The Other McCain

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

Tim Pawlenty Quits!

Posted on | August 14, 2011 | 20 Comments

NEWTON, Iowa
I was sitting here at breakfast with Ladd Ehlinger just an hour ago when he said, “Pawlenty’s quitting!”

Tim Pawlenty told supporters on a conference call Sunday morning that he is ending his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination after a disappointing third-place finish at the Iowa straw poll.
Mr. Pawlenty thanked his supporters in an early-morning call, two participants said, but acknowledged that he had decided overnight that his candidacy could not proceed.

That was quick, wasn’t it? I landed in Des Moines on Aug. 3 and, eleven days later, Pawlenty quits the race. Some people will say this is merely a coincidence.

Perhaps it was the “neo-Confederate sex panic.” Perhaps it was those rumors that Pawlenty was behind those vicious smears against Michelle Bachmann. And, of course, perhaps the sudden implosion of the T-Paw candidacy had nothing to do with anything I did.

Plausible deniability. “No fingerprints,” IYKWIMAITYD.

Let’s face it though: Any Republican praised by David Brooks is pretty much doomed.

By the way, you may be wondering why I’m having breakfast with Ladd Ehlinger. He was up here in Iowa pitching his work to  certain potential clients, and no he’s driving back to Alabama. He’s going to have a passenger — me.

It’s a long story. But it’s going to take a whole lot of explaining to make my wife understand my unexpected Alabama detour with the world’s most notorious political filmmaker. Hit the freaking tip jar!





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Category: Election 2012, Fear and Loathing in Iowa, Tim Pawlenty

Santorum: ‘We Feel Very Good’

Posted on | August 14, 2011 | 28 Comments

NEWTON, Iowa — One of the most unexpectedly pleasant dividends of this trip was getting to meet Rick Santorum and his family. It was unexpected because I hadn’t really planned to cover the Santorum campaign, but just happened to notice that he had an event Aug. 6 (a day when I otherwise had nothing to cover) and decided to try to squeeze it into my schedule. Partly, this was a favor for Lisa Graas, who is a huge Santorum fan. And when I went to the event, featuring a candidate whom nobody gave a chance, my instinctive sympathy for long shots and underdogs kicked in.

After the votes were counted Saturday Santorum (whose fundraising amounted to about $600,000) got more straw-poll votes (1,657) than Mitt Romney (567), Newt Gingrich (385) and Jona Huntsman (67) combined. So it’s a pretty good bet that the people who contributed that first $600,000 will be willing to pony up a few thousand more — and thus his low-budget campaign will keep going.

Here’s the video of my brief interview with Santorum shortly after the results were announced:

Can Rick Santorum possibly win the GOP nomination? No political prognosticator would give you odds on that. But crazier things have happened and, in fact, who ever imagined I’d ever make it to Iowa to cover the debate and straw poll?

As far as getting back home . . . Hey, you remember I bought a one-way ticket here, right? So now I’ve got to figure out how I’ll get home, and it’s time for those five famous words: Hit the freaking tip jar.

Category: Election 2012, Fear and Loathing in Iowa

Barbara Espinosa Is A Rick Perry Fan

Posted on | August 14, 2011 | 8 Comments

by Smitty

She links his announcement as a candiate for POTUS. She also debunks the “Too Many Texans” argument, saying that neither

George H.W. Bush nor President George W. Bush were TEXANS. They were born in Yankee land and migrated to Texas. Yankee’s think different than a true born and breed Texan, best way to splain it is…You’re not from Texas…You were born in Texas and to be a Texan is a State of Mind.. A Yankee can never achieve a Texan state of mind..

What I find fascinating about the Too Many Texans argument is that it comes from the same type of folks that voted for Bubba and would cheerfully support Hillary. Or kept Kennedy in the Senate far too long, and show no signs of learning in the case of Kerry.

Discussing politics with this sort of person becomes tedious because they’re typically on the Left, which implies that they don’t believe in anything but political power, and offer wildly insincere arguments. At the core, their argument is “Shut up“.

I mean, as badly as I’d like to consider Jeb Bush on his merits, I just can’t stomach the notion of dynastic politics.

Category: Texas

Not Sure I Agree With Melissa Clouthier

Posted on | August 13, 2011 | 14 Comments

by Smitty

It doesn’t appear that the Black Sox scandal destroyed baseball; I don’t see how a generation of commie swine disguised as the media can destroy investigative reporting.

In an America with a re-vitalized media, do you really want to be the candidate that says “You can’t ask about my transcripts; I’m invoking the Obama Rule.” That would go over as well as, say, Obama’s budget, which combined idiocy and bad luck to ride to a unanimous 0-97 near-victory in the Senate, but mostly idiocy.

Update: Gerard says the media has found Rick Perry’s transripts. I, for one, rejoice that the country has been spared four years of an ideologue who would, no doubt, have run trillion-dollar deficits and reduced the country to an object of international ridicule.

Category: Uncategorized

LIVE! AMES STRAW POLL COVERAGE: Fear and Loathing at Hilton Coliseum UPDATE: BACHMANN WINS!

Posted on | August 13, 2011 | 64 Comments

UPDATE 6:41 p.m. ET: AMES, Iowa – Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann has won the Iowa Republican Straw Poll of 2012 presidential candidates.

UPDATE 6:47 p.m. ET:

Bachmann 4,823 (28.5%)
Paul 4,671 (27.6%)
Pawlenty 2,293
Santorum 1,657
Cain 1,456
Perry 718 (write-in)
Romney 567

Quick analysis — obviously, Pawlenty’s toast. He spent more than a million bucks to finish a distant third. Santorum gets a real boost from his 4th-place finish. Herman Cain made the top five, but not as strong as he had hoped.

Rick Perry — as a write-in — out-polled Romney, who was on the ballot.

UPDATE 7 p.m. ET: Just interviewed Frank Luntz: “Rick Perry, who wasn’t even on the ballot, got more votes than Mitt Romney, who was in the debate 48 hours ago. Wow.”

UPDATE 7:11 p.m. ET: Also interviewed Mike Huckabee, who said: “I think it was a great day for all the Republicans — a big win for Michele Bachmann. But, it was probably not a day that takes Pawlenty completely out of it. It’s going to be tough for him, but on the other hand, I don’t think he’ll quit right away.” On Rick Santorum’s fourth-place finish: “I think it shows that he’s beginning to get some mommentum. Rick’s got a strong message and he’s a strong candidate. He’s a good guy.”

I’ve got more, but I was just told that Michele Bachmann will give a statement in five minutes at her bus.

UPDATE 7:40 p.m. ET: So much for the “statement” — she was surrounded by a giant media scrum, and I could barely see her. Readers who’ve followed this campaign trip from the start know that, last Friday, I covered Bachmann during her appearance at a muddy rain-soaked Christian music festival in West Des Moines. There were only three or four reporters at that event, including me. Now? Everywhere she goes, she’s surrounded by reporters and cameras.

And I just scored an exclusive video interview with Rick Santorum, who’s feeling very optimistic about his chances. You remember his visit to the barn in Roland, right?

I’ll upload that video — and many, many more — later on. But not on this craptastic WiFi connection. So I’m getting out of here and heading back to the hotel. Tomorrow, Rick Perry’s coming into Iowa, and I may cover that, too. Please hit the tip jar.




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In front of T-Paw’s tent at the Ames Straw Poll

AMES, Iowa
“No parking for miles around,” they said. But I drove right up to within 100 yards of the Hilton Coliseum here on the campus of Iowa State University, then drove over a curb and pulled up on the grass in the shade of a tree. Is this legal? Is it moral? Is it permitted by the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics?

I dunno. The SPJ never asked me to join.

Just as I don’t know whether illegal parking constitutes an ethical violation, neither am I sure what the SPJ Code of Ethics says about scarfing up free barbecue provided by Republican presidential campaigns. But I’m not here to teach an ethics seminar. I’m here to report the news.

UPDATE: Currently experiencing a WiFi bandwidth suckage issue here in the Coliseum. Struggling to maintain a connection while I upload photos. Uploading video? Fuggedabout it!

An Iowa family for Rick Santorum.

UPDATE II: Just heard Ron Paul’s speech. It’s amazing, really, that this cranky old coot could inspire such a fanatical following among youth. He is a lousy speaker. His voice is not pleasant to hear, especially when boomed over the P.A. system in a basketball arena.

The Paulistas representin’ the man.

David Gregory is interviewed by a reporter for a local NBC affiliate.

UPDATE III: Tim Pawlenty is now speaking. His campaign clearly has a strong turnout, and I’d be very much surprised if they get fewer than 3,000 votes.

UPDATE IV: Inside the T-Paw tent, where supporters chowed down on Famous Dave’s BBQ:

UPDATE V: Just figured out why the WiFi is so craptastic today. Fifteen thousand people in the Coliseum are using their iPhones to update their Facebook statuses and check their e-mail.

UPDATE VI: Herman Cain just finished speaking — his basic stump speech, but it really fired up the crowd here. You can see why nobody ever wants to follow him onstage.

What comes next: The straw-poll balloting is open until 4 p.m. Once the votes are tabulated, they’ll be announced from the stage here.

The craptastic WiFi prevents me from uploading photos and video right now. Grrrrrrr.

UPDATE VII: OK, now the Coliseum is clearing out for a minute, so I have a bit of bandwidth:

Young Herman Cain supporters cheer his speech.

UPDATE VIII: The voting has now closed and we await tabulation of the vote before they announce the results. The WiFi connectivity issues got so frustrating a few minutes ago that I threw my fedora on the floor, shouted a string of frightful epithets and went outside to smoke a couple of cigarettes to calm down. When I returned, the WiFi connection had slightly improved, so apparently the cussing worked.

UPDATE IX: While I was out having my smoke, three of Rick Santorum’s kids wandered by — evidently unrecognized as such by anyone else but me.

Of course, if their Dad should get the GOP nomination, they’ll be constantly surrounded by very serious armed men with wires in their ears. At this stage, however, everything is kind of informal and it’s possible to get to know the candidates personally. This is why the early part of the campaign is so much fun — at least when the #$%& WiFi is working.

UPDATE X: The rumor here is that 16,000 ballots have been cast in the straw poll — substantially up from 2008, when 11,000 ballots were cast — and that Michele Bachmann paid for tickets for 6,000 of her supporter. One nationally known journalist said to me: “If that’s true [i.e., about her buying 6,000 tickets] Bachmann’s gonna clean Pawlenty’s clock.”

We await announcement of the totals.

UPDATE XI: Debbie Wasserman-Schultz is going to be on the grounds here at Iowa State University to share her reactions to the results of straw poll. Hope it turns out better than her speech Friday at the State Fair.

UPDATE XII:  Just talked to a Bachmann adviser who says they are “very confident” at this point.”

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Category: Election 2012, Fear and Loathing in Iowa, Iowa, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry

More To The Point, Sarah Palin Has Weathered The Left’s Continuous Napalm Shower With Aplomb

Posted on | August 13, 2011 | 28 Comments

by Smitty

Dan Riehl:

Palin has two critical qualities, unique in that they combine in her. Beholden to no one, without fear, or restraint, Palin articulates today’s conservatism in a prudent, positive and cogent manner. More than that, the media, while much of it both loves and hates her, conveys her message to an audience far more broadly than they do for any other contemporary politician. I suspect, no matter who ultimately secures the 2012 Republican nomination, that will always be the case.

I agree with Dan’s whole post, but a third point (maybe a variation on the first point) is that she has already borne the brunt of an unbridled propaganda assault without crumbling. The more the minions of the Progressive Cthulhu strike at her, the stronger she becomes, and the more openly craven and stupid they appear. She rises like a phoenix from their ashes.

Why the continued hesitation, then? She has more to gain by not explicitely declaring. As Daily Pundit notes, quoting Zero Hedge, there are more seamounts ahead, across which BHO must drive the sinking ship of state:

The date will be on or about September 30th. The issue will be the need to pass a Continuing Resolution by the House.

For more than 850 days the US has gone without a budget. The House passed one not long ago; the Senate tabled it. The Administration has not offered up one either. The absence of an approved budget means that the only way the country can continue to operate is through a series of temporary extensions.

Think of the absolute value of the Daily Presidential Tracking Poll as a measure of degrees of list in the ship of state. BHO has been in the low 20’s for the last couple of days. How close to -30 approval can he go before capsizing?

After the next Wisconsin recall election, and after more debt crisis, Sarah reduces the risk that the Left can reconstitute itself by using hatred of her as a rallying cry. Also, while a few other GOP candidates are not necessarily bad for cover, letting the herd thin itself a bit, and letting the Left expend its energies against them, is not a bad thing.

Too, part of the problem with what Progress has done to America is that people have been reduced to an infantile impatience. Politics ain’t beanbag, and it also ain’t basketball, which is geared toward those lacking an attention span. Ironically, for someone who was once a basketball star, Sarah is showing massive amounts of patience, letting the game unfold at a medium pace. The Left is forced to recycle its talking points, excrete them, and re-consume them, enjoying the taste of its Progress all the while. And then she takes the occasional, well-aimed shot from the inexpensive high ground of her FaceBook page.

While certainly a violation of the Holy Narrative, her poise and control of situation is a stark contrast from the spineless impotence of her purported superior, the incumbent. Lay by your dish, Olbermann; get stuffed, Matthews; get bent, Maddow. Ya got nothin’, and neither does BHO.

Category: Barack Obama, Sarah Palin

‘Gentleman’ Jim Moran Is So Cool, He Made Klavan On The Culture

Posted on | August 12, 2011 | 10 Comments

by Smitty (h/t Da Tech Guy)

This blog is proud to announce that one of its favorited scratching posts has achieved the rare feat of mention in Klavan On The Culture. Top that, anyone in Barney Frank’s district!

Previous/More Antics:

Category: Uncategorized

A Question, Now That ObamaCare Lost Another Appeal

Posted on | August 12, 2011 | 31 Comments

by Smitty

HotAir, and the rest of the blogosphere, has the story of the 11th Circuit delivering yet another finely shaded variation on the theme of “no matter how you slice it, ObamaCare comes up ‘turd'”. Jazz Shaw notes via Politico:

Team Obama says they are “confident” that they will still prevail. They now have 90 days to appeal to either the Supremes or the full 11th circuit.

My question: What is the source of this confidence?

ObamaCare, whether you are for or against the notion, is a BFD. The Vice President said so. That it’s a BFD is not contentious.

What is the source of the Presidence confidence his BFD will previal, when neither the courts nor the people seem terribly thrilled about the concept? Three follow-up questions:

  • Did God tell President Obama that this was His will? I don’t claim to have heard any explicit Divine voice speaking audibly, myself. But maybe the President did.
  • Does this confidence spring from a stash of *ahem* sitting around somewhere? Wouldn’t want to accuse the President of anything, at all, but that might have some explanatory power here.
  • Is the President, in his confidence, not dealing any longer with reality in the ‘reasonable person’ mode? I’m no doctor, and a blog post is no diagnosis, but the overall Presidential detachment may cross the line into the spooky realm Real Soon Now.

ObamaCare is certainly one tragic plotline in the larger tragedy that is the Obama Administration, which is the climax of the tragic epic of Progressivism. If it wasn’t so flipping expensive and uncertain, one would be tempted to say that it’s a great time to be a blogger. Instead, we must continue the struggle for liberty in the face of the Tyranny of the Progressives.

Category: Barack Obama, Uncategorized
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