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.

PREVIOUSLY:

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

Comments

35 Responses to “Iowa Victory Lap”

  1. JeffS
    January 4th, 2012 @ 6:29 pm

    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.

  2. Mike Rogers
    January 4th, 2012 @ 6:49 pm

    Plane equipped with “afterburner”?

  3. EBL
    January 4th, 2012 @ 7:12 pm

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

  4. Zilla of the Resistance
    January 4th, 2012 @ 7:45 pm

    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! 

  5. JeffS
    January 4th, 2012 @ 7:52 pm

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

  6. T Kelso
    January 4th, 2012 @ 7:55 pm

    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.

  7. Bob Belvedere
    January 4th, 2012 @ 8:04 pm

    What Zilla said and what JeffS said below.

    Godspeed.

  8. Bob Belvedere
    January 4th, 2012 @ 8:05 pm

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

  9. richard mcenroe
    January 4th, 2012 @ 8:11 pm

    Sure,Now…

  10. richard mcenroe
    January 4th, 2012 @ 8:13 pm

    Maybe one Suzuki on each foot, Roman style

  11. The Camp Of The Saints
    January 4th, 2012 @ 8:33 pm

    Fear And Loathing 2012: Post-Cacucii…

    -Congratulations to Rick Santorum.  Godspeed in your quest to stop the Ted Baxter of the GOP. -One phrase I keep hearing a lot of is ‘coalesce behind’.  Might be a good idea. -StacyMcCain deserves all the praise he’s been receiving fr…

  12. Charles
    January 4th, 2012 @ 9:01 pm

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

  13. Mike Rogers
    January 4th, 2012 @ 10:11 pm

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

  14. Mike Rogers
    January 4th, 2012 @ 10:11 pm

    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.

  15. Anonymous
    January 4th, 2012 @ 10:12 pm

    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?!?!?!

  16. Anonymous
    January 4th, 2012 @ 10:38 pm

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

  17. Jimmie
    January 4th, 2012 @ 11:07 pm

    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.

  18. Pathfinder's wife
    January 4th, 2012 @ 11:11 pm

    Modify a scoop blade and weld it on the front?

  19. richard mcenroe
    January 4th, 2012 @ 11:18 pm

    Siren!

  20. JeffS
    January 4th, 2012 @ 11:25 pm

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

    Cows, yes.  Deer, no.

  21. M. Thompson
    January 4th, 2012 @ 11:50 pm

    Fresh beef, not venison.

    OTOH, Diplomatic Immunity means no more parking tickets.

  22. Finrod Felagund
    January 4th, 2012 @ 11:51 pm

     Lacking that, there’s always sea turtles.

  23. Finrod Felagund
    January 4th, 2012 @ 11:55 pm

    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.
     

  24. K-Bob
    January 5th, 2012 @ 12:07 am

    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.

  25. richard mcenroe
    January 5th, 2012 @ 1:01 am

    Coconut crabs

  26. Anonymous
    January 5th, 2012 @ 5:04 am

    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

  27. ThePaganTemple
    January 5th, 2012 @ 6:33 am

    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.

  28. Memo From the National Affairs Desk: Eight Days in a Mustang Later … : The Other McCain
    January 5th, 2012 @ 6:33 am

    […] Words in the English Language: Hit the freaking tip jar!– 30 –PREVIOUSLY:Jan. 4: Iowa Victory LapJan. 4: Bachmann Quits 2012 CampaignJan. 4: News Of Rick Santorum’s Iowa Triumph Reaches A Certain […]

  29. Bob Belvedere
    January 5th, 2012 @ 9:10 am

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

  30. Tennwriter
    January 5th, 2012 @ 9:23 am

    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.

  31. Mike Rogers
    January 5th, 2012 @ 9:56 am

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

  32. Datechguy's Blog » Blog Archive » The Axis of Fedora rides again shortly » Datechguy's Blog
    January 5th, 2012 @ 10:01 am

    […] might not have the speed of an Iowa Mustang but it won’t be […]

  33. Bob Belvedere
    January 5th, 2012 @ 10:13 am

    Abso-f’in-lutely.

    I know the NH roads.

  34. A few random quotes: « The TrogloPundit
    January 6th, 2012 @ 9:05 am

    […] At this point, my brain is so weary from sleep deprivation (to say nothing of …PMS) that I probably don’t need to be blogging… Stacy McCain. […]

  35. Maybe This Explains My Problem : The Other McCain
    January 10th, 2012 @ 4:23 pm

    […] to fly off to Iowa, I was in a cheerful mood, and I remained optimistic even when I was forced to return the black Mustang to the rental agency.But the past few days in New Hampshire, I’ve begun feeling increasingly […]