Category: Politics

Memo From the National Affairs Desk: Republican Nightmare Campaign Tour

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“Empty feelings present themselves, and grief enters our lives on a deeper level, deeper than we ever imagined. This depressive stage feels as though it will last forever.”
— Professor William Jacobson

“The only thing worse than going out on the campaign trail and getting hauled around in a booze-frenzy from one speech to another is having to come back to Washington and write about it.”
— Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72

Yesterday afternoon my editor at The American Spectator called, wondering if I was in Orlando, and my answer was a long explanation of “no.” As I had explained at some length Sunday, the requisite trip to Ohio after the Tampa debate spoiled my plan to spend two uninterrupted weeks covering the campaign in Florida, and simultaneously deprived me of funding necessary to return in time for the Orlando debate.

Keeping Mrs. Other McCain happy is Job One, the Ohio trip was an inescapable duty, and so I had to cover last night’s debate from here in my basement office and skip CPAC Florida. This feels like abject professional failure, and the only way to recover my sense of dignity and purpose is to get back on the road as soon as possible. So please hit the freaking tip jar. Speaking of abject failure . . .

Perry’s Awful Night
— John Tabin, The American Spectator

Perry Delivers an Unsteady
Performance at Republican Debate
— PBS Newshour

Web verdict on Perry: Brutal
— Politico

Wow, Rick Perry really stunk it up in Orlando, didn’t he? Continue reading Memo From the National Affairs Desk: Republican Nightmare Campaign Tour →

Can We Get ‘Zo To Do An Interview With Morgan Freeman?

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by Smitty

It is really, really tiring to hear the likes of Morgan Freeman trot out hackneyed tropes about Tea Parties and raaaaacism.

“Their stated policy, publicly stated, is to do whatever it takes to see to it that Obama only serves one term,” the actor said. “What’s, what does that, what underlines that? ‘Screw the country. We’re going to whatever we do to get this black man, we can, we’re going to do whatever we can to get this black man outta here.'”

I’d like to see Morgan interviewed by the ‘Zo, and asked about the Tea Parties that Freeman has attended, and why Freeman insists on repeating things that are simply untrue.

Morgan, this blog would like to take a moment to forgive you for unfounded slander. I have yet to meet any serious person claiming any genetic basis whatsoever for what is amounting to the least effective Administration ever.

If  the raaaaacist charge had merit, Morgan, why would this blog and so many others enthusiastically support Herman Cain? Are you going to say that this is pure head fake; that I merely feign support for his totally American approach to unscrewing the evils of Progressivism, but will throw Cain under the bus in favor of someone less pigmented later?

Are you saying that the admiration this blog has for Allen West is just some front, and that we really feel somehow closer to Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, but just have trouble admitting it?

It’s OK, Morgan. We forgive your inability to move on from America’s raaaaacist past. Let’s not paper over the fact that it existed, and also that the election of President Barack Obama signaled the closing of that period. We understand that there will always be a bitter, clinging remnant whose identity and power were shaped in that era, and who cannot let it go. Yet the pull of that dark historical singularity. . .resist we much.

RICK PERRY IN FREEFALL?

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Three headlines after last night’s debate:

Perry is blowing it
— Philip Klein, Washington Examiner

Orlando GOP debate: A strong
night for Santorum as Perry fades
— Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post

Rick Perry Blindsided Again In Debate On
Immigration, Rick Santorum Has Big Night
— Sam Stein and Jon Ward, Huffington Post

Now, those are different writers with different perspectives. Klein really hates Romney, because he fears Romney won’t repeal ObamaCare and Klein hates ObamaCare like God hates sin. Rubin’s OK with Romney. Stein and Ward are reporters rather than pundits.

My point is that there is universal agreement among them that Perry stunk up the place in Orland0 last night, and there is a majority view that Santorum did well. Let’s quote Stein and Ward:

What was clear is that Santorum gained enormously from another strong performance. He has gathered momentum with every debate — speaking with authority and expertise on policy and with obvious passion on issues in a way that resonates with the conservative grassroots. With Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) fading as voters question her electability, Santorum may be putting himself in a position to make some real noise in Iowa, which goes first in the primary process. Depending on how Perry does over the next few months, that could elevate the Pennsylvanian significantly.

Now, let’s go back to something I wrote Wednesday:

I also feel that more attention is due for Rick Santorum, whose fourth-place finish in the Ames Straw Poll would have been heralded as a newsworthy miracle, but was overshadowed by Perry’s entrance into the 2012 field and Tim Pawlenty’s exit the next day.

See? Santorum’s got a hard core of support in Iowa, and he seems to be picking up steam in the debates. Meanwhile, Bachmann’s campaign is reportedly experiencing financial difficulties.

Perry looked like a loser last night: “Cringeworthy.” We’ll get the results Saturday of a Republican straw poll in Florida, and if Perry doesn’t win that, the “Anybody But Romney” vote may start looking around for another horse to ride. Santorum might get a second look, and also I noticed that Michelle Malkin had warm praise for Herman Cain last night.

Nearly all of this is cited in my American Spectator column today:

Rick Perry may have forfeited his lead in the Republican presidential field during Thursday night’s debate in Orlando when he declared that those who oppose subsidizing college education for illegal immigrants are heartless.
“If you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they have been brought there by no fault of their own, I don’t think you have a heart,” Perry said, after being criticized by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for a Texas policy providing in-state tuition for illegals.
Romney, who vetoed a similar tuition bill in Massachusetts, pointed out that this amounts to a $22,000-a-year discount for illegal aliens, as compared to the tuition that would be paid by U.S. students from the other 49 states attending universities in Texas. “That doesn’t make sense to me,” Romney said.
It didn’t make sense to former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum either. “You’re sort of making this leap that unless… the taxpayers subsidize it, [immigrants] won’t be able to go [to college].… The point is, why are we subsidizing it?… And why should they be given preferential treatment as an illegal in this country?” . . .

Read the whole thing. It’s still a long way to the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 6.

Is It All About The Frogskins, Thad?

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by Smitty

Egad, Thad. First by T-Paw, now you: had. I don’t know the price on that endorsement, but I hope it was good.

So, the Ruling Class is promoting Romney as their RINO tool of choice. We can rename ObamaCare, call it RomneyCare, and that will make it all more gooder. Or is it just that it is known that Romney will give good concession speech?

Commitment to the status blow is not what is needed to bring recovery, Thad. I think you know it, and that’s why this is all so sad.

Perry Boomlet Already Fading?

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In a comment on my own post Aug. 9, I wrote:

There have been a few little things . . . that lead me to think Perry is a lot less certain ultimately to win the nomination than some people seem to think. What I fear will happen is that Perry will spend several months sucking up media oxygen and burning through GOP donor cash, only to collapse early next year. This will have the effect of suffocating other conservative candidates, and thereby lead to … Romney 2012.

And now we learn that, after Rick Perry’s first two debates, polls show his early popularity waning:

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely GOP Primary voters shows Perry with 28% support and Romney capturing 24%. Before Perry entered his first debate, the Texan held an eleven point advantage over Romney, 29% to 18%.

That’s a seven-point shift in Romney’s favor in the span of five weeks, and I know: It’s just one poll and it’s still early. But six of the first eight polls taken after Rick Perry’s Aug. 13 announcement showed Perry with a double-digit lead over Romney, whereas the past five polls show Romney within single digits. If Perry doesn’t shine in tomorrow night’s debate . . .

Well, don’t say you weren’t warned. And if Perry can’t go the distance as the “Anybody But Romney” candidate, what then?

What will the bandwagon jumpers do, if the bandwagon on which they’ve jumped ends up in the ditch? I sincerely wish conservatives would take a second (or perhaps third) look at Herman Cain, who keeps chugging along. I also feel that more attention is due for Rick Santorum, whose fourth-place finish in the Ames Straw Poll would have been heralded as a newsworthy miracle, but was overshadowed by Perry’s entrance into the 2012 field and Tim Pawlenty’s exit the next day.

Whenever I mention Cain or Santorum, the response is always the same circular “can’t win” arguments, but if Perry can’t put Romney away, why not take a chance on a long shot? Because I think whoever gets the GOP nomination is going to get a huge boost next summer in Tampa when the Republican ticket becomes “[BLANK]-RUBIO.” With Marco Rubio as a running mate, I’d say any Republican would be at least an even bet against Obama.

And now it’s time to take notice of another fact: Last night on Sean Hannity’s show, Sarah Palin — having previously specified September as the deadline for her to enter the 2012 field — appeared to extend her timeline to November. That alone is enough to make all the pundits groan at the prospect of another two months of will-she-or-won’t-she drama, but what do you make of this?

“This is going to be such an unconventional election cycle. … Mark my word, it is going to be an unconventional type of election process.”

Is Palin hinting at a possible third-party campaign? I strongly doubt it, but neither would I rule it out, and I’m also thinking about the possibility that the changes to the delegate apportionment rules — no “winner-take-all” primaries in March — could lead to a brokered convention at Tampa. Whatever the tea-leaf readers see in Palin’s comments, I think she’s absolutely right: 2012 has already been an unconventional election cycle, and people should be skeptical about bandwagon organizers who think they can predict events many months in advance.

UPDATE: On Twitter, Jerry Wilson reacted to this story by saying “@AceOfSpadesHQ hardest hit,” which is perhaps a bit unfair. Yes, Ace jumped on the Perry bandwagon, but he’s honest enough to admit: “The Perry erosion I believe a little more — it’s been a not-terrific two weeks for him.”

Ace keeps bashing Bachmann over the Gardasil thing (and more) as if destroying Bachmann will help Perry, which I think is mistaken. Perhaps this is the best place to point out something I think has been under-appreciated: Bachmann’s claims last week about Gardasil have exposed her to much criticism, but she had less to lose than Perry did.

Bachmann’s highest national poll rating — by Rasmussen, in the immediate wake of Bachmann’s strong performance in the June debate in New Hampshire — was 19 percent. Her highest RCP average was 14% on July 20, and as soon as Perry got in, Bachmann’s support dropped rapidly, so that her current RCP number is 7.7 percent. And here’s the lead of my American Spectator column last week about the Tampa debate:

Rick Perry came into last night’s debate here with a target on his back, leading in the polls only a month after his late entry into the Republican presidential campaign. His fellow GOP candidates fired at the Texas governor all night, but it wasn’t until Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann said the phrase “innocent little 12-year-old girls” that he suffered any serious wound. . . .

Without regard to whether Bachmann helped herself, she hurt Perry with that phrase. It hurt him with the Traditionalist Mom (and Grandma) Vote, who are an important segment of GOP primary voters. You can say Bachmann hurt Perry unfairly, and suffered damage herself as a consequence, but you cannot deny that she hurt him. So if Ace wants to get some payback on Bachmann, that’s his choice, but I don’t think hurting Bachmann will help Perry.


‘How Can the Right Defend Greed?”

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MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts said the title quote while discussing President Obama’s speech yesterday:

Sister Toldjah is livid:

This, of course, is how the debate on taxes, the deficit, the economy, etc will be framed from here on out – all the way up until the November 2012 elections, all in a repeat effort by our mainstream media to try to give Their Chosen Candidate four more years in office by way of shameless, unprecedented demagoguery and outright deception.

And this effort will probably fail. Despite the media’s rave reviews for Obama’s Fightin’ Liberal speech, their enthusiasm will likely prove short-lived. Most journalists are liberals, but they’re also motivated by a powerful herd instinct — natural-born bandwagon-jumpers. Their liberal bias won’t prevent them from abandoning a failure, because nobody wants to be on a loser’s bandwagon, and it is becoming increasingly clear that Obama is a loser.

What is killing Obama is not politics, but his own policies. The failure to revive the economy — and, indeed, Obama’s policies have made a bad economy worse — is the underlying cause of all Obama’s political woes, and no matter how much liberals praise his Fightin’ Liberal speech, it won’t do a damn thing to bring about economic growth. So they can attempt to “frame the debate” however they want, and the result will be the same: Obama’s unpopularity will continue to be the dominant political fact of the 2012 campaign.

So we return to Thomas Roberts’s question, “How can the right defend greed?” Here’s an answer: Herman Cain, millionaire businessman.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Barry Manilow, Paulista

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Maybe he’s the one who’s been trolling the comments at Hot Air:

“I like him. I like what he says, I do. I like what he says. I think he’s solid,” said Manilow, who confirmed to TheDC in an interview at the Capitol on Thursday that he contributed to Paul’s last campaign for president.
“I agree with just about everything he says. What can I tell you?” Manilow added.

For younger readers who may not know who Barry Manilow is, he sang your mother’s favorite song, when your mother was a lonely and somewhat chubby eighth-grader in the mid-1970s.

RON PAUL FOR PRESIDENT
Because He Came and He Gave Without Taking