ABRAMS: Rush Limbaugh and others on the far right [are] now trying to pervert tomorrow’s results, calling on Republicans in Ohio and Texas to vote in the Democratic primary for Hillary Clinton — not because they like Clinton, but because they want to keep the Democrats in disarray.
RUSH: Perverting the democrat process? What did you guys do to our process? All you Democrats and independents crossing over, not only in 2000, but here in 2008, nominating and voting for Senator McCain. What, you guys are going to vote for McCain in November? You think we don’t understand what you were doing here? You’re trying to choose our nominee, why can’t we try to choose yours? You like people across the aisle so much, you ought to be happy that a lot of Republicans cross the aisle and voted for a Democrat instead of thinking the process has been perverted. You know, I got a note from somebody saying, ‘William F. Buckley would have never done this! William F. Buckley!’ I beg your pardon, William F. Buckley did once — William F. Buckley and National Review Online — set up an organization called BuckPac, and you know what the result of BuckPac was? The election of Joe Lieberman! BuckPac was a political action committee to get rid of Lowell Weicker, a liberal Republican. BuckPac most certainly is an example of William F. Buckley standing up for conservative ideals, just as what we did in suggesting Republicans vote for Mrs. Clinton. It’s the same thing. Conservative ideals! Yeah, we’re trying to cause a little mischief, but how come it’s only mischief when we do it and how come it’s great democracy when the Democrats cross the aisle and corrupt our nomination process? A little tit-for-tat here, is how I view it. Now let’s go to the show after the tease. On DNCTV, Dan Abrams talking with Democrat strategerist Laura Schwartz about my call for more Republicans to vote for Senator Clinton in Ohio and Texas. Abrams said, ‘Do the Democrats have something to worry about here? I still think there are going to be some Republicans even when they want to engage in this kind of mischief, who are going to have problems actually pulling the lever for Hillary.’
SCHWARTZ: This is a very sad strategy that the Republicans are trying to employ out there. America is smarter than that. Republicans and Democrats both are smarter than that. I can’t see it making a significant difference, I’m sure. There are some Rush followers that might go ahead and pull that lever, even though the Republicans, for Hillary Clinton, but come on! Let’s get with the program; let’s debate politics.
RUSH: Laura, this had nothing to do with the Republican Party. (laughter) The Republican Party, as far as I know, had nothing to do with it. This is also Monday night on DNCTV with Dan Abrams and his show, speaking with another radio host, Lars Larson. They had this exchange about a possible revote in Florida.
ABRAMS: This Republican governor is saying, ‘Oh, you know what? Those Democrats, they ought to have another vote. Maybe the process ought to last a little bit longer.’ I mean, Lars, it sounds like maybe this isn’t just Rush Limbaugh but there are more on the right involved who now have something at stake to say, ‘We gotta keep Hillary Clinton in this as long as possible.’
LARSON: Listen, whatever is legal should be allowed. I mean, if you want to make a law that says if you vote Democrat in the primary, you have to vote Democrat in the general —
ABRAMS: Right.
LARSON: — you could stop all the crossovers, but nobody’s chosen to do that.
ABRAMS: It’s not illegal. We’re not talking about the legalities of it.
LARSON: Right.
ABRAMS: We’re talking about, I’m talking the morality of it. I’m talking about the notion that —
LARSON: Where’s the morality? You… You won’t…
ABRAMS: Because you’re doing it only to create mischief in what is not your party.
LARSON: No!
RUSH: This is just… (interruption) Snerdley, don’t waste your time getting mad. This is too rich. Who made the Democrats the moral arbiter of what’s perverted and what’s not in politics, and this kind of thing? You have to understand, Snerdley and the rest of you, why they are upset. They are upset because they know it worked. They were upset because they knew. They were afraid. Fear! Fear was coursing through their veins and arteries — fear that it would work. Don’t you understand? This is the network, PMSNBC, that’s been in the tank for Obama. So you have to throw all this into the mix. But once again, it’s not ‘mischief’ when Democrats and independents choose our nominee, is it? No, no, no! That’s democracy in action.
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RUSH: Back now to the Drive-By Media, continuing the discussion of how I’m perverting the Democrat process. Dan Abrams at DNCTV with his guest, Laura Schwartz.
ABRAMS: What Limbaugh is saying — and let me play another sound bite from Limbaugh — what Limbaugh is saying is something different. He’s assuming Obama is going to win, and he wants — he wants him bloodied as much as possible. Here’s Rush.
RUSH ARCHIVE: I want Hillary to stay in this, Laura. This is too good a soap opera. We need Barack Obama bloodied up politically, and it’s obvious that the Republicans are not going to do it and don’t have the stomach for it.
ABRAMS: I mean, Laura, this again tells you the Democrats need to — need to change the system.
SCHWARTZ: Well, yeah, that is a whole separate discussion, Dan, quite a few shows on that. But really, they simply — the Republicans don’t want to run against Obama.
RUSH: So now Abrams, they want to end this ability of open primaries, they don’t like that stuff. Yeah, they want to close their primaries now. Remember, this was all before it happened. This was on Monday night. Also, the Fox gang got into it on their Election Headquarters show. Shepard Smith and former speechwriter for Rudy Giuliani, John Avlon, had this exchange about me.
SMITH: This Rush Limbaugh thing that happened today, he’s telling people to go out and vote for Hillary. A lot of times Limbaugh Nation does what Limbaugh says.
AVALON: Right.
SMITH: Does that change things?
AVALON: If it’s this tight in Texas, any vote can make a difference. I think it would be sort of a difficult thing, would be sort of a perversion of the process.
RUSH: (laughing) I’ll tell you, these people, they will never, ever, ever understand. By the way, can we talk about here the difference between legal and moral? Did I suggest people do anything illegal? And did people who cross over do anything illegal? And, therefore, is it immoral, what they did? John Zogby, Tuesday morning on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal. Unidentified caller from Oklahoma City says, ‘Rush Limbaugh is going on his show talking to Republican voters and telling them to go out and vote for Hillary. I think it’s kind of a Lieberman thing. What do you say to that?’
ZOGBY: In terms of the motives of Rush Limbaugh, the motives of other folks, I’m going to leave that up to almost anybody to speculate on those. What I do know is it’s a rough, rough game out there, and it appears as if whatever rules of gentlemanliness have existed in the past, those rules may be broken just like a lot of other rules are being broken out there.
RUSH: Oh, now I am breaking gentlemanly rules. (laughing) You know, I tell you, I guess for these liberals and Democrats to believe as they do, Democrats and independents crossing over and voting in Republican primaries is not corruption, it’s not perverting the process, it is not ungentlemanly, it’s bipartisan or what have you. Because we know full well that these Democrats and independents in these primaries that are crossing over and voting for a Republican candidate are trying to choose the one that they think could be easiest to beat. Do we not know that? Do you think these Democrats and independents in New Hampshire and Iowa and wherever else crossed over to vote McCain because they want him to be president? Okay, so what is the difference here? Clearly, there’s a two-way street. You arrive at the conclusion at the two-way street because these people have an arrogance and condescension about them that says whatever they do — it’s sort of like what Reagan said about the Soviet Union. Reagan said, ‘The Soviet Union has reserved unto themselves the right to do whatever they want to do to advance their cause — lie, cheat, steal. They think they have every right to advance their cause, including lying, cheating, and stealing.’ Apparently, Democrats have that same view, that they reserve unto themselves the right to do whatever necessary to advance their cause because our side is immoral, our side is dangerous, our side is wrong.
I love playing this game with these people, folks. They’ve not had people fire back at them this way. They’ve not had people play the game the way they do, and look what happens when it does happen. Why, it’s ungentlemanly, why, it’s perverting the process, why, we gotta change the rules to keep Republicans out of our nomination process. Meanwhile, our candidate’s hoping to get elected by Democrats. Our candidate’s hoping to get elected by moderates and independents. I have a question for both Hillary and — (interruption) What, Mr. Snerdley? Hm-hm. Yes, I know. For years, they’ve been saying I wouldn’t reach across the aisles. For years, they have been saying that I was too rigid and immovable and old-fashioned and all of these things. Look what I’ve done here. Look what I have done. I have done this to save the candidacy of the first female, legitimate female presidential candidate in the history of the country. But doing so, knowing full well that no matter what happened yesterday, even if she won as she did, it wasn’t going to change the stakes. All it was going to do is create chaos. All it was going to do is sustain and prolong the Democrat primary.
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RUSH: I feel duty-bound, ladies and gentlemen — compelled out of compassion and desire for people to understand, to get a glimmer of hope and to learn — to help the Drive-Bys and others, understand what happened in terms of Republican crossovers in the Democrat primaries in Ohio and Texas yesterday. Since you obviously are having trouble understanding this because you refer to what happened yesterday as ‘perverting the Democrat process’ and corrupting the Democratic process and mischief-making, try it this way. I think I can fix this criticism so that you have a better understanding. Just think of us as ‘maverick’ conservatives. Think of us as ‘independent’ conservatives, and what happened last night was that the mavericks and the independents among us voted for Hillary. If you think of us that way, maybe you will love us as much as you love our nominee. We were just following in his footsteps; we were just being mavericks and independents. Albeit, for one day. But we showed that we can do it. We showed that we can ‘cross the aisle’ and meet you two-thirds of the way. Back to the phones. We’ll start on the phones in Fort Worth, Texas. Dale, I’m glad you called. Welcome to the EIB Network, sir. Hello.
CALLER: Mega dittos, Rush.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: Hey, I am a conservative down here in Texas, and I think that the conservative movement of crossing over and voting for Hillary, I am very petrified of Hillary being in the White House for another four years. I don’t think this country could take it, and she will burn that convention down to get in the White House.
RUSH: Yes, I know. I know. I know. Whether I did anything yesterday, or whether you crossed over now, I predicted that last week, two weeks ago: that if they have to blow the place up, they’re going to do that.
CALLER: Well, if she loses in Ohio and she loses in Texas, she’s done, and I’d just as soon knock her out.
RUSH: No, no, no, no, no, no, no! That’s what everybody’s misunderstanding. She would have had to get blown out in both of those states for the delegate tally to change significantly. This was always going to go ’til June 7th no matter what happened. It just makes it more likely now, or very likely that it will go to June 7th. Obama would have had to smoke her 80%-to-20% in order to get enough delegates — because everything is apportioned in the Democrat primaries — for her to be knocked out, and she wasn’t going to get out anyway because there’s always the blow-up-the-convention option.
CALLER: Absolutely.
RUSH: So, no, this was… Look, I realize that it was difficult for you to cross over. You didn’t, right?
CALLER: No. I did not.
RUSH: You just couldn’t do it because you just can’t stomach the idea of four years of Hillary in the White House?
CALLER: Absolutely not. I would much rather that not take place.
RUSH: Well, me, too. Me, too. But I also don’t want a liberal Democrat in the White House period. That means I don’t want Obama there, either. Let me tell you something. Half the country already hates Hillary. Our work is done there. Nobody hates Obama, and nobody is going to gin any up. There aren’t any negatives about Obama, and our party has signaled that they’re not going to be responsible for any. If you just stop and think of everything I said, this makes such total sense. Hillary’s much more beatable than Obama. Much more!
CALLER: Well, keep the conservative movement alive, Rush. We appreciate all that you do.
RUSH: The conservative movement will be kept alive. It will be kept alive. (sigh) Folks, let’s talk about something else that you’re afraid of. Let’s just put it out on the table. Let’s say that there is a joint ticket between Obama and Hillary and they come to an agreement over who’s on top. Frankly, I hope it’s Obama on top. Well, I actually don’t, but if it’s Obama on top and if they happen to win, I just can’t wait for Hillary to undermine him during his presidency and lead impeachment proceedings against him. But the point is, let’s say it is Obama and Hillary run. Let’s put Hillary at the top, put Hillary on top. That’s a position she’s familiar with. Therefore, you’ve got a woman and a black first time ever on the Democrat ticket. Ahem. (laughter) They don’t have a prayer.
RUSH: Michael in North Olmsted, Ohio. Welcome to the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Good afternoon, Rush.
RUSH: Hi.
CALLER: I am a longtime registered Republican. Every time I’ve had the chance to pick up a Republican ballot, I have. So if anybody’s looking at voter rolls, they’re not going to have any question as to who I am.
RUSH: Right.
CALLER: But, as far as I’m concerned, the Obama campaign has been courting me and it culminated in an automated phone call two days before the election. The salient phrase was, ‘It doesn’t matter if you’re registered with another party or an independent. Pick up a Democratic ballot and vote for change.’
RUSH: Absolutely!
CALLER: They were asking me to unfortunately…
RUSH: Amen, bro. I know exactly what you’re saying. They can go out and court you, and they can try to convince you to cross over and vote for Obama, and that’s not ‘corrupting the process,’ and that’s not being ‘ungentlemanly.’
CALLER: Well, exactly. Exactly. As far as the broader left is concerned, they have gotten what they wished for if in fact listeners of yours — or other Republicans, or rightists, people who would not have — picked up a Democratic ballot did and knocked it to Hillary.
RUSH: I would even say this. Thanks for the call out there, Michael. I appreciate it. I would even say this to you members of the Drive-By Media and you Democrats, who say that what I did was corrupting the Democrat process because I have no desire for Hillary to win. How do you know that? Maybe I want Hillary to win your nomination, just like you guys wanted McCain to win ours. Maybe I want that. You guys gotta be very, very careful how you approach this, because in the process of coming after me, you are lancing yourselves. Leonard in Eastpointe, Michigan, welcome to the EIB Network. Hello, sir.
CALLER: Good afternoon, Rush. Mega perverted blue state redo dittos.
RUSH: Thank you. (laughter) Yeah, you got that right.
CALLER: You know, I just wanted to say, you know, we had a primary here in Michigan, and it was open to any Democratic candidate. We had a candidate. She won. The state Democratic Party has already apportioned the delegates.
RUSH: Not all, though.
CALLER: — and this being a really blue state —
RUSH: Yeah, but not all of them, see?
CALLER: Oh.
RUSH: That’s the thing. Not all of them are going to be apportioned or seated. In Florida, none of them will be, but in Michigan it’s only a portion. But the other candidates agreed not to be on the ballot, not to campaign in either state because of the rules.
CALLER: Well, sure. But we had a primary, and I don’t see why the state of Michigan should pay for another primary if the Democrats couldn’t get their act together.
RUSH: Oh, no, no. I don’t think you need to worry about it. I think Senator McCain will, in an outreach — an offer of gentlemanliness and bipartisanship — offer that the Republican National Committee pay for the Democrat redo’s in Michigan and Florida.
CALLER: (laughing) Okay. Well, I might be willing to accept it on those terms.
RUSH: (laughter) I know. It always comes down to the money.