RUSH: To the audio sound bites. This is funny. The Drive-Bys hated waiting for Sarah Palin to arrive in Alaska. We’ve got David Rodham Gergen here with Anderson Cooper. Cooper says, ‘It’s going to be interesting, David, to hear Sarah Palin in a different context. This is a state where the people know her, where clearly she’s overwhelmingly popular. She’s not going to be telling them about the bridge to nowhere, and thanks but no thanks.’
GERGEN: I’m rubbing my eyes in disbelief that we’re all sitting here waiting to watch the arrival of a vice presidential candidate. I mean, we don’t do this for presidential candidates.
RUSH: Yeah, well, why do you think this is happening, David Rodham Gergen? Then Cooper says, ‘Well, David Gergen, as you watch this, can this last? I mean, it’s been a honeymoon period for Sarah Palin. Can it go on much longer?’
GERGEN: It’s unimaginable to me; it’s unbelievable to me that we’re sitting here at 11:30 at night Eastern Standard Time.
RUSH: Why? This is just great. It’s unbelievable to me we’re sitting here at 11:30 at night Eastern Standard Time waiting for this woman to arrive. Well, why don’t you go home?
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Sarah Palin, huge ovation last night when she got home to Fairbanks, Alaska. We have three sound bites.
PALIN: This is just overwhelming. Thank you. Oh, I am so glad to get to be here. Thank you for being here, Fairbanks, thank you for letting us be here. Oh, this is beautiful. Thank you. Wow, it’s been an amazing couple of weeks, and I just want to thank you, Alaska, for your support and for your encouragement and what we’ve been doing is taking our campaign on the road of course across the nation, and we’ve been carrying our message of reform to the American people, and we’ve been talking all about Alaska, and people are — (cheers and applause) What a trip it’s been, and I cannot wait until you meet John McCain. He’s a friend of Alaska, and he’s going to be the next president of the United States of America.
RUSH: They love her up there. They literally love her up there. She’s got 80% approval ratings, higher than that, even, as governor in Alaska. She’s genuine here. She’s very authentic, real person. You can hear that she genuinely appreciates this outpouring of support. Here’s the next bite.
PALIN: Americans know that you’ve done some great work up here, Alaskans, as we’ve kind of taken the government here in the state, put it back on the side of the people in these last couple of years. You’ve really helped shake things up. Just like we’re going to go to the Washington, DC, to do also is shake things up in the capital. What John McCain has noticed is that Alaska has returned to the fundamental truth that government is not always the answer. In fact, government, too often, is the problem. So we’ve gone back to the basics and we put government back on the side of the people.
RUSH: There’s a little channeling of Ronald Reagan there, Ronaldus Magnus, ‘government is the problem’ is one of his most famous utterances. Here’s the third sound bite from Governor Palin.
PALIN: I feel like I’m preaching to the choir because you guys already know this. It’s a message for America. We’ve got a reform agenda for America. That’s what we’re going to run on here, guys, and I am so honored, and I am so humbled to serve as Senator McCain’s running mate, and I am equally honored and forever will be honored to serve as your governor of the great state of Alaska. Representing our fellow Alaskans is not only a tremendous honor, it’s also a sacred duty. And you have placed great faith in me. And as I travel across the country, I will keep that faith by fulfilling my duty to you and spreading our good message, and I promise that I will do my best to make Alaskans proud in the weeks to come, and I would ask you to help me, then, let us work together, let us elect John McCain, a great man who will be a great president because he’s a friend of Alaska, and he will be our next president.
RUSH: Governor Palin, by the way, today was impugned and insulted by no less than Lincoln Chafee, who has the same number of brain cells as an amoeba. Senator Chafee, ex-Senator Chafee called her a cocky wacko. We now know why he’s an ex-senator. The guy is an order of fries short of a Happy Meal on a given day, and that’s the best he does. Let’s just keep it coming. All you moderate, liberal Republican, Democrat, just keep it coming, just keep leveling these mindless insults. Now, as you listen to Governor Palin, as you listen to her, as you are mesmerized by her ability speak, I don’t know if she’s on a prompter there or not, but you hear how genuine she is, she’s excited and all that, compare it to, say, this.
BIDEN: Uh, uh, Chuck Graham, state senator, is here. Stand up, Chuck. Let ’em see you. (rimshot) Oh, God love you. What am I talking about? (rimshot) I tell you what, you’re making everybody else stand up, though, pal. (rimshot) I tell you what, stand up for Chuck. (rimshot)
RUSH: Stand up for Chuck! Hey, Chuck, stand up over there. Oh, my God, what am I — oh, stand up for Chuck. And then of course there was this yesterday.
BIDEN: Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. (rimshot) Let’s get that straight. She’s a truly close personal friend. (rimshot) She is qualified to be president of the United States of America. (rimshot) She’s easily qualified to be vice president of the United States of America. (rimshot) And, quite frankly, um, it might have been a better pick than me. (rimshot) But she’s first rate.
RUSH: So there you have Joe Biden essentially saying he’s not the guy for the job.