RUSH: This is Ken in Prosper, Texas. Welcome, sir, to the EIB Network. Hello.

CALLER: Hi, Rush. It’s an honor to talk to you.

RUSH: Thank you, sir.

CALLER: I love your show, and thanks for playing a role in educating the uninformed.

RUSH: Thank you, sir, very much. We try.

CALLER: I’m a Tea Party patriot, educated, informed, engaged. Your age, I might add. And you could have knocked me over with a feather when I heard Aubrey’s comments yesterday about Tea Party Patriots. His mind-set was stunning, and his claims that Tea Party Patriots are loons and disruptive is flat-out wrong. You know, we believe in the Constitution, property rights, states’ rights, limited government, and our objective is to improve the Republican Party through conservative candidates that are true to our simple values. We’re not radical. We’re not disruptive. We’re tired of politicians that say one thing and do another.

RUSH: Yep.

CALLER: We support substance over gloss.

RUSH: Right.

CALLER: My old boss said that once. Great statement.

RUSH: Symbolism over substance. Symbolism over gloss. Exactly right.

CALLER: We support small, efficient government that does a few core responsibilities right. And we do not support the Nanny State that many in Washington advocate. I’d like to comment on Aubrey’s two main concerns he expressed yesterday, if that’s okay with you.

RUSH: Sure, but I can tell you why Aubrey said what he said. I can tell you why anybody who, supposed Republican, why they rip the Tea Party. I can tell you why, but I want to hear what you have to say, so you fire away. You’re doing great.

CALLER: Thank you. His first concern was, they pursue candidates that are goofy and can’t win. We want government leaders that believe in our core principles, follow the Constitution, and are committed to limited but effective government. We don’t want wishy-washy politicians that only want to perpetuate Washington power and Big Government. How’s that?

RUSH: Right on the money. The problem is, people like that end up being portrayed as kooks —

CALLER: Yeah, I know.

RUSH: — by the media and by Republican fundraisers.

CALLER: And the establishment.

RUSH: Same difference, yes.

CALLER: Right. Yeah.

RUSH: But that’s not why Aubrey doesn’t like you.

CALLER: All right. Well, how about my second concern?

RUSH: Let’s hear your second concern.

CALLER: When they don’t get their ideal candidate running for office, they stay home and don’t vote. What do you think of that one?

RUSH: You mean his allegation about Tea Party people, you don’t get your candidate you stay home.

CALLER: Yeah.

RUSH: I think it’s the other way around. I think it’s when the establishment — I think we end up supporting their candidates left and right when ours lose. They ask us, they demand us, they make the claim party unity, but when our people do win, they’re undermined by the very people that demand we support them.

CALLER: That’s true. You know, I agree with you a hundred percent. We’ve gotta stop the decline of this country. You know, we’ve experienced 50 years of liberal ideology, and we know it doesn’t work. Their solutions have failed and we’ve gotta change course if we want America to experience another 240 years like the first 240 years.

RUSH: Right. Exactly right. Okay, so McConnell and Boehner are not the guys to do that, so what are you gonna do? As a Tea Party patriot, what are you gonna do?

CALLER: Well, a lot of my efforts are directed at the local level, you know, the town and the county. I do a lot of writing. I do a lot of phone calls. I’ve been down to Austin a couple of times, you know, peppering the politicians. That’s really about all we can do other than go out and vote.

RUSH: It’s a long road. What you’re saying, you are playing a long game and you’re starting local. You’re starting in, for lack of a better term as an analogy, the minor leagues, and you’re trying to prepare people for the big leagues, is what you’re doing with the long game in mind. You’re not looking at reducing 50 years or reversing 50 years of liberalism in one election, because you know it can’t be done. But let me tell you, because time is dwindling, let me tell you why Aubrey said what he said about you, our caller from yesterday. And why there were a couple other people yesterday, too, that were maligning Tea Party people. I’ll tell you exactly why.

It’s because the media maligns you, and that embarrasses them. These are people — and they’re everywhere. I’ve told you about the time I walked out of my own dinner party. Remember the story? In a fit of rage, I walked out of my own dinner party when I had a couple of guests tell me we had to get rid of Sarah Palin because the media had destroyed her. I said, “Is that it? The media is gonna pick our candidates for us, and if the media criticizes and mocks and makes fun of some of our people, you want to throw ’em aside?”

“Yep, we can’t win once the media gets going.” I’m telling you, Ken, when the media starts mocking Tea Party people, people like Aubrey don’t want the media doing that. They want the media loving and respecting us. And if they’re making fun, we gotta get rid of the people the media is making fun of so the media will stop it. That’s reason number one. It’s all PR buzz and image. And they want to feel good about themselves, and to them that’s defined by the media not making fun of them.