RUSH: So yesterday I was openly complaining, some might even say whining, that I was gonna have to watch the State of the Union show. It was gonna be sickening to listen to what was being said and then to watch members of Congress stand up and essentially applaud the destruction of the country. And I talked to a bunch of people who said, “I’m not watching. I’m not gonna watch it. Not gonna spend any time on it.” And I said, “Well, I have to.” It reminds me of the days when I was in school and everybody told me they weren’t doing their homework, so I didn’t, either. Turns out they were lying. They all did their homework and I got D’s and F’s. Well, everybody that told me they weren’t gonna watch the State of the Union ended up watching it.

I’ll tell you what I thought of it, folks. I disagreed with everything the president said pretty much, in terms of his policies. I disagreed with everything he said, but it was a great speech. I liked the speech and you know what I really liked? I liked that part where he said that we all have to get along and work together to help people. I really liked that. That really scored with me. And I was watching the Frank Luntz focus group after the State of the Union speech and after Marco Rubio’s response, it was on Hannity on the Fox News Channel. He had this focus group, and, if you didn’t see it, it’s too bad. If you did, you were looking at the very definition of low-information voters. It’s amazing. They had the same reaction I had.

They disagreed with pretty much everything Obama said, policy-wise, but they supported him, and they thought it was a great speech, and they liked the part about everybody working together to get along. They liked the fact that he’s gonna tackle the deficit. They liked the fact that he’s gonna create jobs. They didn’t agree with how he was gonna do it, but they liked that he’s going to. They liked that he’s gonna reduce the deficit. They liked the fact that he’s gonna bring the debt down. They liked the fact that health care costs are gonna come down. Did you know that? Health care costs are already coming down and I found myself agreeing. I thought it was cool. I disagreed with, you know, how the president said he’s gonna do it.

Look, I had a bit of a problem with the president on global warming where he basically said that if Congress doesn’t act, he will. But I do think we need to deal with global warming. Everybody knows that. I didn’t agree with much, but I liked the speech. I was very, very supportive. And Obamacare, the costs are coming down. That’s good. I’m very happy about that. The debt, deficit is coming down. We’re already over halfway to the targeted debt reduction of $4 trillion. So at least somebody’s working on this stuff and somebody’s trying to make it happen. I wasn’t crazy about some of the things I heard the president say on taxes, but I had to acknowledge that the rich have been getting away with murder all these years. It’s about time somebody tried to make everything fair, and who could oppose fairness.

You know, yesterday we had the Gallup poll, and on every issue except one — and I forget what the one issue was — every issue, every policy, by vast majority numbers, the American people disagree with Obama. A vast majority disagree with Obama on every policy. I mean, it’s not close. In some cases, the numbers of people that disagree are in the 60 percentages, and the people agree with Obama are in the forties. But they liked the speech last night. They thought it was exactly what was called for.

Now, the New York Times has a story today. “Polls Show Dissatisfaction With Country’s Direction, but Support for Obama’s Agenda — Just ahead of President ObamaÂ’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, new polls find continued public dissatisfaction with the direction of the country, yet support for several of the policies the president has said he will push in his second term.” And that’s what I saw in the focus group last night on Frank Luntz. They don’t like the way the country’s going but, man, they love what Obama’s doing about it. Well, I know folks, don’t ask me. I’m just telling you what I saw, what I heard, and what’s in the news. It’s a little conflicting. The Gallup poll people do disagree with Obama issue by issue by issue.

The New York Times says there is support for Obama’s agenda but dissatisfaction with the way the country’s going. See, those are two separate things. This is what we are going to have to learn to understand. Obama’s agenda doesn’t have anything to do with the country’s direction. As far as the low-information voter is concerned, they’re two separate things: support for Obama’s agenda but dissatisfaction with the country’s direction.

Now, you and I might say, “Well, wait a second now. The country’s direction is precisely related to Obama’s agenda.” But no! We would be terribly wrong. Obama’s agenda has nothing to do with the country’s direction. Obama’s agenda is about fixing it, and people support it. Now, this is also a mendacious media at work because this is exactly the opposite of what Gallup reported the day before that we discussed.

According to Gallup, the American public disapproves of every Obama policy except for his handling of defense. But the New York Times has this story that’s just the exact opposite. Polls show dissatisfaction with country’s direction but support for Obama’s agenda. Two separate things. The Frank Luntz focus group was pretty much the same thing. They pretty much disagreed with what they heard last night in policy, but they liked the speech and they like what Obama said.

They like that somebody’s working on it and they want everybody to work together. The Obama claim that the Affordable Care Act is already slowing health care costs? Now, you and I would hear something like that that the president said that last night… “Already the Affordable Care Act is helping to slow the growth of health care costs.” I know your reaction was probably the same as mine when you heard that. It’s just another bald-, bold-faced lie. The truth of the matter is that Obamacare has not even been fully implemented!

How can you give credit to Obamacare for slowing health care costs when it’s yet to be enacted? What is slowing health care costs, to the extent that they’re slowing down, is the recession — and that’s even debatable. But, you know, in a couple of isolated areas, not very many, you can see where health care costs a little bit less than it has been costing. But that’s due to the recession. It has nothing to do with Obama. But this is way too much information to the low-information voter. You can’t persuade them with that.

So what I decided to do, ladies and gentlemen, is we got hold of Paul Shanklin and we decided to do a condensed version of last night’s State of the Union. This is an honest, condensed version of last night’s State of the Union…

JOHNNY DONOVAN: (Hail to the Chief) And now, the honest, condensed version of President Obama’s State of the Union Address.

PAUL SHANKLIN AS OBAMA: My fellow Americans, fifty-one years ago, John F. Kennedy said something profound at his State of the Union. I… will not. Thanks to the grit and determination of the American people, there isn’t enough progress to my agenda. Corporate profits are evil, and we need a middle class to tax. It is our unfinished task to restore the basic bargain that built this country: The idea that if you work hard, you can get ahead no matter whatcha look like or how you sneaked in or who you love in a cheap motel — or whether you have a thing for feathers, high heels, or wigs with bangs.

Now, the American people don’t expect us to solve every problem. I haven’t solved any, so don’t worry. But they do expect us to put the nation’s interests before our party. You first! In 2011, Congress passed my plan to have sudden, harsh, arbitrary cuts called a “sequester” that would jeopardize our military readiness, and would most certainly slow our recovery and cost us hundreds of thousands of jobs. So let’s set party interests aside, and work to pass a solution to end the sequester crisis I manufactured right here in America.

The biggest driver of our long-term debt is old people. The Unaffordable Care Act is slowing their access to medical care, but not fast enough. We must do more! Now, our government shouldn’t make promises we can’t keep, but we must keep the ones we already made — unless it was to turn a budget in on time after four years. Every day I ask myself three questions about this nation: “How do we attract more jobs to our shores?” “How do we equip our people with skills they need to get those jobs?” and “How to do we make sure that hard work leads to a decent living?”

Well… Well, how do we?

We now produce more oil and gas right here in America, so we must do more to combat climate change — and if Congress won’t act, I will do what I want, whenever I want. Why does Congress even exist? We need more infrastructure like roads and bridges! (Sorry. Heh, heh. I couldn’t help myself.) Today, too many families with solid credit are being turned down for home loans because of unnecessary regulation, and I just now noticed.

So, uh, free pre-school for everybody! Now… Now, we all know what needs to be done. Send me a comprehensive immigration bill, in Spanish, and I will sign it. There are still places in America where you can’t get ahead, like Chicago. America will run away in Afghanistan and declare victory no matter what happens. Today, the organization that attacked us on 9/11 — no, not Benghazi; the other 9/11 — is a shadow of its former self.

Cyber attacks are bad. There are many places where people live on little more than a dollar a day. Ask my brother George. Now, women deserve combat duty. And honestly, people: Just give up your guns and we’ll protect you about as well as we can protect a small child on a playground in Chicago where they have plenty of gun control already. In closing, my fellow Americans, we are citizens. Honest. I have the birth certificates for both of us! God bless you, and God help the United States of America, because I won’t.

(Hail to the Chief)

Thank you.

RUSH: And there you have it, my friends, our State of the Union condensed version for those of you who missed it last night. (interruption) No, I’m being entirely serious. Snerdley is scratching his head, saying, “What are you up to?” I’m not up to anything. I’m telling you exactly how the speech was perceived last night. A majority of Americans, depending on where you look, either do or don’t like Obama’s policies.

But they really liked the speech and they liked that he’s working on this stuff. They like that he’s attacking the deficit. They like that he’s fixing health care. They like that he’s doing all this and they hope everybody works together on it. That’s what they really want. They want everybody to join hands. I saw it in the Luntz focus group. They want everybody to work together — everybody come together — get along and fix these problems, because we have a debt problem.

Obama’s working on it, and that’s good. We’ve got a health care problem and Obama’s working on it. We’ve got a unemployment problem. Obama’s working on it. He’s got a program for it. But the thing that you gotta take away, the thing that you must understand about last night that defines everything: There is massive dissatisfaction with the country’s direction. The vast majority of the American people do not like the direction in which the country is going, while at the same time there is overwhelming support for Barack Obama’s agenda.

Which means that, to the vast majority of American voters, there is no relationship whatsoever between Obama’s agenda and the direction of the country.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: I realize in the opening segments of the broadcast that I had a little fun with this, but I do want to tell you something here that has been sort of an eye opener for me. Now, it may have been something that you understood long ago. It may have been something you put together long ago. I must confess that I only just realized this today. And it’s about trying to understand how could so many people say they disagree with Obama’s policies and yet reelect him. I know that you and I have expressed our puzzlement and our curiosity over the great disconnect there is in this country. The people that vote for Obama don’t like where we’re going, the direction of the country, the policies of Obama, yet he wins elections.

So we’ve all been taking our stabs at trying to explain why. Well, he won reelection because he did such a good job of demonizing Romney that he made everybody afraid to vote for Romney and they settled and just voted for Obama, vote for the guy who’s already there, at least he’s a known quantity. But the New York Times story today finally opens my eyes to what we’re dealing with, at least for me. And, as I say, you may have understood this long ago. “Polls Show Dissatisfaction With Country’s Direction, but Support for Obama’s Agenda.”

Now, you and I, in what I would call the high-information voter sector, understand what a giant disconnect that is. How in the world can people be dissatisfied with the country’s direction while at the same time support the very agenda that’s causing it? This just doesn’t compute to you and me. We recognize that it is Obama’s agenda which is leading to the problems this country has and thus the dissatisfaction that people have regarding the country’s direction. But the majority of people who vote, there is no connection of those two things whatsoever. They support Obama’s agenda, and they are terribly unhappy about the direction of the country, and, therefore, they do not associate Obama’s agenda or his policies with the direction of the country.

They do not associate Obama’s policies with what has happened to the country. They don’t associate all the spending and all the debt with the lack of jobs. They don’t make that connection, they don’t see any connection, they don’t see it at all. Now, to me this is an eye-opener, and it’s going to force me to assess exactly how to go forward here in dealing with these people. The idea is to persuade them. I mean, they are the low-information voters.

Now, if they’re unhappy with the economy, if they’re unhappy with jobs, if they’re unhappy with the debt, if they’re unhappy with the housing market and yet support Obama’s agenda, then they obviously do not connect Obama’s policies as being in any way related to or responsible for the country’s direction that they don’t like, which means a number of things. It means that they see Obama as working really hard to try to fix everything, rather than Obama as the reason for things worsening. They just do not see that. And to you and me it’s a slam dunk. It’s one plus one is two. These are people, outcome-based education, two plus two is five and we’ll give ’em an A for trying. They don’t see it.

So Obama is not at all connected to the tragic destruction of this country. He is seen as somebody who wants to fix it. It’s the same thing as people seeing Colonel Sanders as a guy running a hospital to save chickens. Wouldn’t compute. It wouldn’t make any sense. But that’s how he’s viewed. Now, maybe one reason is that he’s successfully blamed Bush all these years and the exit polling data last November, vast majority of people still do blame Bush for the economy, but it’s more than that. It’s that Obama never, ever, allows himself to be seen as governing. He is constantly campaigning.

Obama is constantly seen as in competition with what’s happening in Washington. It is though there are straw men. There are men behind curtains. There are invisible, evil people doing all this to the country. He’s trying to expose them and he’s working very hard. Romney is one of them. Bush was one of them. There are a bunch of other people, we don’t know who they are. But Obama is trying to find them. He’s trying to expose them and trying to fix all this. Obama is not seen as the guy behind the curtains pulling the levers. Obama is not seen as the guy who does not like the way the country was founded and is trying to take this country in a different direction. He’s not seen at all in the way he really is. It can’t all be because of the media.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: You may have figured this out long ago, but it just hit me — and if you figured it out long ago and you’ve been trying to get through here and tell me, I wish you’d have gotten through. For those of you who figured it out and I didn’t, I’m just now getting to it. I apologize for being a late arrival to the party, but now — now — it all makes sense. For five years Obama has never once allowed himself to be seen as governing.

He is constantly campaigning against mysterious forces who have ill intentions trying to harm you and this great country. There are these figures behind the screen, behind the curtain. Romney was one. Bush was one. There are others. Obama’s trying to expose them. Throughout history dictators, for example, have never really been blamed for the bad things that happened in their countries. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Castro, none of them were blamed by the rank-and-file citizenry.

They were, instead, the leaders of the revolution!

They were the great figures trying to change all the evil that was happening to everybody. Here’s Obama. Let me prove this to you. I have for you a little sound bite, 36 seconds, of people from the Frank Luntz focus group on Fox last night. Every one of these people voted for Mitt Romney. These are swing voters in Santa Monica. Now, Santa Monica’s a liberal hotbed, but every one of these people that you hear voted for Mitt Romney, and they are talking about their perception of last night’s State of the Union speech.

LUNTZ: From the Romney people, what did you like about Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address? A couple of you…

WOMAN: I liked his immigration that he talked about putting people at the back of the line and so that they didn’t get preferential treatment just because they were here.

MAN: I think education, the reform he was talking about — affordability and making it efficient — I think that’s gonna… Education all starts from education, really.

LUNTZ: One more…

WOMAN: I like how he spoke of bipartisanship and working with Congress and moving the country forward by working together.

LUNTZ: Does he mean it?

WOMAN: I believe he means it.

LUNTZ: How many of you believe he means it, that he’s gonna be more bipartisan this term than he was before?

WOMAN: He means it!

RUSH: Those people all voted for Romney, and they — even the people that voted for Romney — do not associate Obama with any of the problems in the country. This is what you and I are gonna have to learn and learn fast. No matter what is said, no matter what evidence happens, no matter what’s reported, it will not be possible to connect Obama to the negativity that’s happening in the country today because he’s campaigning against it himself. That’s the reason for the perpetual, never-ending campaign. It is why, in eight years, he will never allow himself for even one day to be seen as actually governing or presiding over any of this.

He’s always going to be running against the very things he’s doing.