The Other McCain

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

‘No True Principles or Loyalty’

Posted on | September 28, 2012 | 21 Comments

An article in Politico inspired this reaction from National Review‘s Jim Geraghty:

This is why the grassroots loathe most veteran GOP political consultants. Republican campaign staffers get a lot of undeserved grief as a bunch of grifters, charlatans, snake-oil salesmen, hired guns with no true principles or loyalty, and so on. But when you see (allegedly) high-level folks trashing their own candidate, six weeks before the election, to a publication like Politico… and doing so while hiding behind anonymity… well, every nasty stereotype is confirmed.

Jonathan Chait is in the Gloat Zone. This is not a good thing.

Category: Election 2012

Comments

21 Responses to “‘No True Principles or Loyalty’”

  1. jlwellfonder
    September 28th, 2012 @ 4:53 pm

    Thank you Jim Geraghty! Uuugghh…stupid Politico…

  2. Adjoran
    September 28th, 2012 @ 4:53 pm

    Why do decent sites continue to read and link Politico? Ace has had the good sense to stop. They are NOT a “news” org, they were co-founders of Journ-o-list and are devoted to leftist agitprop.

    Anonymous sources quoted by Politico which advance the leftist narrative should be presumed fictional.

  3. TC_LeatherPenguin
    September 28th, 2012 @ 6:56 pm

    Win or lose, the Stupid Party is gonna face a post-election Reckoning, and a lot of the Beltway ‘establishment’ GOP will be lucky to make it out alive….

  4. Garym
    September 28th, 2012 @ 7:00 pm

    Time to start vetting the loyalty of these Republican hacks. If Romney ends up losing this thing, it might be time dump this mess that Republican party has turned into.
    I still think Romney will win big though.

  5. Charles
    September 28th, 2012 @ 7:24 pm

    It’s a great strategy. What better way to demotivate the Democratic base than by telling them not to worry they are going to win anyway. And what better way to fire up the Republican base than to tell them the election is over before they’ve even voted.

    This may help Allen in Virginia, and help Romney there too. It may also help convince Republican leaners in Missouri to vote for Akin because it isn’t safe to vote for McCaskill with Obama being reelected.

  6. They Love Romney So Much They Trash Him Anonymously | The Lonely Conservative
    September 28th, 2012 @ 7:57 pm

    […] with the American people, it’s the media and the Beltway types he has failed to please.(H/T TOM)Update: I did a short, related post on Sulia. I called them “frenemies.” It was the […]

  7. Bob Belvedere
    September 28th, 2012 @ 8:02 pm

    THIS.

  8. Bob Belvedere
    September 28th, 2012 @ 8:02 pm

    We’ve got to work hard to make that happen.

  9. richard mcenroe
    September 28th, 2012 @ 8:10 pm

    “Republican campaign staffers get a lot of undeserved grief as a bunch of grifters, charlatans, snake-oil salesmen, hired guns with no true principles or loyalty, and so on.”

    Assumes a fact not in evidence, counselor…

  10. M. Thompson
    September 28th, 2012 @ 9:45 pm

    Sometimes, having a mercenary is a good thing, like when looking for a lawyer or bodyguard.

    In politics, it gives you a campaign that’s leakier than a rustbucket after a near-miss with a torpedo.

  11. AngelaTC
    September 28th, 2012 @ 9:56 pm

    McCain 2.0

  12. SDN
    September 28th, 2012 @ 11:15 pm

    Hopefully, that will not be metaphorical. Aux la lanternes!

  13. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    September 28th, 2012 @ 11:32 pm

    They are dirty truck stop whores. And the diseased siphonic queen of such whores is Steve Schmidt and his narcissistic madam Nicole Wallace.

  14. Adjoran
    September 29th, 2012 @ 12:28 am

    So everyone believes there really are top Republicans – including top Romney aides – who will talk to Politico?

    This is how they can get away with fabricating sources.

    Let Chait gloat. I remember Susan Estrich on FoxNews in 2004, the polls were closing and no results, but they had seen the exit polls saying Kerry was winning and she was giddy. As the night went on and votes didn’t match the exits, she got sadder and drunker. Enjoyed watching very much.

    Hope that little lying weasel Chait gets a TV gig for this year. I’d love to see it.

  15. Mark J. Goluskin
    September 29th, 2012 @ 12:34 am

    Saw that too. I am not surprised that some douchebrains have already given up. These are the people that have no stomach to fight in the first place. But I wonder if these people don’t want to go on the record with their names, do they really exist?

  16. TWB
    September 29th, 2012 @ 12:38 am

    F*%k Politico. And F#ck their so-called unnamed sources. I think we’ve all had just about enough of their bilge.

  17. Bob Belvedere
    September 29th, 2012 @ 1:06 am

    Oh, Brick! [sighs]

  18. crosspatch
    September 29th, 2012 @ 2:22 am

    To be fair, there is some truth to that statement. Romney isn’t a career politician. Neither was Reagan but Reagan was an actor who had training in dramatic delivery. That sort of thing doesn’t come naturally to Romney. He is the best man to be President but he is not going to “bring it” like someone who has given speeches for a living for the past 40 years does.

    Romney is a very effective executive. By all accounts and appearances he is a loving husband and father. He is a good member of his community and church. The differences between Romney and Obama are night and day in so many different aspects.

    But the statement: “The candidate suit fits him unnaturally. He is naturally an executive.” is actually true. It does. But that should be a trait that endears him to us even more. He isn’t the slick talking snake oil salesman. Politicians are basically con men. Romney isn’t a politician. He really IS an executive.

  19. K-Bob
    September 29th, 2012 @ 2:24 am

    I got tricked into following a link to that article earlier today. I despise politico. After seeing that article, I’m thinking about building a widget that warns me when I’m about to follow a link to a site I hate.

    But the right-side folks need to have a list of do-not-follow sites, including anything out of the MSM.

    Just screencap the foolscap and then scrap.

  20. crosspatch
    September 29th, 2012 @ 2:30 am

    With friends like these …

    http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562578/Muddled-Mitt-Romney-campaign-hangs-in-but-struggles-for-message.html?pg=all

  21. Kyle Kiernan
    September 29th, 2012 @ 9:07 am

    My response to Politico would be “Prove it”. And oh yeah “You are such devotees of context, provide full context”. Otherwise it’s a flat out lie.
    These guys could ask a R phone bank operator what color the sky is and then start pumping the story “Romney terminally depressed at election status!”.