RUSH: Joanne in Merritt, North Carolina, great to have you on the Rush Limbaugh program. Hello.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. I love you. You get me off the ledge on a daily basis.
RUSH: Thank you, madam, I appreciate that.
CALLER: Here’s my point.
RUSH: But I’ll tell you something. Don’t go to the ledge anymore because I myself don’t like going out there.
CALLER: Yeah, I know, I know, it’s a scary place, but at least I have your voice to talk me in off there. This is what I’m thinking, and I want to know what you think.
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: The last eight years have mobilized the liberals like nothing I’ve ever seen, and I’m just wondering if you think that the next four years of The Messiah will get us organized, get us excited, get us back to our conservative roots and excite the conservatives.
RUSH: Yeah, I’ve looked at the exit poll data. I looked at McCain, 20% of conservatives voted for Obama. The vast majority —
CALLER: I don’t believe that.
RUSH: I’ll explain why here in just a second. You said you don’t believe it. I do.
CALLER: Yeah?
RUSH: I do. We have exit poll data I shared with you yesterday, 41% of voters in exit polls identified themselves as conservatives and something like maybe 31% identified themselves as liberals. The rest wishy-washy moderates and independents or said they didn’t know what they were, but I could probably show you enough e-mails the past six months from people to me that constitute the 20% of conservatives that didn’t vote for McCain. These are people said, ‘I can’t vote for the guy. I cannot vote for the guy, and I’m not going to vote against somebody. I can’t vote for this guy, and the Republicans need to be taught a lesson,’ and so there was a lot of that sentiment out there. And I firmly believe it.
CALLER: Well, do you believe that it will mobilize us? Do you think that people are going to get back to the real serious grassroots —
RUSH: Yes. Yes. But it’s going to depend on something crucial.
CALLER: It is up to you, it is entirely up to you, I leave this entirely on your shoulders.
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: Okay?
RUSH: Well, yes, that’s exactly right. I don’t dispute that, you’re entirely true and accurate about that. But beyond me —
CALLER: There’s me. I’ll do my part.
RUSH: No, no — (laughing)
CALLER: (laughing) I promise you.
RUSH: All right. Look, this is the battle. We’re going to be taking on two things here the next four years, Obama and our own party establishment.
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: If our party nominates another McCain type —
CALLER: I don’t think they — who? Who’s left? I don’t think they can. I just don’t see anybody coming and fighting that fight. Do you? Rush, please tell me no, even if it’s not true.
RUSH: Sadly, there are more of them than I’d like to admit.
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: But even if we nominate, say, a Bobby Jindal —
CALLER: I love him!
RUSH: I do, too.
CALLER: I love him.
RUSH: Not in a biblical sense, but I do too.
CALLER: Oh, no. Right. Well, I’m a married woman.
RUSH: The thing is the moderate establishment GOP is going to be out to destroy Bobby Jindal, too.
CALLER: You really think so? Because I’m starting to get a little miffed at that.
RUSH: What are they trying to do to Sarah Palin? They’re scared to death that Sarah Palin will also run in 2012. That’s what this is all about. They’re trying to destroy her within the Republican Party. She was more popular than McCain. These people are not learning. Anyway, I gotta run here, Joanne. Get off the ledge. I don’t want to go back out there myself.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Back to the phones to Huntington, Indiana. This is Duane, and you’re up, sir. Nice to have you with us.
CALLER: Thank you, Rush. You and Bo and the staff are doing God’s work, thank you. My remark is addressed to Senator McCain and any of the staff that might be listening. I have one final suggestion for you, senator, from a 59-year conservative activist in the party. Reach out, take a step, reach out across the aisle one more time, grope for a comfortable seat, sit down and remain there. We have no more room for Democrat-light.
RUSH: Duane. I just want to make sure that I understand your command to Senator McCain.
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: You’re saying that when he walks across the aisle again, to stay there?
CALLER: Right.
RUSH: You want him to officially become a Democrat?
CALLER: Yes. And perhaps the people of Arizona next time can find a Republican.
RUSH: Well, let me see.
CALLER: I have one more footnote, if you have time.
RUSH: Well, I’m still pondering this. He could at least become an independent since his party rejected him.
CALLER: I think it’s high time that we told these moderates who are nothing more than Democrat-light that they go over where they’re more comfortable. They can perhaps help The Messiah with his program of marginalizing the Americans.
RUSH: I could not agree with you more. I myself said as much on previous occasions on this program. What are you guys messing around trying to screw up our party for? Just join the people that you have all this love for. Do you like literary people, do you like writers, do you like people you think can communicate very well, doesn’t matter what they say, doesn’t matter, they could be socialist, doesn’t matter, you think they could be extreme leftists, you like ’em, go join ’em. Make it official. Leave us alone. Don’t try to reform our party. You already have a party that you like or that you admire, go join them. This is going to be an epic battle I fear ’cause it’s going to come down to what it always comes down to. It’s going to come down to people that think they’re the smart people, the elites, versus the people they think are not smart people and hicks, and that would be all of us, including you and me, and try to say we’re the reason all these elections are being lost. They are the reason. It’s going to be a big, big, big, big battle.