Independents Dump Democrats and Lose Their Luster with Liberals

RUSH: For the bulk of my career, as you know if you have been regular listeners, I have always been dubious of the virtue attached to independents and moderates. I’ve often asked: “Can you find for me in the library the book Great Moderates in American History?” and I have equated independents with moderates. One of the reasons that I have done this is that we have been told that every presidential election really only is important to 20% of the voting public, because 80% of the voting public, the way they’re going to vote’s already known — 40% gonna go Democrat, 40% Republican — but the 20%, the independent, wow! That’s where you gotta win the battle because you don’t know what they want. Those are smarter people than everybody else. They don’t make up their minds ’til late in the day.

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RUSH: Back to this independent business. There’s a lot of conventional wisdom that has just offended my intelligence and my sensibilities. This idea that every presidential election, the independents, if you’ve paid attention you know that’s what the media always focus on, who’s gonna get the independents, all these consultants. The Frank Luntzes and they do their focus groups and their polling and they always focus on the independents and what are they thinking. You know, independents are fine people, but the idea that 20% of this country elects the president, I’m sorry, I don’t go along with it and as somebody who seeks to expand and be educational and understand the people of this country, I certainly have a bigger target than 20% of the population. To me it’s nonsensical, but all of these consultants make their money in that 20%. All these people that get hired by politicians, “I can get you elected. I know how to do it. I know how to position you to get the independents.” This is largely a factor in what makes a lot of politicians unreal.

Rather than just being who they are and trying to use genuine passion and core beliefs, they’re advised on language, approach, attitude, all kinds of things to go get the independents because there’s something unsaid that accompanies this, that the independents are special people, because they’re undecided. They are not closed-minded. See, ideologues, particularly on the right, conservative ideologies are said to be closed-minded, and along with that goes bigoted and racist and all of that. The independents, now, these are people, they can’t be fooled. These people, they decide issue by issue. And I’ve always resented this whole construct because I’ve always thought, I’ve always known that moderate, slash, independent is simply another word for liberal, particularly moderate. Definitely moderate, another word for liberal. But now what’s happened, these self-described independents — and I know what some of you are saying, “Rush, shut up! Why do you want to offend the independents? Now they’re on our side.” I’m not trying to offend anybody. I’m just telling you what I think about this. Don’t you understand, folks, I understand about winning elections, but nobody can ever make me believe that elections are only about 20% of this population. I’m never going to believe that. I don’t care what kind of seasoned professional who has made it his life’s work to win elections tells me this. I’m not going to believe it, because more than 20% vote.

But now the independents have swung big to the Republicans. And it’s interesting to understand why. It’s not because of anything the Republicans have done. The independents showed up big time against Democrats in the November election. They were voting against Obama. They were voting against health care. They were voting against big spending. Now, my obvious question is what took ’em so long to wake up? Liberals have been who they are for as long as I’ve been alive. If they’re so smart, what took ’em so long to wake up? And if they’re so smart, why would they ever consider going back to voting Democrat? Now that they’ve seen as clearly as it can be seen what liberalism leads to: the destruction of capitalism, the destruction of entrepreneurism, the destruction of the creation of wealth engine. Liberalism leads to the destruction of all of that. I don’t care if it’s a liberal not yet born running for office in 30 years or somebody alive running, it’s the same thing. If you’re an independent seeing what liberalism leads to, why would you ever vote for one again? But they will.

Sure as we’re all sitting here, some of these independents will end up voting for Obama again. And everybody will be trying to figure out, “Well, why did this happen?” And of course the media will position it as some brilliant political move by Obama to reassure and get them back and to warn them that they really goofed up supporting these Republicans because they’re the real danger. Well, if that kind of thing can happen, then what and who are we really talking about here? Which takes me to this piece in the New Republic. It’s as predictable as the sun coming up and I’m sorry I missed it. It’s by Michael Kazin. “The Trouble With Independents. What if These Voters are Just a Clueless Horde?” So now the left, facing the loss of the independents, does what they always do, start insulting these voters as a bunch of fools, a bunch of idiots. For those of you who are independent, and understand that I love you, but I want to know how can you call yourself independent and vote for the Democrat Party, which is all about dependency?

Here’s a story, USA Today: “Americans Depend More on Federal Aid than Ever.” Doesn’t it seem like every day we get another report like this? It’s exhausting just to read about it, let alone trying to think about how to reverse this. Wages now count for a lower share of income than ever before. Wages, the product of people’s work, now count for a lower share of personal income than ever before, even including the Great Depression, and that was when 25% of the US workforce was on relief. So unless people have given up eating, more Americans must be on the dole in one form or another than ever before. And the story says, benefits — my new favorite word — benefits have almost doubled since 1990, and we wonder why the deficit’s spiraling completely out of control. We haven’t even begun to face the consequences of all the Baby Boomers retiring and, meanwhile, the only solution that Obama and the Democrats offer is to keep on doing exactly what got us here in the first place.

“Americans depended more on government assistance in 2010 than at any other time in the nation’s history, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data finds. The trend shows few signs of easing, even though the economic recovery is nearly 2 years old.” There is no economic recovery, and if there was one it’s gone, thanks to rising food and gasoline prices, which is thanks to inflation, which is thanks to Ben Bernanke. “A record 18.3% of the nation’s total personal income was a payment from the government for Social Security, Medicare, food stamps, unemployment benefits and other programs in 2010. Wages accounted for the lowest share of income — 51.0% — since the government began keeping track in 1929.” And the real sad thing about this is this is the plan, this is the 40-year plan. This is the essence of patience. It has taken them 40 years, well, 50 if you count starting from the Great Depression era, to get here, maybe 60. So, in other words, folks, wages now count for a lower share of personal income, even including the Great Depression, when 25% of Americans were out of work or on welfare.

So how do you call yourself an independent and vote for the Democrat Party which is all about total dependence? The Democrat Party is out to secure total dependence on government. There’s nothing independent about the Democrat Party. And now the independents have lost their virtue, suddenly confused and clueless, according to this writer. “To a sympathetic eye, this result might connote a pleasant openness to contrasting opinions, perhaps a desire to give each group of partisans the benefit of the doubt.” This is how they used to think about the independents. Yeah, see? A pleasant openness. These people are not close-minded, a pleasant openness to contrasting opinions. “But I think it demonstrates a basic thoughtlessness. At a time of economic peril, when one party wants to protect the essential structure of our limited welfare state and the other party seeks to destroy it, most independents, according to this poll, appear to be seduced by the last thing they have heard.”

Oh.

So the New Republic claims that what happens here is the welfare state’s being destroyed, the Republican Party has targeted it, and the independents are being gulled into supporting this. Now, there’s nothing about the welfare state being destroyed when Americans depend on federal aid more than ever, when wages are the smallest percentage of income they have ever been since the Great Depression. There is nothing about the welfare state that’s being destroyed. This guy at the New Republic is convinced it is and it’s because you stupid independents, you clueless hordes have lost your way.

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RUSH: By the way, this author of The New Republic piece on how the independents are just a clueless horde? This is a history professor at Georgetown University who has an upcoming book called American Dreamers: How the Left Changed the Nation. He’s not outta touch or anything, is he? American Dreamers: How the Left Changed the Nation? Well, wait a minute. You know, that may not be true. You dream of destruction and you finally bring it about, then that could be an accurate title, depending on what the contents of the book are.

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