Posted on 11/19/2007 3:37:47 PM PST by wagglebee
RUSH: Mark in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Am I reading that right? Welcome to the program. Don't have my glasses on so I couldn't really read it, but I guessed and got it right.
CALLER: Yes you got it right, dittos, long-time listener, 24/7 member, and fellow talk show host inspired by you, my friend.
RUSH: Well.
CALLER: Been at it for five years on the Internet, think I've got the biggest show on the Internet, and I've got a big question for you.
RUSH: All right, ask away.
CALLER: All right. The question is this. I think the most conservative candidate that we have for president is Duncan Hunter, going through his website, listening to what he's got on the news, his different interviews and stuff, I mean he definitely meets the conservative agenda head on. And we're just not hearing a lot from him. And we're not hearing a lot from him, from you. And I'm wondering, sir, do you have any plans in the near future for interviews with him, for talking to him on the air? I mean, I did hear, you spoke about an e-mail update you got from him the other day, but other than that it looks like the best candidate here is not getting pushed by the strongest conservative people.
RUSH: Well, here's my answer to your question. I'm asked this a lot and historically I have not gotten involved in primaries, because if I had any of these people, and they have all asked to come on this show, and I respectfully say no, because I'd have to ask them all back. And I really don't look at this program as a campaign vehicle during primaries. Among other things, I, frankly, Mark, I have the belief that political candidates have a duty to get noticed themselves. It's an unfair process in terms -- Mrs. Clinton. Mrs. Clinton is strictly there because she didn't divorce her husband. In fact, she's strictly there because she married him. If her last name weren't Clinton, she'd be the dean of some all-girls' school in Albania touring villages at night and doing whatever you do in a village at night, when you run an all-girls' school. She's just benefiting from conventional wisdom. In the case of Rudy, the reason Rudy is getting a lot of attention is the northeastern bias in the media. The northeastern bias in the media wants two northeasterners to run.
Even some of our conservative journalist friends who are headquartered and work in the northeast, in New York and Washington, are willing to overlook, in some cases, the lack of genuine conservatism in some candidates because they're from the northeast. They have a geographical bias because of where they live. People in the northeast think it's at that it's the heartbeat and the pulse of the country there, and the rest of the country is flyover country and all of that. So it's tough to get out of the bottom tier. You need a really humongous debate performance, and you need an early announcement in some cases when you're going against somebody that's going to benefit from all the conventional wisdom, the media and others. But I sit and watch until one of them surfaces because that's what their job is to do, not mine.
What he really needs to do is say something so provocative that the media has to pick up on it. If he just talks like a statesman, he'll never get noticed. He needs to say something that will get into the news cycles like saying Hillary is a communist or comparing her to Stalin.
At this point, being over the top is better than being ignored. And the conservatives who have been waiting for somebody to call Hillary out will eat it up.
Hunter's blandness is why I don't think he'll make any real headway. He's not physically attractive and he does little to inspire people. I like his policies but he has no pizzazz and you don't win the White House in the 21st Century without having some "star appeal". Hunter has little.
turn Hannity OFF!! that is what I have been doing. Give him the message that we are NOT going to buy into his RINO endorsements, no matter HOW conservative he has been in the past. He supported Arnold in the California recall and lookie what we here in California have ended up with......
Rush specifically said, “the lack of genuine conservatism in some candidates because they’re from the northeast.” The words “some,” “candidates” and “they’re” all indicate that he is talking about more than one candidate and the term “genuine conservatism” clearly indicates that the candidates are attempting to portray themselves as conservatives but that it isn’t genuine.
The ONLY possibility is that Rush was referring to BOTH Rooty and Romney.
The only question is which “conservative journalist friends” Rush was referring to, but I would bet money that at least one of them is Hannity.
I think Hannity is simply proving to conservatives that he has never been one of us.
I made it VERY CLEAR eight months ago how I felt about Hannity:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1805266/posts
Unfortunately, your observations are very accurate.
MAN IF I SEE ONE MORE POSTER HERE ON F/R EXTOLLING THE VIRTUES OF THE ONLY TRULY CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATE IN THE 2008 RACE FOR THE PRESIDENCY IM GONNA
SCREEEEEM.... AW HELL I’N NOT WATIN TILL THEN!
GET BEHIND DUNCAN HUNTERRRRRR!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND ATTN.....
Shawn is just a cheerleeder, and Medved is intellectually overrated, IMO.
Shawn = Sean.
Sean Hannity....
So is Thompson.
Thank you....Personnaly I wrote a check for Fred Thompson....Thanks for reminding me.
Hannity was certainly a target here and Rush should have reined him in months ago.
Truth is, if Rush still wants to push himself as the man of conservatism, he would admit that the GOP is not thinking conservatisim. So is he a conservative? Well he is if he is still willing to teach it and support it. Rush admits that Bush is no pusher or teacher of the movement.
So....EL RUSHBO, put all those millions of money where your mouth is. Are you just a pathetic Republican?... or are you a teacher of the conservative movement?
A challenge to El Rushbo. If you are, then Go* dam*n prove it, or else, STFU. Hunter IS a conservative. What is Rush? HEY RUSH, IF THE BEAST WINS BECAUSE YOU WERE SUPPORTING A LIBERAL IN THE GOP, you will lose your show. Why? Because your show will no longer matter.
He cannot claim it is only because Hunter hasn’t tried to get attention. If Rush really believes that, he is really only a fool. If Rush claims he is smarter than me, he would know that this whole race has been tilted at this time.
I don’t quite understand how people can vote for someone that says he is a conservative and ignore his history. The only person running for the presidency that has a history of conservatism is Duncan Hunter. Hannity for some reason will back a liberal named Rudy. I don’t know why because Hannity claims to be a devout Christian. That would impress on to me that he is against killing an unborn child. Yet, he gives air time to Rudy. Rush wants to stay away from backing anyone, but when he states his case against Hillary he is actually giving airtime to her or to anyone that disagrees with him.
Anytime someone appears on a talk radio show it is advertisement. Much more than can be paid for. Glenn Beck had Duncan Hunter on for an hour. He had Huckleberry on for an hour. I would like to see everybody get an hour so we can make an educated guess as to which presidential nomination we want to choose. I really, really, don’t care what Hillary likes best, Diamonds or Pearls (CNN).
I sure do like Hunter and wish he was doing better
I agree. He needs a bump from somewhere.
And unfortunately, time is running short for Hunter to do it.
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