RUSH: Mark in Spirit Lake, Iowa, great to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Great to be on, Rush.
RUSH: Thank you, sir.
CALLER: It’s great to be able to talk to you. Just a couple observations. I’ve been to Trump rallies and I’ve been to Cruz rallies and talking to people. I mean, you get a lot of people at Trump rallies because they’re entertaining, something to go to. But I think there’s a righteous anger in this country on two subjects. One’s the whole politically correctness crowd, and the other is the establishment, especially the Republicans and not standing up to the conservative beliefs and the Constitution.
I think Trump’s strength is he’s anti-PC, so that’s what we like about him. Cruz, on the other hand… Unlike what Trump calls him, Cruz is not a nasty person. He’s a man of great integrity. He has a moral compass, and he has convictions, and he stands by them. So while Trump may get a lot of headlines and get a lot of crowds following him, I think from an Iowan… I grew up in an Iowa farm family, and for me, I want the government to get out of our lives and get back to constitutional-type law.
RUSH: What about ethanol?
CALLER: I think there’s a misunderstanding on Cruz’s position on that.
RUSH: No, I meant you.
CALLER: When Branstad came out and said, “Don’t vote for Cruz because against the American — Iowa farmer,” that’s not correct. Cruz is against government playing a role in picking winners and losers in business transactions, and farms are going to take advantage of government subsidies and government programs if they’re there. But in a large part, Iowans, we don’t even want government involved in that part of our lives.
RUSH: No, that’s not what I asked.
CALLER: But it is and we have to —
RUSH: Now wait just a minute now. That’s not true. King Corn wants government involved every second of every day protecting it.
CALLER: Who wants that?
RUSH: King Corn, the corn lobby. In Iowa, they want the government. I’m not talking about Cruz. I’m talking. I asked you what you.
CALLER: That corn lobby is part of the establishment.
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: That’s not part of American family farmers. If we didn’t have… If government gets out of our lives we’d be perfectly happy. Yes, we can benefit from that. Yes, we can take advantage of it. Guess what? Then we have to allow other states to get their pet projects passed. We don’t want that anymore.
RUSH: My point was asking… You had just finished a great explanation of why Cruz has his supporters and why Trump has his, and you went on about how the establishment’s this and Ted Cruz is anti-establishment. So I asked you, you sound like Cruz supporter. I said, “What about ethanol?” ‘Cause I have found that ethanol, as an issue, can turn the most conservative Republican voter into pro-establishment ’cause they want the subsidy.
CALLER: And I’m saying that that’s not the right… At least not from my perspective, it’s not the pulse of the average family farmer in Iowa. The thing is, Rush, is that it’s kind of like drugs. Once you get hooked on that kind of stuff, it’s kind of hard to give them up. But for your own health and well-being, you have to give it up.
RUSH: I know. It’s like these guys that have concessions take you out on a boat to feed whatever, the dolphins. After awhile the dolphins would die if the guy feeding ’em doesn’t show up with his customers every day. I understand about creating dependency and so forth. I just can’t tell you the number of times I have had calls during the Hawkeye Cauci — you know, in the weeks leading up to it. Ethanol always comes up, and I always advocate, “Get out of it. It’s artificially… Iit’s not even good for car engines, all this stuff.”
I get calls from angry Republicans who claim they’ve been listening to me forever, “Are you really…? Do you really want to lose Iowa? Is that what you want to do? ‘Cause I guarantee you, you get rid of ethanol and the Republicans are finished here!” I hear it every four years. That’s the only reason I asked you. I was taking your temperature vis-a-vis your support for Cruz. Anyway, so we have some anecdotal storytelling here from a guy on the ground in Iowa who says that the Trump rallies are exciting.
I mean, a lot of people are showing up basically to be entertained and have some yuks but that the Cruz rallies are full of substance and issues, and it’s clear his preference is for the latter. So we’ll see. I appreciate the call Mark. Don’t misunderstand the tone of my voice here. When I get insistent, I sometimes sound accusatory. I’m not accusing you of anything. Merely analyzing here, positing, postulating, theorizing, exploring, all of that.
Here is Dave in East Lansing, Michigan. You’re next. It’s great to have you on the program. Hi.
CALLER: Hey, Rush. Thank you. I’m pretty sure Donald Trump isn’t a conservative, and I know this because the last eight years my family and I have volunteered for Republicans who said they were conservative and have done absolutely nothing. And although that I cringe at some of the things that Donald Trump says, he’s saying the things that are important to me. “Build a strong workforce back in America, stop with the lopsided tariffs, and immigration.” And the best part about it is, he’s doing it in such a way it’s not politically correct.
When I first heard him, I’m going, “Hell, yeah, that what needs to be said.” And as far as him working deals out with the Democrats? He’s a businessman. What did he do before he campaigned? He worked with politicians. He gave $50,000 to this Democrat. He gave $25,000 to that Democrat. He went to the Clintons’ wedding. He’s got markers in his back pocket. How do we know that he just hasn’t been holding on to those chips ’til this comes in? And the last point is, I think it is absolutely funny that we finally got a third-party candidate and he’s running within the Republican Party.
RUSH: That’s how you look at this, huh? So what was your point in leading off by telling me that…? Did you say you are or you are not a conservative?
CALLER: Oh, I have been a conservative, by my father. Small business owners.
RUSH: Okay. Okay. So you are a conservative, but what’s remarkable about that is that you have now moved your support to Trump. So you’re identifying here as a rock solid conservative but that doesn’t matter you moved to Trump and you gave us the reasons why. That was your point?
CALLER: Oh, absolutely.
RUSH: Okay. I just wanted to make sure because I don’t hear everything you say. I’ve gotta read some of it on the transcription. I just want to make sure I understood you. I’m not challenging you, please. Everybody understand when I ask you to repeat it’s because I didn’t hear you.
CALLER: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh-huh.
RUSH: So I’m just trying to get the lay of the land here. So you are making the point that you are as conservative and you always have been, your dad, but Trump’s come along, and you don’t care that he is not conservative. That doesn’t matter to you. He’s saying the things and you believe what he says and he’s gonna put this country first for a change and that’s what you want?
CALLER: He has the business savvy to do it and he’s not gonna take “no.” That’s all I’ve been asking my conservative Republicans to do, stop the stuff with the Democrats, stop giving in to ’em, stand up and do what the people want.
RUSH: Okay. So, given that, Dave, does it give you pause when you hear Trump say today on MSNBC that he will work with the Democrats, he can work with ’em. He knows Reid, he knows Pelosi, gets along with ’em, he can do deals with ’em, he did deals with Schumer, who’s gonna be the new Reid. Does that bother you at all when you hear that?
CALLER: Oh, no. He’s been doing deals with the Democrats for years. He’s given how much money to Democrat causes and funding them for elections. He’s given them thousands and thousands of dollars just like lobbyists do, and what do lobbyists do?
RUSH: No, no. He’s got billions and billions. Get it right. He’ll call here and tell me to tell you billions and billions.
CALLER: But that’s the point. He gives them money. Now he gets to collect the markers. So heck, yeah, he’s worked with them for years.
RUSH: There you go, folks. What did I just say? Elongated little monologue about how Trump is revolutionizing what the job of the president is, is to make deals where Americans win. Domestic deals, foreign deals, foreign policy deals, trade deals, whatever, that’s what he’s gonna do. His book’s not The Art of the Compromise, that’s not what it’s called. It’s called The Art of the Deal. And that’s what the founders wanted. The founders wanted deal makers. But you know what the most intriguing thing that old Dave here said? That we’ve got a third-party candidate running for the presidency in the Republican Party. That’s insightful.
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RUSH: Over the course of the many years of the EIB Network, there have been countless people call here and advocate for a third-party candidate because the Republican Party has been so inept in representing its voters that the only solution is third party. And on each occasion I have said it’s guaranteed to elect Democrats, ’cause all you’re gonna do is split the Republican vote because not everybody’s gonna join the third-party candidate.
What I’ve said is the best thing to do is to take over the Republican Party from within it. And look what could be transpiring. You might say that Trump is doing that. I mean, the caller refers to his candidacy much like a third-party candidacy would be, and I think that’s pretty insightful. And for his part, Ted Cruz is trying to take over the Republican Party for conservatives and wrest control of it back. That’s why what’s happening here is really potentially momentous, folks.
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RUSH: Tom in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Hello, sir. Great to have you on the program.
CALLER: Oh, thank you, Rush. Nice to talk to you. I think I first heard you… Were you on in ’88 in Virginia Beach, by any chance?
RUSH: Well, 1988. That means you are a lifer. Virginia Beach.
CALLER: Just on vacation — and when you came on in Philadelphia, I heard you after that.
RUSH: See, everybody remembers where they were when they first heard this program.
CALLER: (laughing) That’s right. My point: A mechanic can get your car fixed. If he says, “I can fix it but it’s gonna take a while,” you wouldn’t say, “Okay, I’ll be back in a while.” You would ask him what he meant by that. And the word “conservatism” I think that question has to be asked of that also. When I hear, you know, people saying Trump’s not conservative, I say, “In my mind, he is.” I mean, traditional conservative used to mean balanced budget, staying out of foreign wars, limiting immigration, and promoting American manufacturing.
RUSH: See..
CALLER: But those four guys on Mount Rushmore weren’t perfectionists.
RUSH: Wait a second here, Tom. You are making… See, he’s proving my point. Listen to his definition of conservatism. I don’t care what you think of it, but it’s probably not yours, not universally. This is my point. I think that’s what the Republican establishment is overestimating the conservatives in. They’re overestimating the single-minded, monolithic definition of what they think a conservative is.
CALLER: Right.
RUSH: A guy like Tom here does not fit the definition of the Drive-Bys nor of Republican establishment. They think, “Pro-life, pro-life, pro-life — and small government.” That’s what they think conservatives are, and Tom here has just made it plain that he’s a much more broad-minded, broad-based conservative than what many in the Republican Party would consider a conservative to be. And that you’re supporting Trump; is that right?
CALLER: I am. I mean, y’know, in terms of him making a deal like the subject of today? Suppose… Suppose he backs down on the wall, but he’s rock solid to eliminate sanctuary cities and, you know, just in general puts more border guards and things like that. That’d be better than we have now. You follow me? He says things to get the deal.
RUSH: Wait a minute! Wait! Hold it. I need to make sure I heard you on that.
CALLER: (chuckling) Okay.
RUSH: You’re saying that Trump could back down on the wall and back down on sanctuary cities and his supporters would understand it?
CALLER: No, I’m not saying back down. I’m saying if he, as a tactic, gave in on the wall — or simply couldn’t get the wall built, but got rock solid E-Verify and eliminated sanctuary cities — I think that would be a win.
RUSH: (silence)
CALLER: Don’t you?
RUSH: Well, I’m not analyzing it that way. I’m analyzing your thinking.
CALLER: All right.
RUSH: I’m listening to you and I’m analyzing your thinking on this. So you are already, the way I hear you — and I could be wrong. Don’t be afraid to tell me I’m wrong. I know it’s rare, but I could be.
CALLER: (chuckling)
RUSH: You’re already making excuses for Trump not following through on what you think he said he’s gonna do.
CALLER: No, I think he will do it, but if he doesn’t… Um, I’m saying as a… When people negotiate, you get things. It’s just like you have a pro athlete, he asks for $20 million —
RUSH: Wait a minute. Are you saying Trump is negotiating with the voters?
CALLER: No, I’m saying he’s a realist and he’s not a dictator when he gets elected president, and he’s setting high expectations. But if he doesn’t get them… It’s just like Vince Lombardi said.
RUSH: No, no.
CALLER: Vince Lombardi said:
RUSH: Tom, wait a minute.
CALLER: “Chase perfection. Catch excellence.”
RUSH: Tom, the wall is the top five reasons. Stopping it. Sending ’em back. “They gotta go! They gotta go! They gotta go! They gotta go!”
CALLER: He’s not a perfectionist.
RUSH: “Build a wall. Of course we’re gonna build a wall! Mexico’s gonna pay for it.”
CALLER: It’s a tactic.
RUSH: If that doesn’t happen, you’re telling me that Trump supporters are gonna be cool with it as long as he sets up some other system to deal with it?
CALLER: The wall is a tactic to stop immigration or put a hold on it or limit it. If he limits it, he accomplishes that some other way. No other politician has been able to do it since Eisenhower.
RUSH: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It’s not just the wall. “Mexico is gonna pay for it.” That’s not something he just said opening day and forgot it. It has been front and center. He said it as recently as last week. “Mexico’s gonna pay for the wall. Of course Mexico’s going to pay for it!” The crowd stands up, standing ovation, cheers wildly. You are setting up potential justifications for Trump either being unable to deliver or just not trying, one way or the other. You’ve got it set up so that you’re not gonna feel lied to.
You’re not going to feel used or any of that. I mean, you’ve raised a couple points here that I think are crucial about this after, if Trump wins, if he gets elected. There’s a lot of things. He had better do some things! I mean, he’s laid out a very specific set of things he’s going to do that only he can do, and nobody’s gonna stop him from doing. Anyway, the other thing that you said — and this is not related, but you started off your call saying when you go into an auto mechanic and you ask, “When’s my car gonna be done?”
And if they give you a vague answer like, “Well, it’ll be a while,” you don’t want to hear in a while; you want to hear a specific time frame. And I just… My reaction is: You have just identified a pet peeve of mine. I hate it when somebody says, “Okay, I’ll meet you at so-and-so.” “When are you gonna be there?” “Soon.” “No, no, no. What is ‘soon’? Tell me when you’re gonna be there.” “It’ll be ‘soon.’ What’s ‘soon’ to you? ‘Soon’ could be two hours to you! I want to know what it is.” Now, if you think Trump is playing games like that by not specifying various things to leave some leeway and latitude, then you are already constructing excuses for him not coming through.