RUSH: WhiteHouseDossier.com, a blog, Keith Koffler. “Obama Fundraising Suffers Huge Drop-Off.” Here is the final paragraph of the story. “This helps explain the vitriol Obama has been dumping out on the campaign trail. He needs to get people motivated to send him their money, and if he can get the hating thing going — hate Republicans, hate the rich, hate EVERYONE — maybe theyÂ’ll part with some cash,” because here are the details. “President Obama will raise substantially less in the second quarter of his campaign than the first, according to the New York Times. The paper writes that Obama campaign manager Jim Messina has told Democratic officials that the president will raise about $55 million in the quarter that ends Sept. 30, about $30 million less than he raised the first quarter of his campaign — which was the second quarter of the year, ending June 30.”

The news is buried within the New York Times story. So $55 million. It’s a fair amount of money, but the regime is admitting it, the regime is out there suggesting they’re fundraising is way off. “The campaign attributes part of the decline to the need for Obama to stay in Washington address budget battles with Republicans. That is — sorry for the inconvenience — the need to be president.” Poor guy. He has to stay in Washington and be president. He has to fight those evil Republicans. That’s why his fundraising’s down. When is the last name he was in Washington, for crying out loud? This guy is on the road more than any president I can ever recall. Being president isn’t keeping him in town. “But a separate Times article Saturday that said many small donors are hesitant to start giving to Obama again. And itÂ’s no secret that even for Democrats, the thrill is gone.”

Folks, I’m gonna tell you something, and I’ve mentioned this to you before. I think, given what the State-Run Media is reporting about Obama, I think it is that much worse. I think his approval numbers are far worse than what the average opinion poll is showing. What are they showing him, 42, 43%? Yesterday we had a poll from The Economist magazine, which is approved and accredited with the establishment. The Economist is a great British magazine, and they’ve got a poll with some voting group, I forget the name of the group. Obama’s approval number in that poll is 36%. His fundraising is down, and I’ve said for the longest time, I remember telling you for the longest time that the internal polls in the White House — by internal, I mean the ones they do for themselves, not polls bought and paid for by networks. These are polls, the internals, another way to describe internals are the right ones. The campaign has to know exactly where it stands.

The campaign can’t lie to itself about where it is in a poll. The New York Times or the Wall Street Journal or NBC, these people can ask questions in any way they want, they can fudge results any way they want to produce a result that is what they want. But the regime can’t afford to do that. They’ve gotta know exactly where they stand. I just think it’s far worse. And when the fundraising is down like this, and when he’s embarking on fundraising so consistently and I think this blog has it right. I think there’s a sense of panic within the regime over Obama’s position, and I think a lot of people don’t realize it or don’t think of it because of conditioning. People on our side, I mean. We have a lot of people who find it hard to process notion that people who have rigged the game can be in such trouble. I mean, look at the advantages they have. They own the media, the Democrat Party, the left, the president, whatever, they own the, quote, unquote, legacy media. That’s big.

They have, because of that power, they have the ability to define language any way they want, and whoever defines the language often wins the debate. You couple that with the fact that the Republican leadership in Washington is still afraid of itself and people just find it hard to process the fact that the Democrat candidate, particularly this one, first black president, all of this phony baloney, plastic banana, good-time rock ‘n’ roll image crap that they created about the guy, they find it hard to believe that it’s all just evaporated. Here was a guy we were told was universally loved, adored, and appreciated unlike anybody else back in 2008.

Now, the election returns didn’t show that. It was 53-47. That’s not a landslide. But nevertheless people who are soaked in pessimism — and you have to admit, people on our side are drowning in it. People on our side have been drowning in pessimism for I don’t know how long. And by that I mean you think, a lot of people think that the Democrats are totally in charge of everything and everything they’re doing is a big trick and that we can’t keep up with them. In fact, all of this is probably just a trick to get us to get overconfident or what have you. But I don’t think it can be denied that most of the people on our side, particularly the elected Republican leadership, just can’t process the fact that Obama and the Democrats are in this much trouble, even though the evidence is all over the place and even though it has been the case many times in recent years.

The House races in 1994, the Reagan elections in 1980 and ’84. The frustrating thing is that you and I know that in terms of body of thinking and numbers of people, we are the majority of thought in this country, we are the majority politically. But nobody says so. It’s portrayed the other way around, in fact. We are this extreme fringe angry white male, whatever the concoction of the day is or month is, minority. But I’m here to tell you that if they’re $55 million down in this quarter in fundraising and you put it all together, these approval numbers, even the ones being reported are nothing to write home about, and you’ve got the jobs thing. Nobody wants any part of Obama. When he goes out and campaigns he still can’t find a whole bunch of Democrats willing to stand side by side with him. He’s toxic.

You know, life circumstances in this country are real. People want to work and cannot find a job. Their home values have been destroyed. This stuff, Obamaism, it’s real. It has had a disastrous effect on people’s lives. They are living it and yet we still have people who think that even those people can be fooled into believing it’s the Republicans’ fault. At the end of the day that that’s who’s going to ultimately get blamed, the Republicans, “Yeah, watch, Rush, you’re gonna see ’em succeed in blaming the Republicans for all this.” A lifetime of pessimism is tough to overcome. Now, I do not share this pessimism.

How many months have I been telling you if the election were today or tomorrow, he’d lose in a landslide? So you put it all together, and the regime is in trouble. Plus, folks, these speeches just don’t accomplish anything anymore. The magic that was the concoction of Obama is gone. He doesn’t hold sway. The more he speaks, the worse it gets for him. He doesn’t have the ability any longer to give a speech and turn people into mush. You look at November of 2010, look at that election. That by any definition was a landslide election, the midterms in 2010. And not just in Washington, all the way down the ballot, state and local ballots. It was horrible for the Democrats.

Now, why should Obama be in any less trouble today than he was in 2010? The economy hasn’t improved. There’s no upswing in jobs. Health care is more expensive and less available. None of what Obama has promised has come true. He promised all these jobs. He promised cheaper health care. He promised unity. He promised the world would love us. Nothing he has said has come true. Why is it odd to think he’s in trouble? Why is it weird, why is it foolish to think Obama is in big trouble? Why is the smart play to think, “Oh, this guy’s got us right where he wants. The American people, you know, Rush, they’re stupid, the American people stupid, and 47% of them don’t pay taxes, all Obama’s gotta do is tell ’em he’s gonna give ’em this, we can’t win, Rush, we’ve lost the country.” Sorry, I don’t subscribe to that. November 2010 wouldn’t-a happened. They’re trying to tell us the Tea Party, I’ve seen this in a couple places, Tea Party is not nearly as powerful as it was.

When did that happen, the Tea Party not nearly as relevant as it used to be. When did that happen? The Tea Party not nearly as large as it used to — when did that happen? When did the Tea Party start slinking off the face of the earth? I haven’t seen that. As far as I’m concerned, the Tea Party’s growing. Herman Cain won the straw poll in Florida. Why do you think he won the straw poll in Florida? You want to know why Herman Cain won the straw poll in Florida? ‘Cause you can’t find one example of Herman Cain, at any point in this campaign, not being a conservative. Herman Cain’s not hedging his bets. Herman Cain is not trying to be all things to all people. Herman Cain is not out there trying to make sure he doesn’t offend this group or that group.

Herman Cain’s out there and he is pedal-to-the-metal, 100% conservative every time he opens his mouth. It’s not surprising to me he wins the Florida straw poll over somebody’s mealy-mouthed and is trying to have it both ways on any number of issues. I know where this country is, I know what the people of this country want, and they don’t want John McCain Jr. They don’t want another moderate Republican who can “work with the other side.” They don’t want somebody who wants to cut it both ways on illegal immigration or on health care. They want a conservative! The candidates who are proudly, unashamedly, cheerfully, unabashedly conservative are gonna win — and they are. Who was it that judged to do the best in that Thursday night debate?

Herman Cain and Santorum. Have you ever heard Santorum say anything other than a conservative position? And what else does Herman Cain do? He takes it right to Obama. He doesn’t take it to Romney; he doesn’t take it to Perry. He takes it to Obama. Because Republican voters know at the end of the day Perry’s not the enemy and Romney’s not the enemy. There may be better choices, but Obama is the enemy. Obama is who has to be defeated. Obama is who the people of this country have got to be constantly told is their problem. So why is it a surprise that Herman Cain would win the straw poll in Florida? All he’s done is being consistently conservative — and I’ll tell you something else Herman Cain has. He’s got a specific economic plan, this 9-9-9 thing, and it’s easy to understand — and it makes total sense.

And it’s not dressed up in a bunch of what-ifs and maybes and so forth. It’s just what it is, and it’s offered by somebody with confidence, a little bravado, sense of humor, optimism. It’s not surprising to me he wins the Florida straw poll. My point here is it is Obama who’s trouble, not Romney. It’s Obama who’s in trouble, not Perry. They may be in trouble within their own little universes or whatever they’re trying to accomplish here in the Republican primary — and Romney may not be in trouble. I was in Indianapolis over the weekend and, of course, wherever I go people want to talk politics. To so many people (left, right, center, it didn’t matter what their affiliation was), it’s over. Romney’s the nominee. That’s just it.

It’s not that they care or disagree or approve of it, just it’s over. And it’s not over. And they think Romney’s the nominee because nobody else has the money and nobody else has the time and Perry got in too late, he’s too nervous in the debates, doesn’t come through, and these other people don’t have a chance. “Ah, Cain is great but doesn’t have a chance, Rush. Santorum doesn’t have a chance. Bachmann doesn’t have a chance.” Who says? Why? Did not Herman Cain win the Florida straw poll (that was flooded with a bunch of Ron Paul people, by the way)? So, my only point to you in all of this is: I see a story that his fundraising is down, his poll numbers are down, on the campaign trail he’s acting like a petulant little narcissist who for the first time in his life is not getting his way.

Handpicked questioners are standing up and saying the stupidest stuff. “Mr. President, raise our taxes.” Hey, Walter Mondale, how did that work for you in 1984? Do you think anybody is gonna win the presidency on a campaign of, “Raise my taxes, Mr. President”? Do you think it is a winning campaign strategy to run around and say,”I’m gonna raise your taxes, I’m gonna raise your taxes, I’m gonna raise your taxes, because…” Why, Mr. President? “Well, because we haven’t made enough investment in education.” People have lost the value of their homes! They don’t have jobs and you’re trying to tell me they’re under-taxed? You’re trying to tell me we haven’t invested?

We have invested so much and it doesn’t work is why we’re broke! People want some responsibility and sensibility returned to all this, and Obama has blown it sky-high in terms of irrationality. We have the least qualified guy in any room he walks into running the country and people are starting to realize it. So his fundraising is down, his poll numbers are down; on the campaign trail he’s becoming mean, angry, bitter, and focusing on people he wants us to consider the enemies of all the rest of us — and that’s the successful. This isn’t 20 or 30 years ago. It isn’t 40 years ago. It’s not working, and the fact that it isn’t working — he’s doubling down on it, getting even angrier — is evidence to me.