You are exactly right - Rush clearly likes three candidates ahead of Mitt and before Bachmann and Cain dropped out he liked five candidates ahead of Mitt.
The idea that Bain or CC has editorial control over him is ridiculous. He is not “paid a salary” - his show, owned by him, splits revenue with CC and CC is damned glad to be in on it. Rush has all the leverage and all the editorial control.
Any notion to the contrary is simply made by people who do not understand the talk business and Rush’s unique role in that business.