The Other McCain

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

Two Scoops Of Hooey

Posted on | April 19, 2012 | 21 Comments

by Smitty

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

—Samuel Johnson

Raaaaacism is the last refuge of the Progressive jackwagon.

—Smitty

I cannot think of anything more racist than mentioning the heritage of a candidate in a political attack. We have so many extrinsic factors to consider, including education and previous professional records. To attack any candidate based upon intrinsic factors such as gender or race is the depth of falsehood.
Althouse points to Michael Barone saying:

Anyway, ticket-balancing is not the only successful approach, as Bill Clinton understood. When he clinched the Democratic nomination in 1992 as a Southern moderate, it was widely assumed he would pick a Northern liberal, as Jimmy Carter had.
Instead, he chose a fellow Southern Baptist of his own generation with a reputation for moderation and congressional experience in national security issues, Al Gore. They were from adjoining Southern states, and when the ticket was announced they met on the bridge between West Memphis, Ark., and Memphis, Tenn.
This unbalanced ticket won two elections, carrying six of 14 Southern states in both 1992 and 1996. Democratic nominees from Massachusetts, both with Southern running mates, carried none in 1988 and 2004.
A similar approach for Mitt Romney would be what opponents might call a double-vanilla ticket, with another white male as vice presidential nominee.

Given the propensity for the Left to engage in pure fiction already this year, Barone’s theory is likely to unfold.

The Barone quote offers an initial response, as well: Romney is every bit as diverse or more than Bill Clinton. Furthermore, #OccupyResoluteDesk healed our racial divide, except where he chose to multiply it, no? It’s not as though Romney can nominate the first special-needs VP; BHO already did that.

The other obvious response to the Lefty noise machine is “What? I couldn’t hear you over the crashing economy.”
I cannot wait for the ordeal of this campaign to be over.

Update: linked at POH Diaries

Category: Democrats, Election 2012

Comments

21 Responses to “Two Scoops Of Hooey”

  1. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    April 19th, 2012 @ 7:20 pm

    I have a problem with double suck on the ticket.  
    http://evilbloggerlady.blogspot.com/2012/04/mitt-daniels-and-rob-portman-make-case.html

    Paul Ryan would be okay.  

  2. Adobe_Walls
    April 19th, 2012 @ 8:28 pm

    I will never understand why so much emphasis is placed on the VP spot. Biden was supposedly selected because of his foreign policy expertise. He has lost every single argument on foreign policy since. Having Sarah Palin on the ticket excited the “base” but it shouldn’t have if one thing or the other had been different Palin might have made the difference and helped McCain win but it shouldn’t. Palin as VP wouldn’t have made John McCain a better president, Rubio or Ryan won’t make Romney a better president either. Cheney could be an exception because it was reasonable to believe he’d influence Bush. No one in their right mind thought Obamsky would listen to Biden. Dan Quayle was supposed to balance the ticket making it and the administration more conservative. Sure. This isn’t to say Quayle was a bad VP he did his job well for the most part.

  3. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    April 19th, 2012 @ 8:32 pm

    Then again, I posted this back in January for a reason…

    I do not have high expectations.  Maybe Obama will trounce Romney.  Maybe Romney will win but totally suck.  Maybe Romney will win and will be okay.  I do not really know. 

    I would feel better if Romney at least had a decent veep that conservatives could embrace.  Someone who presumably would run in the future for the top slot.  

    Maybe they will have answers for us at BlogCon.  That is coming up soon, isn’t it?  

  4. ThePaganTemple
    April 19th, 2012 @ 8:35 pm

     The VP selection can be vital in a closely contested election, where one battleground state could make all the difference. In Palin’s case, she almost drug McCain’s sorry ass across the line to victory in spite of McCain, but that old fool still managed to come up with a way to lose despite Palin’s best efforts (or maybe because of them).

  5. ThePaganTemple
    April 19th, 2012 @ 8:40 pm

    OT- Believe it or not, here is a shocking NEW Wiener photo. But this one might actually spell the end of Obama.

    http://twitpic.com/9bpcfg

  6. Quartermaster
    April 19th, 2012 @ 9:29 pm

    I don’t think the VP choice has that much of an affect on the outcome. I will still despise Mittens no matter who he chooses. The choice will be pretty much irrelevant. Mittens will still be as sorry as was 6 months ago.

  7. Adobe_Walls
    April 19th, 2012 @ 9:46 pm

    I’m not asserting that the VP choice makes no difference, to alot of people it does. I simply see no rational reason why it should be so.
    If it was an effort to train and give exposure to an heir apparent that would make sense. However VPs who don’t become president due to a death or resignation before running in their own right don’t do so well. Bush 41 being an exception.

  8. ThePaganTemple
    April 19th, 2012 @ 9:54 pm

     That’s understandable though. By the time a lot of Presidents finish their second terms, Americans are usually ready for a change. There’s just something about the American psyche that balks at the idea of continuity for continuities sake. There has to be a really good reason to continue along the old path. For me, voting against the Democrats would be sufficient reason, but most Americans just don’t see it that way. But at the time the VP selection is made, the process is still new, sharp, and can even be invigorating with the right choice.

  9. Adobe_Walls
    April 19th, 2012 @ 11:26 pm

    Why? The VP or most VPs make little difference. Would we have been satisfied with John McCain because Palin was his VP (unless of course he died)? Can you imagine any person on earth who as VP would make Obamsky palatable? If McCain had won Palin would have to be the good Lt. and be out there lying to us, telling us that McCain’s policies were conservative.

  10. Mitt Romney: 'Double-Vanilla' VP May Be The Ticket - The POH Diaries
    April 19th, 2012 @ 11:42 pm

    […] Smitty Tagged with: double-vanilla • Michael Barone • Mitt Romney  […]

  11. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    April 20th, 2012 @ 12:32 am

    Rest in Peace Levon Helm…

  12. Pathfinder's wife
    April 20th, 2012 @ 1:08 am

    I’m going to place a bet on “no matter who wins things are pretty much going to be the big suck”.

    My reel and gear box are looking more and more attractive to me everyday.

  13. JeffS
    April 20th, 2012 @ 1:18 am

     As does my reloading gear.

  14. JeffS
    April 20th, 2012 @ 1:20 am

    While not totally relevant, I can’t help but think that while the Obama-Biden ticket isn’t “double vanilla”, it damn sure is “one-and-a-half vanilla”.

  15. Wombat_socho
    April 20th, 2012 @ 4:30 am

     More like rocky road.

  16. ThePaganTemple
    April 20th, 2012 @ 10:46 am

     You can’t judge how a Democrat thinks by how we think about them. Going on that principle, there is no Democrat that would be palatable to me, so no nobody could make Obama so.

    But I can see where the right choice might win him back over some moderate dems, if he were to drop Biden and pick Hillary, for example, or maybe help shore up his moderate and his liberal base with a Cuomo.

    So going on that same principle, I can see how a Governor McDonald might win back Virginia and maybe even Pennsylvania voters. Don’t overlook the importance of regional strategies.  The same principle if he picked Rubio, whose appeal might extend way beyond Florida, and even cut into the Latino community just enough to make that difference.

    Or another Floridian popular with the base, Colonel West. And yes, of course they have to be willing to “take one for the team” to borrow a Ricky Poo phrase. But hey, that didn’t stop George H W Bush from going back to his basic governing philosophy when he took over for Reagan. Why would a Palin or West, etc, feel constrained to follow the RINO path once they got the big chair?

  17. Adobe_Walls
    April 20th, 2012 @ 11:15 am

    @ThePaganTemple:disqus 
    I’m not disputing your arguments as they only address the whos and the whats but not the why. Deciding to vote for a presidential candidate based on their running mate is just plain dumb.

  18. ThePaganTemple
    April 20th, 2012 @ 11:38 am

    @Adobe_Walls:disqus       

    It’s just part of the process and adds to the mystery and excitement, for one thing. For another, it gives you some insight into how the nominee thinks, as to who he needs to reach out to, and maybe even give you a hint as to how he might try to govern in some cases.

    I never was one of these people, even when I was as against Mitt as anyone, who believed he would govern the country the exact same way he did Massachusetts. He could offer some reassurance, at least to an extent, by picking a good solid conservative, hopefully federalist leaning running mate.

  19. Adobe_Walls
    April 20th, 2012 @ 12:09 pm

    @ThePaganTemple:disqus 
    McCain’s selection of Palin indicated that he knew he was weak with conservatives and that he needed to do something dynamic and unconventional. It was an attempt to garner votes. The fact that it helped only shows what fools the electorate can be.

  20. ThePaganTemple
    April 20th, 2012 @ 1:22 pm

    @Adobe_Walls:disqus     

    Granted in the case of McCain, but I believe Mitt is truly more conservative than McCain. Or at least he  has more of a federalist bent, if not strictly conservative, so a conservative running mate might say more about him than it did McCain. Just maybe.

  21. Adobe_Walls
    April 20th, 2012 @ 2:01 pm

    @ThePaganTemple:disqus 
    Really an interesting hypothesis good luck with that.