Newt Throws A Hail Sarah Pass?

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by Smitty

CBS News:

Newt Gingrich, plunging in the polls, dropped this bomb Wednesday: he would consider asking Sarah Palin to serve as his number two or in his Cabinet if he became president.
“She is certainly one of the people you would look at,” Gingrich said Wednesday, according to Right Wing Watch, when asked if he would consider tapping the 2008 vice presidential nominee for a second try.
“I am a great admirer of hers and she was a remarkable reform governor of Alaska, she’s somebody who I think brings a great deal to the possibility of helping in government and that would be one of the possibilities,” Gingrich said at Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition.

I mentioned this little blip on the radar to well known Ralph Reed aficionado Stacy McCain, and he suggested it merited a post. The conversation veered into the bizarre notions afloat these days, like the idea that Michele Bachmann was steering clear of Romney attacks in hopes of a VP slot. Stacy suggested that, given the intensity level of Presidential campaigning, the only sane reason to be in it is to win it.

We chuckled a bit at the Virginia primary fracas, clearly off topic for him while focused on Iowa.  Wir mussen einen Treueeid haben* does make some sense, if you take a party-centric view of things. Sure, I’ll sign it, for the opportunity to vote against Mitt Romney, when that vote is not for keeps. Is there a reason for the increasingly Independent nature of voters, though?

One of the major American archetypes is what I call the “Tommy Boy Myth”. Stacy still hasn’t seen the flick, so I cast it in Bluto Blutarsky terms for him. Essentially, we seem to think that we can fanny about until clutch time, pull a NoDoz-driven all-nighter, and ace whatever test comes with the dawn. We love the underdog. We want to root for the Bachmann/Perry/Santorum who are fighting against “the Establishment”. Isn’t that what Sarah Palin campaigned on as Alaska Governor?

The Sarah Palin situation varies the theme considerably. How does she maximize the remaining goodwill the Tea Parties bear her, if at all? Stacy and I both are of the opinion that, given the absence of any sort of campaign staff, the calls for Iowans to caucus for Palin don’t amount to much. No amount of Tommy Boy Myth could get her on the Virginia ballot. More importantly, she the party system is set up to preclude such insurgency, not support it.

Would she be interested in playing second fiddle to a Newt? Who knows? I, for one, think she would give the GOP ticket a much needed adrenalin boost. That’s not how the party sausage is made, but there it is. Furthermore, I do hope that whoever is selected for VP is somebody young enough to run for POTUS after eight years. The situation is dire enough that, while not losing sight of the need to eject #OccupyResoluteDesk in 2012, the need for a longer-term vision to carry past 2020 is clear. Maybe that suggests Paul Ryan for VP.

But for 2012, though, the GOP head shed is hopefully considering how it will harness the Tea Party energy. Sarah would bring it by the barrel.

Update: Memorandum thread. Director Blue is game:

If swear to all that’s holy that I would pay serious money to watch the reactions of the moonbats when President Gingrich and Vice President Palin are sworn in.

I’m not as serious a Gingrich fan; he seems as much an insider as Mitt, without the savvy electoral machine. I imagine Sarah would look that gift horse in the mouth.

Interestingly, the chief Memorandum action is on the left side of the blogosphere, suggesting Sarah has more value as an anti-conservative keyword than for whipping up the right.

*We must have a loyalty oath!

Missing The Point On Marriage!

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by Smitty

I’m sure that Roxanne de Luca can pick up any oversights here, but the social conservative in me can’t help but yell at this post.

We’re talking about marriage, not a game of chess. The conclusion:

Marriage is extremely important for societal stability and survival. But the current legal form of marriage is evil and is not only deleterious to society, but to men, women, and children alike.

Yeah? So? And? What other, less suck-tastic institution would you offer in place? Dare we, you know, return to first principles?  In discussing Life, the Universe, and Everything with any young men where it comes up, I’m always quick to point out what life means, and how marriage has to be supporting that understanding.

If a young man doesn’t know what life means, then running through a marriage ceremony is an exercise in futility, with a side of sex. The surprising thing is that secular writers are surprised when, unexpectedly, rudderless relationships go off course.

Let’s just admit that the Progressives have been as wrong about marriage as they have been about Anthropogenic Global Warming (or whatever the label du jour is), economics, the sanctity of life, overpopulation, energy, you name it. Return to your traditions. Progressivism has (mostly) been a scam.

On this topic, Russell Brand has apparently discovered irreconcilable differences, and is divorcing Katy Perry. Russell, Russell, Russell: don’t do it. Be reconciled. Do not let the celebrity need to live your life on the cover of tabloids blind you to what matters in the bigger picture.

via Instapundit

Update: linked by Catholic Bandita, may God comfort that lady.

‘Quite a Difference!’

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AMES, Iowa
Here at Buffalo Wild Wings near the campus of Iowa State University, the place is packed with media covering the Rick Santorum campaign. I’ll have photos in a few minutes, but first, let me explain that title quote.

On Aug. 11, after the debate before the Ames Straw Poll, I came to this very same restaurant to finish my article for the American Spectator. And when I went out to the parking lot to have a cigarette, I heard laughter coming from the back porch. So I walked around the corner and saw that Rick Santorum and his campaign team — his wife, his kids and a handful of staffers and supporters — were having a post-debate celebration.

There were maybe 20 people there, and they greeted me cordially. I was the only reporter in sight.

Today? You can’t get near the senator today. He is swarmed by media. The C-SPAN bus is parked outside. Carl Cameron is here, as are reporters for every news organization you’d care to name. 

So when I bumped into Santorum’s campaign manager Mike Biundo amid the crowd, I reminded him of that night four months ago.

“Quite a difference,” he said.

Indeed.

UPDATE: Here we see the candidate — wearing his brand-new Iowa State red sweater-vest — surrounded by the media mob:

If you’ll look at the left side of that photo, you’ll see press secretary Matt Benyon (in the white sweater) telling reporters where to go. And here is the senator’s oldest daughter Elizabeth, who remembers the times when I was the only reporter covering her dad:

The senator’s family is, “officially,” off-limits to the press. But they make an exception for the future ambassador to Vanuatu.

UPDATE II: As the senator was leaving the restaurant, the Buffalo Wide waitresses demanded to have their photo taken with the future President of the United States:


One of the other photographers said, “Look at the man with the hat” — making me the focal point for the photo. And here is something you’re never going to see anywhere else:

Rick Santorum poses with Tizzy, a dual champion Treeing Walker Coondog, Tizzy’s owner Jon Hathaway of Des Moines, and the lovely Elizabeth Santorum.

Well, gotta run. There’s another football party tonight, and Jake Braunger — the Santorum campaign’s 24-year-old Iowa field director, who’s been buying me beers today — is about to leave the bar. If Santorum does well next Tuesday, Jake is likely to be deployed to South Carolina, where his duties are sure to include making sure that the future ambassador to Vanuatu gets all the big scoops.

And beers. But mainly the big scoops.

Guess Who’s Gonna Be Watching Hawkeye Football Tonight With Rick Santorum?

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Well, me, obviously, but also all my friends in Iowa are invited tonight to the Des Moines suburb of Johnston for the party tonight as the Iowa Hawkeyes take on the Oklahoma Sooners: 

8:45pm CT: Senator Santorum will host an Insight Bowl Watch Party in Johnston, IA.
Location: Okoboji Grille
8481 Birchwood Court
Johnston, IA

So if any of my Iowa readers are looking for an opportunity to meet the candidate, watch some football and, most importantly, buy me beers — hey, you know where I’ll be.

Well, at least that’s where I plan to be. Things have become kind of unpredictable in Iowa this week, which is the subject of my American Spectator column today:

DAVENPORT, Iowa — Strange things keep happening in the final days leading up to the Jan. 3 Iowa precinct caucuses. Protesters from the Occupy Wall Street movement are being arrested at the offices of Republican presidential candidates. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann says her former campaign manager was bribed to endorse Texas Rep. Ron Paul. And, perhaps strangest of all, Texas Gov. Rick Perry just released an ad attacking former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.
The ad slamming Santorum for using so-called “earmarks” for spending projects during his tenure in Congress is, in some sense, par for the course. Attack ads have flooded the TV and radio airwaves here in the Hawkeye State in the past month, and no GOP candidate has spent more on advertising in Iowa than Perry. What was strange and ironic about this latest ad is that, until this week, none of Santorum’s Republican rivals had thought his campaign important enough to bother attacking. Less than three months ago, Perry was leading the Real Clear Politics average of Iowa polls with 24.7 percent, whereas Santorum was sixth with 4.3 percent. Now, Perry has slipped to fifth place in the RCP Iowa average, behind Santorum, whom two recent polls now show in third place. And so Perry’s campaign is spending money to target a candidate once dismissed as irrelevant. . . .

Please read the whole thing and, if you’re feeling an urge to hit the tip jar — don’t fight the feeling!





PREVIOUSLY:


New Polls Confirm Santorum Surge in Iowa; Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry Fading

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One poll is getting the big headlines this morning:

NBC poll: Mitt Romney, Ron Paul
neck-and-neck in Iowa; Newt Gingrich in 5th

The numbers from that poll, conducted Tuesday and Wednesday:

Romney 23%
Paul 21%
Santorum 15%
Perry 14%
Gingrich 13%
Bachmann 6%

Similar numbers from a Rasmussen poll conducted Wednesday:

Romney 23%
Paul 22%
Santorum 16%
Gingrich 13%
Perry 13%
Bachmann 5%

Thesed results have been enough to move Santorum to third place in the Real Clear Politics average of Iowa polls, but there’s yet another poll — conducted Thursday by We Are America — which shows Santorum now in second place:

Romney 24%
Santorum 17%
Paul 14%
Gingrich 13%
Bachmann 12%
Perry 10%

All three of these polls, then, show the former front-runners Gingrich and Perry now fighting for fourth place.

Erick Erickson is frothing at the mouth and chewing the carpet.

Also, there is a graveyard, and Ace is whistling past it.

Thanks to Anthony Massa for the Twitter tip on that third poll.

I Thought Fischer Sounded Fishy

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by Smitty

Bryan Fischer. . .ah, yes, back in April, when the stench of his writing reached me in Bagram, Afghanistan.

When we pick a president, we are in fact choosing a minister of God
. . .if we allow the Scriptures to speak for themselves, we are in fact choosing a minister when we select a president. No less than three times in Romans 13, Paul uses words that emphasize the sacredness of public service.
The one who serves in public office is “God’s servant” and the “servant of God” (v. 4), and statesmen are “ministers of God” (v. 6).
The word translated “servant” in v. 4 is the Greek word “diakonos,” which elsewhere is translated “deacon,” referring to one of the divinely ordained offices in the church. Another form of this word, “diakonia,” is frequently translated “ministry.”
So if in fact we allow the Scriptures to be our guide, then public service is a form of ministry. One who holds public office is serving in a divinely ordained role, just as much as a pastor in the pulpit. The role of a statesman is every bit as sacred as that of a clergyman.

So, churches have Deacons, and that word could be translated into Minister, as in Prime Minister. Thus, because some countries have Prime Ministers, all public offices are like Deacons or something. So, whenever we vote, we’re somehow, unbeknownst to the person on the ticket, turning them into a Deacon.

I think I can perform a conceptually similar trick, and connect the character of Fischer’s exegesis with a random graph of earthquake data I found here.

Continue reading I Thought Fischer Sounded Fishy →

Rick Santorum to Ann Coulter: ‘I Mean, Ann, Should I Have Voted for Amnesty?’

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During his speech Thursday night in Davenport, Iowa, Rick Santorum talked about his record in the Senate and mentioned that Ann Coulter had criticized him in her column for voting against “E-Verify”:

But if Santorum wins, we lose on the second most important issue — illegal immigration — and he’ll be the last Republican ever to win a general election in America. . . .
Kowtowing to business (while pretending to kowtow to Hispanics), Paul, Perry and Santorum oppose E-Verify. As a senator, Rick Santorum voted against even the voluntary use of E-Verify.

Santorum explained to the Iowa folks that he voted against “E-Verify” when it was part of John McCain’s amnesty bill in 2006 — a bill that Coulter and every other American with a shred of honesty, intelligence or patriotism also opposed. And what he said next was Tweet-worthy:

“Tell @AnnCoulter, next time you see her, get her facts straight.”

Wow. It’s takes a lot of confidence to throw down with Chairman Ann and, even though I’m having a hard time figuring out her pro-Romney turn in recent weeks, I could imagine the MSM headlines:

REPUBLICAN TELLS COULTER
TO ‘GET HER FACTS STRAIGHT’

The New York Times , Huffington Post, MSNBC, Media Matters — they’re gonna love this story, OK? So I was eager to get more comment from Santorum afterwards. I don’t have the software to edit video, and so you’ll have to skip ahead to the 4:45 mark to catch his answer:

“Why would Ann Coulter criticize me for voting against the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill? I mean, Ann, should I have voted for amnesty? Should I have voted for comprehensive immigration reform? Because if that’s what you’re saying, then, doesn’t sound like you’re the real conservative here. I think when Jim DeMint and every conservative in the United States Senate voted against the McCain-Kennedy bill – yes, we voted against E-Verify, but we voted against a pretty bad bill that I think, at least you said you were against.”

That video is guaranteed viral, my friends.