RUSH: Chicago, this is Wayne. Glad you called, sir. You’re next. It’s great to have you here today. Hi.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. Thanks for taking my call. Rush, you’ve been saying for quite a while now that the driving force, or one of the main driving forces behind the Democrats, is their pure hatred of Trump, you know, his bravado, his manner, and in many cases his followers as well. Now, he’s exposed the media, he’s exposed Washington corruption. But I think there’s something else in play here where he’s exposed liberalism.
You know, five years from now when Trump leaves office, I think the next Republican that can just ride his coattails into office, just continue with the same policies. Because his policies, his economic policies, his tax cuts for the most part have worked. And, you know, maybe the next Republican in won’t have that bravado, that manner, but he’s exposed liberalism for what it is, and his policies work. So I’d like to get your thoughts on that.
RUSH: Can I ask a personal question? You don’t have to answer it, but I’m just curious.
CALLER: Sure.
RUSH: How old you are?
CALLER: Sixty-two
RUSH: So you were alive and functioning during the eighties.
CALLER: Yeah. Yes.
RUSH: Well, we had eight years of Ronaldus Magnus, and the Republican Party did not want to continue anything. They said they did, they campaigned, you know, George H. W. Bush campaigned as the third term of Ronald Reagan, but that’s not what we got. Back then the Republican Party was filled with Never Conservatives instead of Never Trumpers. Reagan was an outlier. Reagan had to beat the system like Trump did.
Reagan implemented conservative economics, caused an economic boom, many other things, brought down the deficit, reduced inflation, and also reduced per capita government spending, all while increasing employment. And they’re a standalone. The Republican Party, until Trump, never, ever tried to replicate it. So why do you think the Republican Party in 2024 is gonna try to carry the torch of Trump?
CALLER: Well, I think the one thing that may have changed is people, I believe, in this day and age are more in tune with politics and they’re more in tune with the corrupt media. And they’re gonna just look at what works for them, and they’re gonna be more concentrated on principle above personality.
RUSH: All right, how many people do you think who like Trump — this is not a trick question. I genuinely want to know what you think. How many people do you think who like Trump and follow Trump would think what Trump is doing is conservatism, and therefore are becoming conservatives so that when other people run and identify themselves as conservative, “Oh, you’re like Trump? Okay, I’ll vote for you.” Do you think that’s happening?
CALLER: No. Maybe not so much, Rush, but the policies are working. We can call them, you know, whatever we want, but the policies are working. Jobs gone up, unemployment is down, the economy is booming, everything is working. So, you know, we can call it whatever we want. Most people can’t define liberalism, conservatism, Democratic or Republican. So to me, in my opinion, those are just words. They know that their 401(k)s have gone up, they know what’s working for them in their lives. And so they’ll look at that regardless of what you call it.
RUSH: Well, it is gonna be a different generation of people that will be picking up the torch from Trump than even his own generation, and certainly a generation far different than that during the Reagan years. And sadly, you’re right, people know the labels, don’t know what they really mean. That’s been one of my bugaboos. If we could just get a majority of Americans to understand what liberalism is, then over half the battle would be won. Anyway, it does remain a great question. If Trump wins, what will be the next Republican president? What kind of guy, what kind of policies? It’s, I think, still an open question.