GOP Empowered in the Minority?

RUSH: Terry in Mobile, Alabama. Nice to have you with us. Hi.

CALLER: Uncommon dittos to you, sir.

RUSH: Thank you.

CALLER: I’m with you, Rush. I applaud the Republicans in the House. They made that look so easy, and it really is easy. Sticking together when you need to. Well, my question to you is, why does it seem so easy to stick together when we’re in the minority — and when we’re in the majority and have the opportunity and the power to do something or stop things, we seem to fall apart?

RUSH: I am so glad you asked me that question.

CALLER: Well, good. Do you have the answer, sir? I would loooove to hear it.

RUSH: I’m going to tell you the answer.

CALLER: Excellent.

RUSH: Don’t doubt me.

CALLER: I won’t.

RUSH: The Republican problem in the House — forget the Senate, because that place exists practically as an independent body from the executives branch, but the House. When your party also has the White House, and the president of your party is not engaging in the implementation of a conservative agenda, when your president is creating a new entitlement (which is not what conservatives do: Medicare Part B); when your president is inviting Ted Kennedy to come up and write the education bill; when your president, in establishing his new tone, is ‘reaching out’ to Democrats because he thinks that’s the only way he can get things done because there aren’t enough Republican votes in the House; as a Republican member of the House, you have to go along with your president. If you oppose your president on bill after bill after bill, you are hurting the party. These guys were in a no-win situation. Now, that doesn’t excuse some of them who lost their conservative loyalties even before all this started to happen. But it certainly didn’t help. For example, you remember the Republicans in the House, Terry, finally stood up to the president and McCain on amnesty.

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: They finally did it, late in the president’s second term, in the summer of 2007. But that was one of the first times that they did. So when you say, ‘Oh, yeah, easy for them to be unified when they’re out of power, when they can’t stop anything anyway,’ if the president is your party, he’s lobbying you almost. You have to support the president and his legislation. That’s what comes down from the party. That’s why I’m not a party man. That’s why I’m an ideologue. That’s why I’m a conservative.

CALLER: Well, I am a party person, Rush, and I’m a member of my local party and I’m a member of my state party. I just don’t buy into the philosophy. I mean, like you said: If it’s right, it’s right; if it’s wrong, it’s wrong. And the inconsistency that we have seen —

RUSH: Right but if you’re —

CALLER: — from many of our members is disheartening. Even our president, who I love and adore George Bush.

RUSH: Yes.

CALLER: But he and our Republicans in power — not people like me and you, grassroots folks — have gotten us Barack Obama, and what we’re listening today with Pelosi and that group. So it’s very frustrating. But I hope they keep it up.

RUSH: Well, look, I understand, intellectually what you’re saying. I understand emotionally what you’re saying. But let’s… We talked to Coach Dungy earlier today, of the National Football League, and any successful coach will tell you that when your team does something right the first time or one time, you don’t go overboard and praise ’em to the hilt because they think… You give ’em a little praise, ‘That’s the way to be. That’s what we expect next time, and that’s what we expect next time, and that’s what we expect the next game. That’s what we expect the time after that.’ You don’t go (giddy) ‘Oh, wow!’ Now, a lot of people today are going, ‘Oh, wow, the Republicans did so good! Oh, so wonderful, you guys.’ I love ’em, don’t misunderstand, but this is just the first. Don’t… Don’t… It’s fine to go back and relive 2001 through 2008, but we’re in 2009. They did the right thing, and the effort now is to inspire more of that doing the right thing, rather than ripping ’em for what they did, which they can’t change now anyway.

CALLER: Absolutely. Well, I hope it’s a new day today, and I’m one of those that are thrilled and I hope it empowers them to keep this up.

RUSH: Let ’em hear from you! It will empower them. They know they’ve done the morally right thing. When you do the morally right thing, you’re empowered. Trust me. It’s not that hard to do, but, boy, when you do it, it feels good.