Liberal Feature; Conservative Bug

Posted on | March 5, 2015 | 27 Comments

by Smitty

Asymmetries seem to abound these days:

Already Walker has been dogged by alleged improprieties regarding campaign finance laws during the recall campaign and a lack of transparency as county executive
“This is a guy who has literally been in elective office his entire adult life,” said a strategist for one rival campaign. “He has made his living off the government sector, the taxpayer. He has never really, to my knowledge, had any kind of serious existence outside of the public sector.”

Are you also old enough to remember when, say, Her Majesty’s existence as either a public creature or a lawyer was totally a feature? Demoness you know, and all.

Thought experiment: make a reality show where serious candidates have to demonstrate actual problem solving skills. I want to see candidates demonstrate actual:

literacy
imagination
general knowledge
leadership
stamina
stewardship
wisdom

The more I think about it, the more some kind of a “Survivor”-style winnowing seems like it could be useful. Not that there is any hope of improvement over the current morass.

The concern about Walker peaking early is well-founded, but I think it’s a feature to get him out there in an early sprint, identify some areas to polish, and see if he is serious about the marathon. Sad to say it, for a variety of reasons, Sarah Palin does not seems to have had the needed endurance.

Of course, these are only issues for a conservative. At the worse-is-better end of the spectrum, the liberals seem to come up with new to paganisms. On the one hand, I hope somebody duped Her Majesty’s email queue. On the other hand, finding out just how criminal she really was is likely to be TMI by half. I love my country, and finding out about new whoredoms isn’t to be relished.

via HotAir

Category: Democrats, Hillary Clinton, Republicans, Scott Walker

Comments

27 Responses to “Liberal Feature; Conservative Bug”

K-Bob
March 5th, 2015 @ 4:13 pm

I like the game idea. On the other hand, the debates are supposed to be like that. Trouble is, we always get leftists “moderating” them and asking goofy questions.

Remember GE College Bowl? I think we need a round of something similar in the debates. Something that proves they know the Constitution, and the history & philosophy involved in the Founding.

As for Walker, I think he’s going to last a tiny bit longer than Pawlenty did, but fail for the same reasons.
Evi L. Bloggerlady
March 5th, 2015 @ 4:14 pm

We need to keep the pressure on her, because other than TMZ the media sure is not going to do it.
smitty
March 5th, 2015 @ 4:27 pm

That’s interesting. If you’ve been a reader long enough, you know I liked Pawlenty. But he was a proto-Mitt. Tim did not, as Walker did, have a polished response in USAToday http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/02/25/wisconsin-gov-scott-walker-news-media-editorials-debates/24022195/

Furthermore, and no one’s mentioned it much generally: RNC Chair Preibus is a cheese head. Something tells me that fact is going to matter. It may not be decisive, but Walker’s not going to fold as fast as Pawlenty.

To say nothing of the rock solid donation base Walker has. I think there’s an envelope laying on the table from the man, in fact. Could be time to use it.
Evi L. Bloggerlady
March 5th, 2015 @ 4:39 pm

Tim Pawlenty had potential, but it did not work out because there was no real substance to him. He was a working class guy and on paper seemed good, but he was not principled. Walker actually believes what he is selling. That is why he can sell it and persuade people (beyond the fact it also actually works).

K-Bob, I am going to say Walker is not Pawlenty because he has faced fire in Wisconsin. There are similarities between Wisconsin and Minnesota, but Walker is more seasoned than Pawlenty.

Pawlenty also liked to suck up to guys like Mac Daddy McCain…which is sort of distasteful.
jakee308
March 5th, 2015 @ 4:51 pm

Conservatives can’t apply any real pressure on her. She doesn’t care and isn’t listening.

The real question is why is this coming out now? Who is dealing out this info? It’s not like it wasn’t already known in many areas. I’m sure those at State knew she wasn’t using the Government email. And most likely the WH knew also. This is only a surprise for the impotent and naive. (that would be us).

Someone’s derailing her candidacy. The real question is who. (or is it whom?)
Daniel Freeman
March 5th, 2015 @ 5:40 pm

I would guess Jeb Bush, since that would answer the puzzle of why he made such a big email dump out of the blue: he got wind of this, and wanted to establish pole position on the issue.

Now she’s going to try to copy him, since there are good reasons for a pre-emptive dump:

1. You get to self-select what goes in the dump.
2. You get to overwhelm people and keep the curious too busy reading to think of their own questions of what to ask for.
3. If anyone does find anything in there, it’s old news by the primaries, let alone the general.

The 24-hour news cycle is so novelty-obsessed that getting things out early can be an effective strategy, but not for someone with as many skeletons in her closet as Hillary Diane Rodham. The smart oppo researchers won’t be looking for answers; they’ll be looking for clues for what questions to ask, and then hold them for later.

My answer is Jeb, in the study, with a knife.
Adobe_Walls
March 5th, 2015 @ 5:41 pm

Pawlenty never articulated a compelling reason why he should be in the race at all. He probably did as well as could be expected considering his state and it’s legislature, but he made no attempts at significant changes. A governor with an opposition dominated legislature must ultimately loose many battles, but he still needs to wage them. Schwarzenegger gave up after his first defeat and was little regarded by either side thereafter. It’s far better to fight and win like Walker but fighting and loosing is far better than not fighting at all. Pawlenty’s reason for running was that he managed to get elected in Minnesota, a blue state. That and being not-Mitt, but he wasn’t not-Mitt enough to distinguish himself from the other not-Mitts. Pawlenty apparently bet the ranch on Iowa and how quickly he quit after loosing there begs the question how bad did he want to be president in the first place?
K-Bob
March 5th, 2015 @ 5:42 pm

I’ll be happy to give him one more chance, but he’s already on two strikes with a lot of folks. I’m not as convinced as many that Governor experience is of vital importance. Especially given that the former Governors who’ve gone on the the White House have have a decidedly mixed record.
smitty
March 5th, 2015 @ 5:44 pm

Well, it’s certainly the case that if Jeb can score a mission kill on Her Majesty’s campaign, then he can freely blow the base right off and still have a chance to win.

Her Majesty should worry about the likelihood that her entire server was compromised, and the “very interesting” deltas between what exist and what she publishes keep on drip, drip, dripping out. At a medium pace.
smitty
March 5th, 2015 @ 5:45 pm

Senators just haven’t been a win, either.
Daniel Freeman
March 5th, 2015 @ 5:55 pm

What’s wrong with those people at TMZ? Wouldn’t they rather get invited to her events than ask her questions? Someone needs to stage an intervention, or they’ll never make it as political reporters.
Adobe_Walls
March 5th, 2015 @ 6:11 pm

If Jeb even owns a dagger it’s rusted into the scabbard. It’s Gowdy’s Benghazi committee that got this ball rolling because unlike the many other news and NGOs making FOIA requests the committee was in a position to ask ”what the hell do you mean we have no information (emails) pertinent to your request”.
Hillary’s ability to steer this controversy is much more limited than the administrations under similar circumstances.
For one a candidate can’t just assert that this is old news and insist in moving on to another topic.
For two Hillary can’t change the subject via stray voltage or a news dump diverting the news cycle to another subject the way this administration can. She simply doesn’t have enough to work with.
Third, using the defense that Powell and Rice did the same thing isn’t true. Neither of them had a private server installed in their homes. Further more the law/rules were significantly tightened in 09. While I don’t know what the law was prior to 09 I suspect it was ambiguous regarding emails leading to the new law/rules in 09. Accusing Walker and Jeb Bush of doing the same thing might have no relevance at all. What do Florida’s and Wisconsin’s laws require?
The Butler didn’t do this. Look to the left. Either Hillary leaked this after finding the story was gaining traction because of Gowdy’s committee or someone pining for not-Hillary did.
Adobe_Walls
March 5th, 2015 @ 6:38 pm

I suspect that TMZ is a tad too National Enquireresq to be invited to her events no matter what they do.
Evi L. Bloggerlady
March 5th, 2015 @ 6:48 pm

Absolutely true.
Evi L. Bloggerlady
March 5th, 2015 @ 6:50 pm

I would have said Governors do better at President. OK, half full and half empty: As opposed to what other group?

Two strikes? So will you fall back to Jeb or Christy? Perry? Rubio? Hey, there is Ben Carson winging it. And that George Pataki could be a surprise.

I like Ted Cruz, but he is not going to be the nominee.
Evi L. Bloggerlady
March 5th, 2015 @ 6:56 pm

TMZ does not give a shit. They know what they are and they know what drives hits: sex, celebrity, scandal and controversy.
Daniel Freeman
March 5th, 2015 @ 8:30 pm

I thought of Hillary doing it herself, because it’s the kind of thing that other politicians might do, but I rejected the notion.

1. She’s beyond old enough to be set in her ways, and the Clintons have been using “deny, stonewall and smear” for a very long time.

2. Although it can be a good political strategy to bring the heat on yourself and get it over with, it’s not so good of a legal strategy, and she was a lawyer. That’s her temperament.

3. Following on that, the whole point of that strategy is that you’re not so worried about legal consequences. You’ve done something that voters (including moderates and maybe your own side) would perceive as immoral, and you need to just get the reaction over with and seek forgiveness. I have the impression that she lives in a bubble of sycophants, without a single trusted adviser that would tell her if she did something “bad” and “wrong.” (Or maybe they can’t even discern it.)
Matt_SE
March 5th, 2015 @ 9:04 pm

It was said that the GOPe strategy for the midterm primaries was to smear early and often. Tea Party newcomers didn’t have name recognition, and there was only one chance to make a first impression.
The establishment saw to it that impression was negative.

Viewed in that light, Walker really had no choice but to be exposed early. Maybe it was planned (in which case someone is smart), or maybe it was coincidence (in which case, someone is looking out for him).
Either way, that’s the way it needed to happen. Let’s hope he has pacing and/or stamina.
Matt_SE
March 5th, 2015 @ 9:06 pm

That sounds plausible, but it’ll just end up helping Walker.
Matt_SE
March 5th, 2015 @ 9:09 pm

Good. Another dissatisfied customer created by liberal elitism.
K-Bob
March 6th, 2015 @ 6:41 pm

Executive experience is executive experience. Anyone who’s had to manage personnel and payrolls. Anyone who’s led people. That’s the group to which governors belong. (Since any governor could be a Jimmy Carter or a Bill Clinton, I place governors in that set, rather than place the others as some sort of tag-along set where governors get a gold star.)

Cruz was in that group, obviously any other governor, too. Allen West was a lt. colonel who definitely led men in wartime. Ben Carson had to lead a surgical team, but surgeons are pampered and rely on others to do their administrative work.

At this critical time I’d prefer someone with military background, but Perry doesn’t seem to be the guy, and West is barely mentionable as a wild card.

I wouldn’t dismiss Cruz so early. I seriously doubt he’ll be unsuccessful in debates.

But Walker in particular is emitting distinct whiffs of McCain/Romney style campaigning. Walker’s major successes are seen as being against unions. When people tout those so strongly, they are actually doing Christie’s work for him. And Christie sounds good in interviews and debates, too.

In fact, I’d put Cruz and Christie as the strongest contenders in the debate category. We all know where Perry will land. Rubio looks nervous even in interviews.

So if I were handicapping the race as of today, cased on how I expect the debates to go, I’d put the order as:

Cruz,
Christie,
Walker,
Paul,
Santorum,
Jindal,
Rubio,
Perry,
Bush

Throw in Pence ahead of Santorum if he runs. I put Jindal behind the top four because I know he has the capability to be in the top group, but so far hasn’t shown enough to be sure, when it comes to debates.

Jeb is worse that Perry when it comes to understanding the principles on which one stands, so I put him last. Perry seems pretty good, but he really isn’t in the same league, intellectually as the top group. And I like Perry as a symbol of an American leader.

Walker needs to straighten out his Amnesty mumbling and fumbles, and he needs to be more dynamic at the podium. Right now, if he were running against Romney, he’d actually be the least interesting speaker.
K-Bob
March 6th, 2015 @ 7:00 pm

That’s what the Conventional Wisdom folks have been telling us all for years. But that’s a highly qualified concept (due to the fact that several Senators became VPs, who then became president) and it applied during peacetime, when the Constitution was respected by both parties (mostly).

If you peruse the occupations of former presidents, you can see they came from many backgrounds.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0768854.html

It’s time to dump the Conventional Wisdom and select the right man for the job by vetting the man’s skills, principles, leadership qualities, and ability to communicate.
M. Simon
March 7th, 2015 @ 6:53 am

The Conservative bug? Stalinism:

Nixon went after cannabis to jail his political enemies. The essence of Stalinism.

“Look, we understood we couldn’t make it illegal to be young or poor or black in the United States, but we could criminalize their common pleasure. We understood that drugs were not the health problem we were making them out to be, but it was such a perfect issue…that we couldn’t resist it.” – John Ehrlichman, White House counsel to President Nixon on the rationale of the War on Drugs.

======================

He also used the IRS against his enemies. Obama is just Nixon II. Some different goals and methods. But the same essential nature.

And Republicans have never properly dissected Nixon. Until then the disease will fester.

=====================

You might also want to look into Reagan shutting down all research into cannabis as a cure for cancer. He gave up a possible cure for cancer to go after his political enemies.

The Republicans have a LOT of evil to answer for.

And until they clean up their own house their chances against the left are slim and none.
M. Simon
March 7th, 2015 @ 7:07 am

Walker also has a very glaring defect that will kill him in 2016 if he gets the nomination. He is a Prohibitionists.

I’m working on Prohibitionist = Stalinist (see above) the whole party needs to give it up or it will devastate them.

You see I have one great tool in my tool box. Evidence. And I’m sprinkling it all over the left. You think they will be able to resist? Me either.

I have already had a leftist ask if he could use it. I told him, “Steal it.” The whole thing. Word for word if you like.
Daniel Freeman
March 7th, 2015 @ 10:42 am

So to defuse the value of the Democratic party being perceived as being more pot-friendly, you’ve crafted a meme about Republicans being anti-pot for all the wrong reasons. Then you gave it to leftists in the hope that they can’t resist doing your work for you, spreading the meme to the point where Republicans will have to recant and embrace the ganja, thereby neutralizing Democrats’ current advantage.

A fair summary/restatement?
FMJRA 2.0: Daylight Savings Time Edition : The Other McCain
March 8th, 2015 @ 1:23 am

[…] Liberal Feature; Conservative Bug Batshit Crazy News […]
Robert What?
March 8th, 2015 @ 8:55 pm

Look, I’d love to see a Walker presidency, if for no other reason that he is not an Ivy Leaguer. Even better: he didn’t even go to college.

But Hillary will be the next President. It has already been decided.