Rush Limbaugh: Romney Must Get Tougher on Obama

Rush Limbaugh Show ^ | Monday July 9, 2012 | Rush Limbaugh

[Bigtigermike]

RUSH: Okay, the three stools of Ronald Reagan: Defeat the communists. Check. Lower American taxes to revive the economy. Check. Rebuild the military. Check. Three things. Now, what's Romney running on? Romney's running on one thing, and he'd better change it. (interruption) No, he's not doing that. He's not running on, "I'm not Obama." He's running on the economy, and he's gotta get tougher than that. He's got to branch out. The economy speaks for itself.

But there's also the question here: How many people really care about that? We've got three years. Nobody's demanding this guy be thrown out? Well, other than us, but is there a national clamor? Folks, 30 or 40 years ago with the same identical economic circumstances, there would be such anger and outrage in this country that the incumbent wouldn't even dare run again, and that's not that long ago. So let's do the three stools of Obama. Jobs? He doesn't care. That checklist I went through from Victor Davis Hanson? That checklist, that is a long list of things you gotta do to maintain unemployment at 9%.

That is a long list of things, and Obama has done every one of them. It cannot be an accident. Now, there were a bunch of fundraisers for Romney over the weekend. Three of them, actually, were in the Hamptons. One was at David Koch's place; one was at Ron Perlman's place out on Long Island. A lot of former Obama donors showed up. The LA Times has story. Former Obama donors showed up, and the story's about all the advice Romney's getting. And I'm gonna tell you something.

This can be dealt with. Goodwin's piece and the cultural divide and all that, I'm not saying it's over. But Romney is gonna have to start treating Obama the same way he did Newt and Santorum, folks. He's gonna have to do that. We are dealing with something new. Romney has got to realize that running a campaign on traditional American values is not enough, sad to say. That's the hard, cold reality. Simply running around and telling people he's gonna fix the economy isn't enough.

What? What are you gonna do with the economy? Yeah, we all know it stinks. What are you gonna do? What's the plan? (interruption) Okay, his economic plan has 59 points? Can you tell me three of them? (interruption) You can't. Okay, so don't tell me it's 59 points. He may as well have zero if you can't tell me what any of them are. Big whoop. It's not enough to say you're gonna repeal Obamacare, because there's no accompanying talk from Republicans in Congress that have similar-type energy.

This has to be about Obama.

This campaign has to be about Obama, and Romney is gonna have to look at Obama the way he tarred Newt and the way he tarred Santorum. I don't care whether he does it with his super PACs or whether he does it himself. But Obama's not black. He's not Martian. He's not white. He is The Destructor, and he's gotta be stopped in order for the country to be the country Romney thinks it is. This guy, I don't care what his race is. It's all about policy. It's all about a program of economic destruction that cannot be an accident.

Now, my whole point in the last hour -- I want to sum this up for Mitt Romney -- and I hate to say this.  It pains me to say this.  I can't tell you how sad it makes me, but I don't care.  Reality is reality, and the economy and its condition is not an automatic win-win for Romney or the Republicans right now.  It just isn't.

Snerdley is looking at me with a expression of disbelief on his face, and I'm sure many of you are, too, because that's so revolutionary.  It was only back in 1992 where "It's the economy, stupid," was the reason Clinton won.  I'm here to tell you that the economy today is worse by factors of geometric proportion than it was in 1992.  I had calls in 1992 from people saying, "It can't get any worse, Rush." I had guys that I played golf with at various clubs I belong to, educated, successful businessmen, Democrats telling me in 2004, "It can't get any worse, Rush." 

Well, it's worse by factors indescribable, and the same guys are still telling me that we gotta vote Democrat to fix it because it's all Bush's fault.  The sad truth is -- and the Romney people are gonna have to learn this right now -- the sad truth is that employment is not pivotal.  The unemployment rate, the jobs circumstance in this country is not pivotal and it's not something Obama can lose the election on.  Not by itself.  It's not something Romney can win.  (interruption) What do you mean, how can I say that?  I'll tell you how I can say it.  We have 48 million Americans, 47 million on food stamps, and the regime is advertising for more.  We have 47, 48% who pay no income taxes.

We have three million more off the employment roles and on disability, and they all vote.  What does it add up to?  No jobs. No employment. No problem.  And that's no job, no employment, no pain for a whole heck of a lot of people whose expectations for themselves are not very high.  You have food, you have a car, your cell phone, and a TV, and you're set.  Snerdley is shouting at me, "All those people can't want to stay on food stamps."  Will you explain to me, then, why more people are getting on food stamps?  (interruption)  Exactly.  What else do they have?  There are no jobs.  And yet they're still eating.  I'm not criticizing.  I'm telling you it's a new reality out there.  This is something that's been gnawing at me for over a year. 

Every Thursday I come here with these unemployment numbers and my instincts have been telling me -- and I've been fighting my instincts -- my instincts have been telling me that nobody cares, because it's not resulting in that much pain, not nearly as much as it used to. Not nearly the kind of pain that existed in 1992.  When Bill Clinton runs for reelection "It's the economy, stupid," worst economy in 50 years was the campaign slogan.  The economy today is worse by factors that you can't even quantify.  And it's accepted.  It's seemingly accepted, because the so-called victims of the unemployment circumstance in this country are not suffering as unemployed people in the past did.  And not that I want them to.  It's not even about what I want.  I'm just dealing with the reality here. 

Now we've got stories that retail sales are suffering because unemployment checks have ended.  Not retail sales are off because of the jobs circumstance.  Retail sales are off because the government isn't giving people any money anymore.  You couple all this with the way minds are wasted in the American education system today, the way they're polluted, propagandized, whatever you want to say... (interruption)  Yeah, that's true.  Clinton had a Perot out there helping him.  Romney's not gonna be helped by a Perot type.  I'm just saying that there's an architect of this circumstance, and he's gotta be identified.  His name's Barack Obama.  That long checklist of things I went through last hour that you have to do to ensure 9% unemployment is a long list of things.  They can't all be coincidental.  They can't all be accidental.

Obama has an economy that is almost as bad as Herbert Hoover's economy.  And I realize, what percentage of people in this country even know or care about Herbert freaking Hoover?  So here I am drawing an analogy.  "Herbert who, Rush?"  All they know is he's a Republican so he sucked.  There's a lot of stuff that we're up against here, and my only point is relying on what traditionally has always worked is not gonna get it done.  The polling data indicates it.  Then there's the other part of me.  The other part of me says if the election were today, it would be a landslide with Obama sent out of town so fast, a cloud of dust he wouldn't be seen in it.  I still think that's possible, probable.  But during Herbert Hoover's day there wasn't any welfare.  There wasn't any relief.  Most of that came in with FDR.  And FDR still won, ran on how bad it was.  Of course he did because with Hoover there were people jumping out of buildings.  

[ScottinVA]

When the likely voter is tuning in, then you go ape on him.

And generally, they start getting focused around Labor Day. Romney may be marshaling resources, then planning a blitz.... maybe.

[PghBaldy]

The odd thing is, the low point in the economy was 1933, just as FDR was sworn in. This time, the low was in 2009, just (shortly after) Obama was sworn in. It is eery.

[rem_mitchell]

I listened to all of Rush and the beginning of Hannity today and they both seem to be in CYA mode. It seems they see the Romney campaign as likely to lose and they are setting up to be able to say, “See I told you so...”. MAkes you wonder what they know that we don’t.

[PghBaldy]

Not true in the least. There are many people who could go either way, who voted for Obama last time. Not all people who voted for Obama don’t want to work. Far from it. The numbers wouldn’t work.

[Leep]

First he needs to get tough on the media. Mock them and force them to cover this election fairly.
Gingrich was great at that. Reagan was the master at playing the media like a fine tuned bango.

Romney needs to daily mock Obama,too.
Make fun of him and then when the media tries to turn it around on Romney...SLAM THEM WITH THE JOBS NUMBERS and THE ECONOMY.
Make jokes about him playing golf during the worst economic down turn since the GD.
Point out how he is campaigning on the tax payer’s dollar!

[Leep]

It’s great to get “tough”, but when few are paying close attention, what is the point?

---

Make the reality/entertainment tv junkie folks pay attention. Give them drama and then when the spotlight is on present them with the basic facts.
Make every statement SOUND controversial and then slam them with reality.

[Osage Orange]

I've very little confidence in Romney doing the "right thing"....

I hope he has people that will advise him...but from what I've seen...they are inept. If he can't manage his own campaign...effectively...I just dunno.

It just seems we might be going the old tired route of Dole, McCain..once again.

Someone tell me I'm blind here..................

[xzins]

From Rush in the above articel:

unemployment....my instincts have been telling me that nobody cares, because it's not resulting in that much pain, not nearly as much as it used to.

And it used to be a matter of personal pride, and that has been redefined. They are "victims" of __________ (fill in the blank.)

Rush Limbaugh is right on the money here, and he's also right about Romney's rope-a-dope strategy... only the Good Lord knows why Romney isn't attacking Obama the way he did Gingrich, Santorum, and Perry, but he isn't.

He was on vacation over the 4th, but he's vacationed on Arizona and ObamaCare and Jobs numbers and absolutely unheard from on foreign policy.

He is doing a perfect imitation of McCain/Dole.

[alstewartfan]

BULLCRAP! How did McCin’s “kid glove” campaigbn against Obama work out. Attack, attack attack, remind, remind, remind. Every day until the end of the campaign. Santorum wasn’t afraid of the Punk. Maybe that’s why the GOP-E was scared of HIM! Palin isn’t afraid of him either. Freakin’ Romney had better show some guts NOW, or decline the nomination. I’m not afraid of the Marxist Failure, why should Romney be? Bob

[NVDave]

As has been said by many political analysts: You’re right - you will not sway the hard-core koolaid drinkers.

Your job, as a national candidate, is to sway the 20 to 25% “in the middle” voters who:

1. Don’t make up their minds until very late in the season,
2. Usually choose economic concerns as their litmus test,
3. Are fickle.
4. If left with no viable choices, might not even turn out.

For those people, the economic message is a strong one. Especially for parents with unemployed 20-somethings sleeping on their couches for several years now...

[Diogenesis]

Hey, Mr. RomneyCARE deserves some defense.

After all, he is busy making $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

And, after all, he is busy HIDING (protected
by his wife who speaks for him after interrupting him).

Mr. RomneyCARE, the CHOSEN LOSER, was carefully
selected by Soros and the DNC because he cannot win,
and by the GOPe because THEY support TARP, TAXES,
Sharia, ObamaCARE/RomneyCARE, Death Panels, STATISM,
and are willing to lie about it for POWER.

[Diogenesis]

Obama is pRes_ _ent ONLY becauae Team Romney
had the gaul to attack Gov. Palin and her children.

FLASHBACK:

The McCain/Palin ticket was up ++4 to 10 pts
in some polls, days prior to Election 2008.
So rather than helping the GOP, Romney and
TeamROMNEY and the RNME (Republican National Media Establishment)
decided …to attack Gov. Palin to throw Election2008.

Romney, and the Van der Sloot RNME RINOs for Obama in 2008

Late in October, The American Spectator's The Prowler revealed:
"Former Mitt Romney presidential campaign staffers…
have been involved in spreading anti-Palin spin to reporters, seeking to diminish her standing after the election.
'Sarah Palin is a lightweight, she won't be the first, not even the third, person people will think of when it comes to 2012,'
says one former Romney aide…
'The only serious candidate ready to challenge to lead the Republican Party is Mitt Romney.
"Some former Romney aides were behind the recent leaks to media, including CNN, that Governor Sarah Palin was a 'diva' and was going off message intentionally."

---

The Palmetto Scoop reported: "One of the first stories to hit the national airwaves was
the claim of a major internal strife between close McCain aides and the folks handling his running mate Sarah Palin."
"I’m told by very good sources that this was indeed the case and that a rift had developed, but it was between Palin’s people and the staffers brought on from the failed presidential campaign of former Gov. Mitt Romney, not McCain aides."
"The sources said nearly 80 percent of Romney’s former staff was absorbed by McCain and these individuals were responsible for what amounts to a premeditated, last-minute sabotage of Palin."
… aides loyal to Romney inside the McCain campaign, said The Scoop, reportedly saw
that Palin would be a serious contender for the Republican nomination in 2012 or 2016, which made her a threat to another presidential quest by Romney.

---

"These staffers are now out trying to finish her off ….hoping it would ingratiate themselves with Mitt Romney."

---

"Who's the Palin Leaker from the McCain Campaign?
National Review Online The publication of a Vanity Fair profile of Sarah Palin
appears to have opened old wounds in the McCain campaign.
... the source of the “Diva” leak was Nicolle Wallace’s husband."

---

"Peeking Out From the McCain Wreckage: Mitt Romney"

"Someone's got to say it: IS MITT ROMNEY RESPONSIBLE FOR OBAMA'S VICTORY?"

"Vanity: Team Romney Sabotaged Palin and Continuing to Do So?"

"Romney Supporters Trashing Palin"

"Romney advisors sniping at Palin?"

---

[ROCKLOBSTER]

the three stools of Ronald Reagan...the three stools of Obama.

C'mon Rush! Enough of this CRAP.

[comebacknewt]

Rush is 100% correct.

Given the state of the economy, Obama should be down 20 points. The fact that Romney is constantly playing defense tells you just how pathetically his campaign is being run.

He was caught totally off guard by the SC rulings on immigration and healthcare and his entire campaign ha s been terrible ever since.

If he doesn’t attack soon, the Kenyan will waltz into a second term.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

Rocklobster: So what’s going to happen in the Senate?

crickets chirping

(24 hours later)

Yeah, that's exactly what I thought.

[Leep]

Hey Romney!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg9m1F8B2_c

[chris37]

Tougher implies that one was once tough, and that is not the case at all.

[Oklahoma]

Rush has been getting lazy. I’ll hear him on the radio and then when I get off work I’ll read the same points he was making on the various websites.

He’s also too gloomy. We need to be firing up the troops and not depressing them. He’s always had a dark cloud hovering over him and he seems compelled to be overly pessimistic at least a couple of times per week.

It’s true we are all dead in the end, but human nature doesn’t change and the youth that seems to have Rush worried today is no worse than Rush and I were at that same age 40-50 years ago.

[kabar]

unemployment....my instincts have been telling me that nobody cares, because it's not resulting in that much pain, not nearly as much as it used to.

Yeah, Rush understands what is happening to the "lttle guy" in America. He flys over them in his private jet.

If anyone thinks that living on welfare and or unemployment insurance is such a great lifestyle, he is not in touch with reality.

[92nina]

If Romney criticized Obama the way that Limbaugh did, he would have 20 million rabid voters and 150 million voters who were either strongly opposed to him or turned off.

I believe even most of Limbaugh's listeners know this.

Just be patient. The campaign is always developing its messaging and the sharper knives will come out when the swing voters start to really start to pay attention, and they will be buried so swiftly and casually you may not even notice it.