RUSH: Bill, Pensacola, I'm glad you called, sir. What's up?
CALLER: Mr. Limbaugh, thanks for taking my call. I just want to go back to Vice President Biden's speech there. He's contradicting himself because the part where he said you're not sure what he means about can Hoffman ever go against anything you say, what he's trying to imply there is you're his puppet master and Mr. Hoffman is just one of your puppets. But at the same time in the same speech he's saying you're nothing but an entertainer so really he's just falling all over himself.
RUSH: I know. They're just trying to get my name out there. I think you're right, Biden is saying that Hoffman is in lockstep with me, that I'm actually pulling the strings up there. In light of that, listen to Axelrod again. We played this sound bite earlier in the show and it escaped me part of what he said.
AXELROD: I don't know. That's for the Republican Party to decide. I think we've seen an interesting development over this weekend in a special election up in upstate New York in a congressional district, the Republican candidate withdrew because of the strong third-party movement behind a very right-wing conservative, and certainly Mr. Limbaugh and others were behind that.
RUSH: Stop the tape! Stop the tape! So now I handpicked Hoffman and now I'm giving Hoffman his marching orders. I'm just an entertainer but I also forced Scozzafava out of the race. I, El Rushbo. I was playing golf when Scozzafava -- I didn't know it, I got home and everybody is calling me wanting a comment. The Politico wanted a comment, I sent a comment over to Kathryn Lopez at National Review Online. I'll tell you what my comment is -- (interruption) no, no, no, when I got home from the golf course, Saturday afternoon. I don't take the cell phone on the golf course. So Scozzafava, she splits, I learn today that I had a role in it, I had something to do with it. My reaction to that was, hmm, I thought the era of Reagan was over. Who was it that told us that? Oh, yeah, the smart people on our side told us that the era of Reagan was over. And in fact one of the smart people is none other than -- dadelut dadelut dadelut dadelut dadelut -- audio sound bite number 12 here, David Brooks of the New York Times. He was on PBS The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and he's the conservative -- ahem -- with Mark "Maxi" Shields, who is the liberal, and they agree on practically everything, and so Brooks and Shields have this little exchange about the race in New York 23.
SHIELDS: We've got a moderate Republican, Dede Scozzafava who is running against, really, a conservative tea party guy named Doug Hoffman.
BROOKS: Yeah.
SHIELDS: A lot of Republicans, like Rush Limbaugh and even Tim Pawlenty from Minnesota, have gone off for Hoffman.
BROOKS: Sarah Palin.
SHIELDS: I think Sarah Palin, I think it's the suicide pact for the Republican Party, essentially taking a moderate Republican, dead center in American politics, and saying, sorry, you're too liberal. That's crazy.
RUSH: And the next day, I managed to get her to resign the race. Making Brooks look even more foolish than he looked Friday night. Dead center moderate Republican, Mr. Brooks? Come on. The woman is pro-choice, massive tax increaser. She is nowhere near moderate, she was more liberal than the Democrat, and now she has endorsed the Democrat. And the era of Reagan is over? We've got a moderate Republican running against a really conservative tea party guy? Folks, I'm being given a lot of credit here that I don't deserve for this and I have to step in here. I have been listening to the sound bites of yesterday, and I've been seeing some things on television today that I put Hoffman over the top, that I am the energy behind Doug Hoffman, that he's in the race because of me, that I single-handedly -- well, not single-handedly, but with the sheer force of my existence, forced Dede Scozzafava out of the race. And, my friends, I throw up my hands in humility and honesty here, I didn't have anything to do with it. No, no, no. As best I can tell, Laura Ingraham and Joe Scarborough handpicked Doug Hoffman.
ANNOUNCER: The eyes of the nation are on the north country. What we decide on Tuesday will echo from Albany to Washington. Whose side are you on? The Pelosi-Paterson tax and spend train wreck, or do you believe in Republican, conservative values like, like thrift, personal responsibility and family? Let's tell the liberals enough is enough, no more bailouts, taxes, and budget-busting spending. It's time to create jobs with proven conservative ideas like lower taxes. Let your voice be heard. Join the movement to bring real conservative change. Tell the politicians, "No more, we won't let you bankrupt America." We need conservative leaders who stand up for our values. Fight back. Vote conservative. It matters like never before.
RUSH: Now, who do you think ran that ad? Who do you think, Mr. Snerdley? That is an ad that is running in New York-23 for Doug Hoffman. No, that's am RNC ad. That was an RNC ad urging people to vote conservative. Now, after working against the conservative, now the RNC is trying to help him, but they still don't mention his name in the ad. This is the bunch that endorsed Dede Scozzafava. And this is the bunch that was running ads against -- well, that might have been the Congressional Campaign Committee in the House, but some Republican group was running ads against Hoffman. Now Scozzafava pulls out and endorses the Democrat. Folks, I'm telling you she is done one of the biggest favors for us any RINO can do. She has purposefully, openly illustrated exactly who RINOs are, that's Republicans-in-name-only. David Brooks loves these moderates. Who is she really? She is a turncoat liberal Democrat. She was going to change parties. There was talk that she was gonna change parties after this election if she won.
We have some of the stupidest smart people on our side that I have ever recalled being surrounded by. So now they're running this ad. Listen to it again. This is an RNC -- I sprung it on you, this is an RNC ad for Doug Hoffman. They don't mention his name. If they can run this ad in New York 23, why can't this ad become the basis for their entire existence and the reason they want anybody to vote for a Republican? If they can do it in New York-23, why not make this their national identity? Listen again.
ANNOUNCER: The eyes of the nation are on the north country. What we decide on Tuesday will echo from Albany to Washington. Whose side are you on? The Pelosi-Paterson tax and spend train wreck, or do you believe in Republican, conservative values like, like thrift, personal responsibility and family? Let's tell the liberals enough is enough, no more bailouts, taxes, and budget-busting spending. It's time to create jobs with proven conservative ideas like lower taxes. Let your voice be heard. Join the movement to bring real conservative change. Tell the politicians, "No more, we won't let you bankrupt America." We need conservative leaders who stand up for our values. Fight back. Vote conservative. It matters like never before.
RUSH: Who in the hell wrote this at the RNC, and do they still have a job? Where has this been? Obviously this message is in the building. Somebody at the RNC actually thinks this stuff because they're running an ad. That's an ad for Doug Hoffman. They don't mention his name 'cause he's on the Conservative Party line, so that's why they're saying vote the conservative. But it wouldn't have hurt to put his name in there, would it?
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RUSH: Looks like Janelle in Lakeland, Florida. It's great to have you on the program. Hi.
CALLER: Hi! Good afternoon. I really think that you are highlighting a huge issue that is going on in the party today, and that is possibly another crisis of leadership that we have desperately needed since 2008. I mean you have Michael Steele who said that he will do anything to get an R in office. He defended his Scozzafava endorsement by saying that which is ridiculous. And even here, which should be near and dear to you. Here in Florida you have party leaders who already seem to, even preprimary, have picked out their Senate candidates, and their governor candidates. I mean, when you say the AP is already saying that we have a "fracture," do you think we have a fracture, or are we getting a revamp that we really need?
RUSH: Well, it's tough to say. I think... Are you talking specifically about Florida?
CALLER: Well, Florida. Well, you get New York-23. Florida you have... I think this is going to be something that's larger where you still have some of the leadership that is out of touch.
RUSH: There's a special election in the Bay Area going on and nobody's covering it. I think it's California 10. Nobody's talking about that but it has the same potential as New York-23. A Republican could win that race. You do have this thing in Atlanta with the "white mayor," maybe being a first time in a long time, which is news. You have in Maine they've got a same-sex marriage up there and they're thinking of banning it and there's massive support for banning gay marriage. So Massachusetts is sending a brigade of gay activists in there to get out the gay vote in Maine tomorrow. I mean there's a lot going on. New Jersey, Virginia.
You call it a revamp, I think the political scientists talking about this in terms of the word "realignment," but that's not actually an accurate way to describe what's going on. I think what is happening -- and we gotta be careful that we don't extrapolate too much from what happens tomorrow. New York-23 is big, and... (interruption) Well, yeah. Maybe we can't overdo it. I think... Like I said on the Fox News show yesterday and on this radio show last week: I think there's a revolt brewing out there, and revolts in this country take place on election days. They take place at the ballot box. And I think, you know, in terms of Florida, you've got a down-the-line Reagan conservative in Marco Rubio; and you've got Charlie Crist, who is the sitting governor, who David Brooks would say is a moderate. Charlie Crist embraced Obama when Obama first came here to push the stimulus.
When Obama was last here in Jacksonville last week, Charlie Crist was not there. And they got hold of Charlie Crist, "Why weren't you there?" He said, "Why, I didn't know Obama was even in the state." This Creigh Deeds guy did not want Obama helping him out. Independents are fleeing the Democrat Party in these elections because of health care. Creigh Deeds said he didn't want Obama, so Obama threw Creigh Deeds under the bus two Fridays ago on the front page of the Washington Post, basically blaming him two weeks before the election for blowing it by not using Obama enough. Now, Obama, that's one thing. But New Jersey? You know, that one's too close to call if the polls are right. New Jersey is New Jersey. You know, every time we thought... The Torch pulls out, "Ah, the Republican's gonna win."
Nah, the state Supreme Court there says, "To hell with our constitution! The people aren't being fairly represented, since The Torch pulled out. So yep you can go ahead and pick a Democrat to run." So the Democrat Party in the state picked retired Frank Lautenberg, The Lout, and he's now the senator, one of the senators from New Jersey to go along with Robert Menendez. So I think that there is something brewing out there, Janelle, I do. But it's going to show itself in, eh, different ways tomorrow. There's no nationwide effort or result that will be shown up because there's just a precious few elections tomorrow.
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RUSH: Dale in Baltimore, you're next on the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. Greetings from the People's Republic of Maryland.
RUSH: Thank you, sir.
CALLER: Before I get to my point, you were talking about David Brooks before. When I first heard about David Brooks and they said he was a conservative -- or he said he was a conservative -- and I saw him on these shows, I thought maybe there were two David Brooks, because he certainly isn't. So I want to know: Who declared David Brooks a conservative? David Brooks?
RUSH: Well, New York Times hired him as their conservative columnist, and he's also the conservative contributor on The Newshour with Jim Lehrer. Yeah, he used to work at the Weekly Standard. He actually used to write conservative stuff.
CALLER: It's hard to believe. I mean, you know, he becomes the one they can comfortably have on. You have him on, say he's a conservative and know that he won't say anything conservative. Anyway, I called to talk about the Republicans and Dede Scozzafava and what Michael Steele had to say on Saturday, and that was that when she resigned from the race, of course, the RNC came out and endorsed Doug Hoffman and Michael Steele said, "Well, you know, we endorse Doug Hoffman but we're a diverse party," and I'm getting so tired of the RNC feeling the need to say that we're a diverse party, and we have a big tent and all this nonsense. The liberals don't say it. The Democrats never feel the need to say it. And it bothers me that the Republicans always -- the Republican leadership, at least the RNC leadership under Michael Steele -- feels this need to constantly almost appease the media by saying --
RUSH: Yep.
CALLER: -- we're a big tent.
RUSH: Yep.
CALLER: My feeling is, let's just say, "We're Americans. We're conservatives," and this party should have no difficulty fighting the greatest challenge that we face in the history of this nation right now.
RUSH: That is so, so right on the money. We have the radical leftist regime ever. There is no better time than now to define ourselves and to contrast ourselves with this radicalness. But you have nailed it because it is appeasement. It is fear. It's what happens when you live and work in New York or Washington too long. The liberals dominate both places, politically, socially, culturally. When Axelrod goes on TV and says, "Oh, the Republicans, they're throwing away valued moderates, their big tent philosophy," they're trying to pick our candidates, because they want us to continue to pick losers! The last thing we ought to be doing is listening to them tell us what they think we ought to be.
They got enough problems being who they are. They are the real danger. We are a big-tent party. Our "tent" is the United States of America. We want everybody in this country in our party -- and we do not look at people and see skin color, sexual orientation, or gender or ethnicity. We see Americans. We have a message that appeals to Americans. It's very simple. It's easy to explain. We don't have to talk about, "We're moderates here, we got some independents over there. We're a big-tent party." Al of that is language created by liberals and the media. All of those are premises created by the left to try to pick not only our candidates, but to pick our spokesmen and our leaders. Do you remember shortly after Obama, maybe it was...
I don't know if he'd been immaculated yet or not, but remember when he went to George Will's house and had dinner with a whole bunch of different conservative commentators. (interruption) That was preimmaculation. All right. He was going to be a moderate. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. That's right. And David Brooks was in the group. I happened to not be in the group. In fact, I was at the White House that day having lunch with the president. And that dinner was going to happen I think later in the week or may have been that night or something, and I'm on the airplane flying home from Washington, I get e-mails, "Are you going to this thing tonight?" I did not know anything about it. I wasn't invited to it. And when I saw who was, I understood exactly why.
What Obama was trying to do was pick our official Washington spokesmen, our conservative columnists and commentators. They were the ones blessed by Obama. He and his team felt with a couple of exceptions, I don't think they were ever going to really turn Larry Kudlow and I don't think they were going to turn George Will, and I knew they weren't going to turn Krauthammer, who was there. But Brooks, Brooks appears to be a lapdog now, after that. I think he was there. Pretty soon he was. So it's no different. They come up with these terms, "You gotta be a big-tent party." Look at the way they're talking about this New York-23 race. We're imploding! We're imploding. We kicked a veritable, perfect, wonderful moderate out for this right-wing extreme wacko is the way they're casting it, 'cause they're scared, folks. They're scared of an ascending conservatism. They know it's the biggest threat they've got, and they react to it that way. I wish they would treat the Taliban the way they treat us. I wish they would look at Iran the way they look at conservatives. I mean, "Conservatives Rebellion Kicks GOP Stalwart Out of Party" is a headline. Conservative rebellion? Damn right it is! "Conservatives are just angry." Damn right we are! Anybody with half a brain would be mad at what's going on in this country. Anybody with a brain would be mad as hell at what's being done to this country. But anger? "Oh, that's not to be productive! Oh, those Republicans and conservatives running around mad." They damn well ought to be mad.
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RUSH: Along the lines of what we were just talking about, the story here in the Politico today: "Conservatives Take Aim at Leaders, Crist, Other Races' -- 'If you look at other bellwether races, we’re still going to be on opposing sides,' said Adam Brandon, a spokesman for FreedomWorks, an organization that helped gin up the tea party protests and town hall flare-ups." No. Those happened on their own. Nobody ginned those up. That's what everybody misunderstands. "'If you look at other bellwether races, we’re still going to be on opposing sides,' said Brandon, who pointed to the Florida Senate race, where a conservative former state House speaker is taking on GOP-establishment-backed Gov. Charlie Crist as the next major conservative electoral stand. 'There are going to be other conflicts,' said Brandon. 'We have a lot of work to do. The [Doug] Hoffman campaign was the beginning. It was not the climax.'" And that's exactly right.
"Tom Davis, former head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said this rage against the GOP machine might feel good for disgruntled conservatives, but it could also land Republicans deep in the minority for years to come." Where are you now, Mr. Davis? Where are you now? When was the last time you won and had power in Congress? Was it not on a conservative formula, and you lost when, Mr. Davis? When you gradually abandoned that platform. You are looking at a very minority status for decades if you stay constituted as you are in the Republican Party.
CALLER: Mr. Limbaugh, thanks for taking my call. I just want to go back to Vice President Biden's speech there. He's contradicting himself because the part where he said you're not sure what he means about can Hoffman ever go against anything you say, what he's trying to imply there is you're his puppet master and Mr. Hoffman is just one of your puppets. But at the same time in the same speech he's saying you're nothing but an entertainer so really he's just falling all over himself.
ANNOUNCER: The eyes of the nation are on the north country. What we decide on Tuesday will echo from Albany to Washington. Whose side are you on? The Pelosi-Paterson tax and spend train wreck, or do you believe in Republican, conservative values like, like thrift, personal responsibility and family? Let's tell the liberals enough is enough, no more bailouts, taxes, and budget-busting spending. It's time to create jobs with proven conservative ideas like lower taxes. Let your voice be heard. Join the movement to bring real conservative change. Tell the politicians, "No more, we won't let you bankrupt America." We need conservative leaders who stand up for our values. Fight back. Vote conservative. It matters like never before.
