CNN host Glenn Beck featured a segment on the June 28 edition of his CNN Headline News program in which he purported to explain why “this show doesn't talk more about politics.” Nonetheless, later in the program, during a discussion with Arizona political activist Mark Osterloh, who has proposed entering voters in a lottery to win $1 million to encourage turnout, Beck suggested that he doesn't want uninformed people to vote, declaring: “You get stupid people voting, you know who's president? [Sen.] John Kerry [D-MA]. No, I'm kidding.” The next day, during a discussion with talk show host Roe Conn about Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) purported political aspirations, Beck stated that while Democrats once “stood for the real, you know, average Joe,” they are now “so Hollywood in their approach, it's like they don't even understand the heartland of America.” He later added that “I like George W. Bush,” and vouched that Bush will “do what it takes to keep us safe and our families safe.”

From the June 28 edition of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck:

ANNOUNCER: And now, another reason why this show doesn't talk more about politics.

BECK: Really, it's one word: politicians!

ANNOUNCER: This has been another reason why this show doesn't talk more about politics.

BECK: Oh, they're just so political aren't they? It drives me nuts. Here's what this is. For those of you who have your bullcrap-to-English dictionary -- every time you hear a politician speak, you need it. Republicans and Democrats, all they're trying to do is outmaneuver each other. They're trying to be more American than the other guy. Look, we don't need a constitutional amendment for this. In America, you have a right to burn the flag. You have a right to be fat, no matter what the stupid clown says at the speaker at McDonald's. You have a right to be stupid. The problem here is: Politicians, they think we're fat and stupid. And, unfortunately, most times we are, but not this time. Where is the epidemic of people burning flags? Where is it?

ANNOUNCER: And now, another reason why this show doesn't talk more about politics.

BECK: There isn't an epidemic. There isn't an epidemic. You know why we don't talk more about politicians and politics? Because it's a game, that's why.

ANNOUNCER: This has been another reason why this show doesn't talk more about politics.

[...]

BECK: Then they shouldn't be represented. They shouldn't be represented if they're not -- look, if you have somebody who's going into a voting booth and they're just like, “I just want the million dollars. I don't care who gets in,” that's much worse than having people who are informed and going and losing 40 percent of the population. If that 40 percent is uninformed or ill-informed and not motivated for the right reasons, I don't want them in the voting booth.

OSTERLOH: Let me give you an example --

BECK: You know what happens? You know what happens? You get stupid people voting, you know who's president? John Kerry. No, I'm kidding.

OSTERLOH: No, you're not kidding.

BECK: Yeah.

From the June 29 edition of Glenn Beck:

BECK: Yes. So what's the buzz in Chicago?

CONN: Well, the first thing is Barack Obama. Now, Barack Obama, he is a senator from Illinois. He just became senator last Wednesday, and they're already talking about him becoming president of the United States by December of this year.

BECK: Which is crazy, because, I mean, wasn't he like a farmer just like six weeks ago?

CONN: I think he was a high school student, actually. I don't know what he was doing.

BECK: Like somebody with just a wee bit of experience.

CONN: Yeah, you might. So the deal is this: He made a big speech about how the Democratic Party should bring God into its message, which, of course, as you remember in the last presidential election, it was blamed -- the Democratic loss was blamed on the fact that they didn't understand the churches. So Barack is making his first position statement.

Now, here is the most important thing. This is the buzz from “The Buzz from ...” Here is the most important thing: It is said that if you are a senator, you cannot be president. That's the concern. Because you have a voting record and there's all that -- that baggage that comes along with being a senator. Just ask the Kennedys.

But what -- what Barack wants to do is he wants to step down from being a senator in 2010, run for governor of the state of Illinois in 2010. He supposedly -- this is according to our sources -- has cut a deal with the head of the state Senate in Illinois, and he will then run [for president] in 2012 from the position of governor of Illinois.

BECK: Do you know anybody that was actually interested in any of that? I mean --

CONN: What I just said right now? I'm not even interested in what I just said. But it's important.

BECK: It's the people -- it's the game players. It's the people who are in their basement right now trying to either find a way to elect [Sen.] Hillary [Rodham] Clinton [D-NY] or defeat Hillary Clinton. I call them '08 basement dwellers -- you know what I mean -- that are so wrapped up in politics.

I don't know -- you know, I'm going to go a step further. As I'm going to say, I don't know anybody like that. I don't want to know anybody who's already thinking about, you know, 2010 and what they're going to do to become president of the United States.

CONN: I think the important thing here is that here's a guy who said, you know, “I don't want to think about that.” He demurs.

BECK: Yeah, yeah.

CONN: He plays it like I'm not all that interested. Well, I think he's more interested.

BECK: Here's the -- here's the interesting thing. To me, is what he said about, you know, religion plays a role in everyday people's lives. If he's sincere, then that's -- that's going back to the -- my grandparents died Democrat. And even though they really were Republican, you know, Reagan Republican, they never would admit it, because FDR was a Democrat. But that's when the -- that's when the Democrats stood for the real, you know, average Joe.

CONN: Right.

BECK: They don't even understand it now. They are so Hollywood in their approach, it's like they don't even understand the heartland of America.

CONN: It was a very interesting speech in the sense that --

BECK: Do you think he was sincere?

CONN: I do, actually. I think he was. Well, I mean, as sincere as a politician can get. I mean, he has a job he wants, you know. He clearly wants this job. And I think that he knows it's the right thing to say. And I think -- OK. Maybe.

BECK: Right. Exactly right. OK. Roe Conn from WLS, 890 AM in Chicago. We'll see you here Monday filling in for me.

CONN: Great. Thanks, Glenn.

[...]

BECK: Two things. Two things here. This is why I like George W. Bush. When he says, you know, “I'm not going to jeopardize the safety of the American people,” he'll throw the toaster into the -- you know, “Hey, Osama, here's a bath toy.” He'll do it. And I like that about him. Us, he will protect. I really honestly believe -- that's the one thing I believe to the core of George W. Bush.

He understands that we're at war, and he's going to do what it takes to keep us safe and our families safe. The other thing is he understands that. I think there's a good portion of America that doesn't understand that they really truly don't understand we're at war, man. This is it, 1938, World War II, here we are.