This photo provided by Rush Limbaugh shows Limbaugh in his Palm Beach, Fla. radio studio, the last week of Sept., 2009.The Associated Press
In the wake of Mitt Romney's election defeat, leading members of the Republican Party are talking today about the need for the party to begin reflecting the changing face of America, but their surrogates in the media such as Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly are angrily blaming black, Hispanic, and female voters for the loss.
On his syndicated radio show Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Limbaugh complained the Republican Party doesn't "get credit" for the visible minorities and women it has elevated to prominent roles.
"Putting it somewhat coarsely – why doesn't the Republican Party get credit for Condoleezza Rice? Why doesn't the Republican Party get credit for [Florida Senator] Marco Rubio?" he asked.
"Clarence Thomas. Herman Cain – none of it counts? Don't tell me the Republican Party doesn't have outreach. We do. But what are we supposed to do? In order to get the Hispanic or Latino vote, does that mean open the borders and embrace the illegals?" he continued. "If we're not getting the female vote, do we become pro-choice? Do we have to start passing out birth control pills, is that what we have to do?"
"Let's start our own abortion industry. Let's go out and get the women vote. Would that work?"
Mr. Limbaugh insisted the only proper path for the Republican Party to pursue was one "that still hasn't been tried: It's called Conservatism with a capital C."
"Democrats used to talk about hard work, even last night Obama talking about hard work – he doesn't mean it. In his acceptance speech last night: 'I believe if you're black, brown, gay, no matter who you love' – this and that, he went through every surface definition of a human being that he could think of – and he said: 'You work hard, you get a fair shake.' Everybody's cheering. The fact of the matter is, the people gathered at [Obama headquarters] McCormick Place last night do not believe that, they do not think they have a fair shake. They think the deck is stacked against 'em. They think the Democrat Party corrects that, they think the Democrat Party's going to punish the people who have unfairly gotten stuff that they shouldn't have."
"There isn't a work ethic in this country anymore that's universal. Get a college education, and that means magic is supposed to happen – for a lot of people. And yet, if you don't get success, then the game's rigged. Hard work is sneered at."
"We're outnumbered, we're losing ground. It's difficult to beat Santa Claus."
Mr. Limbaugh's comments echoed those of the Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly, who despaired last night even before all the results were in that, "it's not a traditional America anymore."
"Whereby 20 years ago, President Obama would be roundly defeated by an establishment candidate like Mitt Romney – the white establishment is now the minority – and the voters, many of them, feel like this economic system is stacked against them and they want stuff. You're going to see a tremendous Hispanic vote for President Obama, overwhelming black vote for President Obama, and women will probably break President Obama's way. People feel that they are entitled to things, and which candidate between the two is going to give them things?"