{"id":28851,"date":"2008-04-01T01:01:01","date_gmt":"2011-05-19T04:05:06","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-05-19T04:05:06","modified_gmt":"2011-05-19T04:05:06","slug":"see_i_told_you_so_on_mccain_conservatism_declared_dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/04\/01\/see_i_told_you_so_on_mccain_conservatism_declared_dead\/","title":{"rendered":"See, I Told You So on McCain: Conservatism Declared Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

RUSH: Let\u2019s go back to me on this program yesterday about Senator McCain and the Republican Party.<\/line> <\/line>RUSH ARCHIVE: Let\u2019s pretend the election is today and that McCain wins it and he wins it with a sizable margin, and he does so by attracting Democrats, liberals, and independents to his otherwise Republican coalition. Do you know what\u2019s going to happen then, folks? I\u2019m not trying to depress you; I\u2019m trying to prepare you. You know what\u2019s going to happen then? We are going to have a revival of the whole notion that Rockefeller Republicans, that country club blue-blood Republicans are the way to go and the way to get victories, that conservatism — the conservatism of Reagan — is dead.<\/line> <\/line>RUSH: I said that on this program yesterday. Keep that in mind as we listen to the next sound bite. Last night, Hannity &amp; Colmes, Fox News Channel, Bob Beckel and Sean Hannity have this exchange.<\/line> <\/line>BECKEL: Your conservative cycle, your and Hugh [Hewitt\u2019s] it\u2019s over, man. That\u2019s the eighties and nineties. <\/line> <\/line>HANNITY: Alright.<\/line> <\/line>BECKEL: This country is now 5% center-left. It was 15% center-right.<\/line> <\/line>HANNITY: Thank you, Bob Beckel.<\/line> <\/line>BECKEL: It is not there anymore, and you guys, frankly, you\u2019re dealing with a lot of dinosaurs.<\/line> <\/line>RUSH: All right, there\u2019s Bob Beckel confirming exactly what I said in terms of what this country is going to look like — and in his mind, looks like now. The point of this and the reason that I wanted you to hear the sound bite, Bob Beckel is a Democrat. He ran the campaign of Walter F. Mondull. Beckel might have had something to do with the notion of superdelegates. Somebody told me that, too, and I\u2019m not sure if I heard that correctly. But regardless, he\u2019s a big, big Democrat — and he\u2019s out there saying, ‘Hey, look, pal, it\u2019s a 5% center left country. It was 15% center right. It\u2019s not there anymore. You guys, frankly, are dealing with a lot of dinosaurs. Your conservative cycle, it\u2019s over, man. That\u2019s eighties and nineties.\u2019 The problem is, this is the exact point of view of many conservative media-types who are attempting to make that prediction by Beckel or that statement a reality, by trying to simply… It\u2019s bad enough, it\u2019s serious enough (well, it\u2019s actually par for the course) when the left tries to write off conservatism and portray it inaccurately as a minority movement and losing ground and so forth. When people on our own side pick this up and then start championing it, which is what has happened, then you got a problem. <\/line> <\/line>Beckel wasn\u2019t even talking about the election of McCain, but I\u2019m telling you that if McCain wins this, according to the conventional wisdom of today, by getting a lot of Democrats and independents, that\u2019s exactly what people on our side are going to say. They\u2019re going to say, ‘There is no conservatism anymore. There never was. Reagan wasn\u2019t even a conservative. You conservatives, you never have been as powerful as you think. You\u2019re whistling Dixie. You\u2019re longing for an icon from the eighties. There\u2019s only one of those guys, and he wasn\u2019t even that conservative. Get over it. We are now a centrist party,\u2019 meaning moderates, independents, and so forth. The reason the so-called conservatives on our side like that notion is because they\u2019re Big-Government guys. They\u2019re Big Government. They\u2019re part of the Washington establishment. Washington is government, and the bigger the better and the more positions you can get and the more influence you have over Washington policy; the bigger you think you are — and, of course, conservatives want to eliminate as much of government as possible. <\/line><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the focus of our endeavors, infiltrating it and growing it and using it as our base. We believe individuals and the free market and liberty and freedom, are the keys to American greatness, continued prosperity, not government. All these centrists, be this leftists, Democrats, or Republicans, by comparison, those are actually liberals, and they want to get their hands on government to use it to empower themselves in a whole bunch of different ways, and this is what we face with a McCain victory. I also came across from the Center for Immigration Studies last night, something fascinating. You know, the illegal immigration issue, the open borders people on our side — the open borders people in the so-called conservative media — have been saying, ‘Immigration is not going to be an issue. It\u2019s irrelevant. You guys that are, you know, big on illegal immigration, you\u2019re really going to ruin the party here because we gotta have open borders. We gotta have these people in. Immigration made the country great. It\u2019s not going to be a political issue. It\u2019s not going to be a big issue at all, they say,\u2019 and they cite McCain. <\/line> <\/line>‘Look, McCain won the Republican nomination. He\u2019s a huge open borders guy.\u2019 I mean, the McCain-Kennedy bill to open the borders and let the illegals keep coming in and to grant them amnesty, so how can you guys,\u2019 meaning me and others like me, ‘say illegal immigration is a big issue when McCain got the Republican nomination?\u2019 I may have the answer. ‘A new poll using neutral language, finds that primary and caucus voters have little knowledge of candidates\u2019 immigration positions. The results also show that voters often don\u2019t share their candidate\u2019s position. Among the findings,\u2019 this is fascinating, ‘only 34% of McCain voters correctly identified their candidate as favoring eventual citizenship for illegal immigrants who meet certain requirements. Only 34% of McCain voters correctly identified his position! Forty-two percent of Clinton voters correctly identified her position. Fifty-two percent of Obama\u2019s voters know what his immigration position is,\u2019 and, by the way, the position from all these three candidates is identical.<\/line> <\/line>You know: Open borders. Amnesty! Let \u2019em in. Let \u2019em register to vote. Let \u2019em get into college. These three candidates have the same view. But only 34% of McCain voters know what his view is, and get this: ‘Of McCain voters, 35% mistakenly thought he favored enforcement that would cause illegals to return home. Another 10% thought McCain wanted mass deportations, and 21% didn\u2019t know his position.\u2019 So if you add up these numbers, 66% of McCain voters are totally clueless about his position and his role in the issue of illegal immigration. ‘Voters often held different positions from the candidate they supported. Only 31% of McCain voters had the same immigration position he does. Whoever wins the presidency,\u2019 it says here, ‘will face significant opposition to giving eventual citizenship to illegal immigrants. Just 25% of Republicans and 50% of Democrat primary voters said they would support amnesty, eventually citizenship.\u2019 Just 25% of Republican voters said they would support it, 66% of McCain\u2019s voters don\u2019t have any idea what his position is. (sigh) You can add the numbers up, and you can put this together, and it\u2019s a disaster waiting to happen.<\/line><\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Senator McCain was on Good Morning America today with Diane Sawyer, and she said, ‘On the big things, is America in for four more years with a McCain presidency of a Bush presidency? Is that a fair question to ask you, Senator?\u2019 <\/p>\n

MCCAIN: There are very different policies that I have with the president. Climate change is one of the — the major issues that — differences. For nearly four years I have fought hard against the failed strategy in Iraq and called for the new strategy that\u2019s succeeding. There\u2019s a number of issues, but the point is, I\u2019m not running on the Bush presidency. I\u2019m running on my own service to the country, my own record in the House of Representatives and the United States Senate and my vision for the future.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Okay. So McCain is not running on the Bush presidency, he\u2019s running on global warming. He\u2019s going to give us what a Gore presidency would be other than the war in Iraq. ‘Very different policies that I have with the president, climate change, one of the major issues that — differences. Four years I fought hard against the failed strategy in Iraq.\u2019 I\u2019m holding my fire. I know, I know, Harry Reid — don\u2019t get me started — Snerdley, if I get started here. Jack Murtha uses the same words, the failed strategy, Harry Reid uses the same words. Nancy Pelosi uses the same words. So then Diane Sawyer\u2019s next question, well, we have the whole exchange.<\/p>\n

SAWYER: Today you\u2019re going back to Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, part of your biographical tour. We got the yearbook. It says here that your nickname was Punk. Anything you want to say about that?<\/p>\n

MCCAIN: (laughing) Listen, I loved this school. I was a kid who was rebellious, and we all know that. Some of my happiest times were here, but I certainly was not exactly the model student.<\/p>\n

RUSH: But we all don\u2019t know that. What do they mean, everybody knows that he was rebellious? We all know that? Hell, 66% of his own voters don\u2019t even know what his immigration position is. Time for the Grooveyard of Forgotten Favorites, Senator McCain being rebellious. <\/p>\n

(playing of McCain spoof song) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RUSH: Let\u2019s go back to me on this program yesterday about Senator McCain and the Republican Party. RUSH ARCHIVE: Let\u2019s pretend the election is today and that McCain wins it and he wins it with a sizable margin, and he does so by attracting Democrats, liberals, and independents to his otherwise Republican coalition. Do you […]<\/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":"\nSee, I Told You So on McCain: Conservatism Declared Dead - 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\/04\/01\/see_i_told_you_so_on_mccain_conservatism_declared_dead\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"See, I Told You So on McCain: Conservatism Declared Dead - The Rush Limbaugh Show\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"RUSH: Let\u2019s go back to me on this program yesterday about Senator McCain and the Republican Party. RUSH ARCHIVE: Let\u2019s pretend the election is today and that McCain wins it and he wins it with a sizable margin, and he does so by attracting Democrats, liberals, and independents to his otherwise Republican coalition. Do you […]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125109.Par.89380.ImageFile_579144f0916d1.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=\"8 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\/04\/01\/see_i_told_you_so_on_mccain_conservatism_declared_dead\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125109.Par.89380.ImageFile_579144f0916d1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125109.Par.89380.ImageFile_579144f0916d1.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/04\/01\/see_i_told_you_so_on_mccain_conservatism_declared_dead\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/04\/01\/see_i_told_you_so_on_mccain_conservatism_declared_dead\/\",\"name\":\"See, I Told You So on McCain: Conservatism Declared Dead - The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/04\/01\/see_i_told_you_so_on_mccain_conservatism_declared_dead\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-19T04:05:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-05-19T04:05:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/04\/01\/see_i_told_you_so_on_mccain_conservatism_declared_dead\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/04\/01\/see_i_told_you_so_on_mccain_conservatism_declared_dead\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/04\/01\/see_i_told_you_so_on_mccain_conservatism_declared_dead\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"See, I Told You So on McCain: Conservatism Declared Dead\"}]},{\"@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":"See, I Told You So on McCain: Conservatism Declared Dead - 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\/04\/01\/see_i_told_you_so_on_mccain_conservatism_declared_dead\/","twitter_card":"summary","twitter_title":"See, I Told You So on McCain: Conservatism Declared Dead - The Rush Limbaugh Show","twitter_description":"RUSH: Let\u2019s go back to me on this program yesterday about Senator McCain and the Republican Party. RUSH ARCHIVE: Let\u2019s pretend the election is today and that McCain wins it and he wins it with a sizable margin, and he does so by attracting Democrats, liberals, and independents to his otherwise Republican coalition. Do you […]","twitter_image":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125109.Par.89380.ImageFile_579144f0916d1.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"8 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\/04\/01\/see_i_told_you_so_on_mccain_conservatism_declared_dead\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125109.Par.89380.ImageFile_579144f0916d1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125109.Par.89380.ImageFile_579144f0916d1.jpg"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/04\/01\/see_i_told_you_so_on_mccain_conservatism_declared_dead\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/04\/01\/see_i_told_you_so_on_mccain_conservatism_declared_dead\/","name":"See, I Told You So on McCain: Conservatism Declared Dead - The Rush Limbaugh Show","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/04\/01\/see_i_told_you_so_on_mccain_conservatism_declared_dead\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2011-05-19T04:05:06+00:00","dateModified":"2011-05-19T04:05:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/04\/01\/see_i_told_you_so_on_mccain_conservatism_declared_dead\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/04\/01\/see_i_told_you_so_on_mccain_conservatism_declared_dead\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/04\/01\/see_i_told_you_so_on_mccain_conservatism_declared_dead\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"See, I Told You So on McCain: Conservatism Declared Dead"}]},{"@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\/28851"}],"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=28851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28851\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}