RUSH: Okay, a little history. It wasn’t long ago, let me find the exact date that this happened. We’ve reached the portion of the program where I don’t know what I have is where. Got paper all over the desk, and naturally what I’m looking for I can’t find. But here it is.

April 7th was the first day that I articulated a strategy for the Republican candidates, and that was, instead of beating each other up as the primary kicks off here, go after Hillary. She’s the presumed nominee. One half of the voting country doesn’t know the truth about her. They don’t know anything about the Hillary of the nineties.

They know her as secretary of state, friend of Obama’s, whatever else, but they don’t know the stuff that Hillary did in the nineties that they just cannot abide today. The treatment of women by her husband, her role in it. And not only that, I said go after Hillary, go after liberalism, go after who she is. Contrast yourselves with her, not each other. She’s the presumptive nominee.

And initially a lot of people agreed with me, thought it was a good idea. Then they began to get scared that it was going to backfire. And now many of them, I don’t mean the candidates. I’m talking about listeners and friends of mine. Now they are really getting scared because of this. Yesterday afternoon in Keene, New Hampshire, after a roundtable event at Whitney Brothers Furniture company, Hillary spoke with ABC News correspondent Cecilia Vega who said, “Did foreign entities receive any special treatment for making any kind of donations to the foundation of your husband?”

Remember the news we had yesterday. Foreign countries, some of the biggest donors to the Clinton Foundation, are people who are going to expect payback. They made donations to the foundation while Hillary was secretary of state, but the amount of money they gave was not because of goodwill and good works. They gave money expecting her to become president and pay it back somehow. There’s no question about. So she’s been asked about it. Here was her answer.

CALLER: Well, we’re back into the political season, and therefore we will be subjected to all kinds of distraction and attacks, and I’m ready for that. It is, I think, worth noting that the Republicans seem to be talking only about me. I don’t know what they’d talk about if I weren’t in the race.

RUSH: So, you see, now we have people on our side, “See, Rush, it’s backfiring. Mrs. Clinton’s now called ’em out.”

I said, “Yeah. So what are we gonna do? We’re now gonna not criticize Hillary just like we haven’t criticized Obama because the press is gonna come at us?” We’re not gonna criticize Hillary because it’ll anger women? We’re not gonna criticize Hillary because it will anger the independents? We’re not gonna criticize Hillary because it will leave too many things that we have to discuss unexposed?

You know, when the original strategy was announced, right on, right on, right on, it made perfect sense, she’s the presumptive nominee. Do not destroy each other. Go out and expose her. Of course she’s gonna try to mock the critics, and so will the media. Of course she’s gonna try to belittle it. It’s natural she would say, “If weren’t for me, they wouldn’t have anything to talk about,” which is flat-out BS.

Did the Democrats ever stop going after Mitt Romney? Did the Democrats ever stop going after George W. Bush? Do the Democrats ever stop going after anybody? Why is it always incumbent on us, the first time a Democrat responds to our criticism, “Oh, yeah, you know what? We better stop. Yeah. We need to go after liberalism in general. Just leave Hillary alone. We don’t need to be giving her all this attention.” We most certainly do.

It’s time to change this strategy that’s rooted in fear. I don’t want to say cowardice, ’cause I’m not quite sure that’s what it is, but this was as predictable as the sun coming up, that she would react to it by trying to belittle it, by trying to suggest they’re not serious. “They’re just attacking me. They’ve got nothing else to talk about.” They do, and they are. They are all talking about their agendas. They’re talking about their specific plans issue after issue after issue. But at the same time, this is a political campaign. She’s the presumptive nominee, you have to show and draw the differences with your opponent. You can’t allow that to be just assumed by the voting public.

I knew that this was going to happen. And, by the way, the Republicans have. They started out, they launched into, if not coordinated, decent criticisms of Mrs. Clinton and her competence and her talent, or lack of, how she botched — I mean, you think we should not talk about Benghazi? “No, Rush, that’s old news. We didn’t get anywhere with it the first time. They’ll just mock us.” We talk ourselves into shutting up ’cause it’s gonna make somebody mad, or it’s gonna make us look bad. Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, look what they can do? Batter-ram your front door, and nobody tells them you better stop that.

Here is Larry Sabato. This is audio sound bite number five. CBS This Morning, they’re reporting on the presidential race, and Sabato said that the Republican candidates are attacking Hillary as a tryout to be the nominee.

SABATO: It’s a tryout to be the chief, to be the nominee. And the one thing the Republican nominee has to do is not be afraid to take on Hillary Clinton in a very blunt, direct way.

RUSH: Well, exactly right. I don’t know about the tryout aspect, but he’s exactly right. You can’t be afraid to take her on. “Yeah, but, Rush, you told all of ’em do it. You don’t want all of ’em do it. That’s just overkill.” I don’t understand what’s so complicated about this. So the minute the media or the minute Hillary starts making fun of them for criticizing, “See, I told you, Rush, it was gonna backfire.” Oh. So now we’re gonna let the media determine our strategy.

I’m never gonna come to grips with this fear. I’ve been frustrated by this fear of criticizing Obama. “Well, Rush, they’ll call you a racist.” I’ve had all that happen for 27 years, I’m still here. “Yeah, but you couldn’t get elected to anything.” I’m not running for anything. But I’m still here. I live to do it again. I don’t understand it. “Well, Rush, some people just don’t want to deal with that and the media coming after them.” I understand that. Well, don’t get into a business where it’s gonna happen.

Here’s Scott Walker. This is last night on The Kelly File on Fox News Channel. She said, “Obviously you’re trying to paint Hillary as out of touch, and already we’re hearing that not just from you, but from regular folks that Hillary’s out of touch. But what is the evidence, Scott, that she’s out of touch?”

WALKER: You look at a whole pattern of things out there. Even the way she reacted to the e-mails. I mean, I think the fact, instead of saying, “Hey, this was a mistake.” It was almost like when she stood in front of the U.N. and talked about this like she couldn’t believe that she actually had to respond to that. When you look at saying you were dead broke when you came out of the White House, when she had a book deal pending and two houses out there. When she talked about not having driven for 18 years. I think those are all things that everyday people really wonder what is this that they’re talking about. This is not someone who’s connected with every day Americans.

RUSH: Yeah. The Clintons now have — are you ready for this? The Clintons have a net worth that is projected to be in the neighborhood of Mitt Romney. Romney’s is said to be $250 million. The Clintons are in the 150 to $200 million range. Has anybody asked how they got that money as opposed to how Romney earned his? The Clintons have been bought and paid for. Every bit of the money they’ve got is a donation of some kind from somebody for something. Every damn thing.

What job have they ever had? Well, she was at it Rose Law Firm, I take that back. She earned a hundred grand. And the cattle futures deal, 10 grand into a hundred grand in six days. I understand that. But they’re in the same ballpark. Forget it. Forget how. They’re in the same ballpark as Mitt Romney, and they get to run around saying they’re dead broke. They get to run around portraying poverty and average American status and Mitt Romney is some elitist, aloof, out of touch, rich Republican. People throw money at the Clintons on the come just on what they think they might get back from it if she ever ends back up in the Oval Office.