{"id":4090,"date":"2016-02-25T19:17:40","date_gmt":"2016-02-25T19:17:40","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2016-02-25T19:17:40","modified_gmt":"2016-02-25T19:17:40","slug":"cruz_and_rubio_have_to_change_strategy_at_the_debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2016\/02\/25\/cruz_and_rubio_have_to_change_strategy_at_the_debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Cruz and Rubio Have to Change Strategy at the Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Listen<\/a><\/p>\n

RUSH: Livonia, Michigan. Ken, glad you waited. You\u2019re next, and it\u2019s great to have you here, sir. Hello.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yeah, had to call in, Rush, to comment on an observation I\u2019m making regarding what I\u2019m seeing in the Republican primaries, and that is I see that the GOP and their supporters, the establishment, they have a very bad memory, very short memory. I\u2019m one of those voters who voted for John McCain for president and then — because I became totally disgusted with the establishment — did not vote for Mitt Romney. And the reason why is because I see the establishment, unfortunately, being the opposite side of the same coin with the Democrat Party.<\/p>\n

They both believe in big, bloated government. So that\u2019s why I became disgusted at that. And, Rush, what I\u2019d like to say to the establishment is, “The more you attack Donald Trump, even though I don\u2019t see him as being conservative like I am, the more I like Donald Trump. The more you endorse any other candidate… Now it\u2019s Marco Rubio. I can guarantee that any candidate that the establishment likes, I would never, ever support in the general election,” and so obviously they haven\u2019t been paying attention, and they never will.<\/line><\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, now, wait a minute. Let me go at this a different way. You are obviously referring to Romney all of a sudden throwing down on Trump on this income tax business. That\u2019s one thing. And then all the establishment guys coalescing behind Rubio. What you\u2019re saying is that every time they make a move like that, all they do is expand and solidify Trump\u2019s support, right?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yes, they do.<\/line><\/p>\n

RUSH: Do you think that they don\u2019t know that?<\/p>\n

CALLER: I think they\u2019re blind to what\u2019s going on. I mean, the establishment clearly wants to stay at the driver\u2019s seat because —<\/p>\n

RUSH: It\u2019s like the Washington Post says in their editorial <\/a>here begging the Republican Party to destroy Trump. They admit they know their editorial\u2019s gonna help Trump, but they say (paraphrased), “That doesn\u2019t matter. We have to say it nevertheless.” These guys have to know… They\u2019re not trying to stop Trump with Romney and this tax business. They\u2019re trying to stop endorsements of Trump. They\u2019re trying to keep Republican establishment people from falling out and joining Trump.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, as I see it, Rush, those of us who\u2019ve been paying really close attention see that the establishment doesn\u2019t want to give up their money. They don\u2019t want to be taken away from the trough.<\/p>\n

RUSH: No question about that. I don\u2019t dispute that. I\u2019m on the same page with you. There\u2019s no question. None whatsoever. Trump just scares the heck out of them. It\u2019s just so obvious now that Romney trying to stop Trump is not… They haven\u2019t learned that they can\u2019t talk people out of liking Trump. They can\u2019t do that, and conventional political attacks that work on other candidates don\u2019t work on Trump. They ought to know that by now. If they don\u2019t, if they\u2019re that dense or blind, as you say, then it\u2019s entirely possible. <\/p>\n

But it\u2019s also hard to believe that they\u2019re that disengaged. I know they\u2019re disconnected, but I think there\u2019s always… My point is there are things going on that we don\u2019t see. They know things that we don\u2019t. They talk about things with each other… I\u2019m talking about the establishment guys. They talk about whisper things with each other we don\u2019t know that they\u2019re saying. And they are strategizing. I mean, they\u2019re panicked. They\u2019re doing everything they can to hold onto what they\u2019ve got. <\/p>\n

And on the Republican side, we\u2019ve seen evidence that they\u2019re not the brightest bulbs in the sockets. So they\u2019re doing something here that they think is gonna work, and in once sense I\u2019m fascinated by it. I mean, just watching it, studying it, trying to figure it out and balance it against what appears to be so obvious and transparent that it won\u2019t work. And yet they do it anyway, meaning any conventional attack on Trump that they mount. But look, all of this talk on Trump…<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a debates tonight, and there are two guys in this debate, Rubio and Cruz, who have no intention of ceding any of this to Trump. And they are devoted to winning this thing. So there\u2019s a debate tonight. They also know things. They know that whatever has happened in debates prior to this one tonight, Trump has not really hurt himself. He may have stalled his growth, but he\u2019s not losing anybody. He\u2019s not losing support significantly. And by the same token, both Rubio and Cruz, I\u2019m sure, had figured that they would have each have won at least a couple of primaries by now. <\/line><\/p>\n

On the Cruz side, one of Cruz\u2019s main strategies has been to go out and mobilize the four to five million who didn\u2019t vote for Romney in 2012. I happen to know that that is an active element. It\u2019s not the only one, but it\u2019s an active element of the Cruz strategy: Identifying who those people are and then appealing to them and getting them motivated to go out and become active again in politics, not just voting, but become advocates. Maybe contribute some money or man phone banks or what have you. Because that\u2019s a huge bloc of voters, four to five million voters.<\/p>\n

If you can motivate \u2019em — particularly in the general — it\u2019s a huge bloc of voters. There\u2019s always also been the conventional wisdom that Cruz had an automatic “in” with the so-called evangelicals. But here again, conventional wisdom is blown to smithereens. The evangelicals… Who is it that creates a conventional wisdom? Who is it that tells us what the evangelicals are gonna do? Not them. They\u2019re just going about living their lives. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s all these numskulls in Washington who are telling us what the evangelicals think and have been the evangelicals are gonna do, and sometimes they rely on polling data. But they believe — don\u2019t doubt me on this — that evangelicals are kooks. “They are Christian crazies, and if they can identify a fellow Christian crazy that\u2019s running, they will glom onto that guy almost in unison. And if there is a Christian crazy running, then all the evangelicals will vote for him.”<\/p>\n

Now, in their world, that\u2019s Cruz. <\/line><\/p>\n

They can\u2019t believe the evangelicals are going to Trump. That doesn\u2019t compute; it doesn\u2019t make any sense. It goes against everything they\u2019ve ever thought about evangelicals. So they\u2019re busy scratching their heads, and so has everybody trying to figure this out. A major spoke of the wheel in the Cruz campaign hasn\u2019t manifested itself, and Rubio has his own things that have not panned outs. So my point is: They\u2019ve gotta go in this debate with entirely different strategies and behaviors than anything we\u2019ve seen before. <\/p>\n

If this debate is like every other debate that\u2019s happened, there isn\u2019t going to be any change. <\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: No, no. It\u2019s real simple. If Rubio and Cruz focus on each other tonight, it\u2019s just gonna be more of the same and nothing\u2019s gonna change. They\u2019ve both gotta go after Trump. You can\u2019t have this argument over who meant what on amnesty for the 95th time here. That\u2019s what I mean. The strategy tonight has got to be different.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: So look at the Republican primaries and this debate coming up tonight, and it\u2019s clear that whatever strategies Rubio and Cruz have tried have not moved voters in their direction. So they — and they have to know this. There has been a reluctance by both to go after Trump, like there\u2019s a reluctance on the part of everybody to go after Trump because people who go after Trump end up catching hell. Going after Trump, it hasn\u2019t worked on anybody who\u2019s tried it. <\/p>\n

And you can look at how Trump is succeeding in making fun of Romney today. But, hey, that was kind of expected. You\u2019re gonna send Romney out there? That would be like sending Mitt Romney out to start talking about people who mistreat their animals. I mean, he didn\u2019t mistreat his animal, but they tarred and feathered him as somebody who did. The public perception is. And sending Lindsey Grahamnesty out? It\u2019s not gonna help. <\/p>\n

But these two guys are gonna find out a way, either together or separately, to go after Trump at some point. And with Super Tuesday next Tuesday, it looks like tonight may be the night. So people are eagerly anticipating this, thinking there\u2019s gonna be some fireworks. There better be. There better be some changes in strategy and behavior, because what\u2019s gone up until now hasn\u2019t moved the needles for anybody. Even Trump. I mean, Trump\u2019s pretty steady, so we\u2019ll see. We\u2019ll see how it plays out, as we always do. <\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: It\u2019s the big Republican debate tonight in Houston. And it ought to be different than what we\u2019ve seen heretofore in terms of substance, content, and strategy on the part of those in second, third, fourth, and fifth places. So whatever happens, we will be here tomorrow to help explain it, unravel it, have it all make sense. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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