Welcome to today's edition of the Rush 24-7 podcast.
You are listening to the sound of one man thinking.
Me.
Your guiding light, Rush Limbaugh.
America's real anchor man, America's truth detector, show prep for the rest of the media.
and general all-round good guy here at the Excellence in Broadcasting Network at another busy broadcast day straight ahead.
Ah, golly gosh, folks, I love it.
All heck is breaking out in Michigan.
You've got Santorum doing his own Operation Chaos.
You've got the Democrats doing their own operation chaos.
Everybody making a move to get the Democrats to vote in Michigan.
Romney.
Got to be very careful here.
Romney is crying dirty tricks.
Romney is not happy about these robocalls.
Romney is not happy that Santorum.
No, wait.
It's Santorum that's not.
Somebody's not happy that somebody is playing tape.
Yeah, but no, no, but somebody's playing audio of Santorum endorsing Romney.
Romney did that.
Remember some of the Robo calls, so I think, oh, yeah, it's it's going nuts.
Folks, the greatest story.
One of the great we got Obama wants to cut health care for the military.
I want to reiterate for you.
It really probably isn't going to matter who we nominate.
And now Dick Morris is joining that chorus.
And you have heard me say over and over again that it really I think Obama's going to be the issue, and I don't think I don't think it's going to really matter.
I think I think this country is poised to send Obama packing in November.
The uh the strategy that Santorum is pulling off this and going and get he's he's he's targeting the Reagan Democrats.
That's what he's doing.
Remember those old Reagan Democrats?
I think it's kind of uh smart strategic.
We'll get into all this in great detail as the program unfolds before your very eyes and ears.
But I got a lot of frowns on the other side of the glass when I when I mentioned that Obama wants to cut health care for the military.
Bill Gertz had the story yesterday at uh a website, freebeacon.com, and I think he started it.
The uh Obama administration proposed defense budget cuts call for military families and retirees to pay sharply more for their health care while leaving unionized civilian defense workers' benefits untouched.
The proposal is causing a major rift within the Pentagon, according to U.S. officials, several congressional aides suggested the move is designed to increase the enrollment in Obamacare state-run insurance exchanges.
Because in nothing is working out as they had it planned on paper.
As we mentioned yesterday, the uh the high-risk enrollments, hardly anybody signing up, and those premiums and costs have more than doubled of what Obama projected.
And the high risk, of course, is the uh pre-existing condition aspect.
Uh one of I think the the Cardinal in Chicago has said they will shut down Catholic hospitals rather than provide birth control pills and abortive fashion.
They will shut down Catholic hospitals and schools.
Uh folks, I uh the the landscape out there is is such that it differs dramatically from the daily landscape that is portrayed by the drive-by media.
But I mentioned a story.
By the way, telephone number 800-282-2882.
Well, yeah, the Democrats would get they want, uh get what they want with churches shutting down.
Um Obama would get what he wants with the church is shutting down.
But still, the fact Snerdley said, well, that just delivers Obama win.
People are fighting back.
That's what it means.
Telephone number if you want to be on the program, by the way, 800-282-288-2, and the email address Lrushbo at EIBNet.com.
Well, let me tell you something.
Let me tell you something.
Yesterday we played the sound bites.
Sturdy just asked me if they're going to blame me for mission.
Of course they will.
Yesterday, uh, we had all those sound bites that I destroyed the Republican Party, and I looked today, and it's still functioning.
They still have their websites, and we've still got candidates running for office.
And one of them is going to win in Michigan, and one of them's going to win in Arizona, and then one of them's going to win Super Tuesday majority votes there.
It looks to me like the Republican Party's still functioning.
Despite my best efforts to kill it.
David Brooks, I haven't read it.
I've had three people send this to me as though it matters.
David Brooks, New York Times, it's the guy who saw the crease in Obama's pants and concluded that he was the most qualified to be a great president because of that.
I kid you not.
If you have not heard that before, and you think I'm joking, I'm not David Brooks of the New York Times, the um uh House Conservative there actually wrote that.
And I've had three people today.
Look at Brooks, look at I don't care about Brook Brooks.
Brooks has never defined the conservative movement.
He's never defined the Republican Party, and he finally realizes it, and that's what his columns about today.
He says, uh, I don't recognize it.
The Kooks have taken over the party.
The Tea Party, the wingers have taken it over.
It's over, it's finished.
If I have time, I might spend some time on it, but it's certainly not a priority.
What is this next story?
This next story is hilarious.
From the Hill.com.
This story has everything.
Here's the headline.
GOP frets Romney's conservative tack could hurt in November general election.
Now stop and think of that.
GOP, that would be the establishment.
Republican establishment is now sitting out there fretting, worried that Romney having to sound like and speak like a conservative will hurt him in the November General.
Remember what I pointed out a long time ago.
The Republicans decided with Romney to run in the primary a moderate first.
Try to secure the nomination with uh with a moderate candidate rather than a conservative candidate, but it hadn't worked.
So now Romney's having to sound conservative, and the report is that the Republican establishment really fretting about this.
But as just the headline, that's just the opener.
Story is by a guy named Cameron Joseph.
Republicans are worried that Mitt Romney's increasingly conservative rhetoric on a number of hot button issues could hurt him in the general election.
Their fear is that while Romney's position on matters like immigration, collective bargaining, and social issues could boost him among conservative primary voters, thereby getting him a nomination, it could come back to haunt him with swing state voters during the general election.
And then they quote GOP strategist Ford O'Connell.
I ask you.
I have been in this business since, well, for longer than 23 years.
I have been following party politics for I can't tell you how many years.
I never heard of until today, Ford O'Connell.
Have you, Sturdley?
Have you, Dawn?
You Larry, what about Brian, never mind.
So I said, who is this guy?
Who is Ford O'Connell?
A whole story in the Hill Guncom is based on what Ford O'Connell says.
So I endeavored to find out.
And by the way, don't miss it.
I'm not putting down Ford O'Connell.
I just it's the story here.
What has happened here is that the Hill found a single person who nobody's ever heard of to tell them what they already think, and then they made a story out of it.
Mr. Ford O'Connell.
You always got to distrust guys with two last names.
You ever notice that?
Ford O'Connell, according to his own biography, has appeared for on Fox, CNN, and other news outlets.
Well, that seals the deal right there.
This guy's been on Fox.
He's been on CNN and other news outlets.
He worked for the McCain Palin campaign.
And he is the founder of Post Virginia.com, winner of the 2010 Reed Award for best use of Twitter.
And that's who he is.
That's it.
So the Hill.com found this guy to tell them exactly what they want to hear.
Romney is having to sound conservative.
That wasn't the plan.
Having to sound conservative during the primaries, that's may work in the primaries.
It's going to kill us in the general owner.
They've run the story based on this.
The Politico, also weighing in on this, says they never heard of this guy.
Ford O'Connell.
And they make fun of him.
The political does for his shameless self-promotion.
So the whole article, and I've I mean, I could I could entertain you for days with it.
But the whole article buttresses what I have been saying all along that the GOP scared to death of conservatism.
Just worried.
Oh, even the utterance, even the utterance of conservatism from the presumed frontliner poses problems in the general.
And the Hill claims Republicans are fretting over Romney's anti-immigration and anti-union positions.
And to make their case, they cite this strategist who won an award for using Twitter.
That's a big claim to fame.
The Hill also cites in the story a polster of Hispanic opinion for Latino decisions, who is undoubtedly a supporter of amnesty for illegal aliens.
And then the Hill cites a nonpartisan pollster, so three people nobody's ever heard of.
And this nonpartisan pollster is also the top lobbyist for the Michigan Education Association, which is a public sector teachers union, so he's not nonpartisan.
And then the Hill goes out and cites Democrat, another Democrat, Representative Charles Gonzalez, Democrat Texas, who's practically an avowed communist, if you know him.
And we're told that these are the top Republicans who are worried over Romney's increasingly conservative rhetoric.
I mean, this is a pathetic excuse for journalism, even for the Hill.com.
But it's out there, and I just I just I had to laugh when I found out who Mr. Ford or Mr. O'Connell is.
And again, don't misunderstand.
It's not to put down Mr. I mean, all power to him.
He got his name in the Hill.
I mean, he got his name on this show.
I'm sure it's his big day.
But the idea that he speaks for the Republican establishment to the Hill implies that he's deeply connected.
And for all we know, he could be, but I don't know how many people have actually heard of him.
So they're all worried.
Let me, they're worried about a lot.
They're not just worried about Romney sounding conservative.
They're worried.
Santorum's supposed to be long gone.
These social issues were supposed to have killed Santorum two weeks ago.
So don't argue about that, Snurley Snowden.
When did Romney sound conservative?
Don't argue about that.
That's it's not that's beside the points of distraction.
We're gonna take a break here, but we're gonna get into what is happening in Michigan.
Well, complete with the audio sound bites.
This this the the Operation Chaos going on, or the the uh copycat operation chaos.
Santorum's doing his own version of it, a Democrats are doing theirs.
Romney's upset, he thinks he's being unfairly attacked.
A lot of Republicans, well, how does it feel?
And you started this back in 2000 uh 2004, going after Huckabee and McCain, and so it's uh there's a headline from the political Romney said he voted in Democrat primaries to influence The race.
He's done that.
Romney campaigns been denouncing Democrat efforts, and now those by Santorum to get Democrats to vote in Michigan's open primary.
Romney himself called it a new low in politics in around a TV interviews.
Romney himself gave a similar explanation in his last presidential run for why he crossed over and voted in the 90s in Massachusetts for Democrats.
What has got him upset in Michigan, he has done himself, and ABC found the clip of him saying so.
The Daily Caller.
Who's this Matt Lewis?
Not sure who this is.
The author didn't print out.
You know, Mrs. Clinton.
Mrs. Clinton uh claimed she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary.
What is he famous for, Snerdly?
What do you remember?
Right.
Edmund Hillary was the first to climb Mount Everest.
And Hillary Clinton was in Chicago one day, and she claimed that she was named after him.
The only problem was that nobody knew who he was when she was born.
He hadn't climbed Mount Everest.
He his fame had not uh stretched beyond his home country.
So it was clearly a lie.
Nobody knew who Edmund Hillary was when she was born.
Well, Romney, the Toronto star, is reporting that Romney has been telling a similar story in Michigan.
That probably when he was uh four or something like that, that he attended the Golden Jubilee, which was the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the automobile.
And he remembers it.
When he's in Michigan, he tells audiences he remembers the golden jubilee, he was there.
The problem was, according to the Toronto Star, it would have been impossible because it took place in 1946, nine months before Romney was born.
He couldn't have been.
He wasn't even conceived.
He was a thought.
So the Daily Caller has found a Hillary version of a story Romney is telling while in Michigan.
ABC, the note, I'm just telling you what's out there, folks, because it's not if if if I don't, you're gonna hear it elsewhere if I don't mention it to you.
As you know, Romney is crying foul over Santorum's robocalls.
Romney is saying it's a new low in politics.
For his opponent to be doing robocalls to Democrats and asking him to show up in a primary and vote for his opponent.
ABC The Note has found a story where Romney chided Newt for being upset with him for all the super PAC ads in Iowa in January, where Romney told Newt, there's no whining in politics.
You've got to grow up, you gotta face it.
You you can't keep crying about this.
I have nothing to do with those ads.
So then on the other side, you got people tearing into Santorum for for being a priest in disguise who wants to totally bastardize separation church and state that he's not even a Republican.
He's a theologian.
He wants establish a theocracy.
It's folks, they're throwing it all up against the wall.
The thing is this time a lot of it is sticking.
Okay, audio signed by Twee have a montage.
Democrats trying to recreate Operation Chaos in Michigan, and the media loves this one.
They didn't like the original Operation Chaos, but they love this one.
planned by some Democrats in Michigan to create chaos in tomorrow's Republican primary.
Are the Democrats kneeling at the altar of Rush Limbaugh?
Does Rick Santorum have some sort of an Operation Chaos of his own going on in Michigan?
Rush Limbaugh had an Operation Chaos.
Democrats are trying their own paradigm of Rush Limbaugh's Operation Chaos.
Rush Limbaugh was advocating vote for Hillary Clinton as long as possible.
Rush Limbaugh talked about Operation Chaos in 2008.
It's not unheard of before that people have fought along these lines.
Rush Limbaugh said that with the Operation Chaos.
Operation Chaos.
And of course, as I say, the Democrats love this one.
Let's get started to some of the robocalls.
This is a um Democrat robocall starting their own Operation Chaos push to embarrass Romney.
Next Tuesday, Democrats will have the opportunity to vote in Michigan's open primary.
All we have to do is ask for a Republican primary election ballot.
Democrats can help embarrass Nick Romney and expose him as unique frontrunner that he is by supporting Rick Santorum on Tuesday.
Please press one if you are committed to voting for Rick Santorum in next week's GOP finale.
Please do not waste your vote on Ron Paul.
Vote Rick Santorum on Tuesday, February 25th.
Yes, those are the Democrats.
Please don't waste your vote on Ron Paul.
So the Democrats, that's a robocall from the Democrats to other Democrats in Michigan, urging them to, hey, it's an open primary.
Go ahead, cross over, vote for Santorum.
But do not waste your vote on Ron Paul.
We'll be back.
Don't go away.
And we are back, and we continue.
Now I am told we don't have it on the soundbite roster.
I am told maybe it's not in this campaign.
I know that that Romney has run his own, it's either an ad or a phone call.
Snergly, you might know.
Either you watch the ad or you answer your phone, and it is a tape of Santorum endorsing Romney in 2008.
Now we know Romney's running, man.
I just don't know if it's a robocall.
I can't, I can't recall.
Um, but I know that it's an ad, at least, maybe around uh call.
So let's let's look at the timeline here.
Romney is running robocalls of Santorum's endorsement from 2008, which was clever.
That's very clever move.
I think, in fact, I think all of this is very clever.
None of this bothers me.
Just so you know.
I think it's I think it's all very clever.
Especially, well, I don't want to say especially, because I'm giving away a preference when I do that.
Romney runs robocalls of Santorum's endorsement from 2008.
Now, Santorum is running robocalls encouraging Democrats who support him to vote for him.
My guess is that Romney never dreamed any of this would work.
Remember the Republican grand pubas all thought this was going to be over by now.
You have to put yourself in their heads in their shoes, and they're discombobulated right now.
This was supposed to be, it was a robocall.
I knew it was a robocall.
And it ran over the weekend.
That's right.
Even when I'm unsure I'm right, even when I think I'm wrong, I'm right.
It's amazing.
But I don't think Romney ever dreamed any of this would ever happen.
Or work is is the I don't think if you ask me, 90% of you never thought Santorum would be here where he is.
90% of all of us, Santorum was never going to be anything but a fringe candidate.
None of us can believe this.
The Republicans, combined with their disbelief, are scared.
This is the last thing of all the candidates, including Ron Paul.
Of all the candidates I would submit to you, Santorum is the last guy they ever even gave a second look to.
Santorum, probably the last guy they ever considered in any remote way, seriously.
And now look.
So they're flipped inside out.
They're totally confused.
And Romney, and who could blame him?
Romney just like the Romney.
Never dreamed any of this would be happening.
And so now in Michigan, Romney's home state, the polls show it as tight as can be.
Depending on the poll, there's a tie, or Romney's up five, or Santorum's up seven, or wherever.
It's just it's tight as it can be.
So Romney, for the first time in the entire process, is crying about dirty tricks.
And a lot of like Newt and Rudy and Fred Thompson from 2008 are probably chuckling privately to themselves because they've all been victimized by the tough campaigning that Romney is famous for.
But let's face it, folks.
By all that's reasonable, by all that's logical, Santorum shouldn't be anywhere near where he is, much less in Michigan.
Santorum shouldn't even be within striking distance in Michigan, but he is.
And he could win it there.
He could pull it off.
For all this talk about Santorum being scary and myopic and out of touch and an oddball and a kook and a nerd and whatever else.
He's tied with Romney in Romney's third home state, despite being outspent by millions.
And of course, he's the subject of a unrelenting negative TV campaign.
I don't think anybody.
I don't think there is anybody outside of Santorum who predicted where we are today.
You know it, and I know it.
And so a lot of people are going to be discombobulated here and out of sorts trying to explain it, react to it, account for it, and deal with it.
Continuing on now, this is the Santorum robocall, throwing in with Democrat operation chaos in Michigan.
Romney supported the bailouts for his Wall Street billionaire buddies, but opposed the auto bailouts.
On Tuesday, join Democrats who are going to send a loud message to Massachusetts Mitt Romney by voting for Rick Santorum for president.
This call is supported by hardworking Democratic men and women and paid for by Rick Santorum for president.
I know what you think.
I know exactly what why in the world is this happening to us?
Oh, Rush, why did you let this happen?
Now we've got Democrats and robocalls throwing in with Santorum and Rush admit it.
You know why they're doing it, because they know Santorum can't possibly win.
There is no way Santorum can beat Obama.
Democrats knowing and they can taste it and they're excited about it.
So the Democrats are throwing in, they're got their own operation chaos, and they are happy that Santorum has joined them.
Santorum's got his own robocall.
Santorum is also asking Democrats.
You hear me.
Listen to this again.
Play audio sumbite number three.
Remember now, you answer your phone, it's a Democrat Party phone call.
Santorum, no, it's a Santorum robocall throwing in with a Democrats in their own operation chaos.
And listen, it's in Michigan.
Listen to how Romney's described here.
Romney supported the bailouts for his Wall Street billionaire buddies, but opposed the auto bailouts.
On Tuesday, join Democrats who are going to send a loud message to Massachusetts Mitt Romney by voting for Rick Santorum for president.
This call is important.
Here we are in Michigan.
This is the state Romney is born in Massachusetts, Mitt Romney.
This call is supported by hardworking Democratic men and women.
Now, I just to remind you again.
I know how you feel.
I know particularly those of you who are are uh major Romney supporters.
You are throwing things at your radio, you are shouting at me, you're trying to get me shut up, you're calling in, you can't wait for Snurdy.
You want to tell me to shut up.
I'm destroying the party, the media was right yesterday.
Because Santorum cannot beat Obama.
Santorum cannot beat Obama.
How many of you thought Santorum would be where he is today?
So after all of that, Santorum can't beat Obama.
What if Romney can't beat Santorum?
Mr. Limbaugh, that's a good question for your audience.
Well, let me turn to the Anthony, Mr. Newcastradi wants to weigh in here.
And I know what you all are thinking.
Romney can beat Romney, he did Romney is not himself.
Romney's being distorted who he really is.
Romney's a guy that can beat Obama.
Romney is Mr. Smooth.
He's Mr. Slick.
He's the good looking guy.
He's got everything down pat as far as what you have to be on television.
He sounds smart.
He is smart.
He's quick thinking.
But this Republican nominating base is so fringe right and so oriented toward the social issues that nobody but a priest could win this thing.
If Romney could get past this, I know you Romney supporters are thinking there's no way that he could lose to Obama.
Or at least he'd have the best chance of beating Obama.
I know that's what you're thinking.
But I still have to ask the question.
If he can't beat Santorum, where is it written that he's electable automatically over Obama?
Or is that an is that an unfair question?
Or is it a question of apples and oranges?
I don't know.
You tell me.
All I know is that not even I. The all-knowing, all seeing, all feeling, all everything, Maha Russian, not even I. As recently as December would have told you that Santorum will be the lone surviving opposition to Romney in the Republican primary.
Not even I. And certainly not six months ago.
Nobody predicted this.
Zilch, zero nada.
Brief time out.
As you think and ponder where we are.
Don't go away.
And we are back.
Having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have.
Moving on.
Last night on Hannity.
Hannity interviewed Santorum, said you did support Romney in 2008.
You said he was a conservative.
You endorsed him.
And Romney has played that endorsement is robocalls.
Is that one of those moments you regret?
Mr. Santorum, or do you look at the look at it as the circumstances?
What's changed from your endorsement of Romney four years ago?
Romney care wasn't, and none of the issues of healthcare were an issue four years ago, but it's the central issue in this race.
Obamacare, which was born from Romney care.
Unfortunately, Governor Romney's a good man, and I have nothing negative to say about Governor Romney as a person.
The bottom line is because of his record in Massachusetts on health care, he is uniquely unqualified to take on Barack Obama on a bill that's identical to the bill he supported, and to say I'm against it only because it's a federal program instead of a state program is not the best way to make the case that government-run health care is a bad idea.
And of course, the pull quote from that soundbite is Romney uniquely unqualified against Obama.
And I'm just telling you, there's not a single person outside of Santorum, and maybe not even him, who thought he would be where he is today.
And certainly nobody in the Romney camp did.
Thank you.
Thank you.
They should have taken Santorum out when they were taking Newt out, taking Perry out, taking Bachman.
Should have taken them all out.
But nobody.
I mean, Santorum was there to fill up the end of the row.
To provide uh genital, uh uh what uh what am I looking for, Snerdling, your sex guy?
What's the uh gender balance?
Yeah, I figure you were a genital balance.
Gender balance on the uh on the row there of the uh of the candidates.
They probably thinking Ron Paul had a better shot at this than than then Santorum.
So Hannity said, well, look, Governor Romney said it was a low moment in the campaign.
Your robo call.
Urging Democrats to vote for you.
That's a low low moment in the campaign.
I figured I'd give you a chance to respond to it.
You mean when he runs a robocall of my voice from four years ago uh saying good things about him, that's not a low moment.
And when I run a call, basically calling Democrats who are eligible to vote here uh to vote for us, uh encouraging people to come and vote for us because we talk about our manufacturing plan and what we're gonna do to create jobs, it's a very positive robo call, talking about you know what we're doing to create jobs here in Michigan.
Of course, you know, it's interesting that we criticize me For attracting Democrats, because one of the things that Governor Romney's people say is, oh, he can't attract Democrats.
That is an interesting point.
And look, I'm I realize I'm in a no-win situation for you, Romney supporters.
There's not you're probably livid at me right now.
But I'm just following the news.
I have no agenda here, and you know that when it comes to primaries, 23 years here, I have no agenda.
But I'm always gonna tell you what I honestly think.
And I think Santorum has made an interesting point here.
We're told, are we not, that we can't win without independence.
We're told that the Reagan Democrats, Obama has abandoned those are white working family Democrats.
Obama is not even going to campaign for their votes.
Here is Santorum making a pitch for voters outside the Republican base, and he's being creamed for it.
When the establishment says that's exactly what we're going to have to do to win.
The establishment ought to be planting kisses all over Santorum's face.
Santorum's executing the policy they think that the Republican Party must do in order to win.
We gotta attract some Democrats.
We gotta attract some moderates, we gotta attract some independents.
We gotta go out there, we gotta get those Reagan Democrats.
We just can't win with the Republican base.
And who's doing it?
Sans Torum's out there making a pitch for him.
But he's despised and hated for it.
Because he's bringing Democrats into the Republican primary.
I think it's an interesting strategy that is taking place.
Let's jump here to audio soundbite number 25.
This this morning in Lavonia, Michigan, Romney held a press conference, and there was a QA, and a reporter said, What would you say to Republican Party members?
Who say that Michigan should never have been this close?
And the greater concern that you have yet been able to excite the Republican base as a whole.
What would you say to that?
It's very easy to excite the base with incendiary comments.
We've seen throughout the campaign that if you're willing to say really outrageous things that are accusative and attacking the President Obama, uh, that you're gonna jump up in the polls.
I'm not willing to light my hair on fire to try and get support.
I am who I am.
I'm a person with extensive experience in the private sector in the economy.
All right.
Gosh, these guys are making it so hard for me.
So Romney's not willing to say incendiary things, quote unquote about Obama to excite the base.
Well, what does he say?
Nice guy, just in over his head.
What does this tell you that Romney thinks of the base?
That it takes incendiary comments to turn you on.
That all you want is somebody beaten up on Obama.
If somebody will come along and beat up Obama or set their hair on fire to get attention or something like that, then that's all you care about.
And maybe not all you care about, but that's what really gets you off your duff.
And Mitt Romney says, I got extensive, I got extensive experience in the private sector.
I am not gonna criticize Obama.
If he's not careful, you know how we joke about John Kerry, who, by the way, served in Vietnam.
We've been pointing that out now for eight years.
It isn't gonna be long before everybody's gonna say Mitt Romney who had extensive experience in the private sector.
Gotta take a break.
We'll do it.
We'll be back, and we'll continue.
FedEx box show up yet.
Damn.
Look, Romney people, you gotta know I love you, but I'm not The one saying what he's saying.
I did not raise the white flag in Michigan today.
I didn't say I'm not gonna say incendiary things just to attract the base.
At least McCain waited until the general campaign to make it clear that anybody criticizing Obama would be fired.
Here it's happening in the primary.
I'm not gonna make any incendiary comments.
Uh track base.
I have extensive experience in the private sector.
Uh we're not Obama can say whatever he wants about us and does, and the media can.