RUSH: Snerdley and I, during the top-of-the-hour break, had a little conversation. Snerdley was all worked up over what’s being said about the Blue Dogs. The Drive-Bys are reporting, ‘Oh, the Blue Dogs, oh, they finally came around. The Blue Dogs are finally going to be loyal Democrats, oh, the Blue Dogs.’ The Blue Dogs didn’t come around. The Blue Dogs had guns to their heads. These are liberal Democrats. They didn’t come around. They were arm-twisted, they were kneecapped, their futures were shown to them in vivid terms, and they didn’t have any once Rahm Emanuel and Nancy Pelosi — the Blue Dogs saw the light?
They saw the light at the end of the tunnel, which was an oncoming train headed straight for them unless they got their minds right. I told you that’s the way it was going to be, they’re Democrats. Blue Dog what? Blue Dog Democrats. Maxine Waters, though, she’s still upset about this. Just this morning on PMSNBC, she was asked this question: ‘You were fairly candid a couple of days ago in noting that it’s hard for the White House, and particularly for the chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, to put a lot of pressure on the Blue Dog Democrats ’cause he recruited many of them to run for office when he was in the House himself. Do you think, though, that the White House ultimately is going to need to put that pressure on in order to keep progressive Democrats in the fold, people like Lynn Woolsey, your fellow Californian?’
WATERS (sped up): We know that the Blue Dogs have been very, very successful in gaining a lot of attention from the White House and from the Democratic leadership and that they have been able to negotiate all of their concerns and their issues. Well, they continue to be the balance of power in this Congress, based on — on the fact that they all stick together and that they are going to continue to fight for what they want. I tend to believe that they are not going to let up, that they are going to continue to insist on having this bill or no bill at all, the bill the way they would like to have it or no bill at all.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Now, State-Run Media is not going to report this, but we don’t need the State-Run Media to.
Now, I had a spy on the ground in Raleigh, North Carolina, yesterday, when Obama went in for the town meeting. And the state-run, state-controlled media would, of course, overlook all this. But there were people who were at the event, who then reported to my spy. Obama went to North Carolina ’cause he’s having problems within his party, his party. And he was in North Carolina yesterday because he needs the vote of the new senator, Kay Hagan. She’s the one who beat Elizabeth Dole. And guess who couldn’t be bothered to come and be there? Kay Hagan, whose vote Obama needs, was nowhere in sight. And he does not have her vote yet because the people of North Carolina are swamping her office with objections to this health care bill. North Carolina is also the home of three serious Blue Dogs: Mike McIntyre, Heath Shuler, who is the Blue Dog whip, and Larry Kissell. Guess who was not there? All three of the Blue Dogs were no-shows.
Now, before you say to me, ‘But, Rush, but, Rush, they were back working diligently with the leadership in Washington to slam out this deal.’ When the president of the United States goes to your state on a meeting like this, he takes you on Air Force One. And you go, and you are introduced. Senator Kay Hagan did not want to be seen there, nor did the three Blue Dogs. So people are digging in their heels out there. Obama’s expending, it’s been reported even elsewhere, lots of political capital on this deal. Nobody wants it, and yet he’s still ramming it down everybody’s throat, and that’s why people are gagging. It is rammed down our throat, and we are gagging. People are speaking, people do not want it, and yet they’re not stopping.