RUSH: I’m just gonna tell you right now, I want to prepare you, because if Jeb Bush finishes in second place tonight and if this Emerson poll is right, then you are not going to recognize the news tomorrow. You are not going to recognize the Republican primary. You are going to think you have been asleep and tomorrow you have just awakened, and nothing that’s happened up to tomorrow will mean anything. If Jeb Bush comes in second place tonight, Jeb Bush is going to be treated as the winner, particularly if Trump’s margin is not 15 points or whatever Frank Luntz says it has to be.

But the margin doesn’t matter. I’m just telling you that the establishment Republicans and their cohorts in media are not going to be able to contain themselves. And you’re gonna see stories like: Has all the polling up to now been wrong? Have we been worried for nothing? Has it been Jeb from the get-go? Has Jeb’s money not been wasted? You have no idea. And all it’s gonna take is a second-place finish because expectations are that Jeb is not even gonna be breathing after tonight. So I’m just warning you. I have no idea if the Emerson poll’s right; who does? It was right in Iowa, but that’s it.

But again, just a warning. If Jeb Bush comes in second place, there are people that you haven’t seen on TV in months you’re going to see nonstop wall-to-wall tomorrow as though they have been around from the get-go. Don’t care where it is. I don’t care if it’s New Hampshire, it doesn’t matter where it is. The establishment wants Jeb. They have been, up to now, embarrassed, paranoid, humiliated, perplexed, shocked, surprised.

Remember, this was gonna be theirs anyway until Trump got in. Trump upset everything. This was Jeb’s race, this was Jeb’s time, Jeb was gonna be the nominee. All these other guys are just fodder placeholder pretenders. Trump gets in, turns everything upside down. The Jeb PACs, the Jeb fundraisers, it’s all just been blown to smithereens. And if he finishes in second place, you might still need binoculars to see him in second, but if he’s in second place, just warning you, they’re gonna take over Fox, they’re gonna take over CNN, and you’re gonna be watching, gonna think, it’s over, Jeb won.

You’re gonna see how you have been misled. You’re gonna be hearing and reading about how all this stuff, the experts in the polls obviously didn’t know what they were talking about. You’re gonna see the country wants the continued leadership of the Bushes, it’s always been the case. Everything up to now, going back to last June somehow was so dead wrong. We gotta go back to the drawing board and figure out how we got it so wrong ’cause it’s gonna be looked at as though Jeb was guaranteed second place all along.

Now, if he doesn’t finish in second place or third place, then they’ve gotta start looking at other alternatives. And no, I don’t know. No, I have feel for it. I’m just, as you know, warning you what to look for given certain outcomes.

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RUSH: By the way, our last caller, Bob, said he was sick of the second and third place winners being proclaimed — or finishers. He’s sick of the second and third place finishers being proclaimed the winners. Don’t forget Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton, nobody was taking seriously back in 1992. He came in second place in New Hampshire, declared himself the Comeback Kid, and went on to win from a second place finish in New Hampshire. I’m just telling you… Folks, I’m not predicting anything, ’cause I don’t know.

I’m just telling you, the establishment is still salivating for Jeb. That’s why he’s still in there. That’s why they’re still spending and raising all this money. And if he comes in second — and there’s only one poll that shows he will. That’s Emerson. Only one. Everybody else has him in like fourth place at seven or eight percent. If he comes in second, I’m just warning you: You haven’t seen what you’re gonna see, starting tonight and into tomorrow morning. And it’s gonna… Well, I won’t characterize it. You can tell me tomorrow how you feel about it.

Well, if he comes in near the bottom, it still isn’t over because then South Carolina, anything can happen. Nothing changes then. “Anything can happen in broad-based South Carolina and Super Tuesday. Nobody’s sweeping the decks. Jeb’s still in it!” It’s the other guys that you gotta watch. Kasich and Christie. But because the belief is that Trump’s gonna quit is why so many people are still hanging in there. Do not doubt me. And if Trump ever were to quit, it would shake everything up. The majority of voters to go where. That’s what they’re all hanging in for, folks. It’s what they’re all hanging in for.

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RUSH: Jerry in Clark, Missouri. I’m glad you waited, sir. Hi.

CALLER: Hi, Rush. Good to talk to you.

RUSH: Thank you. Thank you.

CALLER: I had a comment. Without Donald Trump in the race, we would be talking about global warming and why fat lesbians drink too much. That seems to be where the race would be.

RUSH: You know, folks, before you start laughing, that’s absolutely true. The things that we would be talking about in this campaign. The media would be leading and be in debates asking these questions about such things as global warming and all this other stuff. There’s no question. And Trump… Because Trump dominates the media and he leads the media around, the questions have become, “Senator Cruz, what do you think of what Donald Trump said about you?” “Governor Christie, what do you think about what Marco Rubio said about you?” You’re right. Jerry here has got a good point. I don’t know about fat lesbians drinking, but surely something close to that. I get your point, yes.

CALLER: That’s what they talk about the most are the most ridiculous things. I mean, global warming, my foot! (chuckling) I mean, there is no such thing. It’s been this way since I’ve been born, and that is a long time ago.

RUSH: I know. Global warming is… We know. So is this a way you are expressing your thanks that Trump is in the race?

CALLER: Absolutely.

RUSH: So you’re a Trump supporter?

CALLER: Absolutely. And when it comes to Missouri, I’ll vote for him.

RUSH: All right. Well, I appreciate the call out there, Jerry. Thanks much. You know, that is an interesting point, the things that would be discussed. That is valid.