Talk show host Rush Limbaugh is so exasperated about Senator McCain's surge in the Republican presidential contest that he is coming to the defense of Senators Clinton and Obama.
On Mr. Limbaugh's program today, he said people should not be rushing to back Mr. McCain over issues of national security. The talk host said America's direction in Iraq would not be substantially different even if Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Obama were elected. "They are not going to surrender the country to Islamic radicalism or the war in Iraq," Mr. Limbaugh said after mentioning the two Democratic senators by name. "They are not going to do that to themselves, despite what their base says."
"The idea that we've only got one person in this whole roster of candidates, either party, who is willing to take on the war on terror is frankly, absurd," Mr. Limbaugh said.
Mr. Limbaugh edged closer to an all-out endorsement of Mitt Romney, saying Mr. Romney is the only candidate in the Republican race right now who can satisfy what many call the so-called three legs of the conservative stool: social, fiscal, and defense conservatives.
The talk host continued to wail on Mr. McCain, repeatedly accusing him of lying and disloyalty. "John McCain has stabbed his own party in the back I can't tell you how many times," Mr. Limbaugh said.
Now I went on to Rush Limbaugh's website to find the transcript of this show, and of Limbaugh's quotes. Here is the transcript, and the particular quote:
RUSH: You know, ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to apologize here up front because reacting to this is going to require me to be repetitive. I like to bring originality to this program, but I guess the repetition is called for. You know, Senator McCain may be conservative on one thing or two things: the war on terror, the struggle against radical Islamic extremism. See, I happen to believe, ladies and gentlemen, that if the Democrats win the White House, they are not going to surrender the country to Islamic radicalism or the war in Iraq. They are not going to do that to themselves, despite what their base says. I do not believe the notion that there's only one candidate on any side of the aisle here that cares about the war on terror. I know that Huckabee may not be prepared for it, but you can't convince me that Romney is going to punt the war on terror. The idea that we've only got one person in this whole roster of candidates, either party, that is willing to take on the war on terror is frankly absurd.
The Politico today has a piece by Jonathan Martin, and here's the one line from it that everybody just needs to hear to know what the story is about: "Put simply, McCain is winning the character contest. ... Conservative unease with John McCain and the Arizona senator’s inability to win support from his party's right wing has been much discussed and analyzed. But there is another emerging fault line in the GOP race that may better explain better why, despite his checkered past with the party base, McCain has won consecutive contests and could wrap up the nomination Tuesday." And that is he's winning the character contest. I'd like to know when did character start mattering again? The character apparently didn't matter in the nineties with Bill Clinton; it didn't matter with the Drive-By Media, George Bush's character has come under assault, he's a liar, he's this and that, and now all of a sudden character matters? They're looking for reasons to explain this, but let's look at the character business for a second.
John McCain has stabbed his own party in the back I can't tell you how many times. He stabbed his own president in the back on legislation a number of times. He doesn't support his party or his president when the chips are down. He called people who want to protect the border racists, nativists, protectionists, and worse. What kind of character is it that tries to slide all that through under cover of darkness in a back room, who I think it was McCain who said we gotta get the politics out of this issue to get it passed. Well, what does that mean? It means we can't let the American people know what's going on in this amnesty bill; we can't have the usual debates; we can't have any committee hearings. (doing McCain impression) "This is so important. We gotta get it through before they know what's happening." A lot of character in that, isn't there? Slides right into bed with the liberal socialists every single time they wink at him. It's a strange way to define character.
I'm trying to figure this one out, and I'm completely baffled by it. When you have both Coulter and Limbaugh attacking McCain on his supposed conservative character, and yet the GOP voters are supporting McCain over Romney or Huckabee, I just have to wonder, what is going on here? It is Bizarrow World. The only thing I can think of is that there is a disconnect between the GOP elites, and the Republican voters. The GOP elites want another talking Woody Doll like they had with George W. Bush. And it is no wonder why, considering how George W. Bush's presidency has been nothing more than a puppet for Vice President Dick Cheney, for the neocons, for Big Oil, for Haliburton, for corporate interests, and for ubber-rich. It is a Bush presidency that has become both a complete failure, and a complete disaster. Now let us go to the Republican voters. President Bush only has the support of his 30 percent hard-core conservatives--the rest of the moderate conservatives have completely abandoned him. These Republican voters have certainly gotten sick and demoralized by this failed Bush presidency, and certainly would not want another talking Woody Doll that the GOP elites are trying to sell. Could the latest GOP-elite Woody Doll be Mitt Romney? With the current crop of GOP presidential candidates thinning down to McCain, Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Ron Paul, the GOP elites are stuck with choosing the best of a bad situation--Mike Huckabee is too much of a religious crazy, and Ron Paul is just plain crazy. John McCain is certainly pissed off the conservative wing of his party, which means he will not be as controllable by elites in the GOP. This leaves us with Mitt Romney. He may not be as conservative as the Religious Right may want, however the elites may be hoping that they could control Romney liked they controlled Bush. So maybe they are trying to sell Romney at this last minute before the Super Tuesday vote--especially after McCain has won big in both South Carolina and Florida. However the Republican voters are rejecting the GOP's latest Woody Doll for someone the voters are hoping is a real conservative. This disconnect is driving the GOP elites batty. The generating of this extreme hatred against McCain by the conservative media pundits of Coulter and Limbaugh could be a desperate hope that the GOP voters will not give McCain a huge sweep of Super Duper Tuesday wins.
We'll find out tomorrow.
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