re talking about Kathleen Sebelius and some other babe, I forget who. Oh, yeah. Janet Napolitano. Any woman but Hillary. So she’s going to hold onto her delegates. She thinks something’s about to drop or will drop or something is going to happen. She did not say that Obama won, and she did not say, ‘He is the nominee.’ She didn’t even say he’s the presumptive nominee. She said she will ‘extend her congratulations,’ but she doesn’t say for what. She pointedly does not say for having won the nomination. So the Drive-Bys and everybody else that’s panting over this (panting) are just responding to this in a formulaic way or a template way, but she’s playing this really, really close to the vest.
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RUSH: Here’s Eric in Houston. Eric, welcome to the Rush Limbaugh program. Nice to have you here.
CALLER: Thanks, Rush. Love you, man.
RUSH: Appreciate that.
CALLER: Yeah, absolutely. I want to just kind of tie into what you were talking about when you broke down Hillary’s nonconcession concession speech.
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: Kind of getting along the lines of talking about her VP move and kind of thinking of that as another strategic move that she’s obviously trying to make, because you probably agree with me, I don’t really think she wants the VP slot. I’m not sure she really wants to play second fiddle to somebody again for another presidency. But kind of thinking about it, reading some of the blogs out there from my liberal buddies, and, you know, she’s mad at the Democratic National Convention, and I think Obama just by natural association of that just because of the race, the way things played out in Michigan and Florida. And I don’t know, you know, maybe I’m wrong, but it just seems like I think she’d like to be VP before the general election. And I kind of see her working behind the scenes, almost sabotaging his election the whole way, making it more and more difficult. I don’t see beyond a Clinton to be releasing information during the presidential campaign that could really hurt him, which would, of course, you know, twofold thing, either make it so impossible for Obama, that he’d drop out before the actual presidential election, in which case, being the VP candidate she could just step up and go, ‘A-ha, what do you know, here I am.’ Or, the same token, of course she’ll never give up her Senate seat until the last moment, just sabotage the Obama campaign and just go back to her Senate seat.
RUSH: Well, under normal circumstances, Eric, and I have to be honest with you about this, under normal circumstances, I would thank you, appreciate your call, tell you I admire people who think, and then I would tell Snerdley, ‘What the hell are you doing giving me guys with kook ideas?’ But, Eric, I’m not going to do any of that. And the reason I’m not going to do it is because you’re talking about the Clintons where just everything you mentioned is indeed possible. We don’t know. We don’t know what she wants. She may not yet know what she wants. But the idea that she doesn’t want anything to do with power is crazy, and the idea that she doesn’t want to position herself for the future for the presidency is naive as well. She is purposely keeping her supporters riled up. So, with this bunch, these two, I’m not trying to cold shower anybody here, but there are a lot of people, when she actually does concede this, if she does, admit it, a lot of you in this audience, all right! You’ve wanted this for so long. Do you feel that way? She’s been vanquished. Do you feel like they’re gone? Do you feel like they’ve been vanquished? Do you feel like the Clinton threat no more exists? No. I don’t. I don’t, because they’re not gone.
These are the Clintons and they aren’t going anywhere. They aren’t going away. And to the extent that Obama has now taken over control of the party he’s just become another target for the Clintons because when they left the White House, let’s retrace a little histoire. When they left the White House, they did so amidst much controversy. They stole a bunch of flatware and silverware when they went out of there. They had a bunch of practical jokes. Their staff took all the W’s off the computer keyboards. They basically left the West wing an absolute mess. I mean spoiled rotten little kids doing practical jokes and the Clintons are walking out of there with some of the goods, and when word of this got out and Clinton had his pardon and so forth, Clinton’s reputation was dirt in the Democrat Party when they walked outta there, it really was. People have forgotten this. People think that the Democrat Party was in tears to see Clinton go, and they never stopped loving him, but that’s not true. They came back from that. They came back to take over that party, despite the fact that Algore had run and lost. They came back to take over that party shortly after 2001-2002, and they’ve run and controlled that party ever since. It’s another reason why they’re so flabbergasted at having lost because this whole primary system was designed to coronate her. They’re not going away.
Bill Clinton’s ego is such he cannot go away. He needs the adulation from wherever and whoever he can get it. Mrs. Clinton has unrequited fulfillments. She’s got ambitions, and just because she lost this time around — you know, the Saul Alinsky method does not teach you to accept defeat, and she’s a big believer in the Saul Alinsky method. So she’s not going away. I know a lot of you people who are hoping and praying that her defeat here would cause massive celebrations around the country among conservatives and Republicans that she’s gone — they’re not gone. Look. She’s bigger news than Obama on what she’s going to do Saturday. How many of you know where Obama is going to be Saturday? I don’t know where he’s going to be. I know where Hillary’s going to be. She’s going to be in Washington, supposedly conceding. We’ll see. But anything that you mentioned, Eric, and more — (laughter) — everything you mentioned is possible. It’s only June, too. It’s only June the 5th. I mean, can you imagine the absolute chaos they could cause at the convention? She’s probably going to want a convention speech. She’s gonna get a convention speech. Damn right. If Pat Buchanan got a convention speech in 1992 in Houston, she is going to get a convention speech. She’d probably get a convention night with Bill and with all those people there. This is going to be entertaining and fascinating as it can be to watch. So normally, normally, Eric, we’d be laughing at you about now, but since you were talking about the Clintons, we salute you for your understanding.
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RUSH: Kathy in Williamsville, New York, nice to have you here.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. How you doing?
RUSH: Fine, thank you.
CALLER: You know, I gotta tell you, if I thought Hillary was going away, I would remortgage my house and throw a big party, but I know, I have a very strong feeling that about a week before the Democrat National Convention, something is going to leak out about Obama that all of these superdelegates know that he will be unelectable, and she will get the nomination. I just don’t think for a minute she’s giving up that. I really don’t.
RUSH: In this market, you would remortgage your house and throw a big party?
CALLER: I would, if I thought they were going away, oh, my gosh, yes! I can’t stand her! And Obama is absolutely reaping the rewards of people’s disdain for the Clintons. That’s the only reason he’s there. People hate her enough and him, too, to throw their votes on the other person.
RUSH: Yeah, I think one of his biggest assets is that his last name is not Clinton.
CALLER: Yes. The other thing that I’m really upset about is a couple of years ago I told myself that I would vote for whichever candidate was going to fight the war on terror, period, because I know our country is in jeopardy, the UK is almost gone, they’re almost down that dark tunnel and there’s no turning around, and we could be there, and I am so ticked off that I’m going to have to go into the voting booth and vote for McCain! Because at least I know on that one issue that he will at least take care of business and we’re going to be back to Jimmy Carter, 70% income taxes and everything else, and I am just really ticked off that our party — you know, I’m ticked off at you, that you didn’t talk up Mitt Romney more because he was a true conservative candidate. You know? You talked up Operation Chaos. Why didn’t you convince people to cast their vote for a conservative candidate? Because now we’re stuck with, you know, Curly, Larry, and Moe.
RUSH: Are you finished?
CALLER: I’m done.
RUSH: You feel better?
CALLER: I feel so much better! (laughing)
RUSH: (laughing)
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: I want you to listen to something with me before you go.
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: This is Harold Ickes back on May 1st, and this is one of these conference calls of Clinton supporters with top donors to her campaign, and Harold Ickes is on the phone with Clinton donors or potential donors, and this is what he said.
ICKES: Barack Obama is a strong candidate; he’s a powerful spokesman; he’s run a good race. The fact is he is not going to be able to win the general election against John McCain. That is the message. And he can’t win it for two reasons: We don’t know enough about him, there may well be an October Surprise. And, two, he doesn’t have the general election electoral base that Hillary has.
RUSH: Do you hear the reference to Ickes about an October Surprise?
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: It dovetails with your theory out there, Kathy.
CALLER: Yeah, it sure does. It sure does. She’s not down. She’s not gone. She will be the Democrat nominee.
RUSH: What’s this going to be? What is this earth-shattering news?
CALLER: I have no idea. It’s going to maybe be a Vince Foster, a Monica Lewinsky, I don’t know. It would have to be worse than that. I have no idea. But there’s going to be something. And the superdelegates are going to be scared to death, and they’re going to go and they’re going to give it to her.
RUSH: So this is going to happen before their convention?
CALLER: I would say a week before, so that there can’t be a spin to reverse it. I think it’s going to happen right before their convention, and even if it’s underground where the high rankers know what’s going to happen and I seriously, I don’t think Obama is going to be the candidate, because I don’t think he’s — he’s electable at all, I really don’t. Between Reverend Wright and Reverend Pfleger or the priest, gosh, I can’t believe he’s a priest, you know, he absolutely bathed himself, bathed his children in these sermons of hating white people and we’re the problem and I can’t imagine that being palatable to a majority of Americans regardless of party. The other thing is, is that if John McCain does get elected and it’s a disaster, like it’s going to be domestically and economically for everyone, you know, we’re going to get blamed for voting when probably a lot of Republicans are going to stay home and the Democrats are going to elect ’em. And it’s a mess.
RUSH: I know.
CALLER: The whole thing is a mess.
RUSH: I know.
CALLER: And this is our country!
RUSH: I know.
CALLER: I can’t believe it.
RUSH: I know. And it’s my fault.
CALLER: It’s your fault! (laughing)
RUSH: You said it was my fault.
CALLER: Well, you could have talked up Mitt Romney more. He had double the votes of Huckabee.
RUSH: There was no way it was going to happen. What you have forgotten is that McCain and Huckabee joined forces to take Romney out.
CALLER: I know.
RUSH: You’re complaining to the wrong guy.
CALLER: I know.
RUSH: You need to complain to Huckabee, who never had a prayer.
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: And you need to complain to McCain for going into league with Huckabee who never had a prayer. I mean hardball politics. It’s totally legal, but that’s what happened. They saw Romney as the guy — Romney was the least liked guy in our group by the other guys in the group. Romney was hated and despised, ’cause he’s rich, ’cause he’s good-looking, ’cause he has a solid family, because he doesn’t drill for beer, you know, he’s just a solid guy down the line, and plus they didn’t like him ’cause he was supposedly running critical ads of them so they ganged up on Romney. There wasn’t anything that was going to happen to — you know, once you get two guys joining forces against the other, you can have all the endorsements in the world out there. Look, Kathy, I have to run. It’s great to hear from you, I love your passion. A week before the convention, a week before the convention, the August surprise, according to Kathy, and Hillary is the nominee.