RUSH: As you know, ladies and gentlemen, I carefully produce and examine the Drive-By Media practically every waking hour. It’s amazing I’m still sane and well adjusted, upbeat, and positive. But I do. I do it for show prep, any number of other reasons, and I’ll tell you something. All of a sudden there are of stories, dozens of articles in the Drive-By Media about how all of these outsiders — Republican and Democrat candidate outsiders — are doing well in the campaign.
And thus stories about how the American voters are fed up with the political class, the political insiders and business as usual. And the people in the Drive-By Media are concluding that this is why Trump and Carson and Fiorina are surging in the polls. Now, to them this is news, that there is anger outside the political class. I told you the other day (and I think it was as true then as it is today) that I think most in the media do not know who their audience is, including the libs.
But they probably have a better handle on it that some of the so-called conservative media outlets in knowing who their audience is. But the idea that there is anger out there, the idea that outsider candidates would do well is just now occurring to the Drive-By Media.
And, by the way, I can believe that. Now, some people might think that it’s all just a show and it’s the latest script, the daily narrative, soap opera. I think there’s some legitimacy to this. I think… Look at where they live. They live in New York and Washington, and they live in a bubble.
And where they live, things are good. There’s no economic downturn in Washington, DC. And for the people we’re talking about, there is no economic downturn in New York City. Not for the people we’re talking about. Not for the people in the ruling class, the elites, the whatever you would call them. The establishment. I mean, things for them are fine. And they’re not impacted by immigration, illegal immigration. They’re not impacted by all of the plunging economy or aspects of the economy.
They’re not really all that impacted by Obamacare. Things for them are pretty cool. And, as such, I have found it’s part of human nature. Most people think that other people are doing just as well as they are in one way or one sense, especially in their own cohort. I think it’s genuine shock. I think that it’s not just Trump. It started out with Trump, who is an outsider, and his campaign was succeeding because they think the Tea Party’s oddballs anyway and they think that the Tea Party and the conservative base is a bunch of freaks and kooks.
But now they’re looking at Bernie Sanders just leaping over Hillary Clinton like she’s not even there, and they’re all of a sudden wondering. They’re looking at Ben Carson coming out of nowhere, and Carly Fiorina, after debate performances, after substantive debate performances. These people are not buying a lot of media yet. They’re not out there buying their name recognition. I think Drive-Bys are a little shocked that there is this kind of anger. Remember, in their world, Obama’s one of the greatest presidents ever.
In their world, Obama is cool and hip and has vanquished all of their enemies. And to the extent they understand the anti-immigration movement, they attach it to chalk it up to kookism or racism or xenophobia or bigotry or what have you. But it’s not legitimate to them. The attitudes of people unhappy in America, they’re not legitimate attitudes. They’re not to be taken seriously, because they’re fringe in these people’s minds.
But now they’re having a tough time explaining to themselves why all of these “outsiders” — in their view, by the way — are going to climb in presidential polls, when they think all these people are idiots. They think these people are fringe characters. Even Ben Carson they think is a fringe guy. Hell, some on our side think that! Some of the moderate RINOs on our side think some of these candidates are fringe. I mean, that’s the whole point. They do not know their audience.
The media doesn’t know theirs. I’m convinced the Republican Party doesn’t know who their real voters are, and I think so many media outlets have no idea who their audience is, including, if their audience is the American people. Because I think — and I’ve said this before — the Drive-By Media, basically its audience is other Drive-Bys. You know, when Chuck Todd is hosting Meet the Press — and I don’t mean to pick on Chuck Todd.
When Stephanopoulos is hosting whatever he hosts, do you think they’re doing that show for the American people, the information, the education? No. They’re doing that for other Drive-Bys. They’re trying to score points with other Drive-Bys. They’re trying to make news or get close to the newsmakers. They’re pumping a company line! The idea they’re actually serving an audience of viewers, I don’t think even occurs to them. Or, if it does, very little.
I think this explains how CNN can sit there with no audience and just keep on trucking and not make a single change in what they’re doing. They’re beginning to, by the way, with some analysts of the conservative bent who are being hired. Now, when it all started they thought it was Trump. They thought Trump was an outlier. They came up with every kind of explanation except substance to explain Trump to themselves, and then they tried insulting Trump’s supporters as a bunch of kooks and crazies and idiots and so forth.
And then Trump does things that they think should end the candidacy of anybody, and would have ended the candidacy of practically anybody else. But Trump survives it, and they’re mystified. They don’t get it; they don’t understand it. Trump should have been gone long ago, folks, in their world. In their minds, he should have stepped in it, should have been gone after having stepped in it two or three times.
But whoever is responsible for this… It still is quite an achievement that the Drive-By Media… I mean, there’s all kinds of stories today. Ron Fournier explaining Hillary’s saga is especially poignant today, and I have all of these details to back these assertions coming up. But it is fascinating here to me to see all of a sudden all of these stories about this. And they’re legitimate, by the way. They’re not insulting American voters.
This is noteworthy about the voters being fed up with political insiders, fed up with business as usual. Now, don’t misunderstand. This does not mean the Drive-Bys are gonna all of a sudden be supportive and are going to abandon the elites and the ruling class. That’s not what this means, and I’m not saying the media is coming around. That’s not my point here. I don’t think that’s ever going to happen, not in our lifetimes and the current construct.
I’m just saying they are finally seeing something that they think is substantive and real rather than a quirk of fate, and they don’t know what to do about it, and they don’t know how to deal with it, and they’re looking at how to kill it. That hasn’t changed, and they can’t figure out how to do it. ‘Cause all these people… Look, the media didn’t make Trump, and the media didn’t make Ben Carson, and the media didn’t make Carly Fiorina. Ted Cruz? I mean, the media, if anything, has tried to take these people out.
But I’ve always said, “When the media doesn’t make you, the media can’t destroy you.” But if you allow the media to make you, in other words, if you become a success or a highly recognized figure, if you have a lot of fame or what ever like Kardashians simply because the media attention, they can take you out, too. But they’re not gonna be able to take Trump out. Trump’s gonna have to do that himself one way or the other. They can’t do it. And that frustrates them, too. They’re used to being able to make people and break people.
And some of these insiders say, “Do you realize Ben Carson’s coming out of nowhere after just one debate performance? He’s not buying a lot of media time. He’s showing up everywhere,” and this has them befuddled. They don’t understand how this is happening. They don’t think anybody can get anywhere without going through them, even if they have to trick them. Look at this from TheHill.com: “Outsiders Take Over GOP.” Washington Post: “It’s Not Just Trump: Voter Anger Fuels Outsider Candidates.” It’s become a narrative.
Just like, do you remember last week or maybe it was two weeks ago, the stories on air-conditioning and how air-conditioning was sexist and unfair because the original inventors and designers who put it in office buildings did not factor in women working there? They devised comfort systems based on male executives wearing coats and ties, in some cases vests, and so women are shivering in there because of sexism.
How does that story become a story in the New York Times and in the Washington Post and on CBS, ABC, and NBC? It’s a nothing story. It’s a cockamamie, BS story. How does it end up everywhere? Well, there’s a story here in the Stack tracing how that happens in the Drive-By Media. So it’s happening here with this theme of outsiders all of a sudden rising up. And it’s happening, as I say, throughout the Drive-By Media.
The Washington Post article goes on to say, “The surging candidacies of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are fueled by peopleÂ’s anger with the status quo and desire for authenticity in political leaders. Across the ideological spectrum, candidates are gaining traction by separating themselves from the political and economic system that many everyday Americans view as rigged against them, which is pretty close. And what does it say about Obama?
‘Cause these people on any other day think everybody loves Obama. I mean, they look at the polls and see his disapprovals are around 50, but still, they love Obama, they think everybody else loves Obama. So for them it’s a dilemma. I mean, how can there be all this outsiderism and anger at the establishment when over here we’ve got beloved young king, Barack Hussein O. So I’m telling you, the Drive-Bys are conflicted.
But they are talking about this now, and they’re doing it in ways above and beyond the fact that kookery is in play. Now, do not misunderstand. This does not constitute the media seeing the light, changing. It’s just their latest narrative and reporting, but it is different in the sense that it’s attributing this anger to substance rather than quackery, kookery, fringism, or of what you.
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RUSH: Oh, you know what I just saw? You know what they’re doing up on Fox right now? They’re doing a story on all of the Drive-By stories on “outsiders.” See how this works? So they get something started, everybody’s gonna be talking about it. You heard it here first, but I was alerting you to it rather than falling for it, the premise.
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RUSH: Nick in Naples, Florida. Hey, Nick, great to have you on the program. Hello.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. How you doing?
RUSH: I’m fine. Thank you much.
RUSH: I like your thinking on this, Nick, that they’re not outsiders. They just happen to be genuine, and the genuineness is such a stark standout from the norm that it’s attracting people, that they’re not… You know, that’s an excellent point, ’cause this whole term “outsiders,” what does it mean? It means “fringe” in one sense. It could mean “kook” in another. An outsider, well, that’s somebody who wants in. Why do they want in?
‘Cause what’s inside is what’s it, what’s hip, what’s cool. So just the term “outsider” can be used with the implication that they’re kooky or fringy. So, Nick, this is an excellent point. He says it’s… Just to rephrase what he said, they’re not attracting attention and rising in the polls because they’re outside the system per se. They’re outside the system because they are genuine and real and principled and substantive, which in and of itself is attractive, not just that they’re outsiders. Excellent point.
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