Scarborough: "Everybody knows Bush is pandering...including his base"

RUSH TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS.

Host: Why is the President attacking gay marriage now?

Scarborough: Because he's at 29% and he needs his base. The president is not at 29% because moderates and liberals are abandoning him. He's at 29% because conservatives abandoning. If he gets that conservative base back, he sees his poll numbers going in the low 40's.

But the President's biggest danger this fall -- when we come to mid term elections -- is not evangelical voters going out and voting for Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Party. It's that they will stay home. This give them a reason to go out and there are lot of people that say this is cynical. The New York Times mocking it this morning in an editorial but it will work. It worked in 2004 in a lot of states. It's on the ballot in 6 states coming up. It's going to work again in 2006. It generates this evangelical base that helps George Bush and conservative Republicans get elected.

---SNIP---

Everybody knows the President is pandering -- including the President's base. You know, everybody likes to think of Evangelicals as bare footed in tent revivals but they know exactly what the president is doing. James Dobson is one of the smarter guys I've ever met. He told the President, "If you want our votes, you're going to have start acting like a conservative on these issues." So, they know why he's doing it. They don't care why he's getting involved in this debate. They just want him involved and if it took him being at 29% then they say, "Good."