Glenn Reynolds Is Wrong

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About this:

MY MONEY’S ON SANTORUM: Pawlenty’s Gone, So Who’ll Be The Next Republican To Fold?

Having covered Rick Santorum in Iowa, and having met his supporters, I know that he’s nowhere near dropping out. As he told me after our interview Saturday in Ames, they’ve run their entire campaign so far on about $600,000 in contributions and, according to Santorum’s staff, their online donations have increased since last Thursday’s debate. Here’s the debate exchange between Santorum and Ron Paul about Iran:

The thing about that is, both Santorum and Paul “won” that exchange in the eyes of their own supporters. And if Santorum’s hard-core supporters are not nearly as numerous or as vocal as Paul’s famously fanatical fans, they are still in a position to keep Santorum’s low-budget campaign going with contributions of $20, $50, $100. Santorum has got a solid base of support among pro-life Catholics, who are likely to continue making small donations regularly well into next year, because they feel it is very important to have “their guy” on the debate stage — and on the ballot — so that he can keep voicing their views. Those supporters were cheering when Santorum didn’t flinch on a tough abortion question:

Finishing fourth in the Ames Straw Poll with 1,657 votes, Santorum spent a lot less per vote than did Bachmann, whose ads were all over Iowa TV in the two weeks leading up to the straw poll, while Santorum wasn’t advertising at all. Steve Ertelt of LifeNews.com says “with the Republican presidential race partly becoming an expectations game, Santorum gets a boost by performing much better than expected.”

Jennifer Rubin featured Santorum today in the Washington Post, and the Santorum campaign released a video touting their fourth-place straw-poll finish as evidence of gathering momentum:

So any expectation that Santorum will quit is clearly mistaken. If I were asked which candidate will drop out next, I’d say Newt Gingrich. He has never recovered from his million-dollar Tiffany’s bill, his Aegean cruise and his mass staff exodus, and likely never will.


Irony Alert: Meghan McCain Criticizes Sarah Palin for ‘Attention-Seeking Antics’

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New idiocy frrom the world’s dumbest dumb blonde:

Much of Sarah Palin’s allure seems to fade by each passing talking point of Michele Bachmann’s that goes viral. And with each passing day, Sarah Palin looks more and more like a confused woman who can’t decide which way to go. The last thing our country needs right now is a president who can’t make up her mind or make tough decisions. As Americans, we live in perilous times and what we need is real leadership. Republicans really have a chance to win the White House in 2012. We don’t need to be distracted by Sarah Palin’s attention-seeking antics anymore, unless of course she actually decides to stop flirting and finally make a move to announce her candidacy.

Yeah. Meghan’s an expert on “attention-seeking antics.”

Canadian Bus Devours President, Eh?

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by Smitty (via Fire Jim Moran)

"I wish this stringy, hose-head-tasting guy would just take off," said the Bus.
As reported in the New York Post, emphasis mine:

The feds bought the two coaches for $2.2 million from Hemphill Brothers Coach, based in Tennessee. It installed custom interior upgrades into the Prevost shell, which accounted for about half the cost.
The contract lists the country of origin as Canada and place of manufacture as “outside U.S. – Trade Agreements,” a possible reference to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Did Trumka approve this purchase? It’s great that the Magical Misery Tour is poshly appointed. Oh, and look what a quick Google turned up:

You know, if I didn’t know that, deep down, Americans secretly like BHO, I might begin to think some of this animus is serious.

‘Firebagger Lefty Blogosphere’

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The reality that President Obama is seeking re-election while the left wing of his party is profoundly disillusioned hit home last week at the Iowa State Fair when I watched DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz get heckled off stage by angry progressives. And Obama’s re-election campaign staff isn’t helping their boss much.

New Mexico OFA state director Ray Sandoval sent out an e-mail to Democrats, attempting to address their “frustrations” with the debt deal and including the text of a post from liberal blogger Spandan Chakrabarti:

Paul Krugman is a political rookie. At least he is when compared to President Obama. That’s why he unleashed a screed as soon as word came about the debt ceiling compromise between President Obama and Congressional leaders – to, you know, avert an economic 9/11. Joining the ideologue spheres’ pure, fanatic, indomitable hysteria, Krugman declares the deal a disaster – both political and economic – of course providing no evidence for the latter, which I find curious for this Nobel winning economist. . . .
No, the loudest screeching noise you hear coming from Krugman and the ideologue Left is, of course, Medicare. Oh, no, the President is agreeing to a Medicare trigger!!! Oh noes!!! Everybody freak out right now! But let’s look at the deal again, shall we? . . . .
Now let’s get to the fun part: the triggers. The more than half-a-trillion in defense and security spending cut “trigger” for the Republicans will hardly earn a mention on the Firebagger Lefty blogosphere. Hell, it’s a trigger supposedly for the Republicans, and of course, there’s always It’sNotEnough-ism to cover it.

HuffPo’s Amanda Terkel explains that “Firebagger Lefty blogosphere” is probably a reference to Jane Hamsher’s Firedoglake.

To have the Obama re-election team trashing Krugman and Firedoglake ought to give you an idea of what a sense of hopeless doom the Democrats are facing as they look forward to 2012. FDL wouldn’t be trashing Obama if Obama wasn’t looking weak, and Obama’s staff wouldn’t be worried about a columnist or a blogger if the White House was generally winning the message war.

Just as nothing succeeds like success, nothing fails like failure. Ever since Obama got his ass kicked in the 2010 mid-terms, he has been covered in failure, and the negative mojo appears to be snowballing.

UPDATE: Jane Hamsher is willing to take one for the team: “If they’re doing this because they think it’s a good campaign strategy, do what you have to do.” But she adds: “This smacks more of narcissism and personal vendetta than any sound political ‘strategy.’ ”

So at least if she’s going to get beaten up like a domestic abuse victim, Jane is rational about her voluntary victimhood.


Herman Cain ‘Common Sense Solutions’ Bus Tour Heads to New Hampshire Friday

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While the incumbent is running around the Midwest blaming the Tea Party for unemployment, Herman Cain gets ready to head to the Granite State and talk about how jobs are really created. Here’s the press release from the Cain campaign:

Cain Announces New Hampshire Stops
of “Common Sense Solutions” Bus Tour

(Stockbridge, GA)- Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain will embark on his “Common Sense Solutions” two day bus tour throughout the state of New Hampshire beginning on Friday, August 19.

Bus schedule (all times EDT):

Friday, August 19, 2011
5:15 p.m. Grand Opening of New Hampshire Headquarters
62 Lowell Street, Manchester, NH

6 p.m. Visits around the area
Elm Street shops and restaurants

Saturday, August 20, 2011
9:30 a.m. Breakfast in Dover
Weeks Restaurant (Downtown Dover)
2 Locust Street

10:30 a.m. Durham
Breaking New Grounds
50 Main Street, #B

12:15 p.m. Portsmouth Downtown
The Friendly Toast
113 Congress Street

3 p.m. New Hampshire Young Republican’s Lobster Bake
The Great Island Common
301 Wentworth Road (Behind New Castle Library)

Scapegoater-in-Chief: President Obama Blames Tea Party for High Unemployment

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Some have called it the “Magical Misery Tour,” and the allusion to the Beatles’ psychedelic phase is quite apt, because Obama must be tripping:

President Barack Obama accused Republican Tea Party activists of holding back the economic recovery Tuesday, hiking pressure on Congress to pass his yet-to-be unveiled jobs plan.
On the second day of a three-day bus tour of midwestern states, Obama expanded on his theme that political brinksmanship in Washington was harming America’s capacity to speed up the slowed recovery.
“The only question is if, as a nation, we’re going to do what it takes to grow this economy and put people back to work right now,” Obama said as he opened a Rural Economic Forum in a small town in northeastern Iowa. . . .
“The only thing that’s preventing us from passing the bills I just mentioned is the refusal of a faction in Congress to put country ahead of party.
“And that has to stop. Our economy cannot afford it. Our economy can’t afford it.”

If passing legislation proposed by Obama was “what it takes to grow this economy,” don’t you think we might have seen some of that growth after Obama had two years of a Democrat-controlled Congress that rubber-stamped whatever he wanted?

Never mind. Once he stops touring the Heartland — in a Canadian-built bus — Obama’s going to roll up his sleeves and get to work creating some more of those jobs that his $800 billion stimulus was supposed to have created two years ago. But before he creates those jobs, first he’s going to take a vacation on Martha’s Vineyard.

Because he really cares about all those poor unemployed people.

(Hat-tip: New Federalists on Twitter.)

Michelle Goldberg and ‘The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Evangelicalism’

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Da Tech Guy yesterday made passing reference to something I had previously noticed but chosen to ignore: Michelle Goldberg’s article at the Daily Beast warning that both Michelle Bachmann and Rick Perry are in league with “some of America’s most radical theocrats.”

Can we just call this what it is, namely fear-mongering and bigotry against devout Christians? Because I’m frankly sick and tired of this little game, which has been going on for decades but is seldom called out for what it really is.

If a conservative were to accuse liberal Jews of conspiring for political dominance, he would be automatically condemned as an anti-Semite and purged from polite society. And yet no liberal is ever condemned for accusing conservative Christians of conspiring for political dominance.

This goes back at least as far as Norman Lear and People for the American Way, and the same agitprop methods have been pursued quite lucratively by the disgraced and disgraceful Southern Poverty Law Center.

Fear of a Christian theocracy, the alleged objective of schemes purportedly hatched and incubated by secretive cabals of fundamentalists, has been a persistent theme of liberal journalism and advocacy for at least three decades now. But where is this theocracy they’ve warned us about? 

To hear them tell it, we are always but one election cycle away from the dawn of a Margaret Atwood dystopia — If Republicans win, the Bible-thumping fascists will impose their morals on us all! — yet we recently passed through several years of GOP dominance and I don’t recall any headlines about the National Morality Police shutting down gay discos or strip joints during the Nightmare Era of Bushdom. Continue reading Michelle Goldberg and ‘The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Evangelicalism’ →

‘Cold-Blooded Kindness’ By Barbara Oakley: A Provocative Read

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by Smitty

Barbara Oakley’s book, “Cold-Blooded Kindness” is an excellent read for those with the courage to have their ideas challenged. The subject matter is disturbing. Carole Alden murdered Marty Sessions. After that, the case sinks into a modern swamp of ambiguity. The killer, victim, and setting are straight out of Jerry Springer.

In reviewing the biography of Carole Alden, Oakley discovered she had been exposed both to dangerous medications and serious illness in utero. Throughout her childhood, Alden expressed significant artisitc talent, and notable altruistic love, both of animals and humans. Into her teenage years, Alden exhibited behavior that occasionally, could be characterized as rebellious. Continue reading ‘Cold-Blooded Kindness’ By Barbara Oakley: A Provocative Read →