{"id":31888,"date":"2009-03-10T01:01:01","date_gmt":"2011-05-19T02:40:14","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-05-19T02:40:14","modified_gmt":"2011-05-19T02:40:14","slug":"don_t_hold_it_against_conservatives_who_voted_against_mccain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2009\/03\/10\/don_t_hold_it_against_conservatives_who_voted_against_mccain\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Hold It Against Conservatives Who Voted Against McCain"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

RUSH: I want to answer one question that was asked of me by Susan from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, about conservatives who voted for McCain, and I want to say up front here that this explanation that you are about to hear is one of these that will be ripe for taking out of context by my friends on the right to once again smear my meaning. Here goes. I said just before the previous hour concluded, I don\u2019t hold it against any conservative who voted against McCain. Remember, now, going into the election last November, we had a choice. You vote for Obama, you vote for McCain. If you vote for McCain, theoretically you stop the mad dash of liberalism that we would get with Obama. <\/p>\n

However, if, if, if you vote for McCain, then you can kiss conservatism good-bye as we\u2019ve always known it, because he wasn\u2019t it and you say, ‘Okay, the way to win elections for the Republican Party is to become like Democrats.\u2019 That\u2019s the options that we face. Okay, do we Republicans want to become like Democrats, do we want to throw Ronald Reagan overboard, the era of Reagan is over, and just to win elections, do we do what Democrats do, just so we can win? Ad infinitum, I said, what have we gained as a Republican Party or as a conservative movement if we have to have liberals among us as liberals to win, not converted, not Reagan Democrats, not newly convinced conservatives, we\u2019ve lost. Now, what people will say here — let me interrupt myself and predict something. What people will say is that what I just said, ‘Well, see, see, Limbaugh is putting his own ideas in front of the country. Limbaugh is hoping conservatism loses rather than win with a governing coalition,\u2019 or blah, blah. Not at all. Because, you see, ladies and gentlemen, to me conservatism is America. We conservatives are conservatives because we can trace roots back not just to our great philosophers, but also to our founders. <\/p>\n

So I don\u2019t begrudge any conservative who voted against McCain, because right now, we have the opportunity, the greatest that we\u2019ve had since the eighties, the seventies with Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, we have the greatest opportunity to contrast American conservatism with American liberalism, and if we\u2019ve got leaders, elected leaders who will eventually stand up and proudly proclaim what conservatism is and how it is best for America, then we can reclaim it, we can reclaim the country as conservatives for the good of the country, for the good of the people, because we love people and we want the best for people, and we want everyone to succeed. We do not want wards of the state. We do not want a nation of victims. We do not want a nation of people who have no hope. We don\u2019t want a nation of people who are willing to sacrifice their liberty and independence to depend on somebody else or a government for crumbs. That will not continue a great country, will not give us a great country, it will not prepare a country that your children or grandchildren will want to live in. So for me it\u2019s not a dicey question at all. It\u2019s very simple. <\/p>\n

We\u2019ve got Obama and we see what he\u2019s doing, and we see how fast he\u2019s trying to do it, and we have the antidote, which is not Obama-lite, it\u2019s not Democrat Party-lite, it is conservatism. And now with this whole ‘I hope he fails\u2019 comment, voila. Remember, when I first made this comment back on January 16th, I said, ‘I hope the Drive-By Media plays this every day, day in and day out, I hope he fails, I hope he fails,\u2019 they have done it, they have granted my request, because it has opened up the whole question and the debate on just what the role of a president is. He\u2019s not a king. The president is not the country. We have checks and balances designed to make sure that a president fails when he should. You can see it in the founding documents, you can see it in the separation of powers, the division of powers, the Federalist Papers. If we wanted to conflate the president and the government, then we would have a king. We don\u2019t have a king, but we have a cult going on right now. But all this is good. <\/p>\n

Had McCain won, I don\u2019t know what the congressional differences would be, but we would have a watered down conservatism that would be in no shape to assert itself. We\u2019d be back where we were largely with Bush in several instances where conservatives had to take a back seat to party loyalty, given all of the assaults that were made against President Bush and so forth. We\u2019d have cap and trade with Senator McCain. We\u2019d have national health care. We wouldn\u2019t have this giant stimulus Porkulus bill. We\u2019d have more campaign finance reform. We would have McCain going full bore on global warming and all that, according to liberal Democrat agenda, because we had a man who was eager to cross the aisle and work with the other side. So my philosophy is what it is, and we have to make the most of it and realize what an opportunity this is, and we delay the opportunity every time we water down our beliefs by saying, ‘Great guy, what a great family. His policies are disastrous, but, oh, man does he look good, what a great guy, have you seen the family, oh, the family, oh, ho-ho-ho man. Policies are going to wreck us for years, but what a great guy, so likable.\u2019 And until that approval number comes down and we can do it, we can drive the approval number down, and that\u2019s what they know, and they\u2019re scared to death of that happening. The approval numbers, symbolism over substance, is what the Obama team is going to use to keep him propped up. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RUSH: I want to answer one question that was asked of me by Susan from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, about conservatives who voted for McCain, and I want to say up front here that this explanation that you are about to hear is one of these that will be ripe for taking out of context by […]<\/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":"\nDon't Hold It Against Conservatives Who Voted Against McCain - 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\/2009\/03\/10\/don_t_hold_it_against_conservatives_who_voted_against_mccain\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Don't Hold It Against Conservatives Who Voted Against McCain - The Rush Limbaugh Show\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"RUSH: I want to answer one question that was asked of me by Susan from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, about conservatives who voted for McCain, and I want to say up front here that this explanation that you are about to hear is one of these that will be ripe for taking out of context by […]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125111.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=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"description\":\"Excellence In Broadcasting\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2009\/03\/10\/don_t_hold_it_against_conservatives_who_voted_against_mccain\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125111.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125111.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2009\/03\/10\/don_t_hold_it_against_conservatives_who_voted_against_mccain\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2009\/03\/10\/don_t_hold_it_against_conservatives_who_voted_against_mccain\/\",\"name\":\"Don't Hold It Against Conservatives Who Voted Against McCain - The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2009\/03\/10\/don_t_hold_it_against_conservatives_who_voted_against_mccain\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-19T02:40:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-05-19T02:40:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2009\/03\/10\/don_t_hold_it_against_conservatives_who_voted_against_mccain\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2009\/03\/10\/don_t_hold_it_against_conservatives_who_voted_against_mccain\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2009\/03\/10\/don_t_hold_it_against_conservatives_who_voted_against_mccain\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Don\\u2019t Hold It Against Conservatives Who Voted Against McCain\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.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":"Don't Hold It Against Conservatives Who Voted Against McCain - 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\/2009\/03\/10\/don_t_hold_it_against_conservatives_who_voted_against_mccain\/","twitter_card":"summary","twitter_title":"Don't Hold It Against Conservatives Who Voted Against McCain - The Rush Limbaugh Show","twitter_description":"RUSH: I want to answer one question that was asked of me by Susan from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, about conservatives who voted for McCain, and I want to say up front here that this explanation that you are about to hear is one of these that will be ripe for taking out of context by […]","twitter_image":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125111.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/","name":"The Rush Limbaugh Show","description":"Excellence In Broadcasting","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2009\/03\/10\/don_t_hold_it_against_conservatives_who_voted_against_mccain\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125111.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125111.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2009\/03\/10\/don_t_hold_it_against_conservatives_who_voted_against_mccain\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2009\/03\/10\/don_t_hold_it_against_conservatives_who_voted_against_mccain\/","name":"Don't Hold It Against Conservatives Who Voted Against McCain - The Rush Limbaugh Show","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2009\/03\/10\/don_t_hold_it_against_conservatives_who_voted_against_mccain\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2011-05-19T02:40:14+00:00","dateModified":"2011-05-19T02:40:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2009\/03\/10\/don_t_hold_it_against_conservatives_who_voted_against_mccain\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2009\/03\/10\/don_t_hold_it_against_conservatives_who_voted_against_mccain\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2009\/03\/10\/don_t_hold_it_against_conservatives_who_voted_against_mccain\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Don\u2019t Hold It Against Conservatives Who Voted Against McCain"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.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\/31888"}],"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=31888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31888\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}