RUSH: Marco Rubio: “Our problem with Obama is he’s not a bad person.” Here’s Ed Rollins yesterday afternoon on Fox with Megyn Kelly. Megyn Kelly said, “You know, it was clearly a theme last night. Over and over again they pounded that it’s something to be proud of in this country to be successful, the foundation of what this country was built on is success. Ed, did the Republicans make their case?”
ROLLINS: They certainly did to a certain extent. The president and his team are not bad people in spite of Rush Limbaugh gonna criticize us for saying he’s not a bad guy. They just have a different viewpoint. And I think the viewpoint is that, you know, we need government to interfere, we need to redistribute wealth, government needs to be the referee. Our perspective is stay out of our way and let us just go. Give us the freedom to go achieve the things that we want to achieve as an American.
RUSH: Where does this idea get started that I want the Republicans at the convention to say Obama’s a bad guy? I have no such desire. I’ve never stated that I want them to talk about Obama being a bad guy. My express desire has been that there be some leadership. It’s almost as though — and you couple that with the Rutenberg piece, the emotional ties that Obama voters have with him. Rubio and Romney, you could almost say that their approach was to tell those people, “It’s okay to not vote for Obama now. You don’t have to. You have permission not to vote for Obama.” And that’s an acknowledgement of that emotional tie. I don’t dispute it. They’re acknowledging that there’s this emotional tie people had, first black president, they think he’s a nice guy, yip, yip, yip, yip yahoo. And so their theme was, rather than bash Obama, which, I don’t want anybody bashing Obama, but I do think, and I’ve only got 45 seconds and I’m not gonna be able say everything I want to say in 45 seconds…
If I’ve had a desire, it has been for there to be, while we’re explaining who we are, all I’ve asked for is some ideology. Just explain liberalism, just tell ’em who Obama is in that regard. Obviously they didn’t want to do it. They were obviously afraid to say things like, “Obama doesn’t have the same view of America we do. In his world, America is guilty, doesn’t deserve to be a superpower.” There’s a movie out there that people are showing up in droves to see that makes this point. Maybe they’re relying on that. I don’t know. But I don’t want to say he’s a bad guy. All I’ve ever said is get some ideology in this. Explain what conservatism is. Explain what liberalism is. It’s so easy to do, and it’s highly educational.
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RUSH: Look, folks, it’s never been that I want them to say he’s a bad guy. I did sort of blanch when I thought they were gonna say he’s a good guy. A good guy does not accuse you of causing another man’s wife to die of cancer. A good guy does not accuse you of shoving Grandma over the cliff to die in a wheelchair. Nice guys, good guys, don’t do that kind of stuff.
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RUSH: I never once said that I want anybody at this convention to go out there and say Obama’s a bad guy. They did it, by the way, and they did it in flying colors. I wanted the country spoken up for and defended. I want the contrast drawn between people who think this country’s guilty of something; that it was founded unjustly, immorally; that this country needs to be cut down to size; that this country’s the problem in the world. That needs to be rejected and I don’t think it’s a mistake to tie Obama to those beliefs. That’s what he believes. That’s why he’s doing what he’s doing. He can be a fine guy. I just don’t think he’s very bright, and I don’t think he’s very experienced.
You know, this notion of him being a bad guy, all I ever said was, please don’t tell me he’s a nice guy. Don’t pander. I know you’re afraid. I know the Republicans are afraid of this deep emotional connection that some Obama voters have with Obama, and they’re worried that they can’t break it and they’re only hope of breaking it is to agree he’s such a nice, wonderful guy. But he’s not. Nice guys don’t say the things Obama says. Nice guys don’t accuse you of causing another man’s wife to die of cancer. Nice guys don’t accuse you of throwing Grandma over the cliff in a wheelchair. Nice guys don’t attack small business. Nice guys do not blame the successful. Nice guys do not say that the rich get rich because they take from the poor.
Did Reagan keep talking about what a nice guy Jimmy Carter was in 1980? Did Reagan say, “Jimmy Carter, you know, he’s a great guy, I love his peanuts.” We played you the clips of Reagan from his acceptance speech in 1980. I don’t remember Reagan saying, “Yeah, Carter, he’s a great, great guy, good guy. Just a bad president.” Is Obama out there saying that Romney’s a good guy? Just a failed governor? Is that what they’re saying? They’re saying some pretty insulting things about Romney.