Agree with Rush on this one: Paul Hackett Shows Libs Must Lie to Compete
August 2, 2005
rushlimbaugh.com
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RUSH: Democrats are also very excited today because there is a special election in Ohio, and the special election, the Democrats say: "You keep an eye on this because this could be a bellwether. This could be a bellwether election of what's going to happen in '06." This is the congressional district number two in Ohio, and (Fox News story) "Batavia, Ohio, typifies much of the second congressional district, which has not sent a Democrat to Washington in nearly 40 years. But there's an essential election today, and that competitive race for the seat has surprised many election watchers. Michael Margolis, a political science professor at the University of Cincinnati said, 'The second district of Ohio is normally not competitive. It's an unusual set of circumstances here.' The vacancy opened in April when the Senate approved President Bush's choice of Republican representative Bob Portman as US trade representative. Portman's congressional district was considered historical safe for the GOP with the seven-term Portman never winning less than 72% of the vote. Now that Republican sense of security has been shaken with the candidacy of Paul Hackett, an attorney and former city councilman. Hackett is an unusual Democratic candidate for the district. He supports gun rights, is a US Marine Reservist who served in Iraq where he led troops in combat in Fallujah. Said he believes his service will win votes in a district that twice delivered a 2-1 margin for President Bush. He admits that he and the commander-in-chief don't see eye-to-eye on Iraq. Says, 'I agree with the president. We need to get the job done there, stay there, and don't set an exit date. I agree with him on that. However, I disagree with him, I don't think we should have gone into Iraq originally.' Jean Schmidt is his Republican opponent, former Ohio statehouse representative who has the endorsement of Portman," and of course she disagrees profoundly.
But this guy, Hackett, he's as liberal as he can be, says paying even higher taxes would make him happy. He's trailed in fundraising by 3-1, and I think he's trailing in polls by 3-1, is he not, Mr. Snerdley? A little tighter? I thought it was 3-1 in the polls. Snerdley is going to check it out anyway. But here's the seat. Bush won this 3-1 and it's been a Republican seat forever, and so the Democrats are eagerly, eagerly eyeing this because if this guy Hackett can take the seat here from Jean Schmidt, his opponent who's never served in Congress, the Democrats are then going to say "See? See? Everything that's happened up 'til now was a mirage. This just proves the Republicans are going to lose the House in 2006. The Democrats are going to win it back because if a Democrat can take this seat, we can take any seat," blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So they are eager, they are excited, and this is how desperate they are. They're looking at one special election, which does have special circumstances to it, unique ones. They're looking at this and they've got their fingers crossed and they're hoping like hell they can win this, and they've got a candidate running for higher taxes. You know, Hackett is a guy who has said that the president of the United States, George Bush, is the greatest threat to the United States today -- and he has not apologized for that, in comments he made to USA Today. He said, "I've said I don't like the SOB that lives in the White House, but I'd put my life on the line for him." He's quoted as saying in the USA Today story. Schmidt said, "There's something wrong when a person says that the greatest threat to the US is not Osama bin Laden, but the man in the White House." So that's who the Democrats are putting up, and they're all excited about it because this guy has run around and he's articulating the kind of things that the Nancy Pelosis and the Barbara Boxers and the MoveOn.orgs want said, and that is that Bush is the biggest threat to freedom in the country; Bush is the biggest threat to peace in the world. He's an "SOB," according to the Democrat candidate running for office there -- and the Democrats are happy about it. Keep a sharp eye on this because they're looking at this; they've got their fingers crossed. This could be as far as they're concerned the beginning of the restructuring and the reacquisition of their Utopia.
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RUSH: This is Rick in Milford, Ohio. Glad you called, sir. Nice to have you with us today.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. Dittos from the Second District.
RUSH: Thank you, nice to have you.
CALLER: I thought it was interesting, Mr. Hackett runs television commercials here and nowhere on his commercials does he say he's a Democrat.
RUSH: Is that right?
CALLER: Either verbally or in writing.
RUSH: Is that right? Is that right? Well, he doesn't mention he's a Democrat?
CALLER: Nope. Nowhere. He plays the same ad over and over and it's all about he went to Iraq. He doesn't address any issues. It's just that he went to Iraq and you should vote for him because he went to Iraq.
RUSH: Are the Republicans running any counter ads talking about his quote on paying more taxes and Bush being the most dangerous man in the world?
CALLER: The Republican congressional committee is running an ad like that, but Jean Schmidt herself is not.
RUSH: It doesn't matter. The ad's in the district?
CALLER: That's right.
RUSH: Is it running with any frequency? Which ad do you see the most?
CALLER: Well, they stepped them all up in the last three or four days so they're probably both about the same frequency.
RUSH: Have you voted, are you going to vote?
CALLER: I've already voted, voted first thing this morning.
RUSH: Now, they're expecting the turnout to be 20% today. Is that pretty right, pretty accurate?
CALLER: Probably. I was there at seven o'clock and I was number 20.
RUSH: With 20% turnout I can't wait for the Democrat stories about how people were denied the right to vote.
CALLER: (Laughing.)
RUSH: Or the voting machines were stacked against them or whatever.
CALLER: That's true.
RUSH: What's your sense of it out there, Rick?
CALLER: I think Jean is going to take it.
RUSH: What were the pre-election polls? I'm a little confused. The most recent...?
CALLER: I haven't seen a whole lot of polling. They had Mr. Hackett on the other night on Chris Matthews, and I just caught the tail end of it. Chris was asking him about if he had a concealed carry permit, and he said yes, he did, and Matthews just kind of worked him over about that pretty good, if he was going to, you know, pack heat if he went to Congress.
RUSH: Of all things. Nevertheless, the media is looking at this with bated breath. The Democrats are looking at this with bated breath, and I just find this so telling. Here they're looking at this as a bellwether election and their candidate will not even admit to being a Democrat, which means they're still in the we've-gotta-deceive-people mode. If we tell them he's a Democrat, well, it isn't going to fly in this district. This district is not going to elect Democrats. Yet the media is looking at this as a bellwether election. "If a Democrat wins here, why, we can win anywhere, and we're gonna be back." I had a little fun yesterday with the people at ABC News' The Note, their political unit's little blog on their website, and they get a little snarky with me today about this story. They say, "Schmidt versus Hackett will be the topic de jour in most political shops in DC and Ohio, as the two compete to replace Rob Portman and Ohio's strongly Republican second district. As we suggested yesterday, if the Democrat wins, it will be quite a story -- and, no, Rush, that's not bias, simply fact." I got on them for being -- well, I didn't get on them. I just mentioned they are. They are a bunch of Democrats at The Note. So? I mean, so what. It's mainstream media. At any rate, you've got a Democrat running who won't admit to being a Democrat, and only mentioning in his ads apparently that he served in Vietnam, nothing about the fact he supports higher and higher taxes and nothing in his ads about saying that Bush is the greatest threat to the United States today, and then saying in USA Today, "I've said that I don't like the son of a [bit me], but I'd put my life on the line for him." That was in a USA Today story. So he's running ads that do not mention any of that, nor that he is a Democrat, yet the Democrats look at this as a bellwether? Interesting. Mark in Cincinnati. Nice to have you on the program. Welcome.
CALLER: Rush, great pleasure to talk to you. First-time caller, and I had to call today because I'm in Cincinnati and I voted in the second district. I voted to Jean Schmidt, I voted this morning, but Ms. Schmidt might be in trouble, and I'll give you my reasoning. I'm a staunch Republican, but I'm sick of Republicans, especially in the state of Ohio and Hamilton County in particular, not acting Republicans especially from a fiscal standpoint. There was an article in the Wall Street Journal last week penned by Ken Blackwell and Art Laffer about how Ohio was losing jobs, growing very slowly and has one of the higher growth in tax rates in the nation. Hamilton County is following that, and Hamilton County is a very, very strong Republican county. And I have friends who are staunch conservatives who toyed with voting for Hackett just to send a message that we're sick and tired of Republicans spending like drunken Democrats.
RUSH: Well, you know, it's an interesting dilemma. I understand. My entire 17 years here I've spoken from time to time with angry at Republicans such as you who want to send a message, and I've always tried to talk them out of that as a reason for a vote. At the same time, you talk about the rising tax rates in Ohio. You know, it's not just Ohio. There is a mass exodus occurring from the upper Midwest and the Northeast --
CALLER: I saw the article on Connecticut this week about Jeb Bush welcoming the death tax enactment in Connecticut. I agree. I totally agree with you. I did not vote Democrat. I couldn't vote for Hackett. He's a liberal Democrat socialist. So I agree with that. You have to vote with what is reality, but I'm going to tell you that especially in Ohio and Hamilton County in particular, taxes are becoming and have become a huge, huge election balloting issue. Now, Hackett doesn't propose anything to fix that.
RUSH: No, other than higher taxes. But, see, he's not saying that in any of his ads or his campaign appearances, apparently.
CALLER: The liberal Democrat message isn't going to win them any votes, but third-party possibilities are a real threat, and that would threaten Republican unity, continuity, and majorities.
RUSH: Yeah, I actually think that -- and I've commented on this before -- I actually think that immigration is the issue that may cause the rise of another Perot-like third-party candidate nationally. I'm not speaking just of Ohio here, but I think immigration has a great possibility of being the issue that does that. But, you know, the thing about Hackett, you just said that a liberal Democrat message is not going to win him any votes. Well, okay, if that's the case, then why are the Democrats and the media looking at this as a bellwether? They are running a liberal Democrat who won't admit it. They're running a liberal Democrat whose trying to sound like a hawk on Iraq by the fact that he served there and he has a concealed weapon permit so he's supposed to be this big gung-ho conservative type guy. So once again they're participating here in a little deceit. "How can we fool 'em today?" I don't know if he's going to win or not, but if he does win, I'm not going to accept the notion that this is a bellwether anything until a liberal Democrat who campaigns as a liberal Democrat says, "I want to raise your taxes, and I want the state of Ohio's government to get even bigger, and I do think George Bush is the most dangerous man in the world," if that guy then runs and gets elected, then I will accept it as a bellwether election. But if this guy wins today and doesn't campaign on what he really believes, and what he has said elsewhere, then this is no bellwether whatsoever it. It won't mean anything and I'll be more than happy for the Democrats to take the wrong message from it. If a liberal Democrat message is not going to win in this district, then we'll just see what happens when the returns come in tonight.
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RUSH: And they're coming out of the woodwork from the 2nd district of Ohio. We go to Batavia, Ohio. Joanne, I'm glad you called. Great to have you on the program today.
CALLER: Rush, thanks for taking my call. I'm so glad that you are mentioning this. You know, we fought this battle and won in November, with 71% of the vote in my county alone going to George Bush, and people are not defining Paul Hackett for who he is. He is John Kerry 20 years younger. He's just using a different war, exploiting it for political gain, and we take issue with that here in this county because a lot of the fallen soldiers have come from our very own neighborhoods. He does not stand for what we believe in: life, liberty, limited government. We made that decision in November and we're going to support it, back it up, and give it the resources to succeed.
RUSH: That a way! You keep talking and you keep thinking the same way.
CALLER: Thanks, Rush.
RUSH: I'll tell you what, this guy to me sounds like a typical lib. He runs while trying to conceal his true beliefs, and he's running as a Marine. Of course the implication there is that he's to the right of Jean Schmidt. But, folks, he's not running as a Democrat, because if he were running as a Democrat, he would run anti-war. He would be an anti-war candidate -- and he's not saying that. He's not even saying he's a Democrat. He's not even admitting what he has said elsewhere: he thinks Bush is the most dangerous guy in the world, and he wants to raise everybody's taxes. But what's going to happen? I just want to warn you, if this guy wins in this election with a 20% turnout today, which is what they are expecting, the libs all over the place are going to be saying that this was a test of Bush, and Bush lost. "Bush thought he could get this seat saved if he plucked Portman out of it to be the trade representative, but Bush took it on the chin." It will be "a referendum on Bush," and it's not because you have a liberal running as a conservative. You have a liberal running as a military hawk. She's exactly right. You've got a guy that's John Kerry, Jr., running 20 years, 30 years later in a different war. Just keep this in mind, because I have no idea what the outcome of this is going to be. Mr. Snerdley, have you found the most recent polling data? Snerdley is still looking for the most recent polling data. I thought for sure that I heard she had a 3-1 lead last night. Again, I could be confused. That might be the fundraising lead that she had, which is mentioned here in the story. But I'm just going to tell you, folks, this is no bellwether whatsoever. When you've got a Democrat that won't run as a Democrat, when you've got a Democrat who will not say everything Democrats are saying and then they try to say he won the race, don't fall for this. This is more smoke and mirrors, and it's a great example of how the left and the Democrats continue to lie to even themselves. Jim in Warsaw, Kentucky. Hello, sir, nice to have you on the program.
CALLER: Rush, it is a great honor.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: I've been listening since I was a sophomore in high school. I'm 31 years old now. I'm in the Cincinnati-metro area. Something else, I can't believe the callers haven't mentioned, Hackett's television commercials actually start off with President Bush giving a speech about defending the American way of life, and then Hackett comes on the commercial and says, "I agree with the president," that's why I went to Iraq and fought for this country.
RUSH: (Laughing.) And they say this is a bellwether election. My ass this is a bellwether election, folks! I'll tell you, these people are just laughably reprehensible -- and I don't care if this guy wins. It doesn't matter to me. If they can't be honest with themselves, if their only hope is trickery and lying and deceit, they have no hope in the big picture. So, you know, this election, I have no clue how it's going to go. Do you have any idea, Jim, how it's going to go?
CALLER: The local radio's seems like there's a pretty heavy leaning towards Jean Schmidt.
RUSH: Well, how do you mean that, "local radio is leaning towards." You mean people on the air?
CALLER: Local talk radio, a lot of callers calling in. And the only time I don't listen to local is when you're on, actually.
RUSH: Yes.
CALLER: A lot of people calling in on the local talking about their outrage about the Hackett commercials. They're upset that he's trying to pull a fast one on them, and just seems like a lot of people who are getting involved, the people who care and get involved as usual seem to gravitate towards the conservative.
RUSH: If the second district is as Republican as the returns in recent elections indicate, I would conclude that there aren't a whole lot of people in that district that are going to be fooled by this.
CALLER: I wouldn't think very many. There's a small group in Cincinnati, the city itself, like many urban areas that are just anti-Bush and anybody who is against Bush they're going to vote for, but I would really, really be shocked if he were to win this election.
RUSH: Yeah. Well, we'll have to wait and see. What would be funny is if this Jean Schmidt babe wins this thing 3-1. I want to see all the stories tomorrow about the bellwether election that we had here, because I can't tell you how high their hopes are on this at the DNC and in the Washington media. I mean, believe me, folks, they're just so desperate for anything they can portray as a win. Do you understand just how much they're losing, how often that they're losing? You may think that they don't look at themselves as losers because they've got the mainstream press on their side, but they're losers, and they know they're losers, and the nomination of Roberts I think was the final nail in that coffin, and then yesterday sending Bolton up there on the recess appointment. Bush and his agenda is getting passed. He's not a lame duck. They're really not able to slow him down here. He's still outsmarting them, all of these things, and the only thing they apparently had to rely on is running trick candidates who cannot be honest about who they really are in a Republican district, hoping to capture it.
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