Weak Leadership Cripples the GOP

RUSH: Mike in Lyndon, Michigan, hello and welcome to the EIB Network, sir. Hello.

CALLER: Hi, Rush. It’s nice to finally talk to you.

RUSH: Thank you, sir.

CALLER: I know we’ve beaten this Reverend Wright thing to death, but I just can’t help but think about some of the more controversial ministers that have come in to support McCain, and nobody really seems to want to talk about that and —

RUSH: Give them time. Give them time. The time is not now. The Democrats own the media cycle. You’re talking about this Hagee guy?

CALLER: Among others. He’s not the only one, but I mean —

RUSH: They’re not Wright. You know, they’re not Reverend Wright, but the Democrats are going to get to this. Some of the Drive-Bys are trying to make this point stick on the blogs. This is not the right time, but mark my words, when we get to the general, all this and more is going to be fired at Senator McCain.

CALLER: I think Hagee and people like that are even more dangerous than Wright because Hagee has a much more larger and well established base. He’s got a larger forum in which he can present his views.

RUSH: It doesn’t matter. He doesn’t hate America. He’s not inciting racism and bigotry to his flock.

CALLER: Well, there are parts of America that he hates and he’s not afraid to tell the whole world that he hates it, and I think that’s every bit as dangerous as what Wright has to say.

RUSH: Well —

CALLER: The scary thing about Hagee is he certainly has a lot more of a free pass than Wright, you know, despite all the horrible things Wright has said, I mean Hagee —

RUSH: For now. You know, you Democrats out there, you are just going to have to be patient. Right now you and your primary are dominating the cycle. Once you guys have sorted out the disenfranchisement, and once you’ve figured out how you’re going to stack the deck here to give Obama the nomination, you’re going to hear plenty on this minister and every other gaffe that McCain’s been making, and he’s been making a lot of gaffes. McCain’s been out there talking about Iraq like he doesn’t know what the combatants are. Mark my words, people are taking note. Do you see what they’re trying to do with his 100-year in Iraq comment? All this stuff is being cataloged. They’re just not going with it now because nobody’s going to pay attention to it. If you want to feel better about this, Mike, I don’t know if you people have taken time to look at this, but do you realize how many Republicans in the primary, both Indiana and North Carolina, voted against Senator McCain last night? In North Carolina, 26% of Republicans who did not cross over — Republicans who voted in the Republican primary — 26% voted for somebody other than McCain. That would be Huckabee; that would be Ron Paul, write-ins. In Indiana it was 22% of Republicans who voted in the Republican primary for somebody other than Senator McCain.

Now, what this means is that these Republicans are not with the program. What it means is that there are people out there who are not feeling rallied to the cause. This is a serious problem. The Politico today has a story: ”GOP Leaders Warn Of Election Disaster.’ — Shell-shocked House Republicans got warnings from leaders past and present Tuesday: Your party’s message isn’t good enough to prevent disaster in November, and neither is the NRCC’s money. The double shot of bad news had one veteran Republican House member worrying aloud that the party’s electoral woes … have the House Republican Conference splitting apart in ‘everybody for himself’ mode.’ Okay, now, this doesn’t take any brains to come up with this. Newt Gingrich is out there saying the same thing, and everybody is talking about how brilliant that Newt is for saying in these two recent elections, House races, that Republicans lost.

Nobody will say it. I will tell you, I will tell you why Republican leaders are warning of an electoral disaster. It is because, ladies and gentlemen, of weakness from the top down for our party. There is no leadership. There is no conservative message coming from the party apparatus or any high-ranking member of that party. There is nothing more than the country club blue-blood set trying to take over the party by attracting moderates and independents and Democrats. Why in the world should House Republicans feel enthused and encouraged when the primary effort of the Republican Party to win the White House is with Democrats and moderates and independents and not bringing them in converted to conservatism, but bringing them in as they are? The people who elect House of Representatives majorities, conservative majorities, are conservatives, and they don’t see any of that from the Republican Party today. That’s your answer.