RUSH: We go to… let’s see. This is Ted in Grand Haven, Michigan. Hello, Ted. I’m glad you called. It’s your turn. Make it count.
CALLER: Thank you, Rush. I have to admit I’m kind of mad. You started your program talking about the polls. You were citing polls, citing public opinion, citing dislike about Obama. Yet even after four years of having Obama, there were five million less Republicans who voted in 2012.
RUSH: Four million, but who’s counting, yes.
CALLER: What’s that?
RUSH: Four million.
CALLER: Whatever you’re trying, Rush, is not working. You keep giving us hope, and we get our clocks cleaned. Five million less Republicans voted! We’re losing.
RUSH: It was four million. Not five.
CALLER: Okay, four million.
RUSH: But who’s counting?
CALLER: I think what you’re trying is not working. You’re not motivating the Republicans.
RUSH: I’m not trying to motivate the Republicans. I don’t think it’s possible. I’m not even sure the Republicans want to win other than to get their committee chairmanships. I don’t think the Republicans really care. I don’t think they want the job! I don’t think they want the pressure of leading. I don’t think the Republicans want a smaller government at all. I don’t think the Republicans want to reduce government. I just think they want to run it for a couple of years so they lose it again.
CALLER: If you’d motivated us years ago, five — four more million people may have voted for the Republican candidate.
RUSH: Oh, wait. This is my fault?
CALLER: I’m upset. You’re… If you want to be our leader, I’m not getting much motivation from you that we’re gonna win this time. Citing polls doesn’t work.
RUSH: That’s not why I cited the poll. I didn’t cite the poll to motivate anybody one way or the other, to vote or not vote.
CALLER: Well, why did you cite them then?
RUSH: Because it’s news! Because it’s incredible. Because despite Obama falling apart, the Republicans aren’t taking advantage of it. Have you not been listening the past six weeks?
CALLER: Yes. I’m a very loyal listener, Rush. I’ve been a listener since 19-whenever the LA riots happened.
RUSH: I’ll tell you what, Ted. I’m as frustrated as you are. We’ve got a golden opportunity. We’ve had it since 2010, and the Republicans will not seize it!
CALLER: How would you do that?
RUSH: They’ve had every opportunity to forge a majority support, with a majority of the American people. They don’t do it.
CALLER: Tell me what to do, as one Republican in west Michigan.
RUSH: As one Republican in west Michigan, what to do?
CALLER: Yeah. What do I do?
RUSH: In the first place, do not assume more responsibility than is actually yours. You nor any individual is not responsible for what happens in the Republican Party.
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: Whether you vote or don’t vote. In a situation like this, I’ll tell you what. I had a friend come over to the house yesterday. Let me tell me tell you all a little story. I wasn’t gonna mention this. I still can’t tell you who. Everybody would know who it is, but everybody that comes to my house understands the only way they’ll speak to me is if I promise it won’t be repeated.
Well, I can repeat it without telling you who. But the person that came over was dyed-in-the-wool for Obama six years ago, and four years ago was less so. But this person also still is — I’m telling you — a well-known, extremely wealthy, person everybody would think is quite informed. But even this person, all he wanted to know is, “Who are the Republicans gonna nominate?”
He desperately wants Republicans to win. He thinks somebody’s gotta stop this. “Who? Who? Who, Rush? Who is gonna run?” There have been a couple of three things that have frightened the hell out of this man in just the past two years, and he’s awakened. But you should have seen his face fall when I told him, “It doesn’t matter right now who the Republicans nominate.”
I said to this gentleman, “The Republicans are gonna win,” and I gave him the spiel that I gave last week here. “The Republicans are gonna win big in November. I don’t know if they’re gonna take control of the Senate, but they’re going to win big. The problem, sir, is that it’s always a protest vote. The people who are gonna be voting for Republicans in November are not actively voting for Republicans.
“Right now, they don’t even know what the Republicans stand for. What they think of Republicans is they’re the other guys. They’re mad at the Democrats, they’re mad at Obama.” I said, “Do you remember the eighties?” “Yep.” “Did you like what happened in the ’80s?” “I loved what happened the eighties.” “Can you tell me then why so many people forgot it? Why, after all of those eight solid years, sir, of overwhelming success and economic advancement, recovery, you name it, do people continue to vote for hose who want to destroy that?”
He said, “Good point. I don’t know.” I said, “It’s because they’re never really actively voting for Republicans. They’re just voting against Democrats — and after a while, they think it’s safe to go back. After they get their anger out of their system.” He said, “Well, what’s gonna stop this?” I said, “What’s gonna stop it is the Republican Party standing for something. The Republican Party has gotta stand for something!”
“It’s gotta more than who’s the nominee gonna be, sir. The Republican Party’s gonna have to stand up and spell out an agenda! The Republican Party’s gotta stand up and tell the American people why they’re mad, why they’re unhappy, why they feel unsafe. Instead of just trying to take advantage of those feelings, they’ve gotta stand up and tell people! ‘Why is the country going to hell? Answer: Democrat Party, Barack Obama!’
“And then list the policies. The only way people are gonna learn is if they’re told. But if you’re afraid to tell ’em because you’re gonna be called a racist, you’re gonna forever shut up. So you’ll take being voted for when they’re mad at the Democrats, and you’ll get your jollies running the government for two or three years, and then people will go back to Democrats when they feel safe again.
“If you want to stop this cycle, you gotta stand for the opposite of what’s happening now, not just a little bit different, not just a little bit smarter. You gotta stand for the opposite! You have gotta stand for the government getting smaller. You have gotta stand for all this spending to stop. You gotta stand for lower taxes. You’ve gotta stand for people being able to keep more of what they earn. You gotta be willing to support the fact that there are careers to be had, not jobs.
“There’s any number of things! It’s sitting on a silver platter for the Republican Party, but I don’t see anybody,” outside of a couple names I gave him, but a couple names isn’t enough. And then I gave him, “Look at the story of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Look at five years, sir! Five years! You probably… Back then, you supported the Democrats. You probably thought Bush was the stupidest idiot on the face of the earth, if that’s what you believed in the media.
“And Bush, they never defended anything. The Republican Party doesn’t have an agenda, they’re not announcing what they’re for. But more importantly, the Republican Party does not explain to people why they’re miserable, why they feel unsafe, why they’re unhappy.” I said, “For the life of me, I can’t figure it out. How does a full-fledged Republican Party actually allow another party to get away with claiming that they hate women?
“It is absurd! How does that happen? How does a party stand accused of conducting a War on Women have people believe it? Well, the answer is, they don’t refute it.” I said, “This is why I don’t care who the nominee is right now.” I said, “You know, it’s about so much more than that,” and
it is. I get so sick and tired of, “Who do you think it’ll be? Will it be Christie? Do you think…?”
I don’t care. It’s not the story, who the nominee is. Look, I don’t intend any offense, but to give you an idea how bad it is, they’re talking about Romney again. Now, I love Mitt Romney as a human being. Mitt Romney is one of the… He is just one of the most decent guys you’ll ever run into. Unfortunately, he’s demonstrated two things: That four million Republicans will not vote for him and stay home instead, and that he can lose.
If that is the answer four years later, there’s something that’s not quite kosher. As I said, “As long as the Republican Party is seen as supporting the Democrats on amnesty, it doesn’t matter who they nominate, and it doesn’t matter if they get their Senate chairmanships. They’re not gonna change the country.” I said, “The real question we’ve all gotta answer here is: Do they really want to change the country?
“Or are they like the establishment everywhere: They like Big Government. They want their chance to run Big Government. They want their chance to be in charge of the money spent in Big Government. They want to get benefits from crony capitalism for four years or so until people get tired of ’em and vote for the Democrats again.” I said, “The solution here isn’t that hard. It’s just I don’t see anybody espousing it.”
Does that help, Ted?
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: He-he-he. Oh, you’re gonna love this. I checked the e-mail during the break, and now I’m getting e-mails: “You ducked the guy’s issue. You ducked the guy’s question.” I ducked the question? What they’re saying in the e-mail, the reason I ducked the guy’s question, “This guy said you’re the leader. You’re the guy trying to get people to vote Republican, and you’re doing a lousy job of it, and you didn’t answer him.”
Look, this is a fine line I’ve gotta walk here. This guy thinks I’m the leader. He also thinks I want to be. I’m not Colin Powell is the titular head of the Republican Party. I’m just an entertainer. I’m just a guy on the radio. But you know what his call really gets to? I mean, I don’t want to get too deep here, but you know what his call really gets to? “What are you doing? What are you doing on the radio? What are you trying to accomplish on the radio?”
I’ve said this before. I’m a radio guy. There are business responsibilities. There are things that have to happen here, because if they don’t, the content is academic, it doesn’t matter what I do if the business requirements aren’t met. You know what my purpose here is? To create and hold the largest audience possible so that we can charge confiscatory advertising rates. That’s the job and I’ve made no secret of that. I told 60 Minutes that. “Oh, you’re just in it for the money?”
No, I knew you’d say that, you idiot, small-minded clowns. I’m telling you that I view this as a business. I’m on the radio. That’s the gig.
“Are you saying you don’t believe what you say?”
Not at all. Did I say I don’t believe what I say?
“Well, do you make it up?”
No, I believe everything I say. I’m totally honest. I do everything on this program from the bottom of my heart. But my success — 25 years — my success is not determined by who wins and loses elections. I don’t control campaigns. I don’t control candidates. I don’t control who gets the nomination, and I don’t control those people. They win and they lose, and they come and they go. Why would I tie my success to any of them? I do this program for you, the audience. It is to you and your service that I do this every day.
My objective is to create the largest informed, participating bloc of citizens possible, voting citizens in a responsible way. And so, I get news today that Obama is down big time with women and a woman has thrown him under the bus because he makes women feel unsafe. The purpose in telling you that is not to get people to vote Republican. Right now, I’m trying to get more and more low-information people to understand the mistake they’re making supporting Democrats.
I can’t control the Republican Party. I’m not the Republican Party. I don’t have a thing to do with the Republican Party, policy-wise, nothing. It’s why I’m writing children’s books. I want people to know the truth of this country. They are being lied to about it every day in the media. They are being dispirited. They’re being told the country’s best days are behind them. I don’t believe any of that. I believe the country’s best days are ahead with responsible, inspiring, uplifting leadership. There are ways to turn this around.
It’s frustrating just being a guy on the radio. I don’t want to run for office because of the pay cut. I’ve always said that. None of this is new. And it’s all on record. I know what the Democrat Party stands for. I’m not sure what the Republican Party stands for right now. I’m sorry. But I know what the Democrat Party stands for. I know what liberalism is, I know what they do. I’m trying to inform as many people to vote against the Democrat Party substantively, not ’cause they’re mad at ’em, not because they’re tired of ’em for a while. I want people to understand how voting Democrat limits their futility, limits their lives, damages the country. That’s what’s going on here.
But I can’t come here and make promises to you about what the Republicans are gonna do ’cause I don’t know what they’re gonna do. And I don’t know who they’re going to nominate. I don’t have a preference right now. We’re not there yet. I know it’s the focal point. I was playing golf Saturday, “Are we gonna win the Senate?” You know what I start to say when I get these questions? “Are we gonna win the Senate? As though that’s it, that’s the solution, is winning the Senate. Are we gonna win the Senate?”
I said, “Yeah, but it isn’t gonna matter.” And that is like a cold. “What do you mean, it isn’t gonna matter?” Then that’s when I know they’re listening. If I say, “Yeah, we’re gonna win, but,” they wouldn’t hear anything after the “but.” All they care about is are we gonna win. But if I say, “Yeah, but it isn’t gonna make any difference,” then they want to know why, so they listen. Then I give them the spiel that I just gave you. And, look, folks, I’m not trying to be pessimistic here.
You know I’m the mayor of Realville. I know how far optimism goes. I know how far inspiration goes, and like I said at the beginning of the program, we have enough pessimism. People provide that on their own. Leaders cannot fall prey to it. Leaders cannot join the crowd in pessimism and negativity. That’s not what leaders do. And I’m not joining you in it, by the way, for those of you who think I’m the leader. I am not pessimistic. And don’t claim that I am simply by pointing these things out. I’m the mayor of Realville. You can’t get past something until you know what you’re dealing with.
You ought to see, I’ll tell you, it would be impossible for me to be pessimistic. My show in these last 25 years are a testament to why pessimism would be insane for me. But you ought to see since we’ve started the — and this is not a shameless plug. I wasn’t even gonna mention this but now it just happens to flow. You know, we’re really hyping the Facebook page for Rush Revere. And you ought to see what’s coming in. And the RushRevere.com exclusive website. You ought to see the things people are sending us. We’ve got parents and young readers saying, “You need to get these books in every school.”
They’re sending us pictures of themselves reading the books. We’re getting notes from teachers thanking us for the books because it’s making it easier for them to teach real history in class. And if you are on the receiving end of this like we are, you’d be optimistic, too. It’s a long slog. I’m not saying we’re overcoming anything here yet, but at least the effort that’s being made, the mission that we’re engaged in here in this effort, young people 10 to 13 and their parents and grandparents, I mean, it’s drawing some really, really upbeat, magnanimous, magnificent, feedback. If you were here looking at it, and you can see it if you go to any of those places, our Facebook page or RushRevere.com, there are reasons for optimism.
I’ll tell you another reason I’m optimistic. Now, this will maybe make some of you raise your eyebrows. But the very fact people are not happy is an opportunity, to me. The very fact that people are beginning to see the light. Okay, Obama, mess. Immigration, mess. ISIS, mess. Ebola, there’s a chance. There’s an opportunity here to finally tell people why they’re feeling and thinking what they’re feeling and thinking. And that’s an opportunity to me, and that’s what I’m doing here. But not on behalf of the Republican Party, because I’m not them. And nobody on the radio is in charge of, or even closely tied to what the party’s doing.
I’m like everybody else. I think I know what they should be doing, and I’ve said so on plenty of occasions, but I don’t have any control over it. But I also have a belief — and I mentioned this, too — I think the vast majority of the American people are fed up with all kinds of stuff. They just can’t say so because of political correctness, and if the right circumstances came together, the majority of people would be able to put their foot down, reverse some of this stuff and get us back on the right track. And I think it’s possible. And for that, I’m optimistic.
I also believe that at some point, may not happen in our lifetime, but at some point — I thought it might be the Millennials, but it isn’t gonna be. They’ve thrown in the towel, at least for now. But there’s gonna be a generation that comes along that’s not gonna tolerate this, whatever this is, they’re not gonna tolerate no rules, no limits, anything goes. They’re gonna want some order in their lives. They’re gonna want some decency. They’re gonna want things to make sense. They’re gonna refuse to accept what they’re being bequeathed in terms of culture and lifestyle and politics. It happens. It’s happened in this country over you could say fourth or fifth generation, and it’s due to happen again.
The country will survive. There’s always gonna be an America. Another reason to be optimistic. We’re in the sixth year of Obama. Think how bad it would be if his approval numbers were still in the seventies and everybody loved what was going on. You want to talk about being depressed, imagine that. It’s one thing to be depressed over the fact that Republicans don’t seem to know how to capitalize on the opportunity, but it’d be a whole different thing if vast majorities supported the crap that’s happening. And they don’t. It’s a reason to be optimistic. Hopeful, maybe, if you don’t like optimistic.