RUSH: I mentioned to you the president is staying hunkered down and trying to act presidential in the White House, overseeing the recovery efforts for Hurricane Sandy, and he will remain in Washington to monitor the response and to ensure that all available federal resources continue to be provided. So heÂ’s not gonna be on the trail. HeÂ’s got Moochelle out there sending e-mail and fundraising letters. Bill Clinton is out there campaigning for him, but Obama is not.

And the latest from the Obama campaign, the latest thing they’re doing on Romney is that Romney worked at Bain Capital. Which is a recycle. I mean, that’s what… They started with that months ago. And now they’re back to it. “Romney’s an evil rich guy! He knows Wall Street people. He was at Bain Capital. He doesn’t care about people.” They’re back to that. ItÂ’s the third day, third day in a row Obama suspended his campaign, and a lot of people…
You know, the media — starting Sunday when the storm was on the verge of hitting — were actually speculating about how this could help Obama, which I thought was sick. You have what, 30 people dead now? The flooding, we’ve seen the pictures, and media people are still today speculating on how this can help Obama. And some re saying, “It’s really helping him a lot. He looks presidential. You know, he’s in charge and he looks in control, and he’s in charge of who gets what and giving away stuff, and that’s really good for Obama.”

I don’t know. I think if you’re running for reelection, you need to be out on the campaign trail. He’s not there. You know, it adds to the belief on the part of some Democrats that he really doesn’t want this. Some Democrats think that he doesn’t look like somebody who really wants it. You know what somebody looks like when they really want something. You know what you’ve done, what you’ve felt like, what you’ve been willing to do when you really wanted something. You’ve seen it in other people.

So have these other Democrats, and they’re not seeing that in Obama. And a lot of people in Chicago, I might add, have that view of this. AP, a typically fawning AP: “Obama Seeks to Project Presidential Leadership as Storm Shakes up Campaign — President Barack Obama the candidate stepped aside Monday so the commander in chief could take over.” You know, it’s a shame he didn’t think to be commander-in-chief back on September 11th in Benghazi and all that.
HeÂ’ll go all commander-in-chief on us in the hurricane aftermath but he didn’t go commander-in-chief on us during terror attacks on our consulate in Benghazi. And you know despite all the praise Obama is getting here — and there is some — for nobly scratching his campaign… “Scrapping the campaign, thatÂ’s a very noble thing. It’s very big thing. He’s got his priorities straight. He cares about people.”

So he scrapped his campaign. In point of fact, Biden’s still out there campaigning and in a lot of swing states. As I said, Minnesota has been moved from a dead lock for Obama to leaning, and the next position in that direction would be open. And then it would be lean Romney, if there were enough time for all this to play out. I mentioned that Clinton is out campaigning, and we have a sound bite. This is Clinton yesterday afternoon in Youngstown, Ohio.

Let me just ask you to think about this, rather than me provide the answer. Is Obama wise to use Clinton as a surrogate on the campaign trail? You got President Obama running for reelection. He’s decided to go all commander-in-chief on us and stay in the briefing room, and make sure there are pictures from the Situation Room as Obama watches things happen. And on the trail is Bill Clinton. Is that “optimal,” as they say? (interruption) You think so?

You think Clinton out there helps Obama? (interruption) Well, okay, the base. If you, one week out, are still shoring up your base, uh, that doesn’t bode well. (interruption) Well, I know it is what it is, but move beyond the base for a second. Is Clinton…? Okay, you’re running your War on Women campaign. You’re running on all this. Is Clinton the guy to be carrying this, message? And let’s listen. Let’s listen to Clinton in Youngstown, Ohio. You tell me if this is gonna reverse momentum or lead to the reversal of momentum, or if it is gonna lead to the troops getting all excited out there.

CLINTON: I saw the reports of Governor Romney’s latest ad saying that the president allowed Jeep to move to China.

FOLLOWERS: (laughter and grumbling)

CLINTON: And so this morning, before he left Florida and went back to Washington, he said, “You know, of all the things Governor Romney has said, that probably hurts my feelings the most.”

FOLLOWERS: (laughing)

CLINTON: He said, “You know, I never had any money when I was a kid, and the first new car I ever owned I was 30 years old, and it was a Jeep.”

RUSH: Okay, now, that’s not true, by the way. Obama’s first car was not a Jeep. It was a Ford something or other, and he owned a bunch of little cars, used and so forth. He was 39 when he bought his first Jeep, first new car. Clinton’s getting confused here when he said he was 30 years old when he bought the Jeep. The 30 years has something else to do with it. Minor point here. But Obama’s first new car was a Jeep, but he’d owned five or six before that.

Okay, you’re in Youngstown, Ohio, and Obama can’t get there but here comes the king, Bill Clinton. (impression) “Yeah, I was talking to President Obama, and you know what he told me? He said of all things that Governor Romney said, the thing that hurt his feelings the most was that he’s gonna move Jeep to China.” What is this, the sympathy campaign? Of all the things that hurt his feelings the most…? (impression) “That’s right, Limbaugh. ThatÂ’s the way we have to do it.

“Vote Obama so his feelings won’t be hurt. ‘Cause if you elect Romney, Obama’s feelings will be hurt at the Obama Center for Social Justice in Hawaii.” What…? Am I missing this? Is this effective? (interruption) You think so. I can tell on your face. (interruption) Snerdley thinks that itÂ’s effective. You just have Clinton fear. You’re just sitting out there thinking Clinton is Mr. Magic and whatever he does, works. But every time this guy gets behind a candidate, the candidate loses. For crying out loud, if I were Obama… (interruption)

Who else do they have? Obama! Get the hell out there. Be president! You can do two things at one time. Well, if you really want it, you’re out there and you combine the two. You can get situation reports. You can tell Governor Christie, “Yeah, you can have whatever you want,” while you’re campaigning in Ohio. You have to be sitting in the Situation Room to give Christie whatever he wants, or Bloomberg, or whoever. Look, I think it’s a tantamount admission.

Obama is hurt less by not being on the campaign trail. He’s hurt less by all of us assuming that he’s watching over things, because we see a picture of it now and then. Meanwhile, Clinton’s on the campaign trail telling us how Obama’s feelings were hurt. Presidents don’t have time for hurt feelings, folks! (big sigh) Now, I know people love Bill Clinton, but they can’t vote for him, and… By the way, I’m not willing to accept that.

You know, the Democrat base loves Bill Clinton, but he’s not Mr. Magic out there. The way to look at this is: Should Romney be worried that Clinton is in Youngstown talking about how Obama’s feelings are hurt ’cause Romney said he’s gonna move Jeep to China? (interruption) Well, okay, then. Here’s the ad, by the way. This is the Romney ad that hurt Obama’s feelings.

ANNOUNCER: Who will do more for the auto industry? Not Barack Obama. Fact-checkers confirm his attacks on Mitt Romney are false. The truth? Mitt Romney has a plan to help the auto industry. He’s supported by Lee Iacocca and the Detroit News. Obama took GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy and sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China. Mitt Romney will fight for every American job.

ROMNEY: I’m Mitt Romney, and I approved this message.

RUSH: Well, that’s really something to get your feelings hurt over. You’re Bill Clinton. You want your wife to be president someday so that you can get back in there yourself. I’m sorry. I am rarely out of touch, folks. I’m making even a bigger deal of this than I intended to. I just don’t think presidents have time to get their feelings hurt, and I don’t think that it is inspirational or inspiring to tell voters, “Yeah, Barack’s feelings were hurt.” “Oh, yeah? Okay, I’m really voting for him, then.” I don’t get it.

(imitating Clinton) “You know, folks, I was talking to the president when he left Florida. By the way, when I was talking to him, I said, ‘Why did you go to Florida, anyway, dude? I mean, you knew on Sunday that storm was gonna hit, so you got on that plane and you go down to Florida, you spend the night in Florida, and you get up on Monday and you don’t do the campaign appearance, you head on back to Washington. Now, why did you go in the first place? I can’t figure it out. Then you asked me to step in for you, and I don’t know what to do other than tell people your feelings are hurt ’cause of Jeep. Did you ever try an El Camino when you were a kid? I mean, if you put Astroturf in the back of an El Camino and then call up Dolly or whatever her name is, get a case of something, and you are cooking.'”

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: No, no, no, my point is his feelings are not hurt. Clinton’s lying about that. (imitating Clinton) “Yeah, his feelings are hurt.” This is a guy who says that Romney’s a felon. This is a guy who said that Romney let a guy’s wife get cancer and die. This is a guy who’s said all kinds of horrible things about Romney and Clinton wants us to believe Obama’s feelings are hurt ’cause of this Jeep business? Let me tell you what’s going on. He’s not sitting in that Situation Room watching pictures and getting phone calls from governors with their hands out. How much do you want to bet that Obama is talking to his campaign team and his lawyers and plotting postelection lawsuits and other ways to bottle up this result and to create general mayhem?

He’s looking at polling data. They are strategizing on lawsuits on and after Election Day. His feelings aren’t hurt in there, and he’s not rolling over. They just made the calculation it’s probably better if he’s not out there during this because he got heat for not being in Washington during Benghazi. But don’t buy this hurt feelings business, for crying out loud. His feelings aren’t hurt. Now, he did do an interview with April Ryan of the American Urban Radio Networks. She’s always there in the White House press corps. I’ve read the transcript of her interview with Obama. She asks him why blacks should vote for him, given their concerns about gay marriage, high unemployment among the black population, and that he’s not engaged.

This is April Ryan saying the black population doesn’t think you’re engaged. And, by the way, dirty little secret, they don’t. They’re not happy from the pulpit, anyway, about Obama and gay marriage. She also said to Obama, “Why are women voters dropping you?” And Obama in this thing can’t believe it. He said, “What are you looking at? We’re doing great.” But they’re not. The gender gap is closed. That’s what she’s asking about. But when she asked him this question about high unemployment and gay marriage, the black community, and he’s not engaged, what he said was, “Well, other than the fact that I know black America wants to keep Michelle as first lady.” He doesn’t answer any of these things specifically. He just says that he knows that black America wants to keep Michelle in there as first lady. Anyway, his feelings aren’t hurt, and I guarantee he’s strategizing on what they can do on Election Day or after to throw all this into chaos, and they want to keep it close enough to be able to do that.