RUSH: Here’s Steve in Biloxi, Mississippi, as we head to the phones. Great to have you on the program. Hello.
CALLER: How you doing there, Rush? It’s an honor to speak with you.
RUSH: Thank you, sir. I’m glad you called.
CALLER: Yes. I was talking to the screener. In a nice way now, you have a deceptive voice or deceptive way of dealing with things. It’s not deceptive in as far as, you know, the content. But like, for instance, you’re soft-spoken so to speak. You’re humble. You don’t ever really seem to get mad at your callers. You know what I’m saying?
RUSH: Mmm-hmm.
CALLER: Your content is like on point all the time. Now, I’m a conservative, black, African-American pastor. You know, I didn’t vote for President Obama in 2008 or 2012 but it bothered me how so-called pastors or preachers — 96%, I believe — voted for President Obama in 2008, and also 2012 it was 93%. I couldn’t understand that. How? I could understand, maybe, the first time.
They didn’t do their research to figure out what was going on. But I’ve just really been listening to you for the last six months. I’ve been listening to people like Sean Hannity or whatever and I still do. I kind of, like, bypassed you for the last couple years, but the last six months I just kind of zoned in and started listening. I was like, “Oh, my God, everything this guy’s saying, 99.99% of what he’s saying is correct, you know? Right on the money.”
Not that you were not before. Not that I thought you were saying wrong things before, but I just thought maybe you were kind of soft or whatever. But I could see why you say you have a gift on loan from God (chuckling) as far as being the radio it doesn’t work because it was somewhat deceptive, you know, to me. I started kind of listening more and more and said, “Oh, he’s really saying something, and everything that he’s saying is correct,” you know?
RUSH: Now, wait a minute.
CALLER: So that’s kind of like how I started listening. But I was calling on the other end saying, “You know, everybody’s talking about the problem, and I believe there’s a solution.” The only way we’re gonna really resolve this thing — and I think a lot of people with President Obama, they’re bringing a knife to the gunfight, and this guy ain’t playing any games. He’s gonna continue to push it down the road. He’ll take whatever you can give him. He’s like Putin, so to speak. If you don’t bring the fight to him, he’s going to take it. Meaning, like with Ted Cruz — and this is where the solution is, I believe, briefly. I believe the moderates are going to have to come over.
RUSH: We’re getting ’em.
CALLER: They’re going to have either go with the conservative Tea Party or they’re gonna have to go the other way.
RUSH: Steven? Steven? Let me tell you right now, I was looking at some of the most recent polling data on this. About the only strength that Obama has right now is among self-identified Democrats. He’s got 79% of them. But the Republicans have a majority of men, a majority of married women, and a majority now of the independents. It is single women, single mothers, and Democrats that really make up right now what is the Obama base.
But you about “moderates.” It’s another word for independents. They are trending to the Republicans. The right way to say that is, they’re trending away from Obama right now ’cause the Republicans are really not offering an alternative to anything other than they are the alternative. But they’re not offering specifics yet. I want to go back to what you said at the beginning. You described me as “deceptive” and “bold.” Now, “deceptive,” the root word there is “deceit.”
CALLER: Yes, sir.
RUSH: I’m not deceiving you, am I?
CALLER: No, no, no, no. When I say that, I mean that in a good way. “Deceptive” meaning the voice. The tone of your voice is deceptive.
RUSH: Oh.
CALLER: You know, normally when you listen to radio talk show hosts they get angry, they’re hanging up, they’re doing this or whatever, and you don’t seem to have that tone. You keep like the same tone. Even if someone tries to ridicule you or tries to push you over the edge, you like kind of hold that same tone, and, you know, I think, “How can this guy do this?”
RUSH: I got you.
CALLER: You know, normally, if you push anybody’s hot button, they’re gonna jump out.
RUSH: I see.
CALLER: You may get irate with what Obama is doing or is allowed to do, but when it comes to the callers and people you are having a conversation with or debate or whatever, you kind of stay on that same key. And I believe it agitates people more because they do not cause you to jump off the couch or off the edge, off the chair, you know.
RUSH: Okay, I get it. I now know what you mean. I know exactly what he means. You only found this show in the last six months. You’re conservative, but you only found this show in the last six months, but you thought you knew what this show was about. And you thought that I was mean and would hang up on callers or was belligerent, bombastic and so forth, my way or the highway. Then you started listening and said, “Wow, this is deceptive. This guy actually has conversations with people, and he’s polite to ’em and so forth.” And so in that sense it’s deceptive in the context of what you’re told about it versus what it really is.
And, of course, you said bold, and you’re absolutely correct about that. And it sounds like you know what bold is yourself. But it’s great that you’re out there. I’m glad that you called. I appreciate hearing from you, and you keep on. Every one of you keep on. You say we need the moderates. They’re trending in the right direction now. Thanks much.