RUSH: No, I’m not gonna divulge the rumor! Jeez! (interruption) Umm… do I want people to be blindsided if it happens? Well, they would be blindsided anyway. Snerdley, a stupid, bogus poll has totally destroyed everybody today. I’m not piling on. I’m just not. It really is amazing. It really is amazing. Obama’s taking it on the chin. The Obamacare rollout’s an absolute disaster. Wherever you look elsewhere the polling of the people of this country is such: “America’s Satisfaction With the US Government Drops to New Low.” “Americans Speaking Out on Government Shutdown: ‘I Think Obama is Being Kind of Crappy.'”
In the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll: 51% think that Obama’s doing this just to advance his agenda, he doesn’t really care about any of this, and yet one bogus aspect of this poll has totally destroyed everybody. Our first caller up there, Shelly, is beside herself. Let’s take the call. Is she ready? Shelly in Port Angeles, Washington. I’ve referred to you twice here. I might as well say hello. Hi.
CALLER: I’m getting famous, I guess, Rush. Thank you for taking my call.
RUSH: You were going to be famous anyway just by appearing here, no matter how much prepub you got.
CALLER: Well, as my dad would say, I have to admire your spunk because you still carry on. With the media it’s
RUSH: Shelly, let me tell you the truth: The American people are not in love with Obama. The American people are not in love with Obamacare. The media is, but the American people aren’t.
CALLER: But it doesn’t matter because with all your reaching of the choir, the media, the lion at the gate, no matter what the true message is, is stopping the word from getting out
RUSH: No!
CALLER: and they twist it —
RUSH: No!
CALLER: No?
RUSH: No. How can it be? How can, even in this Wall Street Journal poll that’s got you so ticked off, 51% of the people think Obama doesn’t care. He’s just doing this to advance his agenda. I’ve got two other polls: “American Satisfaction With the US Government Drops to New Low.” “Americans Speaking Out on Government Shutdown: ‘I Think Obama is Being Kind of Crappy.'” Nobody likes Obamacare. The media loves Obama, loves government, loves Obamacare. The reality is, Shelly, that the media is not successfully propagandizing everybody. You just think they are.
CALLER: Well, I sure hope you’re right because all of the people
RUSH: The biggest problem you have, I’m telling you, you would not feel this way if your party were fighting back.
CALLER: Right.
RUSH: Instead of just somebody on the radio.
CALLER: But they don’t have the propaganda machine like the left does to get it out there. They censor it. The propaganda machine, the media, the Drive By Media has all the bully pulpits. And just because Obama makes a statement, it is so and they put it out there.
RUSH: I do not
CALLER: It never gets to the people.
RUSH: Well, I don’t reject any of that, but they don’t win everything! You know, George W. Bush was elected twice. Ronald Reagan was elected twice. They don’t get everything they want. They can’t make everybody love Obamacare. They still don’t have their amnesty. And they’ve been trying like hell to get it. They’re not winning everything. You’ve got to try to stay focused on the reality of things. Sure it’s unfair. Yes, the media’s a bunch of bunk. Yes, what they’re doing is irresponsible. I understand all of that. But Shelly, in order for you to have the mindset you’ve got, you are sitting there believing that the media is convincing everybody, that everybody believes them. And then furthermore, even when I say Republicans push back, you don’t even think that would work. You’ve already given up. You’re already acting defeated and no matter what anybody proposes as an idea to counter it, you’re not willing to accept that it can work because you think the media already has secured defeat from now ’til the end of time for us; is that right?
CALLER: You even said they are teaching the producers of TV programs to get the message out so it’s all kind of subliminal. The low information voter sees that on a TV program and, yeah, that underscores how they feel. They may hate Obama, but they’re not going to admit they’re wrong and you’re not going to see them hit the other candidate on the ballot. They will stand in line no matter what argument you give them that all of this is trumped up.
RUSH: Okay.
CALLER: That it’s all wrong. That they don’t see what’s happening to this country. They don’t see their freedoms being removed.
RUSH: Then what is your solution?
CALLER: Now, there is the $64 million question. What is the solution? I don’t know, unless somebody who’s all encompassing buys out the media and gets our message out there like these cunning liars do on the other side.
RUSH: It’s not possible. The media owns all the bully pulpits as you said. It doesn’t matter. It is impossible. You’ve just told me it isn’t possible.
CALLER: That’s what I’m saying. So you make my argument. You make my argument. I mean, I’m glad you’re there. I am glad you’re there. You pump us up, and you have all the right facts. But when I try to bring those facts to somebody who’s on the other side, they don’t want to even go there. They don’t even want to hear the facts. They are staying with their feet dug in.
RUSH: Shelly, let me try one more time. I’m not denying the points you make about the media. I’m not even trying to correct you. What I’m trying to do, even though the media exists as they do, how come most people oppose Obamacare and don’t want anything to do with it? The media’s done nothing but say how great it is. The media’s done nothing but say how great Obama is. The media’s done nothing but say how fair and wonderful Obamacare is, and yet clear majorities of people increasing every day want no part of it. How did it happen?
CALLER: I hope, I hope you’re right. I hope I’m wrong. I so hope I’m wrong.
RUSH: It’s not a question to be right or wrong. It’s a question of not giving up and trying to be grounded in reality. What’s happening is you’re falling prey to your fear. Your fear is the media is persuading everybody. But they haven’t persuaded you. How did that happen? Are you the only one that sees it? Are you the only one immune to them? Are you the only one that hasn’t been fooled by them? I don’t think so.
So how’s it happening? You know what Hollywood’s doing, but they don’t, they don’t propagandize you. Hollywood doesn’t get away with making you love Obama, or Obamacare, or climate change. But you’re living in fear that they’re making everybody else stupid and dumb and that they’re convincing, when the reality is they aren’t. And the reality is that the people of this country are fed up with government and that includes Obama!
I’ve got the polling data that says so and it’s right here in the AP and it is in Gallup, and these are mainstream so-called dominant media news organizations. I’m not trying to buck anybody up here. I mean, I’m not trying to artificially keep you in a good mood or keep you positive. I’m just telling you what’s really happening out there. The Republican strategery on Obamacare is to stand aside, let it happen, let it roll out, let it be such a disaster that they claim it’s going to be, that it’s too big, it can’t possibly work.
Well, that strategy can only work if the people are able to conclude that it sucks as they attempt to use it. And I’m telling you the vast majority people don’t want any part of it already. 51,000 people have signed up. I don’t know how many more have tried, but there isn’t a mad dash to healthcare.gov going on. That’s why they won’t tell us the numbers. There is not a mad dash to sign up.
The biggest characterization of people signing up is the curious, to see what the hell it is. But there is not a groundswell of, “Oh, my God, I love Obama, oh, I love healthcare, oh, I love Obamacare, oh, I wait to sign up, oh, I can’t wait to get the healthcare!” That doesn’t exist. 51,000 people have signed up. 51,000 people out of a population of 300 some-odd million, and it happens to be the law of the land — and if you don’t sign up, the IRS theoretically is going to find you and assess a tax on you or a fine if you don’t.
Shelly, you asked me how do I go on? I go on because I know that people like you are out there, and you’ve got to learn to do the same thing. You’ve got to get rid of this fear that you’re the only one who sees the truth. You’ve got to get rid of this fear that everybody is succumbing to the temptations of the Drive-By Media, and I’ll guarantee you that if your political party — the one you vote for and the one you have hopes of opposing were actually fighting back?
You would know about it and you would be happier than you are now when they don’t fight back. And you would know about it whether the media covers it or not. And you’d be happy about it. The biggest problem that we have right now is that the elected representatives of the people who oppose this just aren’t showing up. And it’s been this way for a while. And in fact, it’s worse than that. The people you expect to be fighting back are trying to figure out how to get along.
Speaking of that, let me go to the second story here in the stack today. Right. Here it is. This is from thehill.com. Shelly, this story’s going to make you mad because it’s more media lying. Oh, it may not be media lying, but it’s going to make you mad. Here it is. Headline: “White House Sees GOP on the Ropes.” Why? What happened? Well, they compromised. The Republicans heard the call. The Republicans heard the groundswell, the supposed groundswell of the people. The Republicans heard from where (the media) that the people were demanding compromise?
The Republicans heard that the people were demanding cooperation. The Republicans heard that the people were demanding that they get together and talk, and so the Republicans said, “Okay, you know what? We will gain favor with the people and we will go talk.” So they had a big confab at the White House with Obama yesterday. Guess what? They went up there, and it’s, “You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.” You see all the good compromising does?
All the Republican offers, all their efforts to reach a compromise are now being held against them. As always, the Republicans are damned if they do and damned if they don’t negotiate. “Senior administration officials and White House allies point to the unsteady political maneuvers taken by Republicans in recent days as proof that the president’s no-negotiation strategy is succeeding.” Really?
I thought the American people wanted to negotiate!
The American people were told that. Republicans were told that. “We want to negotiate! We want to negotiate! We want to hear negotiation. We want to see negotiation.” Obama said, “No, I’m not going to.” He was taking it on the chin for not negotiating. Obama had to call a press conference. Obama had to go out and start lying through his teeth about how he was willing to talk to anybody. He was losing on it.
Republicans went up and talked to him in good faith effort. They thought he was serious, and the whole point was for him to say, “No,” for him to kick them out of the White House. So they go home at the end of the two-hour negotiating period, and they get portrayed as a bunch of extremist wackos who came in there and basically told Obama to quit and resign. Essentially. That’s not precise, but that’s the point they try to make at the exaggeration. So Obama, it turns out, was right all along.
It was just better that he didn’t negotiate because these Republicans are so demanding and so unreasonable and so stupid and so silly. It would have been better if they just held out. That’s always the case. Every time they get sucked in by doing… And what are they doing, Shelly? They’re just trying to curry favor with the media. That’s all they’re doing. It’s as frustrating as it can be. They’re just trying to curry favor. They live in this dream world where that can happen.
They actually live in a dream world where the media’s going to like them, the media’s going to respect them. It never works. The only thing that works is holding out for what you believe. I’ll tell you this, too, folks. Let me just say, speaking bluntly, that if Ted Cruz and Mike Lee would go away — which is what the Republican donor class is supposedly demanding. The Republican consultants class is demanding it. McCain is demanding it.
You know, the “Get off my lawn!” people are demanding it, all of the old, tired, worn-out Republican losers are demanding that Cruz and Lee go away. If they did go away, the problem would remain because Cruz and Lee aren’t the problem. The content of the Republican Party — the product, the brand, whatever way you want to characterize it — is not what the best customers want, the heavy users want. This is a business analogy, and I admit that it’s flawed, but it’s as close as I can get.
Any brand that sells a product or service has its best customers, and they do whatever they can to keep them, by definition. Particularly in a brand crisis or any other kind of challenge. The Republican Party is doing the exact opposite. They are taking their best users and acting embarrassed of them and trying to find ways to get rid of them and it just makes no sense. So the brand remains diminished in a culture that is hostile to the perception of what “Republican” has come to mean.
The leaders of the Republican Party do not understand that it’s not the Mike Lees and the Ted Cruzes and the Rush Limbaughs or whatever name of conservative you want to add into this list. That’s not the problem with the Republican Party brand. I haven’t lost an election yet, and I haven’t run for one, either. But Ted Cruz wins elections. Mike Lee wins elections. In fact, the fact of the matter is this party just can’t keep nominating McCains and moderates and Northeasterners and establishment types who think that the future of the party is to be Democrat lite.
That’s not going to fix the brand damage, but they think it is.
They think the brand damage is because of conservatives.
It’s not.