Limbaugh complained Democrats are not asked why "there are no women and minorities on stage"

Referring to the May 15 Republican presidential debate, Rush Limbaugh asserted, on the May 16 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, that "there's a template developing for the Republican debate last night. 'How come there are no women and minorities on stage?' I guess you forgot about 2004." He then said: "And I guess -- you know, the Democrats never get those kinds of questions because it's always assumed that they're fair and just, and not discriminatory and all that."

During the debate, co-moderator Chris Wallace, host of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, directed the following question to former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore:

WALLACE: Governor Gilmore, let me start with you. It's been suggested that the 10 of you could all be members of the same country club. What does it say about the Republican Party? And you used to be the chairman of this party and tried to build the tent -- to build the base. What does it say that there is no woman, no Hispanic, no African- American, no minority in this field of presidential candidates?

Presumably, debate moderators would not ask Democratic presidential candidates why "there are no women and minorities" on stage because the Democratic field currently contains two minority candidates, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who is Latino, and Sen. Barack Obama (IL), who is African-American, as well as a woman, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY).

In 2004, the field of candidates for the Democratic nomination included two African-Americans, one of them a woman, former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (IL), and Rev. Al Sharpton. President Bush was not opposed by any major candidate in the Republican primaries of 2004.

From the May 16 broadcast of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: Now that is a joke those of us in the media tell because that is a template. Well, lo and behold, here's a story from CNN -- and all these drive-bys are the same -- and it's a story about a poll: "Local Governments Ready for Disaster, Feds Not." This is a perfect example of how lazy journalists use a poll for a story rather than actually doing reporting.

And here's the opening paragraph: "Most people say their families and local emergency agencies are ready for the next natural disaster, but the federal government is not. Women and minorities are less confident on both counts."

I kid you not -- "[w]omen and minorities." Hardest hit: women. You can count on it in every -- just like there's a template developing for the Republican debate last night. "How come there are no women and minorities on stage?" I guess you forgot about 2004. And I guess -- you know, the Democrats never get those kinds of questions because it's always assumed that they're fair and just, and not discriminatory and all that.

But, anyway, this story -- I guess it's too hard to investigate the government is actually ready for another disaster? This is an AP story -- but it's ran [sic] on CNN -- reports on yet another stupid poll by another stupid news organization, which actually shows nothing but how stupid the public is in believing everything the drive-by media says.

We've got a poll of the American -- why would you believe a poll of uninformed or ignorant people? What does it matter that a majority of Americans don't think the federal government's ready? Why not go ask the FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] people? They're the ones who would have to mobilize. So, we're to conclude, "Oh my gosh, the government's not ready! A majority of people don't think so. They must know something I don't." It's just trash -- absolute trash journalism.

Also, in the latter part of the story, Democrats were also less confident than Republicans that their families, local emergency agencies in Washington were ready for a disaster. So? Who cares? We know that Democrats are idiots anyway on most things.

From the May 15 Fox News 9 p.m. ET broadcast of the Republican presidential debate:

WALLACE: Thank you. I've got a couple of final questions, and I then I know [Fox News host] Wendell [Goler] does as well.

Governor Gilmore, let me start with you. It's been suggested that the 10 of you could all be members of the same country club. What does it say about the Republican Party? And you used to be the chairman of this party and tried to build the tent -- to build the base. What does it say that there is no woman, no Hispanic, no African- American, no minority in this field of presidential candidates?

GILMORE: You know, Chris, as national chairman of the party, I worked very hard with the rest of the party to reach out in the Hispanic community, reach out in the African-American community. I made appropriate appointments. As governor of Virginia, I did the same thing. I brought people together and brought people in.

As a person who has a record with the African-American community when I was the attorney general of the state -- there were church burnings that were going on all across the South -- I stepped up with my fellow attorney generals and spoke out against that, and it stopped. As the governor of Virginia, I favored the African-American universities in order to draw people together.

WALLACE: Governor, if I may -- because we're running out of time -- I'd like to ask you if you'd answer the question, which is: Does it bother you that, as you sit here and we see the 10 candidates on the stage, there is not a single minority running for president in your party?

GILMORE: Listen, there will be people from our party who are in the minority who will be candidates, and we have people that are prepared to do that in the immediate future.

But the fact of the matter is that the people of the United States have got to judge the people who in fact have stood up and decided to run, have put themselves into the arena. And they have to judge it on the way of the record, Chris.

I mean, I recognize that I shook things up here a little bit. But the fact is, the people of the United States deserve to know where people really stand, and the only way to do that is to examine the record.

—A.D.S.