RUSH: Let me share with you a story here. It’s amazing. We do have journalists in the UK. We don’t have Obama collaborators. We have journalists. One of the good ones is at the UK Daily Mail, a guy named Toby Harnden. I really am reluctant to praise Toby because it can hurt him with his buddies. You know, a journalist being praised by me doesn’t help them, ’cause journalists so dislike me. But the truth is the truth. He had a piece yesterday in the UK Daily Mail.
“Four Years After He was Swept to Victory, How Obama’s Election Campaign is a Joyless Slog.” This story is a portrayal of life on the Obama campaign trail that you would never know if you were exposed only to American media collaborators. Here’s a pull-quote from Toby’s story: “In 2008, the Obama campaign was full of endless possibilities and expectations of a bright new horizon. This time, it’s a joyless slog. And there’s something else: Obama now tends to look emptily past rather than at his audiences. It’s as if the light in his eyes has gone out. …
“Another remarkable thing is that many of those at Obama’s events … are not listening to him. In Reno on Tuesday evening, it was at times hard to follow what Obama was saying because of the chatter. … A number of those attending seemed only to want to get a picture of themselves with Obama speaking in the background. In 2008, audiences would be rapt, almost mesmerized, when Obama spoke. At Romney and Ryan events there is near silence and many an intent, furrowed brow as the case for change is made.”
At these Obama events there’s chatter. People aren’t paying attention. They’re posing for pictures with Obama in the background, and he doesn’t even appear to be there. He’s not even looking at the audience. He’s just looking past them. It’s little stories like this (that we’ll never see in the American media) that tell the truth of what really is going on out there. We see the smaller crowds, and what are we told?
“Well, he’s purposely speaking in front of smaller crowds!”
Really? Why? Why do you want smaller crowds?
“Well, it’s more intimate,” the Obama campaign says. “Yeah, it’s much easier to be intimate with smaller crowds. We’re seeking smaller crowds. Oh, and you know what? In addition to smaller crowds, we’re actually trying to raise less money at each event.”
Oh, really? You’re trying to raise less money?
“Yeah, because it looks better. If we ask for $3 a head, that’s better.”
The truth of the matter is, folks, there isn’t any magic in the Obama campaign anymore. And I said yesterday, kicking off of the Bob Tyrrell piece in the American Spectator: Obama is running a campaign for morons. Those are the people whose votes he seeks. Those are the crowds he wants to draw. What are morons in a crowd gonna do? They’re gonna act and be what they are. They’re morons! They’re gonna sit there and talk to each other with their mouths wide open, not knowing really where they are or why.
They’re just there because somebody said: This is the place to be. As for the contrast between now and 2008, Mr. Harnden exactly right. It’s huge. Anybody who remembers can see that there’s nowhere near the excitement, the anticipation, or all that making out of Obama what you wanted him to be. He was an empty canvas you could paint what you want to be, all this magic and stuff. There’s none of that now, and it’s easily understood why: He’s got a record, and it’s dismal. He’s got a record, and it’s disaster. He’s got a record he cannot campaign on. He doesn’t even campaign on an agenda.
Let me ask you this, any of you paying attention to Obama at these campaign appearances: Have you heard him say what he wants to do the next four years? Be honest. Don’t tell me what you know he’s gonna do. Don’t tell me that. You have you heard him say it? Have you heard him say what his plan for the economy is? Other than (impression), “I want to grow middle class jobs! Put people back to work. I want America to be America again.” No, no, no.
Have you heard anything that would qualify as a second-term agenda?
No.
Let me answer for you. Here’s what you’re hearing: “Romney is rich! Romney’s a Mormon! Romney’s dog was on the roof of the car. Romney beat up a gay guy in prep school. Wall Street’s a bunch of thieves! Paul Ryan wants to kick Grandma over the cliff. Rich people suck. Rich people are horrible. You don’t have anything because the rich have taken it from you. Romney is a felon. How about those Republicans who went skinny-dipping in the Sea of Galilee? Todd Akin! Wow, this guy? Republicans hate women. Republicans want dirty water.”
That’s what you’re hearing.
That’s Obama’s agenda.
Can anybody tell me what his agenda is?
“Middle class! Middle class!” All he’s trying to do with that is to draw some line of relationship with ’em. He’s trying to make ’em think he’s one of them. He doesn’t have a jobs growth policy he’s talking about, nothing specific. He doesn’t have an energy program. “Green energy” is just is just a codeword for more cronyism. (interruption) Right. Exactly. He’s gonna stop Romney and Ryan from throwing your grandmother over the cliff. That’s my exact point.
His campaign consists of, “Bain Capital is dangerous!” and “Romney killed a guy’s wife. Romney had his dog on the roof of the car! Romney’s wife never worked a day in her life. Romney’s rich.” (interruption) Well, he’s gonna give away birth control pills because Republicans want a War on Women. My whole point is that his entire campaign consists of trying to scare everybody in his pathetic base of voters about what a bad guy Romney is. That’s all he’s got.
His agenda is to try to get people to hate Mitt Romney.
That’s the Obama second-term agenda: To get you to hate Mitt Romney.
That’s the basis on which he wants to be reelected.
He is not running around telling you how your life is gonna improve. He’s not singing the song about the greatness and the resilience of America. He doesn’t tell us how he’s gonna keep us safe from foreign enemies. None of that. There’s not one traditional thing in this guy’s campaign. It’s all rooted and oriented around you being scared to death of Romney and Ryan. And then, for color, they throw Biden in to go out and tell black people that Romney wants ’em back on slave camps and in chains.
That’s the agenda.
Now, I’m sorry, folks: I don’t see that winning.
There is nothing comparable in this year’s campaign to what Obama was getting away with in 2008. That was lofty. People thought Obama was gonna fix everything. And when you get right down to it, that’s exactly why he’s in trouble. People thought that whatever they thought was wrong with the country in their personal lives, Obama was going to fix. He was gonna make it right. And now, after 3-1/2 years, nothing is right, everything’s worse, and so on the basis on which people voted for the guy (He’s gonna fix it!), he is an utter dismal failure.
So all he’s got is, “The Republicans are worse. Romney and the Republicans hate you! Romney’s rich. Romney doesn’t like his dog. Romney doesn’t like his wife. His wife doesn’t like anybody else. Paul Ryan wants Grandma and Grandpa to die. He’s gonna push ’em over a cliff!” That’s all it is. I’ll tell you: I believe that there is, all throughout the Obama campaign, a big sense of desperation. They’ve got nothing. They can’t be honest about what he intends. We know what he’s gonna do, but he doesn’t dare tell anybody or that’ll close the deal.
That’ll close it out.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Yes, I meant to say it. What do you mean, was I joking? No. Not only was it harmless; there’s a lot of truth in it. The reason Obama is so desperate to get Romney’s tax returns is because Obama wants to show his base voters what a tax return looks like. What do you bet that more Romney base voters pay taxes than Obama voters? Not close, right? And what do you bet the total amount of taxes paid by Romney voters is gonna dwarf the amount of taxes paid by Obama voters? That’s right: One side pays it, one side takes it. And that’s why he wants Romney’s tax returns. His voters have never seen one, and he wants to show ’em a tax return, what it really looks like for these rich people.