Monday Night Debate Drama: What Should Trump Do If Hillary Coughs?

RUSH: Everybody wondering what the debate rules are gonna be and how much leeway the presidential commission on Hillary winning the debates will give Hillary in her quest to win the debates. And it looks like the Commission on Presidential Debates for Hillary to win the debates is not gonna make it any easier on her than anybody else, at least on paper. We won't know until something actually happens.

RUSH: Here's the latest. The debate's coming up on Monday night, and we know Monday Night Football numbers are gonna be down on the debate because we're expecting now eight to a hundred million, Super Bowl kind of numbers for the debate on Monday night. The Clinton camp wanted these debates on Monday Night Football, hoping fewer would watch, just like they scheduled her debates with Crazy Bernie on Saturday nights during the Democrat primary. And fewer people did watch.

But that's not gonna be the case here. So Mrs. Clinton is 5'4 in her flats. If she wears those little Nurse Ratched heels, she may get up to 5'4 and three-quarters or 5'5. Donald Trump is 6'2. Donald Trump is great television, just has it. Trump looks good on TV. And then everything he does on TV is an added bonus. You either have it or you don't, and that's why the people who have it earn a lot of money. It's one of those genealogical things that some people have and most people don't.

Hillary doesn't have it. She doesn't command the screen. She doesn't look intimidating, inviting, engaging. Man, you know what you people ought to do? Remember the audio sound bite we played yesterday where Hillary is speaking to some labor thugs, labor union people, and she said, "Why aren't I 50 points ahead?" You ought to see the entire video. Well, it's 45 seconds. It is great. The eyes, the anger on the face. Sorry, folks, it just doesn't work. As I say, it's not engaging. It's not welcoming. She just doesn't have it. I'm not predicting the impact of this, I'm just telling you.

And Trump has all of that. She doesn't have any of it, and now you throw in whatever is going on with her health, and the people in her camp know what that is. And the people in her camp, I'm sure they're scared to death. 'Cause they can't predict and they can't control when these episodes that she has happen. Like the coughing spasms or the things that look like seizures or the darting eyes.

They try to control it with medication. Medication has side effects. She's been taking a lot of rest in the days of this week, and they've said, "Yeah, it's to prepare and get ready for the debate."

I'm sure that the objective in the Clinton camp, unless we're being set up royally, which the Clintons have a propensity of doing, I'm sure their major task is doing everything they can to make sure she can get through 90 minutes of live TV without any kind of an episode. But I want you to keep in mind the Clintons set us up royally a number of times, get people expecting like I just mentioned Hillary to have an event and then just come out and just be 110 percent energetic and just mow everybody down.

Now, she's not done that once yet on the campaign trail, so it's a way-out-there possibility. But with the Clintons you always have to keep it in reserve as a possibility. So the Hillary people have asked for a stool that she could stand on so as to reduce the obvious difference in height, Trump 6'2, Hillary 5'4. The presidential commission on debates said, no, no stool. You've got to stand as you exist. You can change the height of the podium to accommodate your height, but you cannot have a stool. You cannot have footstool or any of that.

Now, what happens if she slips into a coughing fit? What happens if there's any other medical event during the debate? Well, the Drudge Report, having inside information, claims she's just gonna have to power through it, which, by the way, Drudge is very clever. That is a phrase that the Clinton campaign has been using to describe how tough their candidate is in dealing with all these obstacles. Yep, our Hillary, she's powering through it. She's just gotta power through all this stuff, and so that's what she's gonna have to do in the debate on Monday, supposedly, supposedly.

There are no commercial breaks, period. If you recall, the reason why that came up, there was a debate -- I think it was in Philadelphia -- and Martin O'Malley up there and Crazy Bernie and Hillary. And Hillary left the podium. She went backstage for ten minutes, and nobody knows what she did. So the mind begins to wonder. Was it a bathroom break? Was she on the verge of a coughing spasm and had to get back there and start coughing backstage? What was it? Then she came back, Crazy Bernie didn't try to capitalize on it or any of the sort.

But there isn't gonna be any of that allowed, according to the rules. That's what's on paper right now. I will wait to see if any of this really happens, what they choose as their way of dealing with it. Lester Holt's the moderator, NBC News. And, by the way, Lester Holt can see up close and personal what they've done to his buddy Matt Lauer for daring to ask Hillary questions about her email and her server. Don't think that Lester Holt is not aware of what could happen to him by people on his own side at his own network if he actually asks her a tough question or two.

"The presidential debate commission settled an early flashpoint when Clinton demanded a step-stool at the podium to add height to her 5’4 frame. Campaign Chairman John Podesta expressed concern that Hillary would be dwarfed by 6’2 Trump. The request was quickly rejected. The commission is allowing for a custom-made podium, which will accommodate the difference in stature."

No word on whether there's a secret teleprompter in Hillary's podium. But, folks, I have a serious question for you. I have a serious question for you. Whatever else you call to talk about today, I would like your thoughts on this, if you have any. We're going to engage in a what-if circumstance. If, during the debate, Mrs. Clinton has one of her medical episodes, let's start with coughing first. If Mrs. Clinton begins while she's speaking or whether Trump is speaking, or whatever, if she has a coughing spell -- now remember, we're being told no stoppage, no sitting down, both candidates gotta stand up, no commercial breaks.

So whatever event, if she has one, they can't stop it for that. Now, do we really think they won't? But that gets beyond my question. My question with coughing, if she has a coughing spasm, should Donald Trump leave his podium and walk to her podium to offer comfort and assistance? I know what some think, "No, no, remember what they did with Lazio." Yeah, but Lazio had a piece of paper and was challenging her to sign it. It was an agreement on campaign finance reform.

In this situation, when you have the former first lady and the former secretary of state obviously in distress -- if you've seen these coughing spasms, they can go on for four-and-a-half minutes -- should Trump leave his podium and either lean over to her or walk to her and offer to help, like pick up her bottle of water and hand it to her? Should he or should he not? If Mrs. Clinton looks as though she is feeling faint in a repeat or replica of the episode on Sunday of 9/11, remember where she was standing there waiting for the van to show up. The van arrived and she practically collapsed as she took the first step to get into the van.

It took two aides propping her up by the arms and then they basically threw her in the van. The campaign tried to say, "Yeah, nothing there. She lost a shoe when she stepped off the curb." Everybody knew that was not true. So in the event that there's something like that, should Trump make a move to aid her or assist her? I'm asking seriously. What do you think would be appropriate? You're watching a debate, we've got one of the participants in distress. I'm not gonna answer. If I answer my own question here there won't be anything left to say, so don't ask me. I'll tell you what I think about all this as the program unfolds.

But I want to know what some of you think, because I guarantee you they're talking about this. I mean, I don't know, I can't guarantee you, but I'm highly confident that they are discussing the strategy of this at Trump headquarters. "What do we do? What's the right thing to do, what's the wrong thing to do? I mean, our opponent could end up in real distress. What do we do? I'm sure they're bandying that back and forth." What do you think? And then we're told there are no breaks, right? No commercial breaks, no step stool, none of that.

What if one of these events happens and Lester Holt says, "We're taking a break." Despite the rules saying there are no commercial breaks, what happens then? Do people agree and sympathize with Lester Holt, or do they get mad at him for breaking the rules? All of this drama, not even the NFL can compete with this on Monday night.

RUSH: Hey, do you think Hillary's podium will have handrails? It's a wonder she hasn't asked for 'em, handrails in there. Can you see that?

RUSH: Here is the Trumpster last night in Aston, Pennsylvania. This is during a campaign event and this is how he's continuing to call attention to what he believes are her weaknesses.

TRUMP: Those peddling the narrative of cops as a racist force in our society, and this is a narrative that is supported with a nod by my opponent -- you see what she's saying, and it's not good -- share directly in the responsibility for the unrest that is afflicting our country and hurting those who have really the very least. Hillary Clinton does not have to worry about the sirens and the gunshots night. She doesn't worry about it. She's sleeping. She's sleeping.

RUSH: And she is. I mean, they tell us that she's resting. She's off the trail most of this week. Her appearance yesterday was by video to the union people, and now both candidates are supposedly off the campaign trail today as both are immersed deeply in debate preparation.

Last night on Lou Dobbs Tonight on the Fox News Channel, Dobbs spoke with Trump and said, "Your opponent --" and, for those of you in Rio Linda, that's Hillary "-- your opponent's taking four or five days to prepare for this debate. What are you doing, Mr. Trump, and how do you feel going into it?"

TRUMP: I've seen people prepare so much that they get up there and they get blocked and they can't speak. You've seen that, too, where they lock themselves in a cabin for three weeks and they don't want to do anything else. You have to be yourself. You have to go up and you just have to do it. So I'm really very much campaigning at the same time. I am prepared.

RUSH: You know, this is what I mean when I talk about Trump having natural instincts that can't be taught, that have to do with performance. And just the fact that he has whatever it is that works on television. And this debate, the criteria for this debate, let's talk about it for a second. What does Trump have to do to win this, in your mind, what do you think?

I'm gonna answer this myself later. If I answer these questions right now, it will shut down all discussion, because when I say something, that generally wraps it up. So what does Trump have to do? What does Hillary have to do to win, to be perceived as winning? And I'm not talking about what the pundits say afterwards, although that's a factor. I'm talking about in the eyes of the viewers. You know, Trump has his supporters and they want him to do so well. What does he have to do to satisfy them?

At the same time, Trump has been mischaracterized, misdiagnosed, his character has been assaulted from the get-go by both Republicans and the Hillary campaign. For example, look at this. This is a story at the Hill.com. "Poll: Nearly Half of Voters Think Trump Will Detonate a Nuke." Where the hell does that come from? Trump's not talked about detonating nukes. Who is it that's giving nuclear weapons away, it's Barack Obama. But yet half of voters think Trump will detonate a nuke. This is cockamamie, but this is the kind of stuff that's out there. This is the kind of stuff that people not voting for Trump believe.

What does Trump have to do in order to -- it's not that he's gonna prove these people wrong -- it's not that he's gonna convince them they're wrong, 'cause they're not gonna admit that. But he can do things that will cause people to question what they think they know about him. It happens to me all the time. You may not know this, but the Drive-Bys don't like me, and the Democrats don't, and they have lied and said really horrible, mean things about me for 28 years. And there are people who believe them. I mean, for a certain segment of the population that don't listen to me, my reputation's dirt.

But then when those people meet me they genuinely are shocked. "God, you're actually a nice guy."

"Well, I read what they write about you." Same thing with Trump. So what does he have to do, and how much of it does he have to do? What constitutes a win for Trump? Same questions for Hillary. What does she have to do to win? And, by the way, I'm not talking about strict debate technique, debate points with a judge assigning victory here or there. I'm talking about the perception of the viewers, voters who watch this.

It's a golden opportunity for Trump, because he's got the name recognition, they already know who he is, and the people that don't like him don't like him not because of what they've seen, necessarily, although in some cases it might be. It's because of what they've been told. Can he change any of that, or can he mitigate some of that? By the same token, Hillary's got the same challenges. If you look at the polling data on her, dishonest, untrustworthy, corrupt. You throw them all out. Benghazi, her health, she's got any number of challenges.

Normally in a debate like this we go into it with the Democrat already ahead by 50 points simply because of the way the media aligns and we normally have a Democrat that's not hated and disliked by half the country. So she's got her own challenges. So in the case of Trump, what does he have to do to emerge from this thing maybe not even as a winner, but as something that helps him, what does he have to do to move the ball forward? What could he do that would slow him down? What could he do that could cause damage, and the same thing with Hillary. I'd be interested in your thoughts on all of this.

RUSH: We start on the phones in Toms River, New Jersey, with Mike. It's great to have you, sir. You're up first, and welcome.

CALLER: Great to be on the show. I had a thought. With the feminists out there, is it gonna hurt -- the young feminists, Millennials that have been taught in school that they're as good as any man, is it gonna hurt Hillary Clinton that she needs a step stool to get high enough to be almost equal in height to Donald Trump?

CALLER: Well, they said that they're gonna build a podium. I read that on Drudge. They're gonna build a podium that is gonna equal her to the height of Donald Trump, and the commission agreed to that.

RUSH: Yeah, they denied her the step stool. The commission is allowing for a custom-made podium which will accommodate the difference in stature. So you think that the podium -- but she's not gonna be standing on the podium. The podium is what's front of her. All that means is that the height of the podium will be appropriate for her height. In other words, it won't be at her lips.

CALLER: Oh. Well, I misunderstood that article. I assumed they were gonna jack her up.

RUSH: Wait, wait. Your question is still great. What is the effect on feminists when they learn that a woman who wants to be the most powerful woman in the world's asking for a footstool.

CALLER: That is my point. I mean, if she goes to other foreign countries and stands next to the leader of another foreign country who happens to be taller than her, does that mean that she needs something to bring her up to the same height? It defies logic if you're supposed to be the smartest woman on the planet.

RUSH: It shouldn't matter how short or dumpy, whatever, you are. But you're asking specifically about Millennial feminists. I'll have more on that as the program unfolds. I've got dwindling time here. But your question about how will feminists react -- not that it's gonna make any electoral difference -- when they learn that she has requested this. Don't think it's gonna hurt her.

Remember, one of the buzzwords in that young Millennial group is "equality." And they might think it's unfair that Trump's taller than she is. Who knows. But older feminists I think will be outraged that she has such a request. Just do it the way you are, Hillary, be who you are. Screw 'em.

RUSH: "I ain't no ways short." Maybe Trump could show up and offer her some elevator shoes, ruby red slippers from the Wizard of Oz. I'm not laughing. I'm just vamping, filling time here 'til the segment ends. I don't mean any of this. I'm just talking.

RUSH: So I got a note, I got an email here from the editrix of the Limbaugh Letter. That's the most widely read political newsletter in America. "Dear Boss: I sadly think your caller is right. I think Hillary is going to be on a higher platform to make her look equal to Trump. A podium --" she's got dictionary definitions here, as though I don't know what these things are. (laughing)

"A podium is the raised platform on which the speaker stands to deliver his or her speech, podium derived from the Greek word Clinton, which means foot, as in podiatrist. A lectern is a raised, slanted stand on which a speaker can place his or her notes or secret teleprompter. Lectern is derived from the Latin word lectus, the past participle of the verb legir, which means to eat vegetables. The word lecter comes from the same source."

I was confused. (laughing) Anyway, it's a long way of saying that the caller might have been right, that they're gonna have her jacked up by virtue of the podium she's going to be on to make her look equal in height to Trump.

I remember Koko at the website sent me a picture, they parodied this. Michael Dukakis was also like 5'2 or 5'3, governor of Massachusetts running against George H. W. Bush, who's 6'4. He's tall. They parodied, in those debates between Bush and Dukakis, they didn't equalize things for Dukakis. And Saturday Night Live parodied it by having the lectern at Dukakis's, played by Jon Lovitz, at his forehead. It was funny. It was funny as all get out.

So now we're a little confused because they refused to let her have a stool, but what they're gonna end up with is even better than the a stool. By the way, she used to need a stool to get into her van. She had a step stool to get into her van. And then they had that 9/11 thing, there wasn't a step stool, got a new van with the very, very low entrance there that they use to transport residents of seasoned citizens' homes and seasoned citizens' villages. So they got one of those kind of vans for Hillary so she doesn't need the step stool.

I think, if this is right, if the podium is gonna be different for her and elevated, that's better than a step stool. But look, it doesn't matter, folks. The real question is not that. I posed the real questions in the previous hour, and I'm gonna repeat them very quickly here.

Now, the rules say 90 minutes, no commercial breaks, no stoppages, no bathroom breaks, no coughing breaks, nothing. And you know the Clinton camp, they're sweating that out. If she has an episode, if she has one of her coughing spasms, which can go on for four minutes, or if she begins to look like she's feeling faint or -- we've seen her have seizures, we've seen her head bobbing and the eyes -- if any of that stuff happens, the question is should Trump walk over and offer helpful assistance, or not? That's question number one.

Question number two, what does Trump have to do to, at the end of this thing, be proclaimed to have really kicked ass, really won it, what does he have to do? What are the expectations? What does he have to do to meet them, in your opinion? Ditto, Hillary. So those are the questions on the table if any of you people out there calling in want to tackle it. I'm gonna answer all this at some point on the program. If I were to answer them now, there'd be no reason to listen to what anybody else says 'cause when I say it that pretty much wraps it up.

Trump on his debate prep. But one other comment about his thing about people over-prepping. You do not know how right on that is. And I can even give you a little bit of sample of that using myself. If I happen to be away for more than a weekend, if I'm off the air for two days or say a whole week, vacation, I don't stop acquiring knowledge. I don't stop perusing the news, and so by the time my first day back shows up, I've got so much stuff that I can actually recall the first hour of the first program after a vacation just sounding horrible 'cause I was paralyzed. I didn't know what to do first, didn't know what to do when, didn't know what importance to assign. It was just too much.

I crammed too much, and instead of just following my instincts and going with the flow I started trying to calculate, okay, what do people want to hear? What happened when I wasn't here? They want to hear what I have to think about it, you do all that, you end up with brain freezes. Trump is exactly right, you can over-prepare. They over-prepped Reagan in his first debates with Walter F. Mondale. You people, if you weren't around when that happened, that would have been 1984, and Reagan was gonna win this in a landslide, everybody knew it, but the first debate came and Reagan appeared not there.

Not that he didn't appear there, he just seemed stymied on a number of things. He was just over-prepped, over-coached by all of the aides and all the consultants. The second debate Reagan smoked Mondale from the opening bell. So Trump is right. You can over-prepare for these things.

Let me add on to the question. In order for Trump to do well does he have to be able to explain what the nuclear triad is? Does he have to be able to use terms like, "Well, what my policy would be in the subcontinent would certainly have to do with what they're doing in the Arabian peninsula because the Arabian peninsula has an inexorable relationship to the subcontinent." Does he have to do that kind of stuff? In order to establish bona fides, in order to establish credibility, does he have to be able to -- George Bush, W. had to do that in one of his debates.

Remember, Condoleezza Rice, you know, after the first debate -- George Bush, it's interesting. If you go back and look in 2000 in the debates against Algore and in 2004 against Lurch, John F. Kerry, I don't think people would disagree with me if I were to say Bush didn't win one of them. Now, he didn't disqualify himself at the same time. Gore did. In the first debate between Gore and Bush, it was obvious. Gore's attitude was, "What am I doing here? This guy is a neophyte. This guy, Bush, he's a plebe. I don't even know why I have to show up. This is so beneath me." And he spent the whole debate sighing.

With every response that Bush gave, Algore's response was (sighing). It really irritated people after a while, just because it was irritating by itself, but because of why Algore was doing it. It was very condescending. See, Hillary, she can flash all these terms like subcontinent, Arab peninsula, diaspora, the biosphere, biaspora. She can start naming generals. She can start naming ambassadors and third ambassadors that are still alive after she was secretary of state. She can do all of that. I kind of snuck that one in there, did you notice?

Trump can't do any of that. Does he have to? Does he have to? We're talking about the presidency here. Oh, of course I can answer all this, but I don't want to. I want to see what people have to say about this. So there are expectations. Both of them have them. What does Trump have to do to meet and surpass his? What does Hillary have to do?

And there are negatives, too. What can they do to blow it? What would Trump do that would give him trouble growing his base? What could Hillary do that could amplify what the negatives about her already are. It's hard for her not to lie. That's something that the Trump people are gonna have to struggle with here. Not only do they have to ask themselves -- and don't doubt that they are. If she gets in distress, what do we do? Does Trump go over and physically try to help her or not.

If she gets in a moment of distress and the rules say no stoppages and no breaks, does Lester Holt nevertheless go to a break? I know what's gonna happen. I mean, I don't know, but I'm pretty confident I know what's gonna happen if Hillary has an episode. I don't know what Lester's gonna do. I think I know what Trump would do. It's what I think he should do. I've not told anybody. I'll share it with you in a moment after we get some feedback on it from people on the phones.

By the same token, you know, Hillary's negatives, Trump has negatives, what do they have to not do to amplify those. You could get pretty in the weeds with this analysis. But here's the big thing. The one advantage Trump has that Hillary doesn't have, he just does well on TV. He obviously relishes being on TV. He knows how to do TV, instinctively. He looks good on TV. He looks like he belongs there.

Hillary's stiff and she doesn't have any of the natural accouterments that shine through on TV. You see Hillary on TV, you don't want to see any more of her. If you're changing channels and Hillary's there, you're not gonna stop. If you're surfing and you see Trump, you'll stop, see what he's saying. You won't with Hillary, that kind of stuff.

CALLER: Okay. So I was calling because I wanted to answer your question about what Trump should do --

CALLER: -- if she were to faint or if she were to cough, because I think he would handle it very differently. I think if she faints, he actually should go over and be very commanding, because it's a crisis. And people need to see that he knows how to handle a crisis, so he should say something like, "Lester, call 911." Because like you said before, it's what he leaves the people feeling, and he'll leave them feeling safe, and that's an important feeling for the American people to feel.

RUSH: That, by the way, I want to thank you for reminding me, because this is gonna be a classic illustration of the old creed that performers live by, and it is this: Very few people will really remember all the things you say, but they will never forget how you make them feel. That's forever. And you've just reminded me of that. Trump's actions here will convey and make people feel a certain way. And so if she actually has something drastic, like you say fainting, yeah, your opinion is he should make tracks over there and ask Lester to call 9/11. What if they ban cell phones in the room, though, then what do you do?

CALLER: If they ban cell phones? I mean, I think he should go over and command the situation. If he knows what to do and how to handle it or he's doing his best to handle it because he's showing leadership, and that's important.

RUSH: Here's what's gonna happen next, though. I'm not disagreeing or agreeing. If something like that happens, you know that she's gonna have how many doctors and nurses and staff that are backstage, something like that happens, they may get to her before Trump does, or at the same time, in which case what should Trump then do?

CALLER: I think if that's the case, I think even just Phil saying -- I think to me, like what would I like to see, if he said, "How can I help?" like, again, it's about being part of the solution.

CALLER: So, how can I help, how can we solve this. The idea is to leave people feeling safe, and I think that's --

RUSH: All right. Now, if she coughs, if it's just a coughing spasm, does not involve fainting or anything -- I don't know that she's fainted. She's had seizures.

CALLER: No, I don't think she's gonna faint, either, but she may cough, which may not be a bad thing for him. But if she does, I don't think he should go over to her at all. I think he, in fact, should not bring any attention to him and let the discomfort, let there be the silence of her coughing, because then the feeling is discomfort, and nobody likes that feeling. It's not a safe feeling. And Lester's gonna be uncomfortable, and we're gonna see that discomfort and we're gonna feel it and we're gonna go towards him. I mean, he should be compassionate in his eyes, but don't draw attention to himself, let it be on her, let everybody sit and watch.

RUSH: But that's kind of what I mean. He can't help drawing attention to himself. He just has that quality on TV. But I know what you mean.

RUSH: Well, here's the thing on the coughing. You say, hey, she starts coughing, hey, people cough. If he's speaking, he keeps speaking. If she continues to cough, camera will not be on her, I guarantee you. Ossie can you hang on through the break? 'Cause I want to get through thoughts on one more thing.

RUSH: And we are back with Ossie in Los Angeles talking about what Trump should do if Hillary finds herself in distress. Ossie, is there any circumstance in which you could see it would be appropriate for Mr. Trump to administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

RUSH: Okay, now having gotten that out of the way, you suggested if she starts coughing to let it happen and he should not doing anything and if he's speaking he should keep speaking and leave it up to Lester Holt.

CALLER: Sorry. Then let me clarify. I don't think he should keep speaking. I think he should show a level of compassion, you know, maybe even say to Lester, "You know what, why don't we just give her a minute and then resume." And then just wait, you know. She'll have water, so I don't think he needs to offer her water.

RUSH: If she's got a bottle of something clear, we need to be suspicious. They've put it out that they find it hard to make her drink water, in the context of her being dehydrated all the time. I'm just saying what they tell us about her.

CALLER: But, again, I think he should be respectful, and, again, just look at her kindly.

RUSH: Okay. So the rules say no commercial breaks, no stoppages, no time-outs, but if she has an elongated coughing spasm, you think Trump should say, "Lester, if we want to take a break, it's fine with me"?

CALLER: No, actually, I don't think he should take a break. I think he should say, "Lester, why don't we give Mrs. Clinton a minute."

CALLER: Taking a break, but not a commercial break. You know, let's not talk over her coughing.

RUSH: Yeah, but let me tell you. There's a potential backslash to that because of the gender card. If she goes on a coughing spasm and doesn't stop, at some point some women are gonna say, "They could have done something to help. They should have done something." There's a potential backslash here if there is no help offered, if it's an elongated coughing spasm.

CALLER: Here's the thing. There are always gonna be those women who are gonna think that. That's not who this is. We're not gearing -- this is not toward them. This is to the independents who want to feel safe and want to know that they can trust Trump and that they can vote with him. Those women are always gonna be something.

RUSH: I know, but I hope you're right. My impression of our society and culture today is that we don't want to see any distress and if there any distress, stop it, it's not fair, not fair, somebody should have done something, oh, my God. That's just how I think a lot of people react. This is not as simple and cut-and-dried as it would appear, as my question on mouth-to-mouth resuscitation so aptly demonstrated. But Ossie, I appreciate your input, because that's tough. You know, I like her attitude. Hey, this is a debate. This is who these people are. If she starts having a coughing spasm, that's it. You don't stop it. The rules are there's no stoppages.

I'm thinking of something. I was thinking of something concussion related, but I don't want to go there. (interruption) Would Bill give her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation? In public? I don't know. Probably. Probably. I would assume so. Ossie, thank you. I appreciate it. Great talking to you.

RUSH: Getting ready for the first debate coming up Monday night. Expected audience of between 80 and 100 million people.

I mentioned earlier in talking about previous debates and the things that happen that end up being harmful that nobody anticipates. All these people that predict these things, all these analysts tell you what to look for, more often than not, it's things that nobody has expected that end up not derailing, for somebody it may be a derail, but cause people to look at this differently. Which is pretty much the case, I mean, all these predictions and pretty much anything are always overwhelmed by the unexpected.

I mentioned back in 2000, it was the first debate between Algore, the sitting vice president, and George W. Bush. Now, back then, the popular consensus in the Washington establishment was that George W. Bush was a hayseed idiot. Yeah, he'd been governor of Texas, and, yeah, he'd raised a lot of money, but the way he talked was just embarrassing. He had Dan Quayle eyes like deer-in-the-headlight eyes, he was just dumb. And Algore, oh, what brilliance. I mean, so much smarts, so much intelligence, it would be difficult to contain it all in one skull.

And, of course, it was all BS, but this was the manufactured run-up. Don't forget, Algore was the guy in the first Clinton term, they're touring Mount Vernon and there's all kind of busts of famous people in there. .And Algore's being given the tour by the curator, he looks up and says, "Who would that be?"

"Oh, yes, of course, George Washington." Yeah, you're only in his house, and yet Algore was brilliant. Come from the Ivy League; his father had been a great, great Democrat segregationist Senator. They had lived in an upscale hotel in downtown Washington. Algore was everything. And so Algore bought into that, too. And his attitude in that first debate was why do I even have to do this? This guy I'm up against, George W. Bush is a hayseed, he's an idiot, it's as beneath me to have to even be here. And he portrayed that by sighing. Every time Bush said something that required Algore to respond, it was so noticeable we put together a montage to illustrate this.

BUSH: Social (sigh) Security, surpluses (sigh) for $900 billion. (sigh) It’s gonna go to everybody. (sigh) There’s a lot of shoving. This is a major (sigh) problem. America is meant (sigh) to be. FDA’s (sigh) made it’s decision. (sigh) That’s what a Governor gets to do. (sigh) You’re making (sigh) $50,000. There’s differences. (sigh)

RUSH: You hear all the sighs in there from Algore? It was the whole debate. (sighing) And the next day even Algore promoters were talking about how distracting and condescending it was, and it didn't help him. He stopped sighing in the other debates, but he never was said to have dominated in any of them.

CALLER: Hi, Rush. God bless you. Thanks for everything you do. Keep it up for a long, long time.

CALLER: Of course Donald Trump should be the way he normally is, a decent person and help Hillary in an appropriate way, I guess stopping short of the mouth-to-mouth.

CALLER: Okay. But during the Republican convention it became clear that he was a pretty decent down-to-earth person. You couldn't fake the kind of quality that he has with his children, and he's a decent person. He would help her if she needed it.

RUSH: Yeah. This is another one of these -- forget Trump for a second. Look at what they were able to do -- and Victor Davis Hanson has made this point as well -- to Mitt Romney. Now, in Mitt Romney, whether you know him or not, but I do, and he's one of the finest human beings. He may be a squishy wishy moderate Republican, but in terms of his character, his honesty, his morality and all that, you're not gonna find a finer human being. You won't find anybody who's more concerned about other people and helping them Mitt Romney is.

Look what they were able to do to the guy. Tax cheat, didn't care if employees' family members got cancer, willing to kill the family dog by putting it on the roof of the station wagon on a family vacation. And Trump's not a bad guy, folks. These are manufactured criticisms. He's not a bad guy. He's a down-to-earth, nice guy when you get to know him.

RUSH: Here's Micah in San Jose, California. Great that you waited. I appreciate it. How are you?

CALLER: I'm great. Thanks so much, Rush. So I'm calling about the subject of Donald Trump expanding his base in the debate on Monday. I think a lot of us have frustration with him sometimes because he's often a poor communicator I think of his basic belief systems. I feel that he's running for president because he's motivated by his love of country. I think he's motivated by his traditional American values, and I think he needs to communicate that those traditional American values are not incompatible with immigration, not incompatible with security concerns, not incompatible with domestic economic policy and global economic policy, especially when the poor in our inner cities have these massive unemployment rates, you know.

CALLER: I'm very glad that there are people in Mexico that have jobs. I'm very glad there are people in India that have jobs in the last 25 years, but I'm upset that our inner cities are still full of rampant unemployment and this sort of bleak outlook. I think in many respects, Hillary's "deplorable" commentary on the deplorables the other day really gave Trump a road map to go down and appeal to the traditional American values. You know, racist, Islamophobic, homophobic, et cetera, et cetera. The thing that frustrates me is that in 2008 both Clinton and Obama ran on this idea that gay marriage shouldn't happen. They were in favor of traditional marriage. And now they've turned around of course when the polls went the other way, then of course they get to say, okay, we're in favor of gay marriage.

RUSH: Right. Algore and Bill Clinton used to be pro-life back in the late eighties.

CALLER: Hi, Rush. God bless you. Thanks for everything you do. Keep it up for a long, long time.

CALLER: Of course Donald Trump should be the way he normally is, a decent person and help Hillary in an appropriate way, I guess stopping short of the mouth-to-mouth.

RUSH: Here's Micah in San Jose, California. Great that you waited. I appreciate it. How are you?

RUSH: Right. Algore and Bill Clinton used to be pro-life back in the late eighties.

CALLER: Exactly right. And, see, that's the part that frustrates me, because now they're going to demonize anybody that holds those -- you know, any sort of skepticism, right? If you're still, I'm still not sure that's a good idea, well, now you're a homophobe, and so that demonization just reduces us. Now we're politically incorrect. Now we're being lumped in with extremists. All that demonizing of traditional beliefs, I think that's out there.

I happened to be in the U.K. when the Brexit thing came in, and it was actually the working-class people that turned out in favor of Brexit. And I think that's the sort of thing that gets Trump over the hump in some of the swing states, like Ohio and Pennsylvania. You know, the racist angle, everybody's a racist who supports Trump. That's the accusation.

RUSH: Well, Micah, you've got a great, great point here. I just want to give you a little historical perspective. I think I'm older than you are. They've been saying that about us no matter who our candidate is. They've been saying it about our candidate, our party at large, the conservative movement at large, and the effort to rebut it and the ways to do it have been discussed backwards and forwards for as long as I've been doing this program, and nobody has come up with a singular best way to deal with it, but you said something that I think's the key.

You said Trump does believe in America. He loves America and believes in its greatness and its potential. And this is something that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama do not. They campaign and govern expressly on the notion that America is immoral and unjust and doesn't deserve its superpower status because we have wronged so many minorities around the world, it's time we got a taste of our own medicine. They don't say it that way, but that's what they mean.

So Trump can contrast his view of America and the world simply by being honest about his view of the country. He loves it. There's no question about it. There's no question he loves America, and he's willing to be made fun of for sounding camp about it. And the Democrats cannot own that. They don't even want to own that. And then I think you're right, he could take it from there. But you gotta be very careful how you go about refuting this racist charge because the minute you address it they're gonna say, "A-ha, it must be true if he thinks he's gotta defend it." So those are excellent points, and I'm really glad that you got in here today. I'm sad I'm out of time, I really am, but some really, really brilliant assessments there, especially coming from your standpoint as a Trump supporter.

I don’t know whether that opening debate photo is photoshopped (it must be) , but Trump should do nothing like that. He can come out of the debate wayyyyy on top rhetorically, and make a great and unprecedentedly positive impression, but half of it will be undone if he gets snarky with Hillary’s condition, if she starts coming undone. He should be a gentleman, and ask if she needs a break, etc, assuming it comes to that. The apprehension in the air about how Hillary will come across will be the proverbial “so thick you could cut it with a knife”.

41 posted on 09/23/2016 7:09:39 PM PDT by supremedoctrine ("If you want to be able to predict the future, first you have to create it"---Lincoln)

Do NOTHING!

Let her twist in the wind and let the visual speak for itself ...

42 posted on 09/23/2016 7:10:02 PM PDT by Lmo56 (If ya wanna run with the big dawgs - ya gotta learn to piss in the tall grass ..)

43 posted on 09/23/2016 7:13:46 PM PDT by conservatism_IS_compassion ('Liberalism' is a conspiracy against the public by wire-service journalism.)

Robert Hoover and Delta house provide the answer here at :43:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROxvT8KKdFw

“I know the rules say no breaks, but if Mrs. Clinton needs a short break, I have no problem with that.”

There is no big black guy with an injector

I suggest you don't google that with out safe search on

Actually, the best thing he can do is pull a Trump/Pence custom blue hankie & show/offer it without words. Best thing she can say is No thanks that will only get me sicker.” (admits to being sick)

If she coughs? Absolutely nothing. What on earth could he do?

Often people say "God bless you!"

Hearing His name directed at her ought to flip her out entirely...

51 posted on 09/23/2016 7:24:06 PM PDT by null and void (Has there ever been a death associated with the Clintons that *wasn't* beneficial to them?)

Will they have bottles of water on stage?

If she has water, there’s no need to offer her his water. If it was a man, he would likely stand respectfully and wait it out. If it’s a prolonged hackathon, he may even be a gentleman and offer to go along with a rescheduling of the debate.

She will stand and she will make it through the talk.What she will not do is give strait answers.

Limbaugh has been avoiding the big issues like out of control violent borders, legal and illegal immigration for decades.

Sooo....why didn't Dukakis ask for a platform to measure up to Poppy Bush?

Is she going to get a pedestal when meeting with Putin?

A preemptive strike. She has seated archenemy Cuban on the front row. Trump should seat Monica Lewinski on the front seat. If she is not coughing on arrival, she surely will once Monica is identified.

If she has water, there’s no need to offer her his water.

If Clinton collapses again, Trump may need to throw his water in her face.

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