RUSH: Susan in Alamo, California, calling back to again apologize, are you?
CALLER: No, I’m just calling back because I’m a little disappointed in you, Rush, for just sitting back taking Arnold’s insult that you’re irrelevant. You are the father of conservatism. How can you sit back and let him say you’re irrelevant when it was you that helped Arnold get elected governor? He’s the one that’s irrelevant, Rush, because his term is going to expire, and you’re just going to keep going on and on with your radio show forever.
RUSH: You can’t say I got him elected. You cannot say that. You can’t take Arnold out of the equation. Look at you. I was arguing with you about Arnold. You wouldn’t listen to me back then. How do you say I got him elected?
CALLER: Well, your call screener said to be short and to the point that you remembered me, and I guess you did, but, you know, I didn’t want to take all the blame for it, so I though I’d —
RUSH: Well, of course I remember you because you’ve also called not long ago to apologize to me for not believing me when I told you Arnold was not a conservative.
CALLER: And I agree, and I’m so mad at him, but I’m disappointed in you. Do you really want that peace prize? Is that why you’re just sitting back taking it?
RUSH: Sit back and take it? I hammered the guy! Where were you? I called him a sellout. I said he’s a nice guy. I said I’ve smoked cigars with him, but I’m not going to sit here, I’m not going to get friendly with these people because you can’t ever criticize your friends, but I said this is Gerald Ford versus Ronald Reagan, and we conservatives cannot sit back and let quasi-conservatives being conservative. Sit back and take it?
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: You know what you’re mad about? You’re mad because I was a nice guy and I gave him the benefit of the doubt.
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: Maybe he’s saying I’m irrelevant in terms of what he’s going to do in California. I don’t think he’s saying I’m irrelevant as a media guy. How can he? Because every time he’s on that show my name comes up. He knows I’m not irrelevant.
CALLER: Well, Rush, I think the reason, I’ve got theory here, two theories why he’s turned left, and one of them you already mentioned. He’s probably, you know, after he’s governor, he’s going to go back and make more movies and he has to get in the good graces of the Hollywood left. The other thing is, I think maybe, perhaps, since he can’t run as president that he’s got some deal cooking up with one of the Democrat candidates for president to be on their cabinet. That’s the only reason I can think why he’s turned left. Do you have any other reasons?
RUSH: Well, there’s a multitude of possibilities. We could speculate on this all day and night but we’re never going to know the answer. There’s the wife. There’s the Kennedy family. There’s any number of things. Your example about Hollywood.
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: There’s sex!
CALLER: Do you think he has a deal going, though, with one of the presidential candidates like Hillary? Because he said, ‘Oh, we shouldn’t criticize Hillary.’ Do you think he knows something that we don’t, that she’s going to become president and he’ll get on her cabinet?
RUSH: Anything’s possible, but to speculate on what we don’t know is kind of meaningless. We’ll find out in due course.
CALLER: Well, Rush, how are we —
RUSH: What does it matter why? The fact is he no longer is even pretending to be a conservative. He’s trying to say he’s a centrist when he’s a liberal. What else matters?
CALLER: Well, it matters because we can learn a lesson from Arnold, and my problem, my dilemma is —
RUSH: You didn’t learn the lesson because I tried to tell you.
CALLER: No, I did learn a lesson.
RUSH: The fact that you ended up surprised that he turned out this way proves that you were not willing to learn a lesson. Now you call me and tell me I have to learn a lesson.
CALLER: I was hoping he’d be the next Ronald Reagan, but my dilemma is, Rush, this coming presidential election, do we go with our heart like Newt Gingrich, or do we go with somebody electable again like Rudy Giuliani? And how did we hold their feet to the fire once they’ve won?
RUSH: I don’t know yet! This is — gee.
CALLER: You’re the greatest mind I know so I’m asking you all these questions.
RUSH: This is what I said. You know, if you’re going to call here and raise hell with me, at least listen to what I said before you do it, Susan.
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: I’m not your husband.
CALLER: (Laughing.) Awe, okay.
RUSH: Oh isn’t it a shame. Now, look. I said, the problem with this, in talking about Arnold, the problem with this is — you mentioned Giuliani and you mentioned — throw Romney in or anybody else in there.
CALLER: Newt.
RUSH: Newt? Newt’s not in. Let’s leave Newt out of this for a second.
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: The thing that I worry about is that these people who are not, quote, unquote, Reagan conservatives are going to say they are, and everybody is going to go, ‘Oooh, we’re going to redefine conservatism.’ That’s not going to happen on this show. Conservatism is not going to redefine. One of these guys may win the nomination, they may get elected, but they’re not going to be called conservatives by me. Conservatism is what I am, not a Republican.
CALLER: Rush, I never call Arnold a conservative. I never called Giuliani one, but I’m saying, who do we go with, electable, which is not a conservative, or somebody that can win?
RUSH: I don’t know yet. I haven’t the slightest clue. It’s too soon. Give me a break here.