http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2016/03/16/kasich_the_last_best_hope_of_desperate_establishment_trying_to_hold_its_powerKasich: The Last Best Hope of Desperate Establishment Trying to Hold Its Power
March 16, 2016
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BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Well, how did we open the program yesterday? I'll tell you exactly how I opened the program. I'll tell you almost exactly verbatim what I said. I asked Snerdley, "Who's out there saying that the future of the Republican Party hangs on Ohio?" I was walking out of the studio on the way to other parts of the broadcast complex here about five minutes before the program began yesterday, I looked up at CNN and I saw that headline. And it says, "Conservative Host: Future of the GOP Hangs on Ohio."
I said, "What in the name of Sam Hill is that, and who said it?" So I immediately dispatched my research teams to try to find out who it was.
I found out it was Buck Sexton who had said it, who is a former guest host on this program. And that led me to trying to sound the clarion call yesterday. And, lo and behold, I've got the audio sound bite roster here, and you know who's in more sound bites than anybody else today? John Kasich.
I am here to tell you, I've gotten into arguments with people who think that I am way off on this. And I'll tell you what, of course, I'm saying. Folks, do not doubt me on this. I'm gonna give you my explanation for it in a moment. The Republican establishment, whoever you think they are -- I mean, I'll tell you who they are. Elected Republicans that are in the hierarchy, they are on K Street, they're lobbyists, they are -- oh, it reminds me. I got a note from somebody on Mitt Romney's staff, and they said, "Hey, look, Romney has nothing to do with that ad with the women quoting things Trump has said about women that's been running out there. You said it was a Romney super PAC. It's not a Romney super PAC."
This person said it's a former staffer of Romney who started the super PAC. (interruption) Well, I'm just telling you what they said. "We don't want you to be wrong. Romney's got nothing to do with it. It's a former staffer of Romney's super PAC that's behind that ad."
Anyway, the K Street lobbyists, the Republican consultants who are 0-fer -- I still don't think people have a grasp on what actually has happened here. A political neophyte with no staff, no professionals, has run rings around career professionals in a business that is exclusionary. They don't let outsiders in. They don't want outsiders in. They don't let outsiders in and let them prosper. And Trump, he doesn't have a campaign consultant, he doesn't have a whole bunch of data analytics people. He's got a spokesman. I don't know what Lewandowski is, I don't know what he does, but he does not have the traditional staff.
These people are not just gonna sit there and let this happen, folks. I mean, the Republican establishment would consist of people like Boehner, who today endorsed Paul Ryan. The Republican establishment would consist of every campaign consultant that you see on Fox or any other network from the Republican Party. And they are not just going to sit by and lose this. They, in their world, in their minds, they come first, they are preeminent and dominant. They come before the party, saving themselves, protecting themselves, guaranteeing their futures, all of that comes before the party.
Their positions in the establishment, their rankings, everything that defines them, everything that provides for them their self-worth derives and descends from their membership in the establishment. And that, all those accouterments, the power and the money, the income, the influence, all of that only happens if there is a party that they run. They enjoy all of those aspects whether the party wins or loses. They enjoy their incomes. They enjoy their influential lobbying positions on K Street. They have their consultancies, they have their elected offices. Whether the party wins or loses, they maintain everything they have.
They lose all of that if they lose control of the party. They lose all of that. The party winning, therefore, is not paramount them maintaining what they have, like anybody else who would want to protect what they've got. And so Kasich is the last best hope they've got. And if you knew how to listen last night, you could have concluded this yourself. No Kasich should not get out. Kasich should stay in. Kasich's gonna win in the Northeast. Kasich is the exact kind of nominee this party could have used in the beginning. It was incredible.
I listened to this and I knew exactly, my instincts when I saw that little headline on CNN yesterday: Future of GOP hangs on Ohio. I know exactly what that means, and I know exactly what these people are prepared to do to hang onto what they've got. I could draw any number of analogies for you to try to make the point, but I hope I don't even have to do that by the time I finish with this today, because to me it's not even arguable. It is clear as a bell.
They don't want any part of Trump winning this thing. They don't want any part of Ted Cruz winning this thing. If they do, if either Cruz or Trump ends up being the nominee or if there's some kind of an alliance between the two at some point, they're facing the prospect of losing it all, their reputations, their influence. I mean, it's dire as far as they're concerned. Imagine any other private club that you know, and you know who the members of the private club are, and you know their self-esteem is very high. They run around feeling very full of themselves. They're proud of themselves. They're very special, select few members of the club.
Imagine somebody coming in and taking over the club: Somebody that's not a member. Somebody that's never been there before. Somebody that wants to totally shake it up. Somebody who knows the club is the reason for all these things going wrong. This is dire. And Kasich is it. Kasich is the last link they think they've got -- they've got to get to an open convention.
They've got to get to a convention that's contested.
They've got to see to it that neither Cruz nor Trump win this thing outright before the convention, and they've got to finagle a way to make sure -- the magic number's 1,237, and the speculation is, well, if Trump's at, say, 1,150, they can't deny it to him, too many people have voted. Folks, the people, the number of people who have voted is irrelevant to the people I'm talking about. That doesn't matter a hill of beans. They don't listen to you in the midterm elections; why should they listen to you during the primary season? It's not gonna change now. You voted for Trump, you voted for Cruz, doesn't matter, you voted the wrong way.
If they can make sure, if they can ensure that nobody that is currently running has a shot at the nomination prior to the convention, I'm telling you, do not think it's automatic that Trump or Cruz is gonna get the nomination simply 'cause they got close or what have you. This is not what these people want. It's their convention. It's their party. They wrote the rules. Trump and Cruz are still outsiders.
You ever stop and think who's gonna write the party platform here given what's happening now? The nominee normally has a fundamental, major primary role in writing the party platform. Don't know who that's gonna be yet. Not that the platform is ever consulted after it's written, but it is a power play process to get it written and who gets to participate in that. It's all about that.
So I will even spell this out in greater detail as the program unfolds because I've got supporting sound bites to illustrate my point. As I say, I mentioned this last night to some other people, and you wouldn't believe number of, "Ah, Rush, naw, naw. You're just being a little dramatic. That kind of thing is not gonna happen. They can see the handwriting on the wall. This is Trump. It's done. It's over with. It's just a mere formality."
No, it's not. They have not accepted it yet. They will not accept it. They don't want to accept it. They don't see any future for themselves in that arrangement. And you wait.
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RUSH: From The Politico: "Advisers to Donald Trump and Ted Cruz say there's no way they'll allow John Kasich to even compete at a contested national convention -- let alone prevail. Trump and Cruz are betting that their dual dominance in the delegate hunt will permanently box out the Ohio governor, who has no mathematical path to the nomination and is openly pursuing a floor fight at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. And their aides say Kasich won't even make it to the floor. 'There is virtually zero chance he can even be nominated,' Saul Anuzis, a former Michigan Republican national committeeman who’s advising Cruz on his convention strategy, told POLITICO. 'It’s a two-man race.'"
This is what everybody thinks. You know, I'm watching Fox last night, and, look, I know this is the common-sense play. The analysis is, it's Trump more than likely, next Cruz, but outside of that, there's nobody that has a prayer. Right now here's the conventional wisdom. The conventional wisdom is the Republican race is over. We know it's either gonna be Cruz or it's gonna be Trump. Nobody else has a chance, nobody else has a prayer. You cannot take the votes away from Trump. You can't deny him the nomination. If he shows up, however short, if it's 75 delegates short, 50 delegates, 150, you can't take it away from him.
If Cruz pulls off a major upset and happens to win over 60% of the remaining delegates and happens to best Trump, you can't take it away from Cruz. But neither of them get to 1,273, you can't take it away from him, it's over, that was the conventional wisdom. But there were those who didn't accept it. There were those on TV last night, "Well, you can't leave Kasich out of this. Kasich is gonna go and compete in the Northeast. Kasich could take some delegates away from Cruz. Kasich could take some delegates away from Trump. Kasich could do well in Michigan."
We had Republican establishment types promoting John Kasich on CNN and on Fox last night, because John Kasich represents the last stand, the last chance they've got. Here it is. Let me synthesize this. The wise men and the smart money says that there is no way that the powers that be will deny Trump or Cruz once we get to Cleveland. They just won't do it. It can't happen. It won't happen. Too many people will have voted. And I'm sorry, folks, I don't think that's automatic because of the way I know the people in the Republican establishment that we are all talking about here.
This crowd is very stubborn. They have not come to grips with what's happened to them here. They by no means have accepted that the top two delegate getters are outsiders and are not part of the Republican Party ranking establishment in any way. They have not come to grips with that. And the reason they haven't come to grips with it is that they don't want to. This operation is theirs. It has been their life. They trained for it in college. They trained for it with family connections. They trained for it, they got involved in it, and they climbed the ladder within it from the moment of young adulthood, those that wanted to be in it that early.
Some have been recruited, of course, over the years because they've recently acquired a lot of money and therefore have influence. But for the most part these are lifers. They fear losing their virtual professional existence. They fear losing their self-worth, the thing that gives them swagger. The thing that validates their success is their position in this club, the establishment, the Republican Party, and in fact the entire Washington establishment.
They're not just gonna let some outsiders come in and take it. It just isn't going to happen. The thing to keep in mind here, these people to whom I'm referring, they have all of this whether the party wins or loses elections. That's the key. They have all of the perks and the power, the lifestyles, the connections, even if they lose elections. As long as they run the party, as long as they run their part of the, quote, unquote, establishment. They fear losing their standing in this club more than they fear the party losing the presidency or any other election.
And let's talk about other members of the establishment. Let's talk about other conservative media types. How about the people who -- and this is not personal. But how about the people whose very lives are devoted to the intellectual pursuit of conservatism, supposedly? They may have magazines. They may be at think tanks. They may be policy aides. They might be legislative aides. But their existence is to continue to write about the superiority and the preferability of conservatism. That's the role they play in this whole arrangement. That's the reason for their existence. That's what gives them their swagger. They are considered leading opinion makers and opinion leaders. They are considered superior intellects when it comes to the intellectual pursuits of conservatism.
What is the reason for their existence if Trump wins the White House? The think tank people, what would be the point? Trump has not welcomed them, they haven't welcomed Trump, Trump is not going to be identified as a movement conservative who is going to be seeking the advice of these people. You think they're not paranoid? Their whole lives have been rooted and based on that identity. They're the go-to guys to explain the conservative view of the Middle East. They are the go to guys to explain the conservative view of Putin and the Ukraine and China and whatever. And now they're on the outs because nobody will be interested. Theoretically.
Now, they could make a move here and try to sidle up to Trump if and when the day comes, but they don't want that to happen. They're scared. I mean, their identities, their self-worth, they're just not going to peacefully let all this happen. That's why John Kasich, that headline yesterday, I think it happened to be right: The fate of the GOP hangs on what happens in Ohio. Kasich hanging on -- by the way, he is one of those people.
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RUSH: So the gauntlet's been thrown down. Trump and Cruz are vowing to barricade Kasich from the convention. They know what's going on here. They know what's lurking. They know what's being conceived and strategized. They know the sinister desires of those who are soon to be on the outs here if things continue to play out.
RUSH: Here we go with the audio sound bites. Yesterday I threw something out there, and I got a note, "You do not know how you have blown things up."
I said, "What do you mean, blown things up?"
"Your comment about Jeb."
I said, "Nobody said a word to me about that." Well, they wouldn't, but I said, "I've not seen this."
"No, no, it's not in the media, but you have got everybody, I mean, you blew it up to this." And all I said was, in talking about Kasich and the future of the GOP hanging on Ohio, and the possibility we get to a contested convention, and who runs the contested convention. Folks, I'm here to tell you, if you don't think this is a possibility, you do not yet fully understand who we're dealing with here.
The whole purpose for them in a contested convention is to get somebody other than Donald Trump or Ted Cruz. There's no other reason for one. A contested convention, as far as the establishment, they don't like either of these guys. They don't like Cruz; they don't like Trump. And yet they're pushing for a contested convention. Big whoop. A contested convention simply means you don't have a winner coming out of the primaries, so you have votes. First ballot, second ballot, third. Brokered is an entirely different thing. And that's what they ultimately want to do.
They don't want to leave this up to votes, certainly not of the voters. They want the grand pooh-bahs and the power brokers at the convention's votes to determine the nominee. Stop and think for a second, if you think I'm all wet on this -- and I realize many of you do. You think I've gone overboard in analyzing who these people are. Don't doubt me on this. Do not doubt me. I'll come up with an analogy or two if I have been unable to persuade you so far. But look, we have Trump; we have Cruz. Theoretically, if things hold, neither of them is gonna show up in Cleveland with 1,237. That could change, but as of now, Cruz would have to have an incredible run from here on out and Trump would, you know, have to -- if Kasich stays in there, he's gonna take delegates from somebody. Cruz is gonna take his share of delegates, too.
I mean, it's more likely that nobody gets 1,237. Now, the Trump people have a scenario where they get right to it on the number, but I won't bother you with the intricacies of that right now. So we have this contested convention. What's the point, if Trump -- let's just set up a hypothetical. Trump has 1,100. Cruz has 900. I'm making numbers up. Kasich has 164, whatever he's got, one more delegate than he has now, let's be generous. The magic number's 1,237. Okay, so the theory that I heard last night from all the smart money is, "Well, it's Trump's. I mean, you can't not give it to him. For crying out loud, there be a riot, there'd be a walkout. Oh, my God, it would be horrible. You can't not give it to Trump."
originalReally? Then why have a contested convention? If you're gonna give it to the whoever shows up with the most delegates, even if they're short of 1,237, if that person's gonna win it, then what's the big deal? The big deal is it will be an opportunity for the establishment boys -- and there's some women in there, too, by the way -- to get one of theirs in there. And yesterday I suggested it could be Jeb. Jeb's who they had their early fantasies about. Jeb started out with $115 million. Jeb Bush back on December 14th, December 12th of 2014 said the strategy was to win the nomination by winning the general, by losing the primaries.
Remember that? He's gonna win the general by losing the primaries, meaning he was gonna swamp everybody with money. He wasn't gonna have to kowtow to the Republican conservative base. Meaning he wasn't gonna have to kowtow to guns, he wasn't gonna kowtow to immigration, he wasn't gonna kowtow to social issues, he was gonna snake right past. Well, that would be how he does it. Contested convention turns into a brokered convention, and the establishment boys say, "Well, you know what, neither Trump nor Cruz got close enough, it's wide open man," and they engineer their -- So I said that yesterday. That's when I got the note, "You blew things up." But I didn't know, and nobody else did.
Here's an example of it. It was on CNN. America's Choice 2016, Anderson Cooper talking with David Axelrod and The Forehead, Paul Begala, about the Trump presidential campaign, and they got around to talking about this.
AXELROD: I disagree with you that the establishment will never give up. I think if Donald Trump is close, if he's in the 45 to 50 range, I think they're gonna resigned to the reality of this thing. To deny a guy who's right on the doorstep of claiming the nomination, you'd rip your party apart. Can you imagine that convention?
COOPER: Rush Limbaugh was saying that Jeb Bush is gonna come back, that he's gonna be the one.
BEGALA: Many Republicans believe in they nominate Donald Trump it will destroy the Republican Party. Others believe that if they fight the nomination on the floor, it will destroy the Republican Party.
originalRUSH: Did you note there is that nobody said, "Limbaugh doesn't know what he's talking about"? Did you note that there nobody said, "Ah, Limbaugh, he's crazy." Did you note that nobody said that? They kind of let it go right on by. Did you note Axelrod, what they were talking about here, "I disagree with you," probably Begala, "I disagree with you that the establishment will never give up. I think if Trump is close, 45 to 50 range, I think they're gonna be resigned to the reality to deny a guy who's -- that's my whole point. "You'd rip the party apart.'
No, that's not the concern. Ripping the party apart is not the concern. Well, it is, but secondarily. It's personal. It's what they would lose. And all I'm saying is they'll take advantage of every opportunity they can to hold on to what they have at the moment. You can see it. You can see it when you hear them talk on TV. Whether they actually do it, Axelrod says down at the nip and tuck time they wouldn't do it, but I guarantee you they're thinking about it. They're dreaming about it. They're strategizing about it. They're making sinister plans even as we speak to figure out how to hold on to what they've got.
It's big, folks, it's huge. We're talking about an existence that 99.999% of the American people will never have, never enjoy, will never experience. You just don't throw that away. You just don't let it go without a fight.
Here's an interesting bite. Now, this was on Squawk Box on CNBC This Morning, Becky Quick speaking with a Republican national committee rules committee member by the name of Curly Haugland about the primary race, and she said, "Hey, look, if Donald Trump heads into the nomination, maybe he's short of the number required, if you give it to somebody who has a much lesser percentage of voters who turn out for these primaries, don't you worry that you're just gonna send chaos and anger into the Trump supporters and the people who feel like their votes then don't matter?"
HAUGLAND: No, I don't think that's the case once, you know, it would just be understood, we have a problem with the media -- he-he -- unfortunately. That's a problem. The media has created a perception that the voters will decide the nomination, and that's the conflict here. We're just one of the political parties. Political parties choose their nominee, not the general public, contrary to popular belief.
originalRUSH: Folks, did you hear what you just heard? Did it sink in what you just heard? This is a Republican rules committee member. I guarantee you he is gonna be walking this back at some point. But he's not gonna walk back what he meant. Curly Haugland, (imitating Curly) "No, I don't think that's the case. Once it's understood, once we explain to the people what's really at stake here, once we establishment pooh-bahs, once we explain what's going on, they'll fully understand what we are doing. Our problem's the media. The media just doesn't give us a fair shake, you know? It's a problem. The media's created a perception that the voters decide the nomination. The media focuses on these primaries and these election returns and the delegate allocations, and that doesn't mean anything. Political parties choose the nominee, not the general public, contrary to popular belief."
Well, then what is all this about? Is this just a scam for money to be spent and earned? Is that what this exercise is? Is the entire primary process nothing more than a fundraising and fund allocation effort? It's how the party gives back to the media with ad buys. It's how the consultants earn their money by being hired by the candidates who then raise the money, the consultants devise the ad buys from which they get 15%, is this how party members stay wealthy and stay connected while creating this illusion that the voter outcome actually determines things here?
See, folks, once you understand what I just said, once you understand what's really going on, you'll be fine with it. This is how your party remains relevant, and you want your party to remain relevant. That's not the only one. Here's Bob Schieffer, brought about from the Jurassic Park graveyard for election coverage on CBS. Gayle King speaking with him on CBS This Morning. She says, "Let's talk about John Kasich. He wins in his home state of Ohio, but it was close, it was close. He's considered the GOP establishment. What does that say when he has only won one race, he's barely won it in his home state, what does it mean, Bob, what's it mean?"
SCHIEFFER: All that says is that that makes it a possibility that they can block Trump from getting a majority of delegates before they get to the convention. I think Paul Ryan will wind up as the nominee if they get it to the convention. I would bet that what would happen then, if you had Paul Ryan as the nominee, he would put John Kasich on the ticket as the vice president. No Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio.
RUSH: Now, here's a guy, Schieffer, he knows the establishment, he pals around with them. Even the Republicans, they all know each other.
Gotta take a break, but we will review this when we get back.
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RUSH: Very good. You remember that name, Curly Haugland. He was the guy we talked about yesterday, North Dakota. He's the guy who said is that delegates are not bound to vote the way their voters did on the first ballot. And he's out there still talking.
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