RUSH: This is Randy in Arlington, Texas, great to have you on the program. Welcome.
CALLER: Yes, sir, Rush. Just want to say I’ve been listening since I was in the seventh grade. My mom would record the show for me, and I would listen when I got home from school.
RUSH: That’s fabulous. So you are a genuine true Rush Baby.
CALLER: Absolutely. My question is, what’s going to be better for our country, four years of a Democrat president or John McCain as the Republican nominee?
RUSH: Well, you people are really making this tough on me. But that’s why I’m here. I handle the tough things. I think I can only tell you what I’ve said. I don’t think there’s going to be a Republican president if he’s the nominee. I think it’s a moot point. I think the question is not relevant.
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: And see, that’s my point. I worry about that. I think it’s an automatic election of either Hillary or Obama, whoever surfaces on that side. That’s just me. I could be wrong. That is just me.
CALLER: All right. What do you make of the head-to-head polls that say McCain is the best one to beat Hillary or Obama?
RUSH: Same thing I made of the polls in New Hampshire that said Obama was going to beat her by 5 to 12 points. The polls taken on an election in November of this year, polls taken today, mean nothing. If polls six, seven months out meant something, Rudy Giuliani would be the party nominee today, and the primaries would have confirmed that, because six months ago — well, seven now — Rudy Giuliani owned everything. Now, he was the Republican nominee and nobody was even close, and this was before Huckabee had officially gotten in it. I’m telling you, polls right now are being driven by the Drive-Bys. The Drive-Bys, in their own Poll-It Bureau, and their purpose of polls is to make news and shape public opinion, not reflect it. I’m telling you, all you need to do, check out who the Drive-Bys think our stars are and go the opposite way. They are not interested in promoting conservatism or conservatives. They want to destroy it. Our guys don’t get this. They want to defeat conservatives.
They want to get rid of us as a competitive force. We ought to have the same attitude about them. We don’t. We’re trying to find ways to make them understand us. We’re trying to make inroads so they like us, so they might even join us, when they’re not even interested in that. How many of you in your personal life know somebody that hates you, or dislikes you? We all have that. How much time do you waste trying to figure out why? It’s a lost cause, unless of course happens to be your spouse, then you gotta deal with that. But somebody at work, they hate you, and you go nuts trying to figure it out. The biggest mistake you can make is trying to be what they want you to be after you think you’ve figured it out. That isn’t going to work and it certainly doesn’t work because you’re not being who you are. I told you, I ran across this little one-sentence saying the other day and it really made an impact on me, and I think that there is some validity to it in a lot of applications. And it is this: ‘Remember, people who hate you really want to be you.’ And that’s probably closer to the truth than the fact that they genuinely hate you.
Some of you people, I’m sure, are genuinely hateful and worthy of being hated. There are some bad actors in every group of people. But most of you aren’t. And yet somebody still hates you. If you’re going to worry about why — and that’s what our party is doing — why do they so misunderstand us? Why do they think we’re racist and sexist? Then we got people who want to go out to prove to the genuine racists and sexists that they’re not. Can I give you an example? The 1996 vice presidential debate, Algore, the incumbent, and Jack Kemp who ran along with Bob Dole, do you remember what Algore did in that debate on many things? He singled out Kemp. I’m going to have to paraphrase this, he singled out Kemp, he said, ‘By the way, Jack, I want to congratulate you for not being one of the bigots and racists in your party.’ And Kemp said, ‘Thank you, Mr. Vice President.’ There was smoke. There was smoke all along the Washington-New York Axis and all over the country. We got too many people on our side who want that kind of approval from the people who are the real racists, bigots, sexists or what have you. It’s just maddening. Trying to get these people’s approval cements the fact that we think we’re a minority; we have to explain ourselves; we’re always on defense. You can stuff that.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Lou in Valley, Washington, I’m glad you called. Welcome to the program.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. I love you!
RUSH: Hi. Thank you.
CALLER: And dittos.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: My husband laughs at me because I carry my little portable phone radio with Rush on into all of the rooms. Anyway, I want to talk to you about your choice, when a caller called and asked you if you would support Hillary or McCain, I feel like a Republican would be better than any Hillary or Bill.
RUSH: That’s not it. You didn’t hear me. I’ve said this from the get-go. If Hillary Clinton’s the nominee, I’m supporting whoever the Republican nominee is for, or voting for them.
CALLER: Oh, okay.
RUSH: But the caller didn’t ask me that. The caller asked me, ‘Don’t you think McCain would be better than Hillary?’
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: And my answer was: I don’t think Hillary will be beaten. That’s the bottom line with that option. In that matchup: We lose. That’s what I am afraid of. ‘Would you rather have McCain than Hillary?’ I don’t think it’s going to be a contest. That’s the whole point that I’m trying to convey here.
Fortunately, I’m outta time.