RUSH: Here’s Robert, South Lake, Texas. Great to have you on the program. Welcome.

CALLER: Good afternoon, Rush Limbaugh.

RUSH: Hello, sir.

CALLER: Listen, I need do say one thing and I thought I would never say this in my lifetime because I’m a diehard — well, I was a die hard Democrat, and I need to apologize to you because I was led to believe and thought that you were just a far-right nut. And I voted for Obama the first time because I thought he would make a great role model for young black Americans instead of these P Diddy’s and these other rap artists and all these other clowns. You have converted me and I am a true believer in the conservative principles.

RUSH: No kidding.

CALLER: Yes, and I think you’re getting to not just only me, but my whole family have been listening to you, Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and a few others. And I’m just calling to tell you that I really appreciate you and I need you to keep doing what you’re doing because I believe that you guys are reaching more people than you think. I used to be — and I hate to say it — a low-information voter, and I consider myself a very astute person.

RUSH: Yeah?

CALLER: I have been fooled. There’s something sinister about Obama, and I don’t know why, and I don’t understand it, but I don’t know what he’s doing. It bothers me to see what he’s doing. To me it’s appalling.

RUSH: What was it, is there a moment where you realized this, or was it a slow discovery process?

CALLER: It was kind of a little of both. When you came out and said that about the Obama theorem and about the sequester, I started thinking, now what is going on here? And you are absolutely correct because I started seeing something right after he won the election —

RUSH: You know, Robert, can you hang on? You are an asset. I need to pick your brain, but I’ve gotta go to a commercial break. Can you hang on?

CALLER: Most certainly.

RUSH: All right. Don’t go away.

It’s gonna be a while ’cause I got a top-of-the-hour commercial break. But we’re gonna come back, if we have to, we’ll get your number, call you back if you’d rather. But I gotta find out what’s in this guy’s head.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: I want to go back to Robert in South Lake, Texas. I don’t want you to have to hold on any longer than you already have, but I want to start at the beginning. You’re still there, I trust?

CALLER: Yes, I’m here.

RUSH: You, a lifelong Democrat, you used to think that I was just a blowhard windbag. Did you think that actually listening to me or just because of what people had told you about me?

CALLER: I thought that because the news stations and everybody around me, mostly my constituents —

RUSH: Okay.

CALLER: — that’s all you ever heard, you know, they’re just far-right kooks and, you know —

RUSH: Right.

CALLER: — you have CNN, ABC, NBC —

RUSH: Okay, let me ask you this, Robert. You may not remember this, but right before Obama was inaugurated in 2009, it would have been the middle of January, it got a lot of coverage, I openly said, “I hope he fails.” And of course the media ran with that as saying I was being unpatriotic. Nobody ever wants their president to fail. “That’s like Limbaugh saying he wants America to fail.” I wanted America to be spared. I wanted America not to fail and not to be harmed, and I feared that Obama succeeding would result in America’s failure, and it’s happening. Now, did you hear me or did you hear that reported about what I had said back then, and if so, did that make you mad at me?

CALLER: Yes. Yes, it did because the media didn’t want to come right out and say it, but they were suggesting that you said that because you were a racist.

RUSH: Right.

CALLER: You were a far right kook.

RUSH: Right.

CALLER: And I know that not to be true.

RUSH: But you didn’t then, you didn’t then. So back then you were all caught up in the fervor and you were hoping, as you said, that Obama would be a —

CALLER: Role model.

RUSH: — a counter-role model for young African-American youths instead of the gangsta rappers that they look to now?

CALLER: Exactly.

RUSH: Now, how long did it take for you to become disappointed with Obama, what you were hoping for, how long did it take you to realize it wasn’t happening?

CALLER: I’m not really sure. I think maybe a couple of years into his presidency I started noticing a trend, that everything he was doing, he was blaming others. He wasn’t taking responsibility. Now, a role model is a person that I wanted for black Americans, the young black Americans, the ones that feel disenchanted, disenfranchised and all that, to have someone to look up to. And when you look up to a person as a role model the first thing at the top of the list is a sense of responsibility, ownership of what you’re doing. But he blames everybody else, not himself.

RUSH: It’s amazing, isn’t it? And he gets away with it. I mean, he’s been president now for over four years, and none of what’s happened attaches to him, because he’s out there making everybody think he’s opposing it, fighting it, trying to fix it, and these powerful forces elsewhere keep sandbagging him, but he’s still working hard. He doesn’t want to raise the deficit. He’s gonna cut everybody’s taxes, give ’em health care, but it’s just not happening. But he’s not getting blamed for it. So at some point for you the bloom came off the rose and all of a sudden all of us conservative blowhards and windbags, you started changing your tune on. Why? What was the catalyst for that?

CALLER: When you said the Limbaugh Theorem and the sequestration, I said, “Oh, I had about enough of this.” That did it.

RUSH: Well, that was just a couple weeks ago.

CALLER: Yes, but that really did it. I was moving in that direction maybe seven, eight, nine months ago, right before his election, and I didn’t vote for him the second time, and I didn’t vote for Romney because Romney started off okay, then he started migrating left, and I didn’t like that. So I said, “To hell with both of them.” But I’m just through with the Democratic Party if the Democratic Party is going to be the party of huge government. I work for a living. No one’s given me anything. I don’t mind helping anyone that needs help. I don’t mind helping the veterans or the disabled or the aged, but for people to sit around and expect for me to work and they take my money and give it to them? Because Obama seems to be conveying to them, “Don’t worry about it, blame others for your problems, because I’m gonna give you some of theirs anyway.” I don’t like that at all.

RUSH: Well, are you alone in this or do you have —

CALLER: No. My whole family, I mean, I have a lot of constituents, a lot of friends. And I’ve been talking to them. I listen to you, Mark Levin, I listen to Sean Hannity on WPAP every day now, and they’re starting to listen, and we’re talking, we’re tweeting back and forth, and I don’t believe that the Tea Party — I don’t know about the GOP ’cause they got some problems over there — the Tea Party patriots, the true conservatives, I don’t think they have to worry about getting the White House in 2016.

RUSH: Well, the focus right now is the House of Representatives in 2014.

CALLER: No, that’s not gonna happen. You don’t have to worry about that. They are not gonna take control of the House in 2014, trust me. If Obama keeps doing what he’s doing he’s gonna probably lose the Senate, too.

RUSH: Well, the only problem with that is that there’s a party in this equation that if anybody could lose it, they could. And they’re called the Republicans.

CALLER: I know. I don’t know what’s wrong with them. I mean, I used to have a lot of —

RUSH: Well, I’ll tell you what’s wrong. Robert, they’re afraid that if they criticize Obama in a proper and just way, that people like you are gonna never vote for ’em and that you’re gonna hate ’em and you’re gonna think they’re racists.

CALLER: No, no, no, no. Not at all. Because, let me tell you the irony and the beauty of that is — let me just step back for a minute. Obama is half black and half white. You cannot say, no one can be labeled a racist, because we have five years of proof of what this man is doing, or what he’s not doing, and what type of person he is. And like I said before, there’s something sinister about this man. No one’s gonna label them a racist. Our eyes are wide open now. Many of us are not low-information voters anymore, and we’re not beholden to the Democrat Party anymore.

RUSH: Well, now, wait a minute. Robert, how many people are you speaking for here when you say “We are not gonna be fooled anymore” and “We are not low-information voters anymore.” Who are you talking about?

CALLER: Many Democrats. I mean, many. I’m part-owner of KRF Financial Group. Many of us, my whole neighborhood, I live in South Lake, my whole neighborhood, we’re walking, we’re talking, everybody’s saying the same thing. We do not want to sit here and be robbed by a government for nothing. They’re giving our money way to anybody and everybody. I mean I worked hard for what I have.

RUSH: Is it true that just two years ago you felt the exact opposite?

CALLER: That’s correct, because two years ago I was thinking this man was in there to try to help the disenfranchised. He’s gonna be a good role model. He was gonna bring blacks, whites, Orientals, Hispanics, everybody together. It hasn’t happened that way. Unfortunately, I hate to say it, but he’s probably been the worst president — and I’m 55 years old — worst president I have ever seen, and I’ve been through the days of the Los Angeles riots and the sixties and the seventies and eighties and the nineties and I’ve had enough this. This is not going to help us. It is destroying us.

RUSH: Well, I don’t disagree. I’m happy to hear what you’re saying. It just surprises me. I’m hoping that these kinds of things are happening right now.

CALLER: Don’t be surprised.

RUSH: Robert, the reason — see, none of what’s happening to me — and by the way, don’t misunderstand. This is not a criticism at all. But none of what’s happening is a surprise to me, because he’s a liberal. I know who they are. I know what they do. It doesn’t matter, Obama or Algore or Hillary, they’re all of the same bent.

CALLER: I know.

RUSH: So none of this surprises me.

CALLER: I know.

RUSH: And I’ve been frustrated. I’ve been frustrated that so many Americans don’t see it, because it’s so easy. It’s not hard to see the truth here. And you finally have. And you call here and you tell me that there are lots of people now with their eyes open, and I hope that you’re right. I see his approval numbers falling in the polls, but I don’t want to attach too much weight to that because, you know, they could just as quickly change tomorrow.

CALLER: No, it’s real. Trust me, it’s real, and I live in Texas, and Texas is real red.

RUSH: Well, I know. That’s the point. If you were calling me from San Francisco or Los Angeles, it might be even more impactful. But you already live in a red state.

CALLER: But all the people who are moving here are from California and New York and Detroit and Chicago and Atlanta. They’re moving to Texas. Why do you think everybody’s running to Texas?

RUSH: Let me warn you about that. On one hand that’s something to be proud of. But those people are not gonna become conservatives. They’re gonna come there and they’re gonna be their good little liberal selves.

CALLER: No, no.

RUSH: And they’re gonna end up turning Texas into California if you all aren’t careful.

CALLER: No, no. I have some neighbors that came from San Diego, Los Angeles, and the Bay Area, and they were Democrats. They are now conservative. They left California because they don’t want Texas to turn into California.

RUSH: Well, that’s good, but just keep it in the back of your mind, because, you know, in Florida, we’ve had an influx of people from the Northeast, and they come down there, and they’re still liberals. They’re fleeing liberalism. They’re fleeing taxes. They’re fleeing property taxes. They’re fleeing the fact they can’t afford to buy anything, but they come down here and they still elect Democrats and they still hang around and they still do all the stuff that ended up turning their states blue. You gotta keep a sharp eye on it, Robert.

CALLER: Well, after Obama you’ll see that’s not gonna happen, ’cause I think the trend is slowing down, and people are starting to say, “Oh, no, we don’t want any more of this.”

RUSH: Okay. What do you think about this. I’ve got a story here from a Washington Examiner says that the Democrat dream ticket in 2016: Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama.

CALLER: (laughing) Is that a joke?

RUSH: No. No, no. In 2016, Hillary, Michelle, dream ticket idea floated.

CALLER: That will never happen.

RUSH: Well, you are speaking with ontological certitude here, and I wouldn’t have thought any of this would ever happen to America in my lifetime, but it has. We have a long road back, Robert. It could take a generation to reverse some of this stuff. Obamacare, that’s still a roll of the dice.

CALLER: That’s true, Obamacare is ruining everybody. Even my insurance has gone up. But let me tell you something that happened. Obama went too far. If he had-a just eased into it, gradually, but he is kicking the walls down, he is running through everything like gangbusters —

RUSH: That’s because he knows he’s got basically a year-and-a-half here to get it done, and after that, everybody focuses on 2014, and then the presidency in 2016. So his grand strategy is to get as much done as he can the next year-and-a-half, have the Democrats win the House, have one-party rule from 2014 on, and not have to worry about any opposition.

CALLER: Oh, that’s not gonna happen, Rush. Trust me. I understand what you’re saying. You have to have faith in us out here. You’re a radio host, you’re trying to inform people. We are informed now. That’s not gonna happen.

RUSH: Well, I hope you’re right, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you’re in the audience, and I’m grateful that you got through. It’s been a delight to talk to you, Robert, and I thank you so much. I’ve gotta go. I take another obscene profit time-out here. But thank you very much. I hope you have a great day and keep on.

CALLER: You, too. Bye.

RUSH: See you later.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: What a great caller that guy was. That kind of call gives you hope. I’ll tell you, as host, it gave me hope. Folks, I’m just like you. We sit out here and we know that we reach a lot of people, millions upon millions of people. We also know we’re outnumbered when you add up the number of people Hollywood reaches and television shows reaches; that music, late night comedy TV shows, and books to a uncertain extent reach. We’re just simply outnumbered, media-wise, in that regard.

The whole objective here has been to create the largest informed citizenry, participatory citizenry possible. If there’s been one objective to the program aside from the business requirements — you know, to get a large audience and hold it. If you want to attach a mission statement, it’s, “We want a large, informed, educated, participating-in-the-process population.” So calls like that are gratifying, and he’s confident when he says there’s all kinds of people like him out there.

You know, on the other side of it, Obama has won two elections, and we’ve had calls like that throughout these 25 years. At some point, one thing I know: If this country is going to be saved and the direction we’re going turned around, it’s going to require a bunch of Roberts being created or converting or what have you. It’s gonna take that. Millions of people are gonna have to wake up. Millions of low-information voters need to wake up.

He told us he was one.

Millions of them are gonna have to wake up, and when they see the truth they’re gonna have to accept it. It’s tough. The presidency is a revered institution. People do not want to think that their president lies. People don’t want to think or believe that their president would actually create policies that would hurt people. It’s just the exact opposite. People don’t want to think that they’ve elected somebody that doesn’t like the way this country was founded. So it’s a really, really difficult thing to try to reach a typical Obama voter or low-information voter and have the lights go off as it did with Robert.

Basically just in the past seven or nine months, did he start his evolution. And then, what’s interesting… Now, he could have been sucking up, but I don’t think so. He didn’t sound like that. He didn’t sound like a guy who sucks up, but he could have been when he said that when I explained the Limbaugh Theorem and the sequester, that’s when the light went off for him. Now, that’s gratifying to me. I don’t care what it is that causes people to wake up, though. It has to happen, folks. It has to happen. That is what’s gonna create leadership in Washington, I’m convinced.

It’s gonna have to bubble up in the grassroots.