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RUSH: Fort Walton Beach, Florida. This is Paul. Glad you waited, sir. Welcome to the program.<\/p>\n
CALLER: A pleasure to speak with you, Rush.<\/p>\n
RUSH: Thank you.<\/p>\n
CALLER: The primaries so far have conclusively shown that Governor Romney has a major southern problem. Out of six southern states that have held primaries, Senator Santorum has won four, Speaker Gingrich has won one, and Governor Romney has won one. And the one that Romney won was Virginia, where Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum weren\u2019t even on the ballot.<\/p>\n
RUSH: That\u2019s true.<\/p>\n
RUSH: Yes.<\/p>\n
CALLER: And also, the last Republican to be elected president who lost more than one southern state was Richard Nixon in 1968. So we\u2019re looking at a major historical trend here that Governor Romney would have to reverse.<\/p>\n
RUSH: All right.<\/p>\n
CALLER: Unless he were to really pick up the pace in the South, and there\u2019s no indication he\u2019s gonna do that.<\/p>\n
RUSH: Well, let me share with you something I just saw today. Where did I see this? I think it was from the John Locke Foundation blog in North Carolina. I don\u2019t have it in front of me. I was just looking for it while you were speaking. I thought I had printed it out but I didn\u2019t so I have to do this off the top of my head, but that\u2019s a pretty good piece and I think I\u2019ve got this down pat. Here\u2019s the theory. The theory is that the swing state in this election is going to be North Carolina, that Obama cannot win without it no matter what else he does.<\/p>\n
Now, just follow me on this. I\u2019m just telling what\u2019s out there. That\u2019s the reason Obama\u2019s headed in there every other day. That\u2019s why the convention is there. They won it in \u201908 but they\u2019re having problems now. And furthermore, the theory goes that this election is going to turn on 45,000 people in the Raleigh-Durham what is called The Triangle Area. These 45,000 people are upper middle-class families that make $75,000 a year, and they are apolitical. They are not committed Democrats or Republicans. But the way they line up is how this election is going to turn out. And the theory that\u2019s espoused in this piece is that the only Republican these people are gonna vote for is Mitt Romney. <\/p>\n
Without giving you all the detailed reasons, it has to do with the fact that they\u2019re not political. It\u2019s not that they\u2019re moderates. It\u2019s just that they\u2019re apolitical. But, if at the time something comes along — and if, for example, the social issues are being discussed — whoever they perceive as being most aggressive, they\u2019ll vote against. Whoever they perceive being most aggressive on the economy, they\u2019ll vote against. These are people that are hands off. They distrust politicians and political people, and for whatever reason… Now, during the break I\u2019m gonna print this out and I\u2019m gonna get all the answers to the questions that you have as you listen to me explain this. <\/p>\n
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RUSH: Well, this piece is from the American Spectator, but they quote research from John Locke Foundation. It\u2019s an American Spectator article. And I think, as I\u2019m watching Obama and the Democrats, they know something that we don\u2019t. And the fact that Obama is in there all the time and Michelle is in there? Everybody talks about Ohio and some of these other battlegrounds. I think North Carolina is the state. That\u2019s why they were flipped for a wig when the governor decided she wasn\u2019t gonna run. When Beverly Perdue said she wasn\u2019t going to seek reelection, that panicked them in the White House, and the southern… I don\u2019t dispute what you\u2019re saying at all about Romney\u2019s performance in these southern states in the primaries here. But he\u2019s gonna get better than 31% when the general comes around, and Republicans are voting against Obama as much as they\u2019re voting for Romney or anybody else.<\/p>\n
CALLER: Oh, he\u2019ll get more than 31%, but the problem is the historical trend, going back 44 years is, that the Republican nominee must sweep the South or at the most lose one state.<\/p>\n
RUSH: But that\u2019s the point. That\u2019s the point of this piece in the Spectator. Throw that out. When has it ever been that North Carolina has mattered as much? It never has.<\/p>\n
CALLER: Well, the Democrats are acting on the subject we\u2019re just talking about, that the South is the key. It is the doorway to the presidency for the Republican nominee, and Governor Romney is the least electable of all the Republican candidates in the current field to carry the South.<\/p>\n
RUSH: Yeah, but see, you\u2019re not… (sigh) We\u2019re not communicating. I\u2019m telling you that this piece said. Maybe… I\u2019m sure you disagree with the piece, and feel free to. I\u2019m not trying to tell you it\u2019s accurate. I\u2019m just sharing with you something out there that contravenes the-age-old statistical data that you are citing. And this piece says throw all that out, that it\u2019s North Carolina and it\u2019s 45,000 highly educated employees that make an average salary of 75 grand. They work in Research Triangle Park, their counterparts are in Charlotte, and they\u2019re 100% Democrat. <\/p>\n
There has been a shift — a political population shift — in North Carolina. So the question for November will be (this is from the piece): “‘Who can reach out to these educated, upscale people who are going to be the deciding voters in North Carolina that are gonna decide the election?\u2019 The answer for Republicans is very clear: Mitt Romney\u2019s main appeal is to those upscale voters.” Now, I\u2019m telling you this because piece also says, Paul, that the Republican hierarchy believes this, and that is why they are so tied to Romney is because of the kind of people he\u2019ll get voting for him from there. I\u2019m just saying.<\/p>\n
BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n
RUSH: Paul in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, I know you\u2019re still out there. The original piece from which I was excerpting is in the American Spectator. It\u2019s by William Tucker. It\u2019s out yesterday. It\u2019s called, “Election Year Math.” It prints out to four pages. Basically, Tucker says it\u2019s all gonna come down to three states that went for Obama last time. They are: North Carolina, Colorado, and Virginia. Those are the three states, according to William Tucker\u2019s “Election Year Math.” North Carolina, Virginia, and Colorado. Now, the actual piece that I was excerpting is entitled “The Final (And Most Important) Presidential Battleground: North Carolina,” which was also posted yesterday by Tara Servatius of the Meck Deck blog in Charlotte<\/a>. <\/p>\n And she starts out by saying: “This American Spectator piece is dead on. Few people fully realize how pivotal North Carolina is to President Obama\u2019s reelection. North Carolina will likely be the most pivotal battleground state in the nation this year, or one among just three,” and there\u2019s a map that accompanies this piece. We\u2019ll link to this at RushLimbaugh.com today so you can see it yourself. We\u2019ll link to this piece and William Tucker\u2019s “Election Year Math” at American Spectator<\/a>. “If Obama wins all the states [John] Kerry…” who, by the way, served in Vietnam. “If Obama wins all the states Kerry won in 2004 … all he needs to get to 269 electoral votes is North Carolina and Virginia or North Carolina and Colorado.”<\/p>\n Now, according to this map, “If Obama wins all the states Kerry won in 2004, which as you can see is almost guaranteed to happen given how liberal they are…” So there\u2019s a big assumption here. The assumption in this piece is that Obama\u2019s gonna win everything that Kerry won in 2004. He\u2019s one electoral vote short at 269. So he\u2019s going to need either North Carolina and Virginia or North Carolina and Colorado. And Tara Servatius writes here: “‘[T]he final battleground is likely to be North Carolina, Virginia and Colorado. Democrats figured this out long ago. That\u00c2\u2019s why they\u00c2\u2019re holding their convention in Charlotte,'” the Spectator article says.<\/p>\n “Who in North Carolina will decide which way the country goes and whether Obama is shown the exit? ‘The more than 45,000 highly educated employees that make an average salary of $75,000…\u2019 and work in Research Triangle Park. And of course, their counterparts in Charlotte.” Now, if I may pause for a moment and make a brief observation. Now that at that these 45,000 highly educated people know how important they are, all bets are off. That\u2019s the one thing about reporting this. It\u2019s sort of like my big problem with independents. I don\u2019t have a problem with independents personally, but every year we\u2019re told that independents are gonna determine who wins.<\/p>\n Not the 40% that go Democrat or 40% that go Republican. We\u2019re told the people that haven\u2019t made up their minds, we\u2019re told that people who aren\u2019t partisan, we\u2019re told that people who moderate and open-minded decide. I have rejected this. It has bothered me ever since I\u2019ve been old enough to understand what this is. I think partisan, motivated, energetic, enthusiastic people determine who wins elections, and therefore whoever can go convince most of the independents to join them is gonna win. Now, the problem with that is that the independents know this! And so the independents have a little arrogance about them sometimes. <\/p>\n They think, “Well, we\u2019re the ones that really count.” So they\u2019re the ones that hold out. “Okay, who\u2019s gonna give me the most?” and that breaks down the whole system, when the vote for president or anything is determined on: “Who\u2019s gonna give me the most?” Now, we\u2019ve got a piece, and I am making this the biggest piece in the country today. Because I am talking about it, this whole country is now going to know that there is a theory that 45,000 people who work at Research Triangle Park are gonna determine who the president is. Whether that\u2019s true or not, these 45,000 people now might think that it\u2019s up to them. So what are they going to demand? <\/p>\n You know, now that this has been publicized, every political person in the world is gonna beat tracks to get there. They already are is the point of the piece. The Democrats already are. The Democrats are already in North Carolina, in there and out of there as often as they can get. They\u2019re having their convention in Charlotte, and they\u2019re wooing and working on these people that work at this place. But the counterparts over in Charlotte, let\u2019s not forget about them for a second. And here\u2019s something. “Not said in the article is this. The reason that just 45,000 voters in the Triangle now have such power is because of the roughly 100,000 new black voters the Charlotte area picked up over the last decade.<\/p>\n “These solidly Democratic voters turned the state from red in presidential elections to purple and set it up to tilt.” These 100,000 new arrivals (that\u2019s how much Charlotte\u2019s population has grown: 100,000 new black voters) have turned the state from red to purple. “Now it is young professionals” over in Research Triangle Park who will either go along with them or provide the counter. Continuing further: “These newly successful people,” these 45,000 highly educated employees in Research Triangle Park, “have become the pivotal bloc that swings the state between Republicans and Democrats.”<\/p>\n This is what I was telling you last hour. “They are not committed to either party. They are not terribly involved with social issues. Their main worry is the economy. If Republicans make birth control and separation of church and state the major issue, they will go Democratic. If the Democrats mess up the economy and produce $4.50 gas and 8.3% unemployment, they will swing Republican. That will probably decide the 2012 election.” Now, I am always leery of anybody who tells Republicans to steer away from social issues because what I know is: They secure victory. So I don\u2019t want you to think that I sign on to this. <\/p>\n Now that everybody knows or is going to suspect or a lot of people are gonna operate under the theory that these 45,000 people determine it, everything that was natural about this is gone now. It\u2019s all fake, phony, contrived. Now, let me keep reading, though, from the piece. “And who is the man the Spectator,” William Tucker, “says Republicans should send to fight the fight? That would be Mitt Romney, hands down says the Spectator, an interesting point of view, again,” says this blogger, “for a hard right publication.” The American Spectator is a conservative publication. It is not “hard right.” It\u2019s mainstream conservative. <\/p>\n “‘So the question for November will be this: “Who can reach out to these educated, upscale people who are going to be the deciding votes in the few states that are going to decide the election?” The answer for Republicans is very clear. Mitt Romney\u2019s main appeal is to these upscale voters. In every primary, he has run best in urban and suburban areas. He appeals to people with a college education, he appeals to women, he appeals to the more affluent. These voters are not scared by his Mormonism but they are put off by social issues and are worried about the economy. Romney scores well on all counts.\u2019 Now all you\u00c2\u2019ve got to do is watch NC polls to figure out which way this thing will go…”<\/p>\n Well, as I say, I think now that the spotlight is on these 45,000 people, they\u2019re not gonna behave naturally anymore. I think that this has a tendency now to forever alter the natural state these people are in. Imagine you were one of these 45,000, and the most-listened-to radio talk show in the country has just told the world that you are going to determine who is going to win the presidency. All pretense at normalcy is over. These people are no longer living anonymously. So I don\u2019t know if the theory is going to hold up now. The whole point here is throw everything out. This is Mr. Tucker\u2019s theory: Throw all this stuff out about Ohio and Florida being swing states. Throw all this southern stuff out. Of course Romney\u2019s not gonna lose the South once he\u2019s the nominee, if he is. The Republican nominee is gonna win the South. <\/p>\n This is absurd to think otherwise.<\/p>\n BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n RUSH: Now, I should point out, the original piece by William Tucker, “Election Year Math,” focuses on three states. North Carolina is one of them. The blogger, who culls pieces from the “Election Year Math” piece by William Tucker who I also read from, focuses much more on North Carolina \u2019cause she is in Charlotte. She\u2019s local. So she focuses much more on what he says about North Carolina. But his piece doesn\u2019t focus on North Carolina as much as the blog does, and we\u2019ll link to both of them at RushLimbaugh.com. But, again, now, this all assumes — and there\u2019s so many assumptions here, and they\u2019re all risky — it all assumes that North Carolina ends up being the key.<\/p>\n If Romney cannot win the base in these states, these 45,000 won\u2019t matter, and there are a lot of people. Romney is apparently running some ads, and I\u2019ve gotten e-mails today from people just fed up, they\u2019re tired of the never-ending parade of negative ads Romney\u2019s running. I\u2019m just sharing with you what I\u2019m getting. Some of these negative ads are starting to turn people off. They\u2019re not all that effective. So Romney is going to have to win the base before these 45,000 matter. He\u2019s gonna have to get the base out in North Carolina for those 45,000.<\/p>\n This is my argument every time people tell us we gotta focus on the independents. The independents are fine and dandy, but if you don\u2019t get your base out… and how do you do that? You get \u2019em out with your core principles. You get \u2019em out with boldness and confidence and good cheer, enthusiasm. If you can\u2019t get your base out, you get every independent voter in the world and you\u2019re not gonna win. Focusing on independents first is the way to lose this. That\u2019s what the Republican establishment does. They\u2019re embarrassed of the Republican base.<\/p>\n So, in addition to that, it\u2019s not a question of Romney winning or losing the South. He\u2019s gonna win the South but he needs to crush people there to offset the popular vote elsewhere. Virginia and North Carolina are less reliable. Romney\u2019s gonna need the base to turn out big in November for these 45,000 in North Carolina to matter, to be a factor or for the independents to be a factor. If anybody wants to take anything away from this, 45,000 equals, as far as I\u2019m concerned, the independents. If you don\u2019t get your base out all the rest of it\u2019s academic. Got to get your base. That\u2019s why Obama\u2019s doing all this crazy Keystone pipeline stuff and his green energy <\/a>stuff is because he knows that\u2019s what his base wants to hear.<\/p>\n BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n RUSH: Yeah, this contraception nonsense <\/a>that the Democrats have been playing, this supposed Republican war on women<\/a>, that\u2019s Obama trying to get his base whipped up. All this nonsense <\/a>for the past two weeks on me — well, it is about getting rid of me, but it\u2019s also about firming up his base. That\u2019s all he\u2019s doing \u2019cause he\u2019s in trouble with his base. He\u2019s in trouble with women. He\u2019s in trouble everywhere. Panic has set in in the White House. Don\u2019t doubt me on this. They know they don\u2019t have a prayer if they can\u2019t get his base back, and that\u2019s what they\u2019re trying to do, and we\u2019re gonna make the same mistake if we try to go after independents first. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" RUSH: Fort Walton Beach, Florida. This is Paul. Glad you waited, sir. Welcome to the program. CALLER: A pleasure to speak with you, Rush. RUSH: Thank you. CALLER: The primaries so far have conclusively shown that Governor Romney has a major southern problem. Out of six southern states that have held primaries, Senator Santorum has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n![](\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/map.jpg\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/RushJoinRush247.jpg\"\/)
<\/a>To me, it\u2019s a little bit much to sit here and accept that the votes of 45,000 people are gonna swing this presidential race. It could happen, but now that they know it? This is like turning a camera on \u2019em. When you take a television camera somewhere, you forever alter what otherwise would normally happen there. You put a TV camera on a street corner and I guarantee everybody starts playing to it. Okay, same thing. These 45,000 people have now been told that they are gonna determine who the next president is. Can you imagine how that is going to affect them? And can you imagine the kind of targets they\u2019re gonna be? In fact, I think this story kind of blows the whole theory now since this cannot happen under the radar.<\/p>\n