{"id":28177,"date":"2008-01-21T01:01:01","date_gmt":"2011-05-19T04:20:30","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-05-19T04:20:30","modified_gmt":"2011-05-19T04:20:30","slug":"how_rush_chooses_candidates2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/21\/how_rush_chooses_candidates2\/","title":{"rendered":"How Rush Chooses Candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

RUSH: Jim in Kansas City, Missouri, I\u2019m glad you called, sir. Welcome to the EIB Network.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Hi, Rush. Thanks for taking my call.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yes, sir.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Earlier you had mentioned that when the time comes, you\u2019re going to announce or get behind somebody, and I\u2019m just wondering, what\u2019s your selection criteria for picking a candidate, and two, how do you decide when that time is that you\u2019re going to announce? I\u2019m more interested in how you pick a candidate. Because especially this year with — there\u2019s really not a true conservative. How do you narrow it down?<\/p>\n

RUSH: That\u2019s an excellent point. I don\u2019t have a time frame, just to address that first. I don\u2019t have a time frame.<\/p>\n

CALLER: All right.<\/p>\n

RUSH: And I also, I can see possibly not supporting a Republican nominee.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Hm-hm.<\/p>\n

RUSH: And I never thought that I would say that in my life.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Right.<\/p>\n

RUSH: ‘But, Rush, but, Rush, what about Hillary?\u2019 (sigh) By the way, the sigh is not aimed at you Jim.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Oh, I know.<\/p>\n

RUSH: This stuff is very tough.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, maybe open it up to different years, where we do have — say you have two good conservatives, how would you go through a selection process? I know a lot of people, they say, well, if he\u2019s pro-abortion and if he\u2019s this and this. I was just wondering what your kind of selection criteria —<\/p>\n

RUSH: I went through this in great detail mere moments ago. <\/p>\n

CALLER: Right.<\/p>\n

RUSH: In a situation like this, where you don\u2019t have a genuine, down-the-list conservative, you have to look at variables. It\u2019s easier for me to support a Romney than a McCain, for example, because I believe his conversion is genuine and he\u2019s not lying about past positions. He\u2019s not trying to tell people that they\u2019re wrong when they assess his past positions. He explains why he changed his mind and what it was that caused him to change his mind. And so I don\u2019t want to go through that whole list again, but that\u2019s pretty much how I would do it. It will be up when we update my website this afternoon to reflect the contents of the program. But this is really difficult. But depending — there are a couple people — I can\u2019t take these endorsement calls, because I\u2019m just — <\/p>\n

CALLER: No, I don\u2019t want you to endorse them. I was just wondering how you go about and decide. I mean, do you look at, you know, are they willing to cut taxes only, I mean is that your top — what\u2019s your top-five things that you look at in a candidate for choosing them.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Okay, top five right off the top of my head, not in any particular order: limited government. Get government out of people\u2019s way. Number two, belief in the system that it\u2019s people who make the country work, not government. Number three, don\u2019t give me a laundry list of policies without a philosophical underpinning that explains the policies. Number four, don\u2019t tell me that government is the agent of change and that you are going to lead the government. My brand of conservatism is based on individual entrepreneurism, rugged self-individualism, telling people that they\u2019re the ones who make the country work. I think this is born out by history and people respond to it. And then, fifth, after all of those things that I would define as conservative, which includes the belief that people can triumph over the obstacles in their lives, that they\u2019re not incompetent, they\u2019re not incapable, and they\u2019re not stupid, the fifth thing is, is there any leadership on any of this?<\/p>\n

CALLER: No.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, if somebody starts exuding leadership, I\u2019m going to tell you, the race would be over. Nobody\u2019s exuding any leadership in this primary right now at all. What we\u2019re getting is a recitation of policies, we\u2019re getting a defense of past positions which aren\u2019t conservative, that run from (doing McCain impression), ‘You\u2019re misunderstanding me, I never said it, it wasn\u2019t amnesty!\u2019 to people who were pro-choice, changed their mind to pro-life. We have people that said they\u2019re now for FairTax and net tax increase. If somebody starts exhibiting leadership, if there were, even with this roster, if one of them had any kind of leadership persona, the race would already be more defined than it is now. I think the one thing that\u2019s absent in all of this is take-charge leadership born of confidence and desire to lead the country forward according to the vision the candidate has. Right now the front-runners want it because it\u2019s their turn. We tried that in 1996 with Bob Dole, and now they\u2019re running the same scenario with McCain. You know what recommends McCain is so many people saying, ‘He got cheated, Rush, in 2000. He was cheated and we owe him! It was unfair.\u2019 We\u2019ve been down this road of owing people. We\u2019ve been down this road, it\u2019s their turn. That\u2019s not what does it for me. So I guess in speaking aloud here and answering your question, the answer is show me some leadership here and you\u2019re going to go a long way to impressing me.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: My friends, I\u2019m going to repeat this one more time. I\u2019ve said this countless times, but people are wondering when, how, who I am going to endorse. Please get away from that. That is accepting the notion that whoever I endorse is put over the top. You guys are demonstrating out there that you\u2019re going to make up your own minds — and I, frankly, like that. I participate here in, hopefully, informing and educating, and you do back and forth. We do together. But you\u2019re not mind-numbed robots. This endorsement business? Can I be bluntly honest? If I had this magical power to get everybody I supported elected, we wouldn\u2019t have had Clinton. You know, people like me who do what I do, we\u2019ve gotta be realistic about what this is. It\u2019s a radio show that has an identity and a mission and a purpose, but it\u2019s not to get people elected. It\u2019s an ancillary thing, but that\u2019s not why I\u2019m doing this. If I really want to get one guy over another elected, I\u2019d quit this then I\u2019d become the guy\u2019s operative and dirty tricks guy and whatever else it took to win. I\u2019m not trying to diminish my role, don\u2019t misunderstand. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m the one who has this in perspective. Now, you ask, on the one hand, you want me to endorse somebody, and I say no. Then you think I have, when I haven\u2019t, and I get hell on the phones from people who think I\u2019ve endorsed somebody. I haven\u2019t. Now, you want to know why I haven\u2019t endorsed anybody? Screw the word ‘endorsement.\u2019 You know why I\u2019m not coming out and saying, ‘I support this guy more than the other\u2019 in those exact words? It\u2019s because I can\u2019t control these people. Let me give you a hypothetical. Let\u2019s say that long ago I said, ‘Folks, I have surveyed the scene, and there\u2019s only one guy in this race that\u2019s worth supporting, and that man is Fred Thompson.\u2019 All right. So I say it, and Fred runs along with his current position in the polls, and then decides to get out. What if Fred decides to endorse McCain, or throw his support to him? It\u2019s entirely possible. Where does that leave me? I\u2019m not going to put myself in this position. Tie your life to a politician, or link yourself to a politician? If you endorse one, you gotta defend everything they say, otherwise you gotta cancel the endorsement. Then, what the hell? When you have a roster where there\u2019s no genuine conservative… It\u2019s like I\u2019ve been telling you.<\/p>\n

Like I\u2019m telling you: this is going to come down to who we dislike the least. It\u2019s what it\u2019s going to boil down to. That\u2019s not necessarily good, but it is what it is. I can\u2019t say, ‘I support Candidate X\u2019 weeks out, and the campaign unfolds and have these guys put me in a bad situation. Because I guarantee you, if I were to say, ‘Candidate X! You know what, folks? I\u2019ve decided today I support Candidate X,\u2019 Candidate X is not going to call me and say, ‘What do I need to keep doing to keep your support?\u2019 Candidate X is going to assume I will maintain support whatever he does because he\u2019s just gotten it publicly. I\u2019m not going to put myself in that position. So if I can\u2019t come to you and honestly say I support one of these guys over the other, I\u2019m not going to do it. Now, I can come to you and say, ‘I see real red flags with this guy, real red flags with that guy.\u2019 I\u2019ll tell you that, but always up front and honestly. Based on what? Conservatism! Because it wins. Anyway, I\u2019ll squeeze in one more call here before we have to go. Who is it? Mike in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. Hi.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Hey, Rush, thanks for taking the call. Some hot tea and rye whiskey in the same cup will help your throat. In the meantime, I wanted to weigh in on the issue you spoke of a little bit ago about the evangelical influence in the Republican Party. In my opinion, we need to excise the evangelicals from the Republican Party, because I really do believe that they are hurting the cause. And this is — and this is where my thought process is, that the Republican core value is to empower the individual and that the evangelicals, you know, with their social agenda seem to me to be empowering government just as much as the far left on the Democrat. They\u2019re are all for — for —<\/p>\n

RUSH: Okay.<\/p>\n

CALLER: — you know, no. Letting your kids get abortions without letting the parents know.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Time-out, time-out, time-out. I\u2019ve got a minute. I can\u2019t speak very fast. You\u2019re raising a good point. I want to address it. I\u2019ve heard this lament, ‘Social conservatives believe in Big Government as much as liberals do, Limbaugh. You know it. They want the government to stop abortions!\u2019 In the first place, the Republican Party would be nowhere without them. That\u2019s why I hate to see what\u2019s going on here in the current field. But number two: the founding documents. The Declaration of Independence: ‘We\u2019re all endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, among them, LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.\u2019 When a political party is doing its best to see to it that every abortion possible happens, there\u2019s only one agency empowered by our founding documents to stand up for life. That\u2019s the government. That\u2019s considered a proper use of the government, to stand for life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That\u2019s not oppression, sir.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RUSH: Jim in Kansas City, Missouri, I\u2019m glad you called, sir. Welcome to the EIB Network. CALLER: Hi, Rush. Thanks for taking my call. RUSH: Yes, sir. CALLER: Earlier you had mentioned that when the time comes, you\u2019re going to announce or get behind somebody, and I\u2019m just wondering, what\u2019s your selection criteria for picking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow Rush Chooses Candidates - The Rush Limbaugh Show<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/21\/how_rush_chooses_candidates2\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"How Rush Chooses Candidates - The Rush Limbaugh Show\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"RUSH: Jim in Kansas City, Missouri, I\u2019m glad you called, sir. Welcome to the EIB Network. CALLER: Hi, Rush. Thanks for taking my call. RUSH: Yes, sir. CALLER: Earlier you had mentioned that when the time comes, you\u2019re going to announce or get behind somebody, and I\u2019m just wondering, what\u2019s your selection criteria for picking […]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125112.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"description\":\"Excellence In Broadcasting\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/21\/how_rush_chooses_candidates2\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125112.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125112.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/21\/how_rush_chooses_candidates2\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/21\/how_rush_chooses_candidates2\/\",\"name\":\"How Rush Chooses Candidates - The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/21\/how_rush_chooses_candidates2\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-19T04:20:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-05-19T04:20:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/21\/how_rush_chooses_candidates2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/21\/how_rush_chooses_candidates2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/21\/how_rush_chooses_candidates2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Rush Chooses Candidates\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Rush Chooses Candidates - The Rush Limbaugh Show","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/21\/how_rush_chooses_candidates2\/","twitter_card":"summary","twitter_title":"How Rush Chooses Candidates - The Rush Limbaugh Show","twitter_description":"RUSH: Jim in Kansas City, Missouri, I\u2019m glad you called, sir. Welcome to the EIB Network. CALLER: Hi, Rush. Thanks for taking my call. RUSH: Yes, sir. CALLER: Earlier you had mentioned that when the time comes, you\u2019re going to announce or get behind somebody, and I\u2019m just wondering, what\u2019s your selection criteria for picking […]","twitter_image":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125112.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/","name":"The Rush Limbaugh Show","description":"Excellence In Broadcasting","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/21\/how_rush_chooses_candidates2\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125112.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125112.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/21\/how_rush_chooses_candidates2\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/21\/how_rush_chooses_candidates2\/","name":"How Rush Chooses Candidates - The Rush Limbaugh Show","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/21\/how_rush_chooses_candidates2\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2011-05-19T04:20:30+00:00","dateModified":"2011-05-19T04:20:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/21\/how_rush_chooses_candidates2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/21\/how_rush_chooses_candidates2\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/21\/how_rush_chooses_candidates2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Rush Chooses Candidates"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28177"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28177\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}