RUSH: Let me read you a sample e-mail. This is from a subscriber at RushLimbaugh.com from California. Woman’s name is Lynn. I’m not going to mention her last name. ‘Dear Rush, my family calls you my boyfriend. I listen to three programs a day as a subscriber to 24/7. I told my husband that I was going to break up with you. You delivered Texas for Hill-Billy and I wanted a stake through her heart. Obama is unelectable, Rush. Hillary is going to somehow steal the election. I know several Democrats who will not vote if Barack Hussein Obama is the nominee. I wanted Texas to grab some garlic, a crucifix, and some holy water, go into the voting booth and drive a stake in the heart of Hillary Diane Clinton by voting for the Barack Hussein Obama. I can’t bear to look at her chipmunk cheeks a day longer. The F-bomb was dropped in my house last night. I don’t think you can be my boyfriend anymore. P.S., I hope you’re feeling better.’ Lynn, you got nothing to worry about out there, literally nothing whatsoever to worry about.
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Missy in Crestwood, Missouri, outside St. Louis. Nice to have you here. Welcome.
CALLER: Hi. Rush, you have completely shocked me today, and I am so exasperated, I cannot tell you. You sound like a completely different person than you did like a month ago. Because like what you said today is, you know, we’re in a war, in a race where the other side is totally engaged, and our side is not engaged. And, you know, it’s a really serious situation, and you, for one, are not gonna sit around and, you know, let the other side win when you have the power to do something creative to help our side. And I keep thinking, if only you had thought that way before the Republican candidate had been chosen, we wouldn’t be stuck with John McCain. But back then you didn’t want to have any part of imposing yourself in the process. You didn’t want to have anything to do with trying to influence the voters one way or another, it had to be done the right way. And now today you’re obviously showing how much glee you feel over the fact that you are able to involve yourself in the process, and, it worked, and, you know, now you’re a maverick, and, ha, everything is fun. I just wish you could have done this before.
RUSH: Well, that was then. This is now. What would you have preferred that I do creatively back then? Because back then, I was as anti-liberal and Democrat as I am today.
CALLER: I would have wished that you had, like you told everybody a couple of days ago, go out and vote for Hillary. If you could have said go out and vote for Fred Thompson or —
RUSH: Oh, oh, oh, oh.
CALLER: — at least said, don’t go out and vote for this guy, this guy, or this guy, there’s really only one conservative in the race, and that’s what we need, that’s what our country needs right now. And if you had, one of those real conservatives would probably be our candidate today.
RUSH: I appreciate your saying that, I really do, but I disagree with you. I think candidates win elections, not their supporters. And if the candidate, any candidate, is not showing the oompff, the passion, or the desire for it, there’s nothing a supporter can do to gin that up.
CALLER: Well, see, I think that Fred Thompson did show that. He just showed it in a different way.
RUSH: Well, he might have, maybe, but he showed it a little bit late. Missy, I have to run. I got a hard break I can’t miss, but I’ll add to my comment. Thanks so much for the call.
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RUSH: Back to what Missy said. Missy said that, essentially, I did not creatively insert myself during the early going to pick a GOP candidate and that I should have endorsed Fred Thompson; that if I would have endorsed Fred Thompson, I could have put Thompson over the top because he’s the genuine conservative in the race. But, you know… (sigh) There’s a problem. I never endorse in primaries, because I don’t want to tie myself to a particular politician, especially when I’m not part of their campaign. I don’t know where they’re going to go. I don’t know what they’re going to do. I don’t know whether their desire is full-fledged, if they’re going to hang in, stick it out, do something stupid, or make some policy switch in the middle of the game that embarrasses me that I have to sit here and explain. ‘Hey, you endorsed X, and X has just come out pro-choice! Why the hell did you do that?’ I don’t want to put myself in that position. You know, My Success is Not Determined by Who Wins Elections. I say that over and over again. But by not endorsing anyone, at the same time stating factually that McCain was not conservative, that’s when people said that I had brilliantly inserted myself into the election. You know, I may not have endorsed somebody but you knew full well who I thought was problematic on our side.
This ought to illustrate to everybody that when I do insert myself — à la Texas and Ohio and Hillary — everybody will see and know it! It’s kind of like I never used to encourage phone calls to Washington. I did it one time just to demonstrate what would happen if I did. Steve Roberts, who was working for US News & World Report, came in and said, ‘Well, you’re always encouraging people to call Congress.’ No, I don’t, Steve. You’re confusing me with other hosts. I don’t do that. I said, ‘I’m going to do it. I’m going to show you what would happen if I did,’ and we did it, and we shut down the Capitol Hill switchboard when it happened. That was just to illustrate. So getting involved in primaries is a real, real, real risk. For example, what if I had endorsed Fred Thompson. Do you think it would have made any significant difference? It wouldn’t have. He got involved in it too late. I loved what he stood for, don’t misunderstand. I loved what he stood for. But I think he tried to get elected and tried to get the nomination in an unconventional way, and it didn’t work. What if I had endorsed Giuliani? What if Giuliani is your guy, folks. He sits out the first four raises, and you say, ‘Why are you endorsing this guy?’ ‘Just hang on. He’s the guy.’ The candidate has to win the votes, folks. The candidate who’s on the ballot, it isn’t me. That’s why all this talk, ‘You’re going to see to it that McCain loses’? No. If McCain loses, it’s going to McCain’s problem. Not me, not mine. If he wins, same token.
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RUSH: Joe in Indianapolis, I’m glad you waited, sir. Welcome to our program.
CALLER: Hi, sir. I just wanted to call and tell you that you are absolutely correct in what you were saying about what actually happened in Texas. You are a genius, which I’m sure you already know, and all these people calling in and complaining about the fact that people were voting for the left and voting for the wrong person, that she should be out by now, don’t really understand what you’re trying to do. I think you’ve made it pretty clear what you’re trying to do here. You’re trying to separate these two people, trying to split that party so our guy at least has a shot because right now he has no chance at actually gaining some speed. I guess I’m just kind of trying to figure out why people don’t understand that. It’s not a hard concept.
RUSH: I think it’s because — and I understand this, by the way. After eight years — well, eight plus eight. After 16 years of the Clintons being on our front pages and being idolized by the Drive-By Media and being told that they’re the greatest thing since sliced bread, people hate ’em.
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: They don’t want any part of them anymore.
CALLER: Right.
RUSH: I think there are a number of people who would be just as happy if Barack Obama became president if that meant Hillary Clinton was finished, along with Bill finished, and they see me. They don’t see very far. All they see is me keeping Hillary alive, and that is bugging them.
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: You don’t understand. There are people that detest these people.
CALLER: Yeah. Oh, I totally understand.
RUSH: Sincerely, and I do, too.
CALLER: Yeah, I do, too. But we are in a war here, as you said so well, and that these people have been crapping on everything that we hold dear for so long, it’s time that we finally actually do something about it.
RUSH: They’ve been crapping onto everything we hold dear and blaming us for not having any toilet paper. You’re exactly right, and I’ll tell you, it also irritates me that our guys have had no fight in them to fight back at them on the terms these people set.
CALLER: I’m so sick of that, too. It’s just like, ‘Come on, guys! You are in office. Do something about it.’
RUSH: Right.
CALLER: This is not a hard concept.
RUSH: (doing McCain impression) ‘We’re going to run an honorable campaign. How many times do I have to say it?’ I’m sorry.
CALLER: That’s okay. (laughing)
RUSH: Yeah. All right, appreciate that.
CALLER: Sure.
RUSH: Thanks much. In fact, Mike, hang on here just a second. Grab sound bite number two. We haven’t played this since the first hour. Mrs. Clinton was on Fox News Channel today, Fox & Friends. Steve Doocy said to her. Here’s the exchange.
DOOCY: Let me ask you about this. Over the last week or so, Rush Limbaugh, has been suggesting to his listeners — Republicans, conservatives, mainly — to go ahead in Texas and Ohio to vote for you. What’s your message to Rush Limbaugh today?
HILLARY: Be careful what you wish for, Rush.
WOMAN: Is that it?
HILLARY: I think that’s it.
RUSH: Why, not even any thanks! Does this not go to show the lack of consideration and the manners? She could have at least said thanks, but no! I didn’t see this, so I didn’t see the facial expression. Cookie told me she was smiling when she said that. But if I didn’t know better, why, I could interpret that as a threat — and don’t think I don’t, folks. (laughing) I know exactly where these people are coming from where I’m concerned, and it’s vice-versa. But people just have a tough time. They want that house to fall down out of the sky. They want those red slippers to shrivel up on the legs of the witch. They just want this done with, even if that meant Obama as president. I understand that. Durham, North Carolina, Mike, thank you for waiting. Welcome to the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Rush, thank you for taking the call. It’s a great pleasure to speak to you.
RUSH: Thank you, sir, very much.
CALLER: I just have to tell you once again, and I don’t need to tell you this, but you were so prescient and so right on the mark with this crossing over and voting for Hillary thing. This is perfect. This is exactly what we need, because the longer this goes on, the longer those two candidates have to sit there and basically beat on each other, and it’s exposing all the warts — and especially the warts that Obama might have. Because now they’re going to be forced to go and look for things on Obama and really go after him, and that hasn’t really been done at all. And you’ve nailed it again: McCain is certainly not going to do that. He’s proven that he is just not going to go after him. He can’t. So let’s leave it up to the Clinton campaign to do it, and let him go after it. Let ’em have at ’em.
RUSH: Right, and this is not what the Democratic Party at large wants, either.
CALLER: No.
RUSH: They’re envious of where the Republican Party is right now. They wish they had this thing wrapped up now so they could start attacking McCain, because they’ve got the money and he doesn’t.
CALLER: Well, it’s exactly. If you recall, what, six months or a year ago, this was supposed to be hers to lose, right? She was supposed to have no problems whatsoever. She was cruising.
RUSH: Was inevitable; it was a coronation, yeah.
CALLER: It was a coronation. And now she finds herself in a position where she’s bungled it to the point that she’s in a fight for her life — and the longer this goes on and the bloodier they both get, I think it’s a great thing for our side. I really do.
RUSH: Absolutely. Somebody said to me earlier day, ‘Well, what about the Florida primary?’ They’ll redo it. Everybody is on board. I mean, Howard Dean says yep, let’s redo it. Charlie Crist, the governor of Florida, says let’s redo it. McCain might offer to pay for it to show his honor, and show how every Democrat vote counts. McCain might suggest the Republican National Committee and the Florida Republican committee pay for the Democrat redo. Oh! Kumbaya.