RUSH: Argyle, Texas, John, welcome to the EIB Network. Nice to have you with us.
CALLER: Thank you, Rush. Back to the Arnold. For years we’ve told everybody that the Republican Party is a big tent, that we want a lot of diversity in it. The conservative wing is just one part of that big tent. If we’re going to be part of an incredibly shrinking party if we hold a litmus test for everybody before they become a Republican. It’s bad enough that the mainstream media does away with ethnicity. If you’re a black American and become a Republican, your blackness disappears, you are now a Republican. And if we’re going to do that to all of them, then are we going to hold our nose and vote for a Republican that we may not agree with, or we going to vote for a liberal Democrat, or a conservative Democrat?
RUSH: Wait a second. Let me understand, are you accusing me of pushing Arnold Schwarzenegger out of the Republican Party?
CALLER: Rush, you were the one that said he was a Democrat.
RUSH: Well, he is. He’s become a sellout. He calls himself a Republican, but look at what he proposes, look at what he suggests. You can’t say that any of it is Republican, much less conservative. Are we supposed to sit around and let anybody who wants to call themselves a Republican say they are, when there’s very little of what they believe that is actually Republican or conservative?
CALLER: Could a true Republican get elected in the state of California?
RUSH: He did.
CALLER: Does he rule that way or is he going to be overridden by his congressional party out there?
RUSH: He got elected the first time in the recall election by clearly convincing a lot of Californians he was conservative. That state was in big trouble, and he was making no bones about it. He’s done a 180 since getting into office and setting himself up for his reelection, which he did win. But, you know, if Arnold Schwarzenegger’s not a Republican, I have nothing to do with it. He did. He’s the one that walked out of the party. He’s the one that’s selling out. I mean, look, yeah, we’ve got a big tent, but it doesn’t include Democrats who call themselves Republicans. It will include Democrats who call themselves conservatives and vote for us.
RUSH: All right. I don’t know how many Republicans are going to win by proposing health care for every child in the country including those of illegal immigrants. I don’t know too many Republicans who are going to win Republican votes by promising to raise taxes while calling them loans. I don’t know too many Republicans who are going to win nationwide on the Schwarzenegger agenda. Thanks for the call out there, John. Appreciate it.
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RUSH: Let me ask you a question. When was the last time liberal Republicans argued we had to elect conservatives in order to ensure we had a big tent? The liberal Republicans want to force conservatives out of the party. I’m tired of these people telling me we’ve gotta have a big tent to include liberals in our party. No way. Not under my watch.
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