RUSH: Well, another superdelegate in the House of Representatives has announced her endorsement for Barack Obama. This is Lois Capps, who represents a district on California’s Central Coast. She’s the third member of Congress to announce an endorsement of Obama today, the day after he responded sharply to Reverend Wright. Snerdley, during the break here at the top of the hour, said, ‘I don’t understand this. How can these superdelegates, how can they think they’re going to win with this guy now?’ It’s not about that anymore. Folks, I have come to a profound conclusion. The Democrats’ frame of mind has changed dramatically. They went into all this a year ago thinking it was a slam dunk. It was going to be Hillary, and she was going to win in a landslide. Then the Obama phenomenon started with the press coverage and the puff pieces, and it didn’t really matter to them, they thought whoever, then they all got excited about Obama because he was this messianic guy, was going to unify everybody and people were fainting and all this. This is juxtaposed against what they think is the country’s hatred for Republicans and George W. Bush and the war in Iraq and all this, the country’s desire for new taxes, and they thought it was a slam dunk. It was going to happen regardless who they nominated.
Then all this stuff started happening. Obama started losing big states. Hillary started coming on, thanks to Operation Chaos. Reverend Wright surfaced in a national way, and the wheels came off of this. Now you have the superdelegates really with no choice but than to vote Obama. He is leading in the delegate race, and if they pull this away from him, yank it out, and give it to Mrs. Clinton, they’re scared to death what’s going to happen to the black constituency, the black vote, so they’re now operating out of fear. They have done a total 180. They’re operating out of fear, not confidence, not any bravado. They are not convinced by any means they’re going to win this. They know they’ve got problems, but they think their problems will be worse if they went with Mrs. Clinton. Also in the House, there’s a figure, there is a person of some stature in the House of Representatives, who has a vested interest in seeing to it that Mrs. Clinton stays in the Senate, and that figure, that lone figure, is Nancy Pelosi.
We are smack-dab in the middle of the Queen Bee Syndrome here. Trust me when I tell you this, my friends; look at me; don’t doubt me. The last thing Nancy Pelosi wants is Hillary Clinton in the Oval Office, because that would make Hillary Clinton queen bee, not just of Washington, but of the country. Nancy Pelosi will not tolerate that. That’s why you’re going to start seeing a number of Democrat superdelegates that are members of the House, and they all are going to start flocking to Obama. There’s another reason, too. I said, ‘Snerdley, you have to understand these superdelegates watch the Drive-By Media,’ and they watched the Drive-By Media last night and they’re looking for damage control on this Obama press conference yesterday. What did they see? ‘Wow, what a courageous speech. What a courageous thing to do. What a brave thing to do that Barack Obama did. Why, that showed guts, that showed tenacity.’ So, as far as they’re concerned, the Democrat superdelegates that watched the Drive-Bys, they think it was a slam dunk; they think it was a home run. That is probably the best explanation I can give to anybody to suggest why the superdelegates are not at all alarmed. Well, they are alarmed, because they’re now operating out of fear. So this has implications for Operation Chaos.
As you know, Operation Chaos was put on a temporary operational pause yesterday because we wanted to gauge the Drive-By Media reaction to Obama’s press conference, ’cause if the Drive-Bys had piled on in a commonsensical way like everyone else that’s watching this with common sense is piling on, it might have been necessary for me, C-in-C USOC, Commander-in-Chief US, Operation Chaos, to issue new orders, and that would be to prop up Obama in North Carolina and Indiana. However, those orders will not be given. The original orders remain as they were. Vote Hillary. If you are one who is crossing over, a registered Republican registering now Democrat in these two states, Operation Chaos orders are for next Tuesday to continue the plan as originally implemented so as to do whatever we can to keep this chaos ongoing. These two states could be crucial. If Obama loses both of these — now, he might — you know, Indiana, that’s a toss-up, and he could be in trouble there. But in North Carolina he’s a little bit ahead. North Carolina he’s owned ever since this got started. If Mrs. Clinton can pull an upset in North Carolina… folks, you never know what can happen other than the continuation of Operation Chaos.
Now, back to Obama, I mentioned the New York Post had a story today that has a whole different take on the relationship between Obama and Reverend Wright, and it’s by Fred Dicker, who is the New York state editor for the New York Post. And he writes this: ‘The Rev. Jeremiah Wright would be happy to see Barack Obama’s presidential campaign derailed because the pastor is fuming that his former congregant has ‘betrayed’ their 20-year relationship, the Post has learned. ‘After 20 years of loving Barack like he was a member of his own family, for Jeremiah to see Barack saying over and over that he didn’t know about Jeremiah’s views during those years, that he wasn’t familiar with what Jeremiah had said, that he may have missed church on this day or that and didn’t hear what Jeremiah said, this is seen by Jeremiah as nonsense and betrayal,’ said the source, who has deep roots in Wright’s Chicago community and is familiar with his thinking on the matter. ‘Jeremiah is trying to defend his congregation and the work of his ministry by saying what he is saying now,’ the source added. ‘Jeremiah doesn’t care if he derails Obama’s candidacy or not … He knows what he’s doing. Obviously, he’s not a dumb man. He knows he’s not helping.’ The source spoke yesterday about Wright’s motivation for thrusting himself back into the news.
‘Wright has said the reason he has begun granting interviews and making public appearances now is that he wants to defend black churches. But the source said the preacher’s motivation is much more personal. The source noted that the roots of Wright’s disillusionment with Obama began last year after the Illinois senator unexpectedly yanked him from participating in the public announcement of his presidential campaign. ‘That’s why Jeremiah revealed … that he had actually been at the [announcement] hotel and prayed privately with the Obama family before the official declaration.” He wanted everybody to know that he was there, even though Obama had disinvited him. ”Rev. Wright, as well as other senior members of his church, believe that Obama has betrayed over 20 years of their supposed friendship.’ The source added, ‘After 20 years of loving Barack like he is one of their own, after he was embraced by this congregation as a brother in Christ, after his pastor was a father figure to him and gave him credibility in a city he had not grown up in and in a black community that was suspect of someone from Hawaii and Harvard, he thanks him by not allowing him to speak publicly at his announcement last year? A lot of people in the church believe they were there for this man when no one else was, and a lot of people don’t believe it any more when Obama claims he loves the man who did so much for him.”
So this is one story. It’s New York Post’s Fred Dicker talking to a source deep in Chicago with roots to Jeremiah Wright who says Wright is hurt, taking this personally. If this is true, an interesting question, can we expect Wright to, say, book himself on Charlie Rose? Can we expect Wright to speak out further, if this is true? Hopefully so. If he doesn’t care whether he derails Obama’s presidential campaign — and, by the way, it might be, in terms of Reverend Wright’s own business, it might be in his best interests if Obama does lose, because then he could point to the white devils, the United States, a racist country, who denied ‘the first legitimate, clean, articulate black candidate,’ quote, unquote, Joe Biden, a chance at winning the White House. I don’t think we’ve heard the last of this, ladies and gentlemen, and if we haven’t, if Reverend Wright pops up somewhere with a continuation of this, it’s going to be fun to watch, and it’s going to be great to see how the Drive-Bys react to this. They’ll have to turn against Jeremiah Wright. (interruption) Yes, Mr. Snerdley? Hm-hm. Yes. Hm-hm.
Mr. Snerdley, our Official Obama Criticizer, by the way, has wanted me to pass on to you that he is convinced that the radical elements of the Congressional Black Caucus, which is about every member, probably right now and yesterday, on the phone with Reverend Wright, saying, ‘Shut up. Don’t say any more. Go back to Chicago. Move into your house in the white neighborhood behind the gate, and don’t say another word.’ Could be the case. But would Jeremiah Wright pay attention to these people or is he independently minded enough, is he hurt enough, is he angry enough, does he want to destroy Obama and the Democrat Party? He’s out there trying to rehab himself. He thinks he’s out there trying to help Obama and now all of a sudden the whole country is dumping on Jeremiah Wright including the Democrat Party and the Drive-By Media. We’ll see. We’re dealing with a volatile personality here, there’s no question. We’ll be keeping a sharp eye on this.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Listen to this. This is from the National Journal Hotline today. The headline, this little item in the Hotline: ‘Democrat Superdelegates Look to Limbaugh for Guidance,’ and here’s the item: ‘How serious is the threat of a Hillary comeback? Rush Limbaugh today called a temporary pause in Operation Chaos, his effort to push Republicans to vote for Hillary in the Democrat primary. Limbaugh says Obama may be so damaged by the Wright fallout that it’s no longer certain Hillary would be the weaker Democrat candidate in the general election. If Rush sees it that way, might the superdelegates start seeing it that way, too?’ asks the Hotline. The Hotline is this inside-the-Beltway journal and has been around a lot longer than any of the blogs. ‘Democrat Superdelegates Look to Limbaugh for Guidance.’ Well, I have never assumed that the superdelegates are listening to this program; but after this, it could well be the case. So let me take a moment here, ladies and gentlemen, and address the Democrat superdelegates; given the likelihood, according to the Hotline, that they are taking guidance from this program.
You guys have got trouble! You guys have trouble — and I want you to understand something, you superdelegates. The whole purpose of Operation Chaos was not to select one of these two. That’s up to you. You got these two. It’s your decision. Operation Chaos simply sought to create what has happened: chaos, to keep your battle going and to make your decision even tougher. The ultimate objective — if you want to say the endgame of Operation Chaos — is to see to it that neither of your candidates can win by virtue of pledged delegates resulting from primary votes, leaving it up to you. Now, as to what I’m seeing today — and again, I’m addressing specifically the Democrat superdelegates with total honesty, candor, and respect — is that you think Obama did not damage himself yesterday. In fact, I think it’s because you people… You know, we know what media you watch, the Drive-Bys, and the Drive-Bys can mislead you as to the opinions of ambling Americans; you know, the bitter clingers out there; the people who make the country work. They don’t dig what’s going on here with Obama, and they don’t understand how 20 years of a relationship go by and Obama is just now start to figure things out.
Mr. and Mrs. Superdelegate, you have to understand: The people of this country do not believe they know more about Jeremiah Wright now than Barack Obama does. Barack Obama’s trying to make it look like he didn’t know this guy, who he was. Now, you got a problem here, because the Drive-By Media sanitized this yesterday and last night, and they talked about how courageously Obama dealt with this. And if you guys in the superdelegate class watch the Drive-By Media; you’re going to be fooled into thinking most people think this is now over and that Obama weathered the storm — and that is not the way Americans outside the Beltway, outside the media capitals of Los Angeles and New York, are looking at this. So I understand that those of you superdelegates in the House, you’re being pressured by Nancy Pelosi; your boss, your speaker; because she doesn’t want Mrs. Clinton in any more powerful position than she currently is; and so she’s urging Democrat superdelegates in the House to line up behind Obama.
You are making decisions based on the wrong things. In this case, Pelosi is strictly thinking about herself being the most powerful woman in Washington after November, whether your party loses the White House or not. The way we see it here at Operation Chaos, you have huge problems — and I think it is time for you to start asking yourselves the important question, which was the important question a year ago, even six months ago: Who can win the presidential election? You have a candidate so damaged in Barack Obama, who has fallen so far off his lofty perch. He has gone from messiah to trash collector in inside of a month. Well, I don’t want to insult trash collectors, but he’s no longer the messiah. People are no longer fainting. My friend Pete Wehner made this point. Up until Jeremiah Wright hit, this campaign was about Obama and what he wanted people to think of him in terms of who he is — not what he stands for, not what his issue positions are — and now Obama has succeeded in actually amplifying that. Now people are wondering, ‘Just who is this guy?’
He was getting away with masking that, but when you make a campaign about yourself rather than your vision, you’re having problems. I don’t envy the position of those of you who are in superdelegate positions here because you have a tough call. But if you think — I just want to give you one bit of warning; I’m doing this in the spirit of unity and working together, crossing the aisle, trying to be genuinely helpful to you Democrat superdelegates — if you think that Obama has weathered the storm, and if you think that Obama is not damaged by this Wright fallout, you are making a mistake. He is very damaged, and you know what? You know it, too. You’ve known it in your hearts and your minds for a long time. You know you have a flawed, inexperienced — and now very unlikely able win — candidate who you are being forced to get behind for a host of reasons; among them Pelosi in the House demanding that Hillary get no further than where she is: that gas station in South Bend, Indiana, where I just saw her. If Nancy Pelosi had her way, Hillary would stay at that gas station and pump gas. On the other side of the equation, you’ve got the black vote. You’re worried if you take that away from Obama after he does have a lead in the pledged delegates, you’ve got big-time trouble. You do. You have serious problems. The Barack campaign is sending out Michelle (My Belle) Obama tonight on CNN to address the Wright issue, and she is one angry woman. She is one angry woman. And this is also, by the way, to counter Mrs. Clinton appearing on the Fox News Channel tonight on the O’Reilly Factor. This isn’t over, superdelegates.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: One other thing, ladies and gentlemen. I want to go back to this note that Cookie made me aware of in the last hour from the Hotline yesterday. The headline: ‘Democrat Superdelegates Look to Limbaugh for Guidance.’
‘How serious is the threat of a Hillary comeback? Rush Limbaugh today called a temporary pause in Operation Chaos, his effort to push Republicans to vote for Hillary in the Democrat primaries. Limbaugh says Obama may be so damaged by the Wright fallout, that it’s no longer certain that Hillary would be the weaker Democrat candidate in the [general] election. If Rush sees it that way, might the superdelegates start seeing it, too?’ I got to thinking. This just doesn’t come out of the ether. This just doesn’t come out of nowhere. I mean, the Hotline just doesn’t make stuff up. The people at the Hotline, you’re not going to have somebody speculating about this. I know how the Drive-Bys work. They don’t come up with something original. They get faxes. They get phone calls. They get e-mails, story ideas. Somebody is out there talking about this, that the Democrat superdelegates might be looking to me and Operation Chaos for guidance on what to do here. And, lo and behold, even though it’s true that Lois Capps of California…
Do you remember what Lois Capps is famous for? You’ll remember when I tell you. Lois Capps, Democrat congresswoman from California in some budget bill, wanted something like 150 or $200,000 for tattoo removal. People had tattoos and she wanted to set up federal government tattoo removal centers for people who wanted to reverse the self-mutilation that they had engaged in. That’s who she is. Anyway, she announced. She’s the third member of the House today, superdelegate, to announce she’s going for Obama. However, Ike Skelton, who is a member of the House from Missouri — he’s from outside Kansas City — came out for Hillary today. As Missouri goes… As Missouri goes… This is a direct result of Operation Chaos. Now, this little Hotline item did not come out of nowhere. Somebody in the superdelegate ranks is paying attention to Operation Chaos. Given that, I wish to address you again. I did address the Democrat superdelegates last hour, knowing that they are listening. I want to expand on my remarks of the previous hour, because I’ve been thinking about this.
Since this obviously didn’t come out of nowhere, those of you in this audience who are Democrat superdelegates who are undecided, there’s one thing I have to tell you that you are wrong about. You have obviously switched from an attitude with an air of confidence to fear. You are operating now totally out of fear, and here’s what you’re afraid of. You don’t have to admit it to each other, you don’t have to admit it to me by calling, but be honest with yourself. You know in your heart that the guy who is leading in the pledged delegate count is damaged, damaged big. You may want to try to pretend that the Drive-By coverage of his press conference yesterday has put this behind him, that Reverend Wright is now out of the public eye and that no damage has been done; and if there was any damage, it’s been fixed and repaired. You know if you are a Democrat superdelegate that that’s not true. You know you got somebody here who has fallen off a very high pedestal.
He’s gone from messiah to average, ordinary, run-of-the-mill, inexperienced politician. Yet he’s your leader. And all the news is that the superdelegates are lining up behind him, and you’re worried about this, and your big fear — and trust me, I understand this. Your big fear as a Democrat superdelegate is that you know he can’t win in November. You just know it. You know in your heart he can’t win. This depresses you because you thought you’ve had it won for the past year. You know he can’t win. You don’t like Mrs. Clinton, either. You’d just as soon see them gone, as Jeremiah Wright is supposedly gone. But you know he can’t win. Yet you’re afraid to not vote for him, for one reason: You are afraid of causing a permanent fissure in the black community which votes for your presidential candidate at a rate of 90 to 92% every four years. You own the bloc of votes known as the black community, and you are scared to death that if you award this nomination to Mrs. Clinton ’cause you know Obama can’t win, that you will forever lose the black vote; and I want to assure you, that is not the case.
Very often, almost unilaterally this is true: Decisions made within the confines of fear are wrong. And you are occupying your position right now as a superdelegate, you are in total fear. So what you’re thinking is skewed. You know he can’t win and you’re scared to death of losing the black vote forever. And I just want to assure you, Democrat superdelegates: that will not happen. Your party has done far worse to the black community in this country than simply snatch victory away from a potential presidential candidate. For 50 years, the Democrat Party has insulted the black community. You have — with the best of intentions, I might add — with the best of intentions, via the war on poverty, the civil rights movement; you have destroyed the black family and still they vote for you, to the tune of 90 to 92%. You have done so many more damaging things to the black community than simply snatching the nomination from Obama.
I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you. Even if there is temporary anger, even if Reverend Sharpton does promise to cause trouble; by the time November rolls around, you will have succeeded in convincing the black people that vote for you that the biggest threat they face is John McCain. You will have succeeded, and you know it. You’ve been doing it for 50 years. You have no trouble convincing black voters that their biggest enemy is the Republican Party. You know how to do it. It’s in your playbook. You don’t even have to think it up. You don’t have to memorize it. You know it; it pours out of your heart. So you don’t have anything to worry about here. So my advice to you, as the commander-in-chief in US Operation Chaos, is: Follow your instincts. Your instincts are that Obama cannot win, and your instincts are right! This is a horrible position he has put your party in, with Reverend Wright and all of this. Don’t worry about pulling the nomination away from him. As long as you tell people you’re doing what you think best.
They might disagree with you, but they will never challenge your motivation. You tell ’em you’re doing what you think best for your party and for your country, and the black voters who might be a little angry at the outset will come along as they always have. And then, if that doesn’t work — but it will. I that doesn’t work, Democrat superdelegates; if there is an anchorage hubbub and if there is a little anger, and the Reverend Sharpton is out there rabble-rousing; you just continue to tell the black population of this country, like you’ve been telling them for 50 years, that what you’re doing is for their own good. You might even imply that you so desperately want a black president in this country, but this guy is not the guy. This guy, as president, would do more damage to the advancement of civil rights because of what you’ve seen. You have to be very careful of the way you express this, but you know I’m right. This is not the guy. So don’t worry about pulling those delegates and the nomination away from him. Follow your instincts. Do what you think best. You’ve been destroying black people for 50 years, and you still own ’em — and you will own ’em after doing this.