The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Let’s Outsource The Choosing Of Conservative Leaders To, Say. . .Politico

Posted on | November 1, 2010 | 15 Comments

by Smitty

Allahpundit tweeted this risible pile of noise from Politico: “Next for GOP leaders: Stopping Palin“, by Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei

As a PsyOps piece, it’s brilliant. We’re treated to a stream of innuendo about halting the Mamma Grizzly coming from:

  1. top Republicans
  2. advisers to the main 2012 presidential contenders
  3. other veteran Republican operatives
  4. GOP elites
  5. establishment figures
  6. one prominent and longtime Washington Republican
  7. interviews with top advisers to the candidates most frequently mentioned as running in 2012
  8. other top GOP officials
  9. top advisers
  10. many establishment figures
  11. A longtime Republican leader
  12. party elders
  13. establishment
  14. strategists and 2012 aspirants
  15. party elites

Then we do venture near some actual names and campaigns:

Nearly all of these interviewees insisted on keeping their views on background, fearing the wrath of conservative grass-roots activists who are enthralled with the former Alaska governor and who have made plain that the establishment’s disdain for Palin and her devotees is mutually reciprocated.
Top Republicans, from presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty to highly influential advisers such as Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie, are said to be concerned she will run, and could win, according to the officials.
Most, if not all, of the top GOP presidential contenders will hold off on formal announcements until next spring, in part to get a better handle on what Palin will do. Instead, they will focus on lining up key supporters and raising enough money to prove their viability by the end of March. The officials said the price of entry to compete credibly in Iowa and New Hampshire will be roughly $35 million.

Look, nobody cares much for the vast egos floating, in the hot-air baloon fashion, at that altitude. The GOP establishment weenies at have been at least silent accomplices to the current ruin of the country. About the only thing to say in favor of these twerps is that the Tea Party phenomenon is comparatively recent, and hasn’t proven a long-term source of political will for something better.
Nevertheless, where the ‘France’ were these famous GOP wunderkinder in 1992, when Ross Perot was breathing fire? Certainly, Perot was less fetching than Palin in pumps, so what was the problem then? Oh, I think I know.

Rove, one of the few establishment types to raise flags publicly about a Palin bid, this week told Britain’s Daily Telegraph that her upcoming reality show on cable TV could diminish her presidential standing. “I am not certain how this fits in the American calculus of ‘that helps me see you in the Oval Office,'” Rove said.

Rove, let me rock your little world with a question: what if Sarah Palin is smarter than you? Seriously. You’re either playing a sly bad cop role here, or maybe you’re past your sell-by date. Is Michael Steele the good cop in this equation?

Steele sounded a different note in a POLITICO interview: “I don’t think that Sarah’s too much worried about what Karl Rove’s speculations are.”

Steele said the Washington fretting about Palin, who “excites and ignites an energy out there,” is part of a broader theme. “I think the Washington establishment needs to settle down a little bit and get ready for what’s about to hit them come January, when a significant number of grass-roots congressmen and -women show up and are not prepared to play this game the way they’re used to playing it,” the chairman said. Asked whether Palin is electable, he added: “Sure. Why not? … I’m sure she can make that case.”

Here is a good knife in the back:

This view gained credence after Palin resigned the Alaska governorship before finishing her first term.

At least have the decency to point out the legal context that rendered the Palin administration untenable in the face of a stream of spurious ethics complaints. Alaska’s laws may bear review.

Palin made risky but decisive endorsements for Senate candidates such as Joe Miller in Alaska and Christine O’Donnell in Delaware, both of whom beat establishment favorites but in the process made those states less winnable for the GOP.

What, are Tuesday’s results available beforehand for those who are ‘on the team’?

“It could also be they’re scared to death that [if] Palin wins, it’s the end of them — the Republican establishment,” Limbaugh said.

To paraphrase: “Will no one rid us of this turbulent priesthood?”

He also questioned the timing of media speculation about her impact. “What’s the point of running a story like that right now if not, then, to sow dissension in the ranks?”

Well, Rush, there could also be jockeying for the VP slot and such.
I’ve formatted the Rove’s Gallery a bit from the end of the article:

  • Romney is certain to run for the establishment nod and hopes to amass as much as $50 million or more within 90 days of his official announcement. Romney, who must overcome perceptions of inauthenticity after running hard to the right in 2008, has the most sophisticated campaign-in-waiting and enjoys strong ties to Wall Street fundraisers.
  • Pawlenty, who has basically employed the Romney strategy of 2008 by working quietly and relentlessly on the early states and locking down establishment support, is a sure bet to run, too. So far, he has stirred little enthusiasm among Washington insiders, but his working-man persona is appealing to some.
  • Haley Barbour, the Mississippi governor, has turned heads with his leadership of the Republican Governors Association and continues to tell friends he will run. Some of the officials plan to ask him to run the RNC instead, to help strengthen the establishment and beat back a Palin nomination.
  • Sen. John Thune of outh Dakota is virtually certain to run, too.
  • Still, there’s a sense that none of the most-talked-about candidates are ideal, which is why many Republicans remain intrigued by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, despite his willingness to consider tax increases, and others. The belief that competence will be the currency in 2012 helps explain Daniels’s appeal.
  • Finally, Rep. Paul Ryan continues to get lobbied behind the scenes to contemplate a run, especially if no one else catches fire early on.
  • Mike Huckabee, who had the highest favorability ratings among the possible GOP candidates in a POLITICO/George Washington University poll in October, is a strong possibility and, according to a recent New York Times story by Peter Baker, is the White House favorite to win the nomination, for whatever that is worth. Huckabee and Palin have hit Rove for tweaking the tea party activists, and it’s safe to assume voters will hear a lot more tweaking in the months to come.
  • Newt Gingrich, who has raised more money than any other GOP hopeful, will compete for this space, too, and recently told a confidant he needs to show more self-discipline if he really wants to run and win.

So, in summary, we need to unite around the principle of not letting Politico or the ‘top official leading elder prominent longtime veteran establishment elite strategists and Republican party operative figures’ to tell We The People anything. In particular, what common sense, conservative principles will inform the next administration. Remember, DC elites are the source of the woes besetting the country. The “we may be incompetent, but we’re all you’ve got” argument is pure hooey. Let all of the personalities wrestle right up to the primary, and then let everyone get behind the candidate, just as we held our noses and got behind Senator CouldYouNotHaveRetired? in 2008.

Category: Republicans

Comments

15 Responses to “Let’s Outsource The Choosing Of Conservative Leaders To, Say. . .Politico”

  1. Viator
    November 1st, 2010 @ 9:40 am

    If Florida, Delaware, Alaska, Pennsylvania and South Carolina (among others) are any clue the GOP establishment will not go gently into that good night. They will fight first in the new congress, then in the 2012 Presidential selection and then the 2012 primaries. They will fight New Conservative candidates and then try and stab them in the back if they lose. I look forward to Sarah Palin kicking their butts soundly with joy.

  2. Viator
    November 1st, 2010 @ 9:46 am

    One thing that Barack Obama wants, more than anything else, is for the Tea Party and the GOP to split. That would guarantee him reelection and six more years of mischief. It would also guarantee that the Dems would win many other federal and state races over the next six years. Watch for the left to plant the seeds of this idea and nurture it as we go forward.

  3. Mangrovemama2002
    November 1st, 2010 @ 10:00 am

    Who would want to be any of the types listed in items 1 – 15?

    Of course they can’t stand Palin.

    They represent the establishment she (and many others this election cycle) have trounced.

    Politico is nothing more than an orifice spewing liberal screed these days.

  4. Anonymous
    November 1st, 2010 @ 12:44 pm

    Rove can take his American Crossroads group and cross that road into his own third party – call it the Rovians if you want – or call it the Ruling Class party or the Entitlement party.

    This is what he has been doing in the shadows for the last 18 months with his AC group – backing Castle, trying to get O’Donnell to drop – then KOing her when she BEAT him and his Castle like a wet mule in the Republican primary.

    He and his AC have been working in the shadows to smear and disgrace Steel at the RNC – because Steel is not Rove’s pick for RNC chair.

    So.

    The Republican party can go back to its platform by purging Rove from ANY influence on the party – and he can take his Castles and Murkowskis and McConnells and any other of his Establishment picks into his own Ruling Class party.

    Hey Karl, buck up or stay in the truck! And drive that Ruling Class truck into the ditch – while WE THE PEOPLE take back the Republican party.

  5. Tennwriter
    November 2nd, 2010 @ 11:42 am

    If the Tea Party is unafraid of this doom, they will largely avert it. Most of the enablers of the Status Quo Ruling Class will bail on it when put to the question of Yes or No as to whether they’re willing to go down with the ship. And the few diehard supporters of the The Ruling Class couldn’t lead a drunken sailor to a brothel.

    The Ruling Class will soon be in rout, and every general knows what to do when your enemy is routed. You pursue and destroy them.

    At which point, the big business supporters come over to the TP, and try to buy their way in, and the political consultants do the same thing.

    And that’s going to be an interesting problem dealing with such people without losing our principles. I suggest informing the businessmen than Illegal Immigratiion is Illegal, and that Corporate Welfare is Dead, and that We Believe in Free Enterprise. I think a fair chunk of big businessmen would be willing to work in a Free Enterprise environment if they knew their competitors weren’t using gov’t to mess them over.

    As to the political consultants…fire them. Hire some bloggers instead.