RUSH: Audio sound bites, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who Pravda says his political career is being destroyed by homosexuals in California, Pravda said that, Pravda, English language Pravda was on CNN last night, had a question. ‘What do you think the future of the Republican Party is? Who’s in charge? Do you think Rush Limbaugh’s the leader of the Republican Party these days, Governor Schwarzenegger?’
SCHWARZENEGGER: They say that Rush Limbaugh is the 800-pound gorilla in the Republican Party. But I think that’s mean-spirited to say that, because I think he’s down to 650 pounds, so I think one should be fair to him about this whole thing. No, I think that, in all seriousness, the key thing is to keep that large tent —
RUSH: That’s pretty lame.
SCHWARZENEGGER: — and have the right wing, which has, you know, a very, very strong place in the Republican Party, but we also need to create a center of the Republican Party, and I think the bigger our tent is, the better it is. And I think that we just have to be always in tune of what the people want, that sometimes changes, but I think that it is a great party and it has, you know, a great future.
RUSH: There’s this big tent business again. What is that because somebody give me the policies associated with a big freaking tent. I know we’re looking at it, California. We got a Republican governor, right, we got a really vibrant Republican Party out there, right? We have a really huge tent in California, right? I mean Schwarzenegger describing how to put the Republican Party together after helping destroy the state, and, you know, how he helped destroy the state? ‘Cause he fell for his own talk about big tents. If he would have just stayed the course that he was talking about when he announced his candidacy on Leno and when he had all these people out there to start his administration, when he was on the conservative path, he coulda taken this by the gangbusters and maybe gotten the Supreme Court to change the Constitution so that foreigners could run for president. He had that opportunity, and he blew it big time going moderate.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: I know the Supreme Court doesn’t change the Constitution. All I’m saying is, for Arnold Schwarzenegger to be talking about a big tent and how the Republican Party has to put that up, I want to know what policies create a big tent. I mean, he heads the Republican Party California. It’s really doing great guns out there, isn’t it? State’s bankrupt to boot. Let’s go to another big tent guy. I talked about this guy yesterday, Mark McKinnon. Mark McKinnon, behind-the-scenes media guru, media expert, ran all of George Bush’s media in 2000 and 2004. Undeniably among the best at what he does. But he’s also a big tent guy, and he wrote a piece at the website the Daily Beast. Said, you know, this criticism of Sonia Sotomayor and Colin Powell will make the Republican Party extinct if we’re not careful, we need to wave the white flag on Sotomayor, and we need to embrace Colin Powell and thank him and thank him for not leaving the Republican Party; otherwise, the party is extinct.
I believe the party is extinct now with the old guard, blue-blood Republicans that are running it. But McKinnon went on MSNBC last night, the far-left fringe TV network, and he was asked about Sotomayor and the premise that she will be confirmed no matter the criticism. By the way, let me repeat again, just so there is no doubt about this. A, to those of you who want me to stop talking about Sonia Sotomayor, get over it, I’m not. Number two, the reason we’re going to continue talking about Sonia Sotomayor is because that’s how people in this country are gonna learn who Barack Obama is. She’s a mirror image. She’s been put on this court — he wants her to walk up those steps, walk up those marble steps and start providing some justice. There hasn’t been any justice yet. The Supreme Court is just as flawed and corrupt as every other American institution Obama needs to fix. He wants her walking up those marble steps to provide some justice. She’s chosen because she’s a mirror image of his racial attitudes. Did you get that, Drive-By Media? Sonia Sotomayor, let me say it again, Sonia Sotomayor was chosen by Obama, he coulda chosen any female, he coulda chosen any Hispanic. He chose her because she is a reflection, she reflects his racial attitudes, let’s be honest about it. So Mark McKinnon on MSNBC last night, asked about, is she going to get confirmed regardless of the criticism, is that a good assumption?
MCKINNON: Wouldn’t it be refreshing if, just for once, a nominee, a Supreme Court nominee like this gets named who clearly has qualified, strong credentials, nominated by a former Republican president, wouldn’t it be nice, if just for once, a political party and members of that party just saluted and said, ‘You know what? Nice play.’ I could say the same thing about Justice Roberts, when he was picked and the Democratic response to him. We’ve got 23% of the American electorate supporting them, seen as a sort of, you know, bitter, partisan party right now and as sort of anti-immigrant, anti-Hispanic. And I just think that this sends a lot of wrong signals to independents and soft Republican voters out there who are leaving the party in droves.
RUSH: There are people leaving the party in droves, but it’s not because of that, Mark. We’ve bent over backwards, you did ads, we’ve bent over backwards to get the Hispanic vote. You can’t do better than promising them amnesty. You can’t do better than putting two highly qualified Hispanics in your cabinet. By the way, this little cover they’re trying to give Obama for nominating Sotomayor because George H. W. Bush put her on a lower court, you gotta understand how those lower court nominations are handled. Back then you had a Republican senator and a Democrat senator in New York, you had Moynihan and you had D’Amato. And they have to divvy up the spoils. So in order for Bush to get something he wanted, he let Moynihan have Sotomayor. That’s how it works when you’ve got senators from different states. Bush did not pick Sonia Sotomayor because of her qualifications and Mark McKinnon, of all people, should know this. But notice it’s always us, always us, we’re just supposed to salute and say, you know what? Nice play. Mark, the woman is a bigot. We’re just supposed to ignore this. The left never does. The only reason they didn’t slap down John Roberts is ’cause he’s smarter than they are at the hearings. Obama voted against him. Here’s more from McKinnon. Next question: ‘Colin Powell, been sharp attacks against him by Cheney, what do you do make of that?’
MCKINNON: There’s been a lot of bad body language toward people like Colin Powell and Colin Powell specifically in the party, sort of suggesting that, you know, unless you swallow the hard-right Republican orthodoxy that, you know, that there’s not room for you. And, you know, listen, a former secretary of state, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, there are lots and lots of Republicans like me and who are moderate and feel like they want a home in the Republican Party, feel it’s the right place to be, but they are greatly concerned about the fact that they don’t see more people come to the defense of people like Colin Powell. But, anecdotally, I have lots of Republican friends who say, ‘I love Colin Powell,’ you know, ‘we need more Colin Powells.’ You know, we’re losing Republicans.
RUSH: I feel like I’m in a dream. I feel like I’m having a dream here because this is not reality. We’ve got all these people with their tongues hitting the floor. (panting) I mean, the butt kissing here is getting embarrassing. Mr. McKinnon, you are begging the party to embrace somebody who strategically, purposely endorsed a Democrat for the express purpose of ruining and defeating a Republican moderate, Senator McCain. Senator McCain, an ideal candidate for moderates. Did everything right, other than Palin, in their minds. Now, folks, help me out here. What am I missing? Colin Powell admits he has voted for JFK. He admits he voted for Jimmy Carter. He admits he voted for Barack Obama. He voted for Lyndon Johnson. Now, all of a sudden, why is this guy so crucial? Mr. McKinnon, do you understand how this sounds to the people that really make the Republican Party what it is? To listen to people say that our only future is to embrace people who are voting and endorsing Democrats, forget why.
I have never heard anything as senseless and more destructive to a party. It seems to me if you’re a Republican, you support the party nominee, and if you don’t, you certainly don’t go out and make a big show of endorsing the Democrat at a strategic point designed to hurt and harm the Republican campaign, which is what General Powell did. Now, I don’t understand this. Well, I mean I do. I know what they’re trying to do. But in the real world of common sense, it doesn’t make any sense.