RUSH: There’s a great sound bite here, John Harwood was on CNBC today talking about how — and this dovetails right into the point I’m going to make. I’m not teasing you here. It’s just that this Ebola stuff is top, I’ll get to that here in a second, as soon as I set the rest of the table.

John Harwood was on CNBC Squawk Box today claiming that Obamacare has fizzled as an issue for the Republican Party. Even though people’s premiums are skyrocketing, even though they’re being cancelled, even though the bottom’s dropping out, it’s fizzled as an issue for the Republicans, he thinks and hopes. Now, it may have fizzled. (interruption) You don’t think it has? You’re misunderstanding. Obamacare’s real. The dismal failure of Obamacare is real. Plunging benefits. Higher premiums. Cancellations. All of that is real.

But do you hear the Republican Party out talking about it? The people are, but see, you fell right into my trap. You wait until we get to this, Snerdley, you’ll see exactly. Snerdley, “Yeah, yeah, man, this is going to be it. It’s still an issue. It hasn’t fizzled. Republicans are going to score big on this.” No, they’re not. The Democrats are going to lose big on it. The Republicans are not going to score big, and that’s the point. The Democrats will lose big on it, but it’s not going to mean anything in the long term because the Republicans don’t capitalize on Democrats losing.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Audio sound bite time. CNBC’s Squawk Box. John Harwood, Chief Washington Correspondent, was talking about the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll on the 2014 midterm elections. Try this…

HARWOOD: Take a look at Obamacare, which Republicans wanted to be a huge weapon for them in this election. It hasn’t turned out to be the case. Among all the issues that voters rank most important to their vote, health care is only fifth. And when you ask them, “Do you want a candidate who will give Obamacare a chance to work with changes or repeal and start over?” you see a significant majority here saying: I want somebody who will give it a chance to work.

RUSH: The Obamacare news is worse than ever. People are losing their plans. Premiums are going up. HealthCare.gov doesn’t work. The employer mandate kicks in after the election and a whole bunch of really bad elements kick in after the election, by design. Obamacare has not fizzled as a mobilizing motivating issue.

But the Republicans are not using it. They gave voice to repeal. They gave voice to this or that. But it’s just another example of something squandered, which leads to the inevitable question: “Do they really oppose any of this stuff, or are they just small-L liberals who believe in their own version of big government?” Which I think is the case.