RUSH: Here is Dave in Des Moines, Iowa. Great to have you on the program, sir. Hello. You have a prediction, it says here.

CALLER: Yes. Hawkeye Cauci dittos to you, Rush, and thanks for taking my call. It’s an honor to speak with you.

RUSH: Thank you very much, sir. Appreciate that.

CALLER: I have a prediction on tonight’s debate that will not only win the debate outright but also clinch the election all in one move. Trump announces that he and Ben Carson are now a team, Trump of course on top, and Dr. Carson is VP. The top two in the polls are united as a team.

RUSH: Are you actually predicting this tonight, or is it something that you think if it did happen, it would —

CALLER: Well, it might be wishful thinking on my part. But if I, a humble listener, can think of it, then Trump and Carson can certainly think of it, too.

RUSH: Well, for that to happen you would have to somehow get to Ben Carson and tell him, “Ben, the best you’re gonna do is lose, and then run the risk that I don’t choose you as VP. So, Ben, we can do it this way. You acknowledge tonight that I’m gonna win this thing and you don’t have a chance, and in exchange for that you drop out, and I will announce that you are my VP, and then we own it after that.”

Now, if Ben Carson would go for that, then you might have a point. But I don’t think Ben Carson is going to acknowledge here, in September, before the new iPhones have even come out, that he is going to lose the nomination. Which is what he would have to do.

Snerdley, you know, I know how call screeners work, folks. I mean, Snerdley put this call up for a reason. Snerdley thinks this guy’s got a point, that it could very well happen. Either that or Snerdley just wants to hear what I think about it. He thinks I’m gonna have some reaction. And I don’t know. This just seems too — (interruption) Well, I think I understand why Ted Cruz is cozying up. Snerdley asked, “What do you think about Ted Cruz cozying up?” Look, you had to ask me this, you had to ask me.

One of the things that surprises me is that Cruz is at 7%. I wanted Cruz to explode here in this process, and he may still yet. But I didn’t have any preference. As you know, I don’t choose, I don’t endorse during primaries, but I did expect Cruz to be doing better than one point better than Jeb. So we’ll see. As I say, this debate’s gonna be interesting for many reasons and in a lot of ways. Well, I know, Jeb’s coming with both barrels tonight, and he’s gonna show you what low energy really means. That’s what Jeb said tonight. He’s gonna show everybody what low energy really looks like. He’s gonna come out with both barrels tonight. Anyway, I appreciate the call, Dave. Thanks much.