Here are the latest summary of Rush and the latest essay by Jim Geraghty:

Your Rush Limbaugh Echo for Monday, 10/27/14

Opening: We need to quarantine Gov Chris Christie ! _____________________________________________________________Seg#1: Once again, Christie folds and embarrasses Obama

Just before another election, we have an embrace moment with Obama and Christie. The Regime wants to be in charge of all quarantines, not the states. They want The Ebola Czar to make the decisions. Remember CBS Nancy Stodderman? She wanted to go around unfettered and not live like ‘little people’. When are we going to find out the rest of the scandal? Reporters withhold details for their book for when Obama leaves office. Sharyl Attkisson documented in her book how Drive-by Media props up Obama and choses stories based on how it helps or hurts him; not covering some stories. A classified document was hacked onto her computer to bring up later, if needed, but it has been removed. “You didn’t build that” says the laughable Elizabeth Warren; and so now Ms Clinton says the same thing to appeal to the rage-filled Democrat base. The Leftist base is profoundly demoralized: no jobs, no equality, wife-beating in the NFL, and no joy anywhere. You would be too—if everything you wanted happened for six years and nothing is fixed! They all waited for a messiah and Obama showed up as a blank slate which Leftist embraced. Where did it get them? It is all a mess. My point is: It would serve the GOP well to understand what they are up against—Hillary knows that businesses create jobs, but she has to say it for the base. NY-Post writes about Obama’s secret agenda after his term, staying in DC. Unlike Republican presidents, he will not exit. If the next president tries to unravel his Leftist-Agenda, Obama will raise a ruckus. >>> The Social-Agenda is all Progressive-Leftists live for!

ED: The term ‘Leftist-Progressives’ I added—Rush just says, “these people”. _____________________________________________________________Segment#2: Arm in arm, once again, right before the election

CDC used to say states should come up with their Ebola policy. Now, that is out the window. What are the travel restrictions, coming to USA from Africa? What is the point in doctors going to Africa to help, and then not allow checking when they come back? Do they believe helping stop Ebola or do they not? “Obama forces Chris Christie to do a U-turn and let the nurse leave NJ and go back home.” Cuomo gave in to Obama for NY, but Christie wants measures. One week before an election, and once again a Republican governor wants to be arm-in-arm with the opposing party.

>>> We need to quarantine NJ Gov Chris Christie. _____________________________________________________________Seg#3: Radical Leftist Democrats demands payback from ‘the rich’

Media is beginning to spin their view of the Election: Republicans changed the voting boundaries, as if this has never been done before. The AP wants to influence reporting. It’s not because Democrats and results are despised. Mrs. Clinton was in MA for a campaign event and speaks to what Elizabeth Warren said, “Factory owner, you are just greedy and little people gave you success. You need to pay back.” ((Clip-Rodham-Clinton: Don’t let anybody tell you that corporations boost jobs; the trickle-down has been tried and failed. Someone asked what my husband brought to Washington—he brought arithmetic.)) It was not a gaffe, rubbing her hands. Trickle-down was from Reagan—it was tried and it works! For the first two years of the eight years of Reagan was recovery from Jimmy Carter; the next six years were so robust that even the Clinton Adm could not bring it down. Now, they try to revise history. It is because the Republican Party doesn’t champion those events. There is a golden opportunity for Republican hopefuls to explain. Liberalism doesn’t need to be made personal, no need to attack Obama: (1) why Liberalism isn’t working, (2) what to do instead. Republican Party is not communicating and Mrs. Clinton is taking advantage of that. She knows this is all lies—her base demands it. July 2012, Obama wanted to get on the bandwagon ((Clip-Obama: They didn’t build that.)) >>> They tried to weasel out of the comment, but he said it too. _____________________________________________________________Seg#4: We are in the 27th year of busy-broadcast-moments

Caller:  Someone starts a business and it grows to employ many.        Liberals demonize the successful and traditional paths to success. The government built successful businesses? They feed the insanity of their base, and try to shape the minds of voters. Twenty years ago, a Democrat would say something asinine and we would laugh and believe no one would buy it. Look at the difference today. Mrs Clinton back then would be a national joke and be tossed from consideration. Now, she has to say it and it is not funny anymore. People believe nonsense on the Left. >>> Argue with a fool and people might confuse who is whom. _____________________________________________________________From the Rush Limbaugh Morning Update: "Accommodations"

Some of the terrorists still housed at Club Gitmo have begun a protest over what they call a violation of their religion. Prison officials have instituted a policy of using female prison guards to move them around.

The protest is really severe. Some of these “high-value detainees” are refusing to meet with their Pentagon-appointed defense lawyers until they get their way.

The terrorists claim to be devout Muslims. They say their religious beliefs prohibit physical contact with women not related to them. Unless, of course, that “contact” includes blowing them up, or forcing them to die on hijacked airplanes, or stoning them to death for following a religion other than Islam.

These guys, who demand no physical contact with non-related women, are the same guys who tell their followers they’ll get 70 virgins in heaven, as a reward for their terrorist acts. Non-related virgins, presumably.

Among those protesting is none other than Khalid Sheik Mohammad, mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. His Pentagon-appointed lawyer says they aren’t demanding anything new, they just want to go back to how it was when his client’s religious objections to non-related women were accommodated.You know, we bend over backwards to accommodate, respect, and treat the terrorists with politically correct behavior, while their pals continue beheadings, suicide bombings, and other outrageous attacks on the west. Perhaps, it’s time we stop accommodating their evil. Maybe?

_____________________________________________________________ Quote Gems from Rush Limbaugh dot com:

"We may be on the verge here of what I will call 'Ebola Without Borders.' How uncanny or ironic is it that a guy from Doctors Without Borders ends up bringing Ebola to New York City, since arguably Obama's policy of a nation without borders brought it here in the first place?"

"Today we have a little treat here at the EIB Southern Command. We have six grand prize winners from a former Two If By Tea sweepstakes. One of the greatest prizes a human being can win in any contest: A trip to the EIB Southern Command and an opportunity to watch this program from the other side of the glass."

"We have Doctors Without Borders. We have Ebola Without Borders, and now we have a nation without borders -- and the key to all this is: No borders."

"The hatchet-wielding suspect in New York, Zale Thompson, he was a graduate of the Teachers College at Columbia. He was going to be teaching this radical crap that he posted."

"It is liberalism that threatens, not just the Democrats, but you and the country."

"You know what would be a really great thing to read? Black disappointment with liberalism threatens Democrats. That's what needs to happen. Women disappointment with liberalism threatens Democrats. Those are the headlines we need to be seeing."

"We'll be back here Monday, revved up, ready to go, with whatever happens between now and then. As an added bonus, we'll tell you what to think about it all as well. See you then."

"If you sit in a classroom from kindergarten on up and you have a professor or teacher after teacher that tells you what a rotten place this is because of the way we treated women, the way we treated blacks, slavery, and what we did to the Native Americans and how the poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer and the power base is stealing from the poor, what do you do? If that's all you hear from the first moment of your exposure to formal education, quite likely you're going to end up filled with rage and hatred."

"The true story of America is so glorious, the true story of this country and the true definition of American exceptionalism are miraculous. They're wonderful. There's no intellectual reason to be consumed with hatred or rage for this country, particularly over things that you have no hand in."

"The CDC posted a couple of tweets last night claiming that the doctor passed through the protocols at the airport, he got through with flying colors. CDC was bragging about it before they knew the guy came down with the disease, I think."

Morning Jolt . . . with Jim Geraghty

October 27, 2014

Ebola: The Great Uniter!

Finally, Americans are coming together . . . over isolation!

Those who are quarantined:

Kaci Hickox, a nurse placed under mandatory quarantine in New Jersey, went on CNN on Sunday and criticized the "knee-jerk reaction by politicians" to Ebola, saying "to quarantine someone without a better plan in place, without more forethought, is just preposterous."

Hickox, an epidemiologist who was working to help treat Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, has tested negative twice for Ebola and does not have symptoms, she said. She is quarantined for 21 days at University Hospital in Newark.

"This is an extreme that is really unacceptable, and I feel like my basic human rights have been violated," Hickox told CNN's Candy Crowley on "State of the Union."

She described herself as "physically strong" but "emotionally exhausted."

Our A.J. Delgado observed, “Very strange to me that the same nurse is willing to go into EBOLA-infested areas to help . . . now has a prob with being in a tent for a while . . . I mean, if you're the type of selfless person who would go tend to Ebola-sufferers, why not agree to the quarantine if it can help others?”

This episode tells us something about the governor of New York:

New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) on Sunday revised a controversial policy to quarantine returning health-care workers from Ebola-stricken nations, under pressure from the Obama administration and medical experts over the aggressive measures.

Elaborating on the procedures, Cuomo said health-care workers who have been in contact with Ebola patients but do not show symptoms of the deadly virus can return to their homes but will be forced to remain there while being monitored by state health officials for symptoms. He said those being monitored can interact with family and friends . . .

The Obama administration said Sunday that it had expressed concerns to Cuomo and Christie about the “unintended consequences” of the quarantines and how they could deter volunteers from deploying to West Africa, where the spread of Ebola continues to rage.

“We have let the governors of New York, New Jersey and other states know that we have concerns with the unintended consequences . . . policies not grounded in science may have on efforts to combat Ebola at its source in West Africa,” said a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to comment on the private discussions.

Obama says “jump,” Cuomo asks, “how high?”

Looks Like Nevada Democrats Are Sitting This Year Out. Who Else Will?

Let the great Jon Ralston lay out just how horrific the early-voting numbers are for Democrats out in Nevada:

The turnout nightmare continues for Democrats, who tried to juice it on Saturday by handing out Bill Clinton tickets at The Dooilttle Center in the heart of West Las Vegas. It did not work. Republicans lose early vote by 42 votes out of 12,000 cast. Dems have six more days to turn this around and/or hope for Election Day miracle.

Clark [County] totals with mail: 39, 982, GOP; 38,715, Dems; 15,851, others.

Before you start saying, “So what? Registered Democrats are still ahead,” note this county is the Democrats’ stronghold in the state. They need a huge advantage here to balance out the GOP advantages elsewhere.

Ralston notes, “It's 42 percent for GOP and 41 percent for Dems, which means Republicans still 11 points over their registration and Dems 3 percent below theirs. How many different words can I find for "disaster" for the Dems?”

As we noted last week, some of this reflects the fact that there isn’t a really big, competitive race on the ticket this year -- there’s no Senate race and Democrats effectively conceded the governor’s race. But the “meh” mood among Democrats is going to have a potentially huge impact on one Democrat-held U.S. House district, all of the non-governor statewide posts (currently held by Democrats), and races for the state legislature.

And if Nevada Democrats are tuning out because there’s no big statewide race on the ballot this year . . . how about all these other states with neither a competitive Senate or Governor’s race this year?

Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Utah, and Washington are states holding only elections for U.S. House of Representative seats, state legislative seats, and non-gubernatorial state officials.

Quite a few more states have gubernatorial or U.S. Senate races, but not particularly competitive ones: Alabama, California, Mississippi, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee. (Some would argue places like Texas and Ohio don’t have competitive governor’s races anymore, either.) Are we going to see Democratic turnout plummet in places like this, where there isn’t a convenient Republican bogeyman to motivate their grassroots to turn out?

The Magic Number for Holding a Lead until Election Day: 4 Percent

Looking back over Sean Trende’s chart…

. . . you can draw some conclusions that line up with what we would expect.

Candidates who lead by 4 percent or more in those closing two weeks are in really good shape. (This is usually around the margin of error for most polls.)

Candidates who lead by 3 points are still in pretty good shape, but not quite in a position to pick out the office drapes.

Candidates who lead by 2 points are in a much riskier position, it seems. Oddly enough, history suggests it’s better to go into Election Day with a 1-point lead than a 2-point lead.

Candidates with a 1-point lead are, obviously, not really in a great spot.

As this e-mail arrives, we’re shifting from the 10--12 day column to the 7--9 day column. Both CBS News and NBC News released a slew of polls on Sunday, shifting the Real Clear Politics averages -- but in most cases, not by much.

Republican candidates with leads of 4 percentage points or more Sunday evening included Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, Dan Sullivan in Alaska, Tom Cotton in Arkansas, and Bill Cassidy in the head-to-head runoff matchup in Louisiana.

In Colorado, Cory Gardner leads by 2.8 percentage points, which would be rounded up to 3 on Trende’s chart.

In Iowa, Joni Ernst leads by 2.2 percentage points, which would be rounded down to 2. Uh-oh.

Here’s the other side of the coin: In North Carolina, Democrat Kay Hagan leads by 1.6 percentage points, which rounds up to 2. In New Hampshire, Jeanne Shaheen is at 2.2 percentage points.

Finally, Greg Orman’s lead is the RCP average is now six-tenths of a percentage point.

Meet Dan Sullivan, Watch Some Pretty Alaska Scenery

The National Republican Senatorial Committee would like you to meet Dan Sullivan -- U.S. Marine reservist, former Alaska Commissioner of Natural Resources, former Alaska attorney general, assistant Secretary of State, and as he puts it, “American by birth, Alaskan by choice.”

I have heard through the grapevine there’s a good chance that the next National Review cruise will go to Alaska next summer.

ADDENDA: Here’s my 6:15 a.m. or so appearance on Sunday’s Fox & Friends , discussing Friday’s report on large numbers of non-citizens voting in U.S. elections, and the increasingly strong case that our government either cannot or chooses not to distinguish between U.S. citizens and non-citizens.

Kevin Williamson profiles St. Petersburg, Florida mayor Rick Baker, and discusses Republicans’ need to address, compete, and develop a serious policy agenda for America’s cities. It dovetails well with my point from last week that Republicans’ inability to compete at all in Portland -- not even 30 percent of the vote -- is what crushes their hopes for a statewide win in Oregon, a pattern common in a lot of states.

For history buffs, my old boss from my Congressional Quarterly days, John Bicknell, has written a new nonfiction book, America 1844: Religious Fervor, Westward Expansion, and the Presidential Election that Transformed a Nation. Publisher’s Weekly  declared, “Bicknell excels in bringing to life political figures such as Sen. Henry Clay and President James K. Polk. In addition to exploring deep-rooted issues of religious turmoil and westward expansion, Bicknell closely considers 1844’s great problem: the future of Texas. The territory’s annexation, the resulting war with Mexico, and, eventually, the Civil War were set in motion by Polk’s election to the presidency that year.”