The Other McCain

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

Memo From the National Affairs Desk: Seventeen Days on the Campaign Trail

P.J. O’Rourke encounters Andrew Breitbart at the Manchester, N.H., Radisson Bar, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012 PHILADELPHIA “Wheels up” from Boston’s Logan Airport was at 1:09 p.m., and as Flight 1727 ascended from the runway, I noticed the houses that dotted the little spits of land jutting out into the bay. There were docks and piers […]

NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY HQ UPDATE: Romney Wins; Ron Paul Second; Huntsman Third; Gingrich, Santorum Fight for Fourth Place

MANCHESTER, N.H. UPDATE 10:30 p.m. ET: Rick Santorum concluded his speech here by shouting, “On to South Carolina!” Indeed. But first, I’ve got a deadline for The American Spectator, and then there are friends awaiting my arrival at the bar at the Radisson Hotel. After that, I’ve got a 12:30 p.m. Wednesday flight out of Boston’s Logan […]

Ron Paul and the ‘Not Romneys’

“There are many mysteries to the phenomenon that is Ron Paul. How is it, for example, that a 76-year-old with a reedy voice — his appearance and manner not remotely “presidential” by the usual standards of the TV age — is an idol to so many youth? Polls in Iowa showed that Paul got 48 […]

Among the Paulistas in New Hampshire

HOLLIS, N.H. The Only Man Who Can Save American Liberty™ — as he is regarded by his famously fanatical supporters — appeared today at the Lawrence Barn here, and I was pleased to discover that one of Lisa Graas‘s Twitter friends, “TradiCatholic,” was among the Paulistas in attendance. And I explained to her that, unlike […]

Media Mayhem in the Granite State

HOLLIS, N.H. Saturday night in Manchester was a total media schmoozefest, and I had the opportunity to talk to Mickey Kaus, whose re-Tweet by Alyssa Milano inspired my own long quest for a similar honor. (“They Said It Couldn’t Be Done …”) Just returned from a Ron Paul event here, the start of a long […]

Sunday Morning Coming Down in New Hampshire ‘Meet the Depressed’ Debate

HOLLIS, N.H. After my late night guzzling beer consulting with key sources at the Radisson Hotel bar last night, I slept in this morning at the home of Mike Rogers of Granite Grok, missing the “Meet the Press” debate. Mike’s got it TiVo’d for my later examination, but initial accounts indicate it was far more […]

POST-DEBATE SPIN ROOM

MANCHESTER, N.H. The Triumphant Victory of Rick Santorum™ was not acknowledged here at RINOCon — as I’ve dubbed the National Review Romney GroupHugFest — and that’s OK. We don’t expect these elite snobs to recognize such things. Think about this: Santorum is the hot new “Not Romney” candidate and yet he was not attacked during […]

ABC NEW HAMPSHIRE DEBATE

22:40 EST Perry: if not here, I’d be at a shooting range. Newt, Rick, Mitt: watching football. Paul: I’d put the family to bed and study an economic textbook. Huntsman: talking to my two sons in the Navy. Thus far: The two Texans are not looking strong. Huntsman looks comfortable, but Mitt, Newt, and Santorum […]

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