RUSH: Here’s Dave, Raleigh, North Carolina. You’re next, sir. Welcome. I’m glad you waited. Hi.

CALLER: Hi, Rush. It’s an honor.

RUSH: Thank you, sir.

CALLER: I thought the upper-card debate was excellent. But one of the best moments of last night came from the under-card debate when Bobby Jindal called out Lindsey Graham for being part of a do-nothing Congress and failing to push back against Obama. And Lindsey Graham’s response was he got flustered. He started whining about the fact that anything they do, Obama’s gonna veto; he doesn’t want to jeopardize the next election. And Jindal’s reply was he said, “I just wish that the Senate Republicans had half the fight in them that the Senate Democrats do.”

RUSH: True. I’ve heard that. We all have the latest — and it always involved a shutdown. It always involved. “We can’t do that ’cause they’ll shut down the government and we’ll get blamed for that, and that ruins our chances in 2016!” It’s almost an oath. It’s almost an oath that these inside-the-Beltway establishment guys have to swear to, and that is: “We will work with Democrats, and we will not shut down the government, and we will not do things that will cause the president to veto, and we will…”

Because they all say it, they all repeat it, and they use it as the excuse for not doing anything. And what’s worse, they say, “We only have the House now! We really need the Senate. We can’t do anything ’til you give us the Senate!” So we gave ’em the Senate. Now they say, “We need the White House! We really can’t do anything with Obama in the White House,” and what it all adds up to — I think, Dave — is they really just don’t want to do the heavy lifting. It’s hard. It’s hard being in the opposition.

It’s hard taking the fight to the opposition, and I just don’t think they really want to do it. They don’t see any upside in it. And here again, the reason they don’t is because the donors don’t want it. See, it goes back to what I talked about at the very beginning of this program. Let me make this point again, and it’s one of the reasons why outsiders in this campaign are really doing well. Most people in this country vote on the basis of ideas. They want their ideas to triumph. They want their ideas to be implemented, ideas and ideals.

And for the longest time in this country, that is what people thought made the difference in winning and losing: Who had the best ideas and who was best at explaining and emphasizing and inspiring with those ideas? And it’s not that long ago where ideas were a factor. You don’t have to go back any further than 2007. In 2007, the American people shut down a Republican Congress and a Republican president on comprehensive immigration reform with what? Faxes, phone calls, and e-mails.

That’s not that long ago, folks. Eight years ago. Faxes, phone calls, and e-mails still go to Washington probably in greater volume today than they did even in 2007. It doesn’t matter. What matters today? The donor class, the money. So your inside-the-Beltway politicians, ideas are irrelevant. They don’t matter, because there isn’t money behind them. Well, there is, but it can’t compete with the donor class. You’re giving five, 10, 15 bucks. The donor class gives hundreds of thousands.

And so people remember that not that long ago, ideas were what mattered and made the difference in who wins and loses in Washington, but now it’s money. Ergo, the American people are choosing people on the outside, warming up to people on the outside who have been able to make the case that money is not a factor. They can’t be bought. They’re not using it to buy anything. They’re just gonna triumph with their ideas. Believe me, it matters.