RUSH: Here’s John, Pinehurst, North Carolina. Great to have you on the program, sir, hello.
CALLER: Rush, I’m grateful to talk to you. This is my seventh time. This is the first time I’ve spoken with you that I’ve been nervous. You can hear it in my voice, I’m certain. I want to share something with you. I’ll be brief as I can. I think you’ve forgotten where you came from. I have never in my life voted for a Democrat. I’m 56 years old. I came from a bad background, alcoholism. I straightened my life out, the military, a supportive wife, you name it. And the only person in my entire life I’ve ever wanted to meet, I don’t want to meet Barry Sanders, I’m from Detroit. I don’t want to meet rock stars. I don’t want to meet actors. I wanted to meet Limbaugh and I wanted to meet Bob Dole.
You’ve become so cynical. You’ve become so pessimistic. You’ve become so angry. I go to work each day, I own a small company, I recruit for the automotive industry. It’s a tough industry to recruit in, a lot of people lost their jobs. I don’t listen to you to hear you cream this president every day. I don’t like this man. Not at all. But every day I listen to Limbaugh, it’s not that I want to be entertained like it’s Forrest Gump. I listen to Limbaugh to be uplifted, to be motivated, to feel like there is a better tomorrow. And that’s been lost for four years. Put yourself in my place. If I were in your seat, and you’re listening to me, and I’m saying exactly what you do, for four years, you’ve creamed this guy. You’ve been cynical on this guy. We do not like this guy. We think he’s un-American. He’s just a lousy president.
And I think the reason that you do this, and I love you like family, I almost cried on your station once. I’m a former paratrooper in the Army. I competed in bodybuilding. I almost cried talking to you once, I was so rattled at what the Democrat Party had done under, oh, I don’t remember who it was, a gentleman from North Dakota, Tom Daschle, I think. And I did that, or almost did that, because of my level of comfort and what many of us feel speaking to Rush Limbaugh. But today we’re told to think that 60% of America is stupid, and they’re not. I served with Democrats. I served with liberals. I think what our party needs to do and what I want you to do is get George Bush off your mind. George Bush was a bad president. He was a wonderful person. I think of that guy like a father figure. You listen to his voice, he’s calming and he’s comforting. But he spent $4 trillion, prescription drug plan —
RUSH: John, John, hang on a second. George Bush isn’t on my mind. I don’t know what you mean. I know you’ve called before. You’ve attacked me before.
CALLER: No, no. No, no, no, no, no.
RUSH: You have. You call here and you set yourself up as this sad, disappointed, big-time Rush guy. “I never thought I’d be picking a fight with a guy that I listen to since I left the Army active duty in ’89 but sometimes, boy, you confuse me like you’ve never confused me before.” That was January. You said I was out of touch last January. You say it pretty much every time you’ve called here.
CALLER: Well, maybe because I want my party to be a better — you’re a spokesman for the party.
RUSH: I don’t run the party. All I’m doing is telling everybody the truth. All I ever do is inspire people. All I ever do is uplift people, or try to. But at the same time, I don’t wear rose-colored glasses. I’m the mayor of Realville. Last week I probably was the most upbeat conservative Republican in media you could find having fun here on the program. I don’t think the country’s finished. I don’t think it’s over. I even said that we’ve reached the point now where words and policies are not gonna overcome this. We now are going to be saved by events. And it is events that will save this country and wake people up. Pure and simple. Anyway, I’ll look forward to your eighth call next time.