RUSH: All right, now, listen to this. Linda Douglass is Capitol Hill correspondent for ABC News, and after the State of the Union last night, Peter Jennings is talking to this reporterette, and he says to her, “We knew before the president’s speech the Democrats are going to pick apart Social Security. Give us some sense of framework in terms of Democrats and the Republicans who are not wholly on the president’s side, Linda.”
DOUGLASS: The Democrats I must say, Peter, you know we all have these little mobile e-mail devices now, and I was absolutely bombarded with e-mails from the Democrats all through the president’s speech —
RUSH: (Laughing.)
DOUGLASS: — saying that he hadn’t leveled with the American people. He isn’t talking about benefits cuts. He isn’t talking about the costs of the transition to the new system. It was a very shrill tone to these messages from the Democrats, um, as though the president might have struck a nerve in this first very good salesmanship attempt on his part. But right now the Democrats are completely unified against this plan. They don’t feel any pressure from their constituents to move toward personal accounts.
RUSH: (Laughing.) What did she just admit? She just admitted that she’s walking around with a BlackBerry, maybe it’s a Sidekick, and that somehow the Democrats have her e-mail address, and that during the speech they are bombarding her with their thoughts, and what does she end up doing but sharing their thoughts as a result of the e-mail that she’s gotten from them. I don’t believe this. I don’t believe that all the Democrats are unified against this. I know that’s not the case. There are some Democrats who want to consider this. Harold Ford is one. Now, he may not agree with private accounts. Well, he does, but he wants to do it on top of existing Social Security. There are a lot of Democrats who are open to this because they can read the tea leaves. Bill Nelson in Florida is another one that’s for it, but he didn’t have the guts to go to Florida on Air Force One with the president, because I think, when she talks about “none of their constituents are making them feel pressure about this,” I don’t think that’s the way to put it. I think it’s the kook base. The MoveOn.orgs have these Democrats scared. They’re threatening them with lack of support, in fact, coming up with opposing candidates for them when they run for reelection if they support the president on this.
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