The Other McCain

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

Aye, The Economy. Also: The Tempo

Posted on | August 14, 2012 | 7 Comments

by Smitty

We have 84 days to go. Mataconis, emphasis mine:

As I noted on Sunday, it strikes me that Romney’s campaign will be making a serious error if they allow this election to be about anything other than the economy. If it’s about Medicare, for example, then the campaign runs about against the fact hat the public is not in favor of entitlement cuts in general, and that a majority of Americans have said that they oppose the Ryan Plan, and that they believed it would make them worse off. More importantly, there’s little evidence that the voters want the kind of “Big Picture” election that the talking heads now seem to be salivating over.

The five highlighted words are the key. Content is less important than control. For a glance at the trends, Romney has about as much grip on the tempo as ever. But InTrade, FWIW, doesn’t look so bad for BHO.

Addressing the last sentence, Mataconis hints at the chicken-egg problem of “Big Picture” elections: how do you get voters to consider a Big Picture question without first setting a Big Picture in front of them?  Consider my Congresstool Jim Moran celebrating the birth of Social Security. The comments are a mixed bag. People trapped in a Ponzi scheme know it, like the smoker who wakes up hacking: dependency does not bring joy.

The Romney campaign is showing a steady competence. Capitalizing on the Obama campaign’s disarray over the Soptic ad by announcing Ryan for VP turned into a hefty payday, if $7.4 million means anything.

84 days is a good chunk of time, and the GOP loves to spike the ball on the 4 yard line. So this post is cautious in its general optimism. We have many more creepshow ads and non-economic distractions, domestic and international, to unfold before election day.

However, the disarray of the Obama campaign seems to be increasing, while Romney moves forward, at a medium pace. I, for one, like what I see.

Category: Election 2012

Romney Aide: Biden ‘Chains’ Remark Shows ‘Desperate’ Obama Campaign

Posted on | August 14, 2012 | 20 Comments

LANCASTER, Ohio
A top strategist for the Mitt Romney campaign denounced as “outrageous” Vice President Joe Biden’s assertion that the Republicans would put black people “back in chains.”

“It just goes to show you that when the Obama campaign gets in a scrape, they scrape the bottom,” Romney aide Eric Fehrnstrom said Tuesday afternoon while the GOP candidate made a stop in Zanesville. “I thought when they accused [Romney] of wanting to kill people, that was as bad as they could get.”

The accusation by Biden, speaking to a black audience in Virginia, was “outrageous,” said Fehrnstrom, comparing the Obama campaign to a “runaway train with no brakes.” Fehrnstrom said Biden’s remark showed how the “desperate” Democrats feel compelled to “ratchet up the rhetoric.”

UPDATE: Fehrnstrom suggested that the escalating attacks from the Obama campaign were a reaction to polls showing that Romney has moved ahead of Obama since the Republican announced Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate choice. Ferhnstrom noted that both major national tracking polls — by Gallup and Rasmussen — now show Romney leading Obama.

UPDATE II: Video of Biden’s remarks in North Carolina:

UPDATE III: Romney campaigned across eastern Ohio today, beginning with a midday event at a coal mine in Beallsville, where he appeared onstage with dozens of hardhat-wearing coal miners in front of a banner proclaiming “Coal Country Stands for Mitt.” Obama’s environmental and energy policies are widely viewed as hostile to the coal industry, and the miners wore stickers that said, “Stop Obama’s War on Coal.”

Appearing at the American Energy Company mine, Romney promised the miners he would promote U.S. energy independence from foreign sources: “We have 250 years of coal, why the heck wouldn’t we use it?”

After the Beallsville event, the Romney campaign rolled westward to Zanesville, where the GOP candidate appeared with the state’s Republican Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Rob Portman in front of an ice cream parlor.

A crowd of more than 500 greeted Romney at Tom’s Ice Cream Bowl on McIntire Street, where he promised to do “what nees to be done to get America working.” People were still lined up to get into the rally when Romney finished his short speech, during which he said, “I want small business to do well because I want people to do well in America.”

UPDATE IV: A couple of photos from today’s Ohio events:

Two coal miners show their support in Beallsville.

Rob Portman speaks in Zanesville, with Kasich and Romney behind him.

Romney will appear at a 7:30 p.m. victory rally in Chillicothe, and the Romney campaign bus just passed the McDonald’s here in Lancaster where I filed this report, so I need to get rolling to catch up with the candidate. Hit the freaking tip jar!

 





 


Category: Election 2012, Joe Biden, Mitt Romney, Ohio

‘Uncle Choo-Choo’ Biden Unsure Just Where He Is

Posted on | August 14, 2012 | 13 Comments

by Smitty

Poor ol’ Uncle Choo-Choo, so tragically misunderstood by the peasantry. In his defense, North Carolina and Virginia are adjacent. It’s just that those pesky details, well, they kinda matter in a role as consequential as VP:Then again, maybe Biden is crazy like a fox, and prepping his decision to withdraw from politics to pursue his doctorate Calcium Anthropology (the study of milk-men).

So what surprise VP pick does Soros drop on the Democrat ticket? Hillary Clinton? Al Gore? Dennis Kucinich? Anthony Weiner? Eliot Spitzer? Kirsten Gillibrand? Jerry Brown? The jokes would write themselves, but there is too much at stake. Ain’t funny in the slightest.

via Treacher

Update: more at Ace.

Update II: linked at The Lonely Conservative.

Category: Barack Obama, Joe Biden

Ohio-Bound: Hitting the Road With Mitt

Posted on | August 14, 2012 | 14 Comments

By the time you read this, I’ll be about halfway to Beallsville, Ohio, where Mitt Romney has the first of his three campaign stops today:

  • 12:30 p.m. ET: American Energy Corporation
    43521 Mayhugh Road
    Beallsville, Ohio
  • 3:30 p.m. ET: Tom’s Ice Cream Bowl
    532 Mcintire Avenue
    Zanesville, Ohio
  • 7:00 p.m. ET: Ross County Court House
    2 North Paint Street
    Chillicothe, Ohio

Here’s the news about Romney’s afternoon stop from Hannah Sparling of the Zanesville Times Recorder:

ZANESVILLE — Bill Sullivan doesn’t know what flavor ice cream Mitt Romney fancies, but the owner of Tom’s Ice Cream Bowl plans to suggest Whitehouse — vanilla with cherries.
Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, will be at Tom’s at 3:30 p.m. today for a campaign rally. The event is free and open to the public, and doors will open at 2:30, representatives from the Romney campaign said.
Sullivan is expecting about 70 people inside Tom’s for the rally and at least 1,000 more standing outside, he said.
For people who can’t make it into the building, the Romney campaign is paying for ice cream to be served to them outdoors, he said.

The national press will find some way to turn this into Another Shocking Scandal: Why is “Tom’s Ice Cream Bowl” owned by a guy named Bill? And isn’t it true that this “free” ice cream is being paid for with money Romney stole from laid-off steel workers? Surely that stuff’s included in the 290-page MMFA super-PAC oppo-research dossier, right?

Speaking of shocking scandals, have Democrats started shreiking “racism” about this Romney ad yet?

Another Shocking Scandal: “Disturbing Report” of massive Republican crowds at Romney-Ryan rallies. A quick survey of the headlines at Memeorandum reveals the hot story is Wolf Blitzer’s smackdown of Debbie Wasserman Schultz:

Allahpundit:

Job one for Democrats: Lie your ass off in the interest of convincing seniors that Romney and Ryan are prepared to reduce Medicare benefits for everyone, regardless of age, instead of exempting people aged 55 and over as Ryan has promised. When that doesn’t work . . . shift to plan B by arguing that Romney and Ryan are prepared to reduce Medicare for the grandmas of the future, which could totally be avoided if we just keep reelecting Democrats and have the magical unicorn in Obama’s backyard fart out a few new trillion-dollar bills to keep the program solvent.

Now, off to Ohio. Please hit the tip jar!

 




 


Category: Election 2012, Mitt Romney, Ohio, Shoe Leather Fund

‘Gentleman’ Jim Moran: Collectivist Way Ahead Of Warren And Obama

Posted on | August 14, 2012 | 9 Comments

by Smitty

Patrick Murray on FaceBook brings up an old chestnut, featuring my bloody-minded Congresstool in fine form. Here he anticipates the famous Elizabeth Warren diatribe, which also pre-figured #OccupyResoluteDesk’s “You didn’t build that” in Roanoke, VA.

Virginia led this country to independence. Jim Moran, living in the shadow of Mount Vernon, would cheerfully lead this country back to dependence. Emphasis mine in the transcript:

Q: Should the government protect peaceful citizens against people that want to use force to take their money?
Moran: Yes.
Q: Can you live well if other people can legally gang up on you and forcefully take your money?
Moran: No.
Q: Should the government redistribute its citizen’s wealth by forecefull taking money from some citizens through taxes in order to provide goods and services for others?
Moran: If that’s the quest you’re asking, the answer is: yes. Because . . . the people who are making the wealth in this country are making it as a result of the investment that has been put into the education of the workforce that produces their goods. . .the money that has been put into the roads and transit systems and rails, uh, that carry the commerce that produces much of their profit and the money from their taxes that has gone into the military that protects their wealth.
Q: Did you agree that the government should protect peaceful citizens against people that want to use force to take their money?
Moran: You’ve asked me that question.
Q: Did you agree that the government should protect them:
Moran: Yes.
Q: So, when the government is forcefully taking money from some citizens in order to give it to others. . .
Moran: [sputtering, ejects]

What a sad little tool. Thankfully, someone who can retire this lousy buffoon is at hand:

Patrick Murray for Congress

Moran combines the ugliness of Elizabeth Warren’s policy ideas with the stench of #OccupyResoluteDesk’s gutter campaign

Read more

Category: Jim Moran, Virginia

LIVE AT FIVE: 08.14.12

Posted on | August 14, 2012 | 5 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Romney: Time To Be “More Like America”

Mitt Romney


Mocks Obama’s record, praises Olympic team and Mars landing while campaigning solo in Florida.
Meanwhile, in Iowa…

Morsi’s Coup Against SCAF: The Hows And Whys
Analysts discuss Egyptian President’s move for Al Ahram; junior officers silently back President



Shooting Kills Three Near Texas A&M
Shooter, officer dead after eviction notice service went sideways



POLITICS
Judge To Rule On Defense Request To Delay Court-Martial Of Major Hasan

Major Nidal Hasan


Scheduled to start next Monday with jury selection, trial has already been pushed back twice from March

Young Illegals Line Up For Deportation Reprieve

Establishment Veterans Face Off Against Populist Challengers In GOP’s Florida, Wisconsin Primaries


Scott Brown To Deliver Address On Tax Policy

House GOP Files Suit To Force Obama, Holder Compliance On “fast & Furious” Documents

Governor Christie To Deliver RNC Keynote Speech

USDA Buys Meat To Aid Drought-Stricken Farmers

Ryan Faces Violent Hecklers, Lies From Obama At Iowa State Fair



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Asian Oil Prices Mixed On Iran Concerns; NYMEX $92.82, Brent $113.49
France Reports Zero Growth In Second Quarter
India Inflation Slows To 6.87% In July
Asian Markets Mixed As Japan GDP Limps Along
BP Sells ARCO Brand, Refinery To Tesoro For $2.5 Billion Cash
Medical Marijuna Billboards Under Attack In Denver
Google Scoops Up Frommer’s To Add To Zagat
Dell, Samsung, Lenovo And Asus To Make Windows RT Devices As Toshiba Demurs
Unpolished “Sleeping Dogs” Tells A Riveting Crime Story
Apple Reveals Secret Treaties With Microsoft In Samsung Trial
Michael Dell’s Kids Undermine Their Personal Security With Tweets
Google Australia’s Managing Director Predicts Voice-Only Calls To Be Obsolete In Ten Years
Radio Shack Moving Into Prepaid Wireless Market?



SPORTS
Red Sox Legend Johnny Pesky Dies, 92

Ted & Johnny


Beloved legend’s passing plunges Red Sox Nation into mourning, remembrance

Swisher’s Slam Helps Yankees Beat Rangers

Barnes Goes Yard For First Time, Astros Can’t Manage More in 7-1 Loss To Cubs


Canadiens Ink Pacioretty To Six-Year Extension

Tribe Bounces Back As Masterson Silences Angel Bats For 6-2 Win

Victorino Powers Dodgers Past Pirates With Dinger, 3 RBI

Nationals Pound Giants 14-2 In Battle Of Division Leaders



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Taylor Swift Buys Cape Cod Home Near Kennedys

Taylor Swift and Conor Kennedy


Is that $5 million Hyannisport mansion going to seem like a good deal later?

Jon Stewart Consoles Heartbroken Robert Pattinson With Ice Cream

Wills & The Queen Pass On Olympic Closing Ceremonies

Jean-Claude Van Damme Admits To Affair With Kylie Minogue During “Street Fighter” Filming Twenty Years Ago

Zach Galifianakis Marries Quinn Lundberg

Is Lindsay Lohan Really Back, Or Just Waiting For Another Turn Of The Wheel?

Kenny G Files For Divorce

Former Cosmo Editor Helen Gurley Brown Finally Dead



FOREIGNERS
As Syrian Rebels Advance, Intervention Shows Promise
Foreign Ministers Vote To Suspend Syria From Organization Of Islamic Cooperation
Aussie MPs Debate Reopening Offshore Asylum Processing Centers
Report Slams Norwegian Government Over Breivik Response
Pope’s Former Butler Charged With Theft
Panetta Says Pakistan Plans New Offensive Against Jihadis
Sakhalin Quake Rated At 7.7, Causes No Damage
Ramdev Ends Fast, Calls For Defeat Of “Most Corrupt” Congress Party
PRC Signals Strong Support For Decaying Nork Economy



BLOGS & STUFF
John McCormack: Wolf Blitzer Torches Wasserman-Schultz For Mediscare Lies
American Power: Helen Gurley Brown, Former Cosmo Editrix, Dead At 90
1389 Blog: Serb-Bashing At The London Olympics
Lonely Conservative: Team O In Full Panic Mode Over Romney/Ryan Crowd Sizes, Fundraising
Power Line: Ryan’s Favorability Rating Soars
Joshuapundit: Biden Invokes Ryan’s Dead Father In Attack
Beltway Confidential: What Does Ryan’s Budget Really Cut?
Legal Insurrection: Hey Ryan Haters, The Congressional Insider Trading Suspect You’re Looking For Is Actually Sheldon Whitehouse
Gateway Pundit: Far Left Goon Who Rushed Stage At Ryan Outing Identified As Occupod
John Boehner: If Obama’s Serious About Farm Relief, Why Doesn’t He Urge Senate Dems To Pass Farm Bill?
NRO Corner: Welcome Back, Angela
Weasel Zippers: Taxpayer Loss On Government Motors Bailout Revised Upward To $25 Billion

Category: Live at Five

Caught! CNN’s Soledad O’Brien Uses Liberal Blog TPM for Show-Prep

Posted on | August 13, 2012 | 21 Comments

America’s Least Popular Cable-News Personality™ graduated from Harvard, but Soledad O’Brien is so ill-informed that, when she got flustered during an interview with Republican spokeswoman Barbara Comstock, she resorted to reading a Talking Points Memo blog post to find some decent . . . well, talking points.

Ali Akbar caught this while watching CNN, and if you look very close at the enlarged image you can see that it’s an e-mail — this was something sent to her. By whom? We don’t know, but the point is that rather than doing her own research on issues, Soledad is relying on people e-mailing her liberal blog posts.

“The Most Trusted Name in News”? She’s a disgrace.

UPDATE: More reaction at Twitchy and at Newsbusters, where Noel Sheppard says, “Bravo, Ali! Bravo!”

UPDATE II: BTW, I’m not kidding about Soledad being America’s Least Popular Cable-News Personality™ — her ratings in March set a historic low for CNN. There’s just something about her that makes people change the channel.

Category: CNN

All Right, Everybody Quit Making Fun Of Matthew Yglesias

Posted on | August 13, 2012 | 10 Comments

by Smitty via (JWF)

Yglesias cannot be held to account for mistaking the Paul Ryan for the Congressman who engaged in insider trading after the 2008 housing meltdown:

Public Servant Drool Bucket
Man who cares about his country Useless sack

To the best of my knowledge, ‘Gentleman’ Jim Moran has offered no explanation, much less an apology, for the allegations of day trading made in Schweizer’s book. I’m sure it was all ‘ethical’, by the standards of Nancy Pelosi’s Congress, if whiffy.

Prof. William Jacobson plays the Sheldon Whitehouse card. Just leave a little room under the bus for ‘Gentleman’ Jim, eh?

You might think that only an abject moron could mistake the two, given the facts, but ease up: everybody looks the same, if you spend your day in a Lefty Media Gimp Suit. So, a little forbearance is in order.

Update: thanks, Instapundit!

Category: Jim Moran, Legal Insurrection, Paul Ryan, Uncategorized
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