RUSH: Okay. I need some guidance here. I need some assistance. I just had to walk out of the studio. It’s part of getting set up and ready for the big program, folks, getting set up, wired up and all that. I’m walking out and out of the corner of my eye I see a big headline on CNN, and I stopped and looked at it, but the sound was off. I didn’t have time, I had no idea what they were saying. I only saw the headline. I had to keep moving. The headline said: “Conservative Host: The Future of the GOP Hangs on Ohio.”
Do you know who’s saying that, Snerdley? I don’t want to step into something here before — Ana Navarro was speaking at the time on CNN, but she’s not a host of anything. I have no idea. But the future of the GOP hangs on Ohio? You know what’s happening out there, folks? It’s incredible. The establishment is once again demonstrating exactly why they are being rebelled against.
Greetings. Great to have you. 800-282-2882 if you want to be on the program. The e-mail address, ElRushbo@eibnet.com.
So what happened between the time we were last here and this moment when the program began? There’s a story out there that says both Kasich and Rubio are thinking now of revising their pledge to support the nominee. Now, take the context and details out of this for a second and ask yourself a question: Isn’t that exactly why the Republican Party is in trouble? It has elected officials who go out and make promises, they make promises during campaigns, they make promises all the time, and then they break them.
Now, you might be saying, “Well, this is a pledge they should break, Rush, I mean, Trump is really dangerous. We can’t afford to have Trump in there.” And, you know, the panic has really set in now. We’ve got a great audio sound bite roster today that pretty much tells the whole story of the day, from all aspects. Some great opinion pieces out there on the absolute end of America if Donald Trump is the Republican nominee. I’m gonna share all of this stuff with you.
Carly Fiorina is out there warning people, all of you anti-Trumpsters, you better stop attacking his voters. That’s not the way to do it. If you keep attacking his voters and if you succeed in defeating Trump for the nomination, you’re gonna have gazillions and gazillions of ticked off Republicans that are not gonna vote for whoever it is you engineer this nomination for. And she’s exactly right. If it at all perceives that Trump is the de facto or actual winner of this thing and they find a way to take it away from him, there’s gonna be hell to pay. His voters, who knows what they’ll do and who knows what Trump will do, go third party or what have you, but she’s exactly right about this.
I know everybody’s struggling, “Well, if we can’t attack his voters and we can’t attack him, how do you defeat Trump?” Well, you know, you could have taken him seriously earlier on. How many people thought Trump wasn’t in it for real up until February? How many people thought Trump was gonna implode? How many people stood aside and how many people chickened out? How many people refused to attack Trump because he’s just gonna turn around and attack you, didn’t want to deal with it.
By the way, you don’t think the Democrats are afraid of that? I’ve got two stories, you know, this is amazing in itself — (interruption) Oh, it was Buck Sexton? Buck Sexton was the host on CNN, who has been a guest host on this program, that’s why I said I gotta be careful who it is they’re talking about. It was Buck Sexton. I guess he wrote a piece for CNN, which they put up about an hour ago, or a couple minutes ago. Anyway his point was the future of the GOP hangs in Ohio. Which means the future of the GOP hangs on John Kasich? And that’s what they’re setting up today.
Let me tell you, you Cruz people, you ought to be fit to be tied, because the Drive-By Media and even some people on Fox News are suggesting if Kasich wins Ohio today that he’s the new hero, he’s bigger than Cruz, he’s more important than Cruz. Has he won a state? He has not won a state, has he? Rubio’s at least won a state. Cruz has won nine or 10 or 11 states. Kasich, does he even have 50 delegates? I don’t have the delegate count, but look what they’re doing. If Kasich wins Ohio, that means he beats back Trump and that means the race — it’s why I said yesterday, if you really want to beat Trump, you need Trump to win both Florida and Ohio today. You need Kasich and Rubio out of this race. That’s the last best hope that people who want to defeat Trump have.
Keeping Kasich in this thing is not the answer. All they’re doing with that is angling for a contested convention where the establishment can work their magic, quote, unquote, and deny the will of the people as expressed by votes in the primary season. That’s what Kasich represents. Now, if you happen to believe that Trump represents the end of the Republican Party, if you happen to believe that Trump represents the end of the United States of America, but more specifically, if you believe that Trump represents the end of the Republican Party, then I guess you can do whatever you think you have to do to save the party. But if you ask me — and nobody did — what the heck has the party been doing lately to recommend itself to people?
We’ve got some incredible Kasich sound bites. He says he just recently learned all the things Trump’s been saying. He’s been so focused on his own campaign — so focused on running Ohio, so focused on being a good governor and so focused on preparing for the debates — that he’s not familiar with all these bad things Trump’s been saying. That’s why he hasn’t been out there condemning them. But I’m serious. The only guy that has a chance to beat Donald Trump is Ted Cruz, folks. At this stage, and if people’s votes are going to be the determining factor…
And believe me, that’s what the establishment’s trying to set up is the erasure of your votes by going to a contested convention. Look at this. This is from the Daily Caller: “RNC rules Committee Member: Every Delegate at GOP Convention Not Bound on First Ballot.” Oh, really? We’ve got a committee member on the rules committee saying: “No, delegates don’t have to vote the way the voters did in the first ballot.”
Well, then what the hell are we doing here? (interruption) Kasich is at 63 delegates. Trump’s got… Here’s the latest. These numbers float because there’s so many different ways of apportioning or assigning delegates, but the ballpark numbers are Trump 469, Cruz 370 — 99 behind — Rubio at 163, Kasich at 63. And the future of the Republican Party hangs on John Kasich? Who, by the way, George Soros just donated two or $300,000 to? (interruption) You didn’t know that? (interruption)
Oh, you didn’t know that? Let me find that here in the Stack. “Soros Associate Gives $200,000 To Pro-Kasich Super PAC — Scott Bessent of Soros Fund Management, an investment firm founded by liberal mega-donor George Soros, has given more than $202,700 to help John KasichÂ’s presidential campaign, according to FEC records.” I saw this developing on the news today that Kasich’s gonna be the big winner. All Kasich has to do is win Ohio and he is the big winner of the day today.
North Carolina’s got more delegates than Ohio has, but it’s a difference in winner-take-all, apportion how they’re divvied up and so forth. I think it’s 75 in North Carolina. Ohio gets a lot of attention because of its importance in the general election. “A Republican National Committee Standing Rules Committee member told the membership Friday that convention delegates are not bound to cast their votes at the convention according to primary vote results in the first round of voting.
“Curly Haugland of North Dakota, a longtime member of the RNC Standing Rules Committee, sent a letter to the RNC membership at large about this issue. He explained how he came to the conclusion that all Republican delegates who participate in the 2016 Republican National Convention are unbound on each ballot round, including the first.” First I’ve heard of this. But now we’ve got a rules committee guy asserting it.
Here’s except for a from the letter: “As most of you know, I have been defending the right of the delegates to the Republican National Convention to vote according to their personal choice in all matters to come before the Republican National Convention, including the vote to nominate the Republican Candidate for President, for several years. Here is something I recently discovered that most of us did not know, including me! Binding delegates to the results of presidential preference primaries first appeared in the Rules of the Republican Party in 1976. …
“Without the use of force to bind the votes of delegates to the results of the primary process, primaries are nearly worthless ‘beauty contests.'” This guy’s admitting it. I’m just… I want to remind you, there’s no way John Kasich… If you believe that the primaries matter and if you believe that the primaries are where we choose the nominee, you want Kasich and Rubio eliminated today. You have to coalesce all of the anti-Trump support behind one candidate. That would be Ted Cruz. That’s the only prayer you’ve got, those of you who are anti-Trump.
The only prayer you’ve got, because I guarantee if they go this contested convention route (and that’s clearly what they’re aiming for), you think they’re gonna put Cruz in there after they deny it to Trump? No way, Jose. (A little Spanish lingo.) The establishment is gonna put one of their northeastern moderate-liberal guaranteed losers in there. In fact, the way I’m reading things there are some Republicans thinking it is worth losing for 25 years in order to deny Cruz or Trump the nomination because of what that would mean for the Republican Party.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Super-Duper Tuesday, Super Tuesday 2. It is what it is. I want to read to you an excerpt from a column that ran I believe it was Sunday at the New York Times. Ross Douthat is a brilliant conservative columnist. He has a piece. I think it’s once a week, maybe twice in the New York Times. And he’s in the group of people that’s very, very worried about Trump and what his nomination would mean, not just for the party, but for the country.
The excerpt: “Trump, though, is cut from a very different cloth. He’s an authoritarian, not an ideologue, and his antecedents aren’t Goldwater or McGovern;” meaning people that preceded him, guided him, people that you might consider in the same league. Trump’s antecedents are people “like George Wallace and Huey Long… No modern political party has nominated a candidate like this; no serious political party ever should. Because such figures speak — as Wallace did, and Long, and Ross Perot, and others — to real grievances, the process of dealing with them is necessarily painful…”
I mean, their complaints with legitimate. The grievances they cite are real and people are experiencing. So it’s tough to deal with these candidates like Trump. It “often involves a third-party bid and a difficult reckoning thereafter. Trump would be no exception: Denying him the nomination would indeed be an ugly exercise, one that would weaken or crush the party’s general election chances, and leave the GOP with a long hard climb back up to unity and health.”
Okay, now, that sets up the three-point shot here: “But if that exercise is painful,” denying Trump the nomination… If denying Trump the nomination is painful, “it’s also the correct path to choose,” writes Mr. Douthat. “A man so transparently unfit for office should not be placed before the American people as a candidate for president under any kind of imprimatur save his own. And there is no point in even having a party apparatus, no point in all those chairmen and state conventions and delegate rosters, if they cannot be mobilized to prevent 35% of the Republican primary electorate from imposing a Trump nomination on the party.”
So this probably suffices as an opinion or thought shared by many in the establishment, and that is, “Whatever we do, we cannot allow Trump, and we’ve gotta use everything at our disposal. Hell, it’s our party! We run the party. We run the chairmen of the delegations. We own the states, we run the national convention, we run the state conventions — and hell’s bells we’re not gonna sit around and let 35% of the Republican primary electorate nominate this guy! If we’re worth anything, if we’re worth our salt — if what we do as Republican leaders and establishment kingmakers matters — we have got to deny this man the nomination of our party.”
And that’s what’s going on out there right now. It is what is informing pretty much every bit of thinking, from Mitt Romney to Kasich to everybody else in the establishment. And they go on to say that they would much rather end up being a minority party for many, many moons — drifting aimlessly in the wilderness — rather than have Trump be the standard-bearer and the nominee. So that’s why all of these people are focusing on Ohio today and John Kasich.
John Kasich winning Ohio, they all believe, gives them the power/the right/the necessary energy and indication of support that they can go in and take control of this entire nominating process and do whatever they have to do to deny it to Trump. So that’s why they’re all claiming the future of the GOP today hangs on Ohio and what Kasich represents for them. Mitt Romney’s in there running around doing appearances with him, get-out-the-vote efforts and so forth.
I don’t see how this ends in a positive way no matter what the outcome is. If Trump succeeds and gets the nomination, what are these people gonna do? I mean, they’re gonna be homeless. Here’s another thing to think about. This is very… This is something I think everybody has to think about within this context. Let’s say they succeed in taking it away from Trump. Does anybody…? Do they think that Trump’s gonna say, “Okay, well, that was fun. That was a fun six or seven months,” go back to Mar-a-Lago and Trump Tower and resume his life?
Or is he going to realize that he has assembled and put together a pretty significant political movement that could be used to redefine the Republican Party or start a new party? My point is that if these people are not careful… No matter what happens here, they’re gonna lose the Republican Party or a significant percentage of it if they’re not careful the way they go about this. And the way they’re going about it is fraught with danger because they are, once again… As many Republican voters think, the establishment is once again maneuvering itself to take away the voice of American Republican voters.
That’s how it’s going to be seen, and that’s not gonna stand ’em in good stead.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Let’s go to the audio sound bites and then after we get through some of these, your phone calls are coming, so hang in, folks, because it is your turn coming up. This is Kasich this morning in Westerville, Ohio. He went in and voted and then spoke with reporters. Now, this is the last thing he said. I saw him say this and I told Cookie, “You gotta get me this.” Here it is.
KASICH: It really is pretty amazing where I came from. We all hear these stories, you know, but the stories could be about you, too. This one just happens to be about me. To have started —
RUSH: Stop the tape and recue it. I want to make sure that you got this. “It’s really pretty amazing where I came from.” He’s got a reporter gaggle there. This is outside the place he voted. He’s been answering questions. He’s gotten a little frustrated at a couple of the questions, and he’s just about to dismiss them and then (imitating Kasich), “No, no, wait, wait, I have one more thing for you, one more thing. You know, it really is pretty amazing where I came from. We all hear these stories, you know, and the stories could be about you, too.”
This is how he is attempting to sound humble. “But this story just happens to be about me today, it’s all about me today,” is what he’s saying here. My story is really pretty incredible, and I just want to tell it to you. I know you all have your stories, too, but today it’s about me. Now, that’s the tone. Here’s the whole bite again.
KASICH: It really is pretty amazing. Where I came from we all hear these stories, you know, but the stories could be about you, too. This one just happens to be about me. To have started —
RUSH: Stop the tape and recue it. I want to make sure that you got this. It’s really pretty amazing where I came from. He’s got a reporter gaggle there. This is outside the place he voted. He’s been answering questions. He’s gotten a little frustrated at a couple of the questions, and he’s just about to dismiss them and then, “No, no. Wait, wait. I have one more thing for you, one more thing. You know, it really is pretty amazing where I came from.
“We all hear these stories, you know, but the stories could be about you, too.” This is how he is attempting to sound humble. “But this story just happens to be about me, today. It’s all about me today,” is what he’s saying here. My story is really pretty incredible, and I just want to tell it to you. I know you all have your stories, too, but today it’s about me.” Now, that’s the tone. Here’s the whole bite again.
KASICH: It really is pretty amazing where I came from. We all hear these stories, you know, but the stories could be about you, too. This one just happens to be about me. To have started here and as an aide all the way back to Nixon and all the way back to Church and all the way back to my family, and then to come in here today and cast a vote for myself for president of the United States, it’s pretty remarkable. But, you know, at the same time I say it I just want y’all to understand, if any of you ever see me — and I had apologized to somebody here just the other day as I wasn’t — didn’t respond as appropriately as I should have. If any of you ever see me getting out of control, I want you to take me aside and I want you to say, “Remember what you told us at that press conference,” okay? ‘Cause I just want to be with God, helping my country. That’s all I really want to do, okay?
RUSH: Now, you should have seen the media gaggle. No, no. They’re standing there blank faced. They’re standing there blank faced. The cameramen, their mouths are open. Everybody’s, “Uhhh.” It’s the funniest thing. He starts out, he’s trying to be humble, you see. “Hey, it’s all about me today. Look where I came from! It’s remarkable. Somebody from where I came from actually cast a vote for himself for president today! It’s incredible. It’s remarkable. I’ve been there be with… I was back there with Nixon. I was back there with Church. I was back there with my family.
“But I just want to tell you guys, I’m just a good guy trying do things. If I ever — if I ever — I want you guys pull me aside and say, ‘Remember that press conference where you promised me that you’d keep me in line?'” They’re just standing there, their mouths wide open. It’s self-absorption, folks. It’s so easy to spot. This is total self-absorption. This is somebody who you heard the old phrase “believes their press clippings.” I mean, here’s a guy that hasn’t won a primary yet.
Here’s a guy that’s got 63 delegates, and he’s hearing the establishment media talking about how the future of the Republican Party hangs on him, and he believes it, and he wants everybody to know it, that he’s important today. Here’s another one. Same place, outside the polling place in Westerville, Ohio. A reporter asks, “You mentioned that new ad with the women quoting Donald.” We have that ad coming up, by the way. Have you seen that ad? (interruption) You’ve seen that? (interruption) Well, do you know that’s a Mitt Romney PAC that did that ad?
That ad could have come from any feminazi PAC, but that ad came from the Mitt. That ad… There is so much instructive about that ad. Once again, it’s firing blanks at Trump. This is incredible. As a primary tool, it misses the mark so widely, it’s impossible to describe what a miss it is. Anyway, we’ll get to that in just a second. But Kasich’s being asked about it by a reporter. You mentioned the new ad with the women quoting Trump. You weren’t aware of these things that Trump had said before?”
KASICH: I really was not. I really wasn’t. It took for me to see the Friday video, and then I actually, 48 hours ago, asked [Communications Director] Chris Schrimpf to make me a list of all the quotes, which I had not really seen before. You know, things move fast in a presidential campaign. You don’t really focus on… I focus on what I’m gonna be doing at my next event. I focus on who is winning the golf tournament that I’m interested in. And that’s about it. It was really the first time that my eyes were really opened.
RUSH: What a load. He’s trying to… His excuse why he hasn’t condemned Trump is what this is about. “I didn’t know he was saying any of this! You know, I’ve been so focused on my own campaign. Isn’t it remarkable? Look at a guy coming from where I come from, McKees Rocks outside Pittsburgh! I cast my own ballot for myself as president. It’s really incredible. I didn’t notice this other stuff going on. I had to get a guy to furnish me list of Trump quotes.
“I had no idea. I mean, you really don’t focus on what other people…” How about in the debates? Well, focus on what I’m gonna say next in a debate. I’m not really paying any attention. I’m going to my next event. I’m focused on who’s winning the golf tournament. It’s really the first time my eyes were opened about Trump. I had no idea he was saying this stuff.” Okay. Fine.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: One more sound bite, then to the phones. Charlie Rose, CBS This Morning, with Kasich, not happy with him.
ROSE: You had very high polling numbers in Ohio, close to 80%. Yet you’re running is that very close race with Donald Trump in your home state.
KASICH: Well, Charlie, you know how crazy this year is. You report on it every day. I mean, we’re gonna win Ohio, and then it’s a whole new ballgame, and I will be off all across the country. I’ve had more attention in the last two weeks than I’ve had really since I started this campaign. And it’s because I haven’t been wrestling in the mud with anybody. And I think the people will reward me.
RUSH: Charlie is exasperated Kasich is not wiping the floor with Trump in Ohio. Charlie thinks that this ought not even be close, that Kasich ought to be winning by double digits. “Hell, you’re the governor! Everybody wants to move to Ohio based on the way you talk about it, and Trump’s almost beating you there. What the hell are you doing wrong?” And Kasich says, “Well, it doesn’t matter. It’s a whole new race when I win Ohio today. You watch.” That’s what they’re banking on, folks. I’m just telling you.