The Other McCain

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

Iowa Victory Lap

Posted on | January 4, 2012 | 35 Comments

DES MOINES, Iowa
Today I checked out of the hotel near Santorum HQ in Johnston and drove down toward the Des Moines International Airport where I checked into a cheap motel. Then I went to Taco John’s and got four tacos, a burrito, chips and salsa. On the way back to the motel, I stopped into a convenience store and got a 40-ounce Budweiser. Dropped that off at the motel, then drove over to the airport and returned the Mustang.

God, I’m gonna miss that car.

And I’m gonna miss Iowa, too. All the pundits who badmouth the Iowa caucuses have no idea how much fun it is to take a 40-mph curve doing 80 in a Mustang, while running late for a candidate event in some small town out on the prairie. I don’t know what these pundits do for amusement, but they’ve never done anything as fun as making that run from Montezuma to Pella in a sweet black Ford Mustang convertible.

(Aside: Do they have car rental agencies in Vanuatu? And do those agencies have any Mustang convertibles on the lot? What’s the daily rate? Someone should investigate this.)

On my way to the airport, I called Richard McEnroe of Three Beers Later to thank him for the linkage. And after returning the Mustang to the rental agency, I called Jimmie Bise of the Sundries Shack because I needed a shoulder to cry on.

Traumatic Post-Mustang Syndrome (TPMS) is a serious problem, and Jimmie understood that. He also understood that I need to chill out and rest up before I fly out of here in the pre-dawn hours Thursday morning.

Pete Da Tech Guy will pick me up at Logan Airport in Boston when I arrive about 11 a.m., and we’re driving straight from the airport to New Hampshire, where we’ll catch up with the Rick Santorum campaign. At this point, my brain is so weary from sleep deprivation (to say nothing of TPMS) that I probably don’t need to be blogging because — in this state of mental and physical exhaustion — I might write something completely irresponsible, like calling Erick Erickson a clueless douchebag.

And we wouldn’t want that to happen, would we?

So I’ve already finished the chips and salsa, and now it’s time to get to work on the four tacos, the burrito and that 40-ounce bottle of beer, then sleep about 10 hours. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the Shoe Leather Fund to get me this far and — if you’re feeling a sudden urge to hit the tip jar — hey, don’t fight the feeling.

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Category: Da Tech Guy, Fear and Loathing in Iowa, Iowa, Jimmie Bise Jr., Shoe Leather Fund, Three Beers Later

Comments

  • JeffS

    Four tacos, a burrito, chips and salsa?  Plus an extra large brewski?  God, I’m glad I won’t be sitting near you on the flight to Boston.

  • http://www.granitegrok.com Mike Rogers

    Plane equipped with “afterburner”?

  • http://evilbloggerlady.blogspot.com/ EBL

    And to think cows get a bad rap for contributing to global warming through methane production? 

  • http://zillablog.marezilla.com Zilla of the Resistance

    Thanks for all the great work you did out there, Stacy! Rest easy tonight and happy travels on to more victory and gonzo reporting in New Hampshire! 

  • JeffS

    Stacy, all snark aside, you did a great job in Iowa!

  • T Kelso

    It seems that if you want to have a Mustang on Vanuatu, you”ll need to bring it yourself, Stacy. Budget Vanuatu offers only tiny tiny Suzukis, Hynudais and Toyotas. Hope that doesn’t burst any bubbles. Stay warm in New Hampsha.

  • http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

    What Zilla said and what JeffS said below.

    Godspeed.

  • http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

    I’m sure we can get up a fund to buy him one as a gift.

  • richard mcenroe

    Sure,Now…

  • richard mcenroe

    Maybe one Suzuki on each foot, Roman style

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  • http://www.leftbankofthecharles.com/ Charles

    Might be risky to role a Mustang off a cargo plane in Vanatu, IYKWIMAITYD

  • http://www.granitegrok.com Mike Rogers

    He has the reporting covered. I’ll try to have he warm covered :)

  • http://www.granitegrok.com Mike Rogers

    Yes, indeed, thanks for all the great work, and I hope that some of our readers at GraniteGrok.com hit your tip jar.
    Looking forward to welcoming you to NH. WiFi, log fire, home comforts, and maybe you get to borrow the Audi convertible.

  • Anonymous

    Nearly every rental car in Hawaii is a Mustang convertible.  I would guess the same for Vanuatu. 

    I can relate to PTMS.  My whole family has suffered from PTGTOS since 1972.  Why, Dad, WHY did you sell the ’66 GTO?!?!?!

  • Anonymous

    As the ambassador, I’m sure he can have one stuffed in a ConEx box, marked “diplomatic,” and rushed right over.

  • http://twitter.com/jimmiebjr Jimmie

    Just as a note, the entire nation of Vanuatu (which is made up of some 80 islands) is roughly a tenth the size of Iowa. I’m not sure you can get a Mustang really wound up, even on the largest island.

    Also, it appears that livestock wanders around pretty freely, which can’t help.

  • Pathfinder’s wife

    Modify a scoop blade and weld it on the front?

  • richard mcenroe

    Siren!

  • JeffS

    At least Ambassador McCain won’t be hitting any deer on Vanuatau.

    Cows, yes.  Deer, no.

  • M. Thompson

    Fresh beef, not venison.

    OTOH, Diplomatic Immunity means no more parking tickets.

  • Finrod Felagund

     Lacking that, there’s always sea turtles.

  • Finrod Felagund

    Regarding Erick Erickson: one of the frontpagers there changed his signature to “We can’t stop here, this is bat country”, so I changed mine to “Let’s get down to brass tacks.  How much for the ape?”, heh heh heh.
     

  • K-Bob

    I totally understand not wanting to really engage in a dustup with David Brooks (no one to hold your coat, etc.).

    But you should have at least managed a wedgie.

    And you should still be holding his lunch money.

  • richard mcenroe

    Coconut crabs

  • Anonymous

    Santorum is a total waste of time… he can’t compete with Newt in the South, has little hope in NH, and hasn’t even set-foot in SC since Nov 12 2011. Any $ raised now will be too little, too late imo.

    I DO NOT want him running against Obama… he can’t beat him, and frankly has accomplished little more that Obama has in his political career… nothing, basically.

    Santorum is not clever, tough, nor charming enough to beat Obama, and has NO record of success to point to that would impress anybody outside of Iowa
    In the shadow of historical figure Gingrich -a man that’s done more for our side than ANY-body else running- Rick Santorum seems but a childjmho

  • http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

    That’s harsh, but you have a good point in one aspect. He doesn’t handle criticism well, and he needs to get a handle on that, because its something that’s going to come back to bite him if he does get the nomination. Then again, you can’t really say Gingrich has been really masterful at handling criticism these last couple of weeks.

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  • http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

    Don’t. Let. Stacy. Near. The. Audi!

  • Tennwriter

    Um, he’s going to tear the South up. They are going to love him there.

    Now  RRep, if you were talking about Mitt, your comment would make more sense.

  • http://www.granitegrok.com Mike Rogers

    Nice! You mean trust the journalist, not the driver?

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  • http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

    Abso-f’in-lutely.

    I know the NH roads.

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