That's funny, I was thinking his voice sounded more like the old Rush. He's very important to our country. We need to pray for him too.
I've thought that the timbre of his voice has changed over the past couple years. In the early 90s, Rush used to make frequent reference to his "formerly nicotine stained fingers". Heck, he still does occasionally, despite the fact that his nicotine comes from cigars now, rather than cigarettes.
An uncle of mine took up cigar smoking several years ago after a couple decades of abstinance. His voice seemed to take on the same tonal changes after a few years of smoking. Perhaps that explains Rush's change of voice, too.