WI: Rush Limbaugh endorses Perot in 1992

In 1992, Rush Limbaugh with held support from Ross Perot, claiming that he (Rush) was a conservative and Perot was populist (not to mention Rush was and is a water carrier for the Republican party)... now he had disagreements with Bush 41 AND his audience was into Perot, so there was background for him to at least entertain the the idea

Lets say Rush endorses him (I don't care about when you can pick whatever date you think would be appropriate) and uses the power of his show to say over and over again that conservatives and republicans should abandon Bush senior and vote for Perot

Can this make any noticeable difference?
 
In 1992, Rush Limbaugh with held support from Ross Perot, claiming that he (Rush) was a conservative and Perot was populist (not to mention Rush was and is a water carrier for the Republican party)... now he had disagreements with Bush 41 AND his audience was into Perot, so there was background for him to at least entertain the the idea

Lets say Rush endorses him (I don't care about when you can pick whatever date you think would be appropriate) and uses the power of his show to say over and over again that conservatives and republicans should abandon Bush senior and vote for Perot

Can this make any noticeable difference?

They've got state by state numbers at http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/datagraph.php?year=1992&fips=0&f=1&off=0&elect=0

But while there only two "states" where a single candidate got a majority (Arkansas and DC, both for Clinton, there were a lot for Clinton where he got 45% or so, and to get Perot to beat him, you have to reduce Bush down to about 10% in that state.
 
The problem is that while backing by Rush would gain him a chunk of the conservative base, it would drive away the independants who wanted a 3rd option
 
The problem is that while backing by Rush would gain him a chunk of the conservative base, it would drive away the independants who wanted a 3rd option

Do independants really dislike Rush? I know libs do...:rolleyes:;)

The one Perot supporter I knew wouldn't have been offended by a Rush endorsement (I don't think so anyways).

I think he would have been happy for the support. Seen it as vindication of the "wave to come" or some such nonsense.

(He wasn't that bright).
 

pnyckqx

Banned
In 1992, Rush Limbaugh with held support from Ross Perot, claiming that he (Rush) was a conservative and Perot was populist (not to mention Rush was and is a water carrier for the Republican party)... now he had disagreements with Bush 41 AND his audience was into Perot, so there was background for him to at least entertain the the idea

Lets say Rush endorses him (I don't care about when you can pick whatever date you think would be appropriate) and uses the power of his show to say over and over again that conservatives and republicans should abandon Bush senior and vote for Perot

Can this make any noticeable difference?
i'd say that Rush should go into rehab sooner if he entertains this thought. Perot is a career killer for Limbaugh, and he knows it. He has to spin away Perot's pro-choice stand on abortion, and the fact that Perot profits on huge government contracts (EDS).


 
I would have to agree with Corbell that an endorsement from Limbaugh would help Perot a fair bit. In addition to netting him the support of Limbaugh's crowd, it would also provide a boost to Perot's perceived electability. The biggest problem any 3rd party presidential candidate has in the US is convincing the public that he actually has any realistic chance of winning the election. If he gets a big enough boost in the polls, it could easily become self-reinforcing since more people would vote for him if he appeared to be a more viable candidate.
 
The Reform Party will probably end up grabbing more of the conservative vote from Bush who to my knowledge was a moderate (or at least he used to be, before Reagan that is)
 
Perot voters drew equally from Bush and Clinton in 1992, and were usally fiscally conservative but socially moderate, like Bush himself at heart. Bush had to quite literally change his abortion stance on the spot in order to be selected as Reagan's (who was pro-choice until the early 1970s) running mate. A certain brand of fiscal conservative though. Perot's other big issue was NAFTA, hence his famous quote "giant sucking sound", which meant protectionists flocked to him, since both Clinton and Bush are resolute free-traders.

On the OP: this might damage Rush among his more socially conservative fans, while I can't see how Bush's base can get much more fractured than it already was. Bush was never liked by the base, despite being the co-founder of the modern Southern Republican Party along with Allan Shivers and Richard Nixon.
 
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