RUSH: ‘When Democrat Barack Obama’s charter plane touched down Tuesday night in Muscatine, Iowa, aides were surprised a car wasn’t waiting to rush him to that night’s campaign events.’ It’s because they landed ‘at the wrong airport’ flying in from Chicago. ‘Instead of going to Cedar Rapids, the plane had touched down about 100 miles to the west in Des Moines. Spokesman Tommy Vietor said Wednesday that the mistake on the flight from Chicago made Obama about an hour late for a rally at a community college. While waiting, the crowd took to dancing and chanting,’ because they knew that when Obama got there, the energy would just cease. Also, from Burlington, Iowa: ‘Barack Obama complained on Wednesday about an Internet photo that claims the Democratic presidential candidate didn’t hold his hand over his heart during the Pledge of Allegiance. ‘This is so irritating,’ Obama said when asked about the photo in Muscatine, Iowa. The photo, which has circulated widely on the Internet, was taken in September during Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin’s annual Democratic fundraiser. A message accompanying the photo claims Obama didn’t observe the pledge. Obama said the photo was taken during the singing of the national anthem, not the pledge. ‘My grandfather taught me how to say the Pledge of Allegiance when I was two,’ Obama said… ‘During the Pledge of Allegiance you put your hand over your heart. During the national anthem you sing.” Did you learn the Pledge of Allegiance at age two? I don’t think I did, either.
Anyway, I have a couple of audio sound bites here for Senator Obama. You’ve gotta hear this one. This is in Oelwein, Iowa. A woman, Geri Punteney, was interviewed by David Greene of NPR about Barack Obama after having recently met him.
PUNTENEY (crying): Well, I’ve seen the commercials, and he just seemed (sniffle) sincere, and that (sob) he is for people like for my mom, my brother (sob), and me.
GREENE: A lot of people would say a politician is the last place to turn if you — if you really need help. But you — but you — seem confident.
PUNTENEY: Yeah, I mean, he just seemed like he really cared and, um, you know, and I never had anyone… (voice going higher) pay attention to me and my needs. (weeping) And he — (sobbing) he held my hand!
RUSH: Okay, so she’s just an Iowa resident who met Barack Obama. Look, folks, I know there’s crying everywhere in America. There’s crying everywhere. There’s crying before Congress by women from Alaska; there’s crying from women in Iowa. This is the kind of mentality that the Democrats and the liberals have fostered throughout the country. I want to go back to me, August 20th, on this program, listen to what I said.
RUSH ARCHIVE: This election is the last gasp of the sixties Baby Boomer generation to get control of this country. You go back to the sixties, and the sixties are known for the left-wing student protesters and people blowing up bank buildings, wearing tie-dyes and blue jeans and causing all kinds of hell. But there were a lot of conservative Baby Boomers back then as well who didn’t subscribe to any of that — I, of course, proudly among them. But this is it. This election is the last chance the Baby Boom generation has to secure its vision for the country.
RUSH: Yesterday, Fox News correspondent Major Garrett talked with Senator Barack Obama, and Garrett said, ‘What’s the difference in change between you and Senator Clinton?’
OBAMA: There’s no doubt that a — uh, we represent, uh, the kind of change that Senator Clinton can’t deliver them. Uh, and part of it’s generational. I mean, you know, Senator Clinton and — and, uh, others, they’ve been fighting some of the same fights since the sixties, and it makes it very difficult for them to bring the country together to get things done.
RUSH: That’s what he was saying. He’s taking my line! He’s out there saying these are Baby Boomers, and they’ve been doing this for all this time, and we need change. We need a generational change. He says this is just going to be more of the same. The rivalries and the divisions that we’ve had are basically among Baby Boomers, and the Clintons will just continue that. He’s also calling her an old bag. Well, if you come from the sixties, you’re an old bag now. Now, Obama didn’t say it. See, the problem is you probably didn’t even pick up on that, because… I’m going to try a Barack impersonation here. (Obama impression debut) ‘Well, there’s no doubt…that we…represent change. Senator Clinton….can’t deliver on.’ So you’re saying, ‘Come on, just speed it up. Speed it up!’ There’s no energy in what he’s saying, but he called her an old bag and he says she’s a relic from the sixties, exactly what I’ve said.
Folks, I want to posit here a couple things for you. Everybody’s asked me, and they continue to ask me, ‘How come you haven’t picked anybody in the primaries? How come you haven’t launched anybody?’ Well, I never do, but I’ve always answered them saying, ‘It’s still too early. There’s so much flux out there, anything can happen right now,’ and I want to give you just a couple of scenarios. Huckabee is really coming on strong in Iowa. He is really coming on strong. What happens if he wins Iowa, which is a distinct possibility now? What if Mike Huckabee wins Iowa? What does that do to Mitt Romney and Thompson in New Hampshire and South Carolina, respectively? Secondly, what if Hillary continues to stumble and either Obama or Edwards ends up being the nominee? Now, I know nobody thinks that’s possible, which is precisely why I focus on it. The conventional wisdom is she’s got it wrapped up and the conventional wisdom is that Mrs. Clinton’s got Clinton, Inc., and that Clinton, Inc. can get rid of anybody in her way. But Mrs. Clinton has gotta get out of her own way for 13 months in a row or 12 months in a row in order to stop gaffing. Just think about it. If Hillary continues to stumble, and either Obama or Edwards ends up the nominee, what kind of general election does this lead to? Do you realize the shock? Everybody figures it’s Hillary and Giuliani right now, but what if Huckabee wins Iowa, and what if Hillary loses Iowa? Her advisors are telling her, if she loses Iowa, she’s lost the nomination.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: This is Geri Punteney. I don’t know that I’m pronouncing her name right. I’m doing it as close as it looks. She’s an Iowa resident, and she recently met Obama, and NPR’s David Greene talked to her about meeting Obama.
PUNTENEY (crying): Well, I’ve seen the commercials, and he just seemed (sniffle) sincere, and that (sob) he is for people like for my mom, my brother (sob), and me.
GREENE: A lot of people would say a politician is the last place to turn if you — if you really need help. But you — but you — seem confident.
PUNTENEY: Yeah, I mean, he just seemed like he really cared and, um, you know, and I never had anyone… (voice going higher) pay attention to me and my needs. (weeping) And he — (sobbing) he held my hand!
RUSH: Now, I know some of you out there are just totally depressed when you hear this. You’re probably saying, ‘See, Rush, your optimism is not warranted. We’ve lost. She’s crying. She’s crying because Obama seems so sincere? We’re finished, Rush, we’re finished. If that’s all it takes, we’re finished.’ Don’t doubt me, folks. Don’t get yourself down into this swirl. People who have these emotional needs like this, Democrats have always been around to fill ’em. The difference is Obama probably won’t even remember her down the road, unless he’s privy to this sound bite. But have you heard the story about Mrs. Clinton and the waitress? Now, what’s interesting about this is that Mrs. Clinton goes into this greasy spoon a diner that I guess all presidential candidates go into, and she sat down at the counter. She had an entourage of people with her. She chats with the waitress, who is a single mother it turns out, and makes less than minimum wage. Mrs. Clinton had one of the specialties of the house, the famous loose meat sandwich. The waitress’ name was Anita Esterday. Then Hillary gets up and leaves.
All of Hillary’s entourage gets up and leaves and they head down to the next campaign stop, where Mrs. Clinton starts talking about this waitress that she just stiffed without a tip. The waitress is not happy that Mrs. Clinton is talking about her without getting her permission, and she’s out there saying at the next campaign stop that if you vote for me, I’ll make sure that these waitresses get a better deal. (interruption) I don’t think the loose meat sandwich is named after Bill, Mr. Snerdley, because I think this place has been around as an institution probably before Clinton even went to Iowa for whatever reason. So, anyway, the meal was complimentary, but that’s no excuse. The Clintons are pointing out, ‘Hey, the meal was complimentary.’ The other excuse was, ‘She doesn’t carry money.’ Well, somebody in the entourage carries money. The campaign is now saying that they paid $157 and left a $100 tip. Now, the waitress is saying, ‘Nobody got left a tip.’ So the campaign is calling the waitress a liar. What’s new about that? This poor waitress, I’ll tell you, the point is women, you cross the Clintons, bimbo eruption city. This is not quite the same kind of bimbo eruption, but here’s the point of all this, folks.
The point is that Mrs. Clinton is just so self-focused, she walks around and in her own mind she’s regal and she’s royalty. She doesn’t pay for anything, and certainly doesn’t leave tips. She will be glad to exploit this waitress at campaign events, telling the story and how she got to know her very well and listened, great interest to the struggles the waitress faces in her challenging life, and, ‘If I am elected president again,’ Mrs. Clinton will say, ‘then I will fix this waitress’ circumstance.’ So we’re wondering, is this the tip of the iceberg because it may well be because Drudge went back in the archives and found Hillary did the same thing in 2000, stiffed a waitress at a diner during her Senate campaign. There is a pattern here. But it’s the attitude, folks, it’s the out-of-touch, not even thinking. I’ve told you many times, you can always determine the character of someone by observing how they treat people who can’t do anything for them.
A waitress who makes less than minimum wage can’t do anything for Mrs. Clinton, and so how did she treat her? The waitress is not happy. It’s not just the tip. It’s that Mrs. Clinton is out there using her. By the way, ABC has written about this. It’s all over NPR. The Drive-Bys, it’s in a lot of places, and they’ve gone back and gotten this story from February 2000 off Albion, New York: ‘Maybe it’s no big deal elsewhere, but it’s all the buzz in Albion. Hillary Rodham Clinton dropped into the Village House, a favorite diner in this upstate farming town, and ordered two orders of scrambled eggs, home fries and rye toast. So far, so good. The locals appreciate a hearty appetite. Her breakfast was on the house, and when she left the waitress, a single mom, found not a penny at her plate. The locals have been talking about little else since Tuesday, when she stopped for breakfast after making a speech about how New York’s farmers ‘are really hurting these days.”
Then she goes in there and stiffs the waitress. So there’s a pattern here, but, again, it’s the attitude, folks. We’ve grown up, all of us have, hearing how it’s the Democrats and the liberals that have compassion for the little guy, they’re the ones who care. Look at the waitress here — I don’t know if she’s a waitress — our first sound bite, reduced to tears because Obama cares, grabbed her hand. Obama cares. The Democrats get all this credit for caring, and look at Mrs. Clinton, standard bearer, just another illusion of just the phony and artificially incorrect clichés that attach themselves to the various political parties.
I asked you to consider a couple things here on the presidential politics front. What if Huckabee wins Iowa? What does that do to New Hampshire and South Carolina in terms of Romney and McCain, Giuliani, and so forth? What if Romney wins big in New Hampshire? He’s got a pretty big lead there. And then if Thompson wins South Carolina. Do you realize how everything is going to be shaken up? These primaries and cauci are so front-loaded, we’re going to have the nominees by February. But I’m telling you, the conventional wisdom on this has a chance of being blown totally out of the war on terror.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Here’s Richard in Brooklyn. Richard, welcome to the EIB Network.
CALLER: Hi, Rush.
RUSH: Hi.
CALLER: I would like you to give me your personal word of honor that that woman from Iowa, Geri something, was not a parody. I just walked in when that happened.
RUSH: That was not a parody.
CALLER: It was for real, huh? My God, I’m gonna say a prayer for America. I hope she’s not representative of the citizens of Iowa.
RUSH: Well, see, a lot of people are concerned here that we’ve already lost. If that’s all candidates to get somebody’s support is hold their hand and tell ’em you care, then we’re finished. But, you know, this is not unique. Remember the Mississippi floods when Clinton was president?
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: He went out there and he didn’t do anything. He didn’t stop the flood, like Castro would have. He didn’t build anybody’s house back. He just went out there and hugged those people. (crying) ‘He cares! He cares!’
CALLER: That’s right.
RUSH: Remember when Bush was late getting down to New Orleans? ‘He doesn’t care. He doesn’t give a rat’s rear end about us!’ Really, it’s nothing new. I’m going to play the bite again for you, Richard, because it’s not a parody. This is from National Public Radio.
PUNTENEY (crying): Well, I’ve seen the commercials, and he just seemed (sniffle) sincere, and that (sob) he is for people like for my mom, my brother (sob), and me.
GREEN: A lot of people would say a politician is the last place to turn if you — if you really need help. But you — but you — seem confident.
PUNTENEY: Yeah, I mean, he just seemed like he really cared and, um, you know, and I never had anyone… (voice going higher) pay attention to me and my needs. (weeping) And he — (sobbing) he held my hand!
RUSH: So that’s Iowa resident Geri Punteney.
CALLER: Thank you.
RUSH: You bet. Richard, I understand that you appreciate the quality and artfulness of our work here by assuming that was a parody, but that was real.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: I can’t stop thinking about that poor woman in Iowa. Nobody ever cared about her needs before, in Iowa! What about Tom Harkin and Vilsack, the (former) governor? They’re Democrats. They never cared about her needs? If she’d had applied for a permit to build an ethanol factory and plant, I guarantee you they would have cared about her needs.