PALM BEACH, Fla. – As the Republican primary season continues with Mitt Romney easily winning Illinois yesterday, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh says “maybe the conservative alternative to Romney is Romney.”
“Let’s hope so,” Limbaugh said today as he analyzed Romney’s victory speech scorching President Obama’s policies.
In his address, Romney said: “The simple truth is that this president doesn’t understand the genius of America’s economy or the secret of the American economic success story. The American economy is fueled by freedom.
“The history of the world has shown that economic freedom is the only force that has consistently lifted people out of poverty. It’s the only principle that has ever been able to sustain prosperity. But over the last three years, this administration has been engaged in an all-out assault on our freedom. …
“Under Barack Obama, those pioneers he mentioned would have faced a very difficult time trying to innovative and invent and invest and create and build jobs. You see, under Dodd-Frank, they would have found it almost impossible to get a loan from their community bank. And, of course, the regulators would have shut down the Wright Brothers for dust pollution. (Laughter from supporters)
“You know? (chuckles) And of course the government would have banned Thomas Edison’s light bulb. Oh, by the way, they just did, didn’t they? Right now!
Limbaugh said as he was watching Romney, he turned to his wife and said, ” “This is his best victory speech yet.”
“It all boils down to whether he means this. It’s that simple,” he added. “Now, I know some of you Romney supporters are asking, ‘What do you mean if he really means it? Why do you have to compliment him and then dump on him?'”
Limbaugh then explained that on CNN this morning, Romney senior campaign adviser Eric Fehrnstrom was asked if Romney were to sound too conservative, that it could possibly harm his chances with moderates in the general election.
“Well, I think you hit a reset button, uh, for the fall campaign. Everything changes,” Fehrnstrom said. “It’s almost like an Etch-A-Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and we start all over again. There is a growing recognition within the Republican Party that Mitt Romney is gonna be the nominee, and there’s two reasons for that. The first is people see in him, uh, the capacity, uh, … of someone who can lead on the economy. And secondly, they see someone who can defeat Barack Obama.”
Limbaugh explained: “People hear that and say, ‘Well, OK. Romney’s own campaign is saying what he said last night: “It’s just part of getting the nomination. We’ll wipe it out when we get into the general. Don’t worry, we’ll do the right things to get the moderates.'” That’s what this guy’s saying, and that’s why people are saying, is it would be great if Romney believed it last night.”
Limbaugh also noted that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has just endorsed Romney for president, saying it was not a surprise.
“You might infer from this that the establishment’s coalescing behind Romney,” Limbaugh said. “Some might draw that inference. I think it’s probably accurate. The big news is that Romney won the Illinois primary by 12 points. The turnout is reported to be about 24 percent, which would make it the lowest turnout from a presidential primary in the last 70 years, but that was before the Jeb Bush endorsement. The Jeb Bush endorsement might have goosed the primary turnout just a bit. You never know. It could have really lighted a fire there under the Republican base.”
