Halperin also omits Rick Santorum and gives thousand-to-one odds against Michelle Bachmann — and Bachmann, whatever the odds, is (a) much beloved by Tea Party activists, (b) a Midwesterner, which certainly can’t hurt in Iowa, and (c) about thirty-zillion times more likely to win the nomination than Barack Obama’s Favorite Republican™ Jon Huntsman, whom Halperin rates at 20-to-1.
Levi Johnston recently unveiled the cover of his book, Deer in the Headlights: My Life in Sarah Palin’s Crosshairs, slated for release on September 27th, 2011. This tell-all tripe details how the opportunist was “exploited” by the Palin family. . . .
The narcissist impregnated Bristol Palin, later became a father to their child Tripp, and left her to raise the boy alone. After his failed relationship with Bristol Palin, Johnston went on an anti-Palin bashing spree, hung out with crass comedian Kathy Griffin, and shamelessly posed nude for PlayGirl magazine. Now, he is living off of his notorious “achievements”. Not exactly the venerable route for an American male. . . .
Notice that Levi’s victimhood pose is the entire selling point of his book. I guess the publishers rejected Dude, I Banged the Governor’s Daughter and Cashed in for Undeserved Notoriety as a title.
She is one of the foremost conservative activists at UC-San Diego, having interned with Young America’s Foundation at the Reagan Ranch Center in Summer 2010. Additionally, she works on The Rick Amato Show in San Diego (KCBQ 1170AM) as the Executive Assistant and is the Director of College Outreach for Eagle Forum of San Diego.
UPDATE: Whew! That was scary! Allahpundit had an open thread at Hot Air. If you watched it live on Fox, you know how Huck started talking about polls and his supporters and how he was praying and — for a minute there, I admit it — I was feelin’ the doom. And then he said, “no,” and I was like, “YES!”
Mike Huckabee said Saturday there would be no sequel to his surprisingly strong 2008 White House bid, in which he won the Iowa Republican caucus and finished second in the primaries to Sen. John McCain.
“All the factors say go, but my heart says no,” Huckabee, who was considered the GOP frontrunner in several national polls, said on his Fox News Channel show.
Huckabee noted that while all of the “external” factors pointed toward him running, he only found an “inexplicable inner peace” when he decided not to enter the race.
Tim Pawlenty. He becomes the evangelical governor in the race.
Herman Cain. He remains the Huckabee of 2012.
Sarah Palin. She and Huckabee would largely be fighting for the same crowd.
Well, if Palin wants in for 2012, now would be the time to do it. I dislike the “Huckabee of 2012” label for Cain, whatever that is supposed to mean. And as for Tim Pawlenzzzzzzzz . . .
It couldn’t have been easy for former governor Mike Huckabee to reach the decision not to run for president of the United States of America in 2012, seeing your beloved county heading down the wrong path naturally forces men of character to act, and we here at Citizens 4 Cain salute the Governor for his courageous decision and wish him all the best in every future endeavor. . . . Although supporters will be a bit disappointed in Huck’s decision and may need some time to process – Citizens 4 Cain would like to cordially extend an invitation to any and all Mike Huckabee supporters to join our Grassroots Army for Herman Cain here at Citizens 4 Cain.
Top linkers this week include some surprising names:
Lonely Conservative (10)
Don Surber (8)(!)
Instapundit (6)(!!)
Thanks to all for the linky-love! Want to be listed in next week’s FMJRA? Sad that because you have a Blogspot blog, WordPress hates you? No worries – e-mail me at Wombat-socho by Friday, May 20 with [FMJRA] or [Shameless Blogwhoring] in the subject line and you, too, will get the linkup.
The U.S. special-operations mission that killed Osama bin Laden signals that it is time to end U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan, Sen. Barbara Boxer said in an e-mail to liberal activists Saturday.
“Three days after 9/11, my Senate colleagues and I voted unanimously to authorize the president to use all necessary and appropriate force against those who attacked us,” the California Democrat said in a message sent to members of the group Democracy for America. “Now, after delivering justice to Osama bin Laden, it’s time to bring that mission to a close.”
The main problem Newt Gingrich faces in his campaign for President is not going to be the number of liberals who don’t like him. It’s going to be the number of conservatives who don’t like him.
Von Drehle quotes John Podhoretz among others, as Gingrich’s rightward opponents. His problem is perhaps not so much that conservatives don’t like Newt — who is now, as always, an extremely articulate critic of liberalism — but that they don’t trust him. He is a distinctly slippery politician, whose ideological commitments are not entirely solid and sound. His 2008 global-warming ad with Nancy Pelosi is a case in point:
If Gingrich could be forgiven for that stunning lapse of judgment, there are yet other lapses to explain:
Callista Bisek’s friends from rural Wisconsin were stunned when, well over a decade ago, she confided that she was secretly dating an older, married man: Newt Gingrich.
Still in her 20s when they met, Ms. Bisek had been raised in a town of 1,500, the only child of a meat packer and a secretary. A churchgoing Roman Catholic, she had attended a Lutheran college where she practiced piano five hours a day. “Is this the wisest course for you to be taking?” Karen Olson, her best friend, recalled asking.
Today, Ms. Bisek is Mrs. Gingrich, married for 11 years, but perhaps best remembered for the six-year affair that contributed to her husband’s political downfall. His critics cast Mr. Gingrich, the former House speaker, as a hypocrite who sought to impeach a president over infidelity while engaging in it himself with Ms. Bisek, who was a Congressional aide. . . .
Set aside your moral outrage over adultery, and focus instead on this Capitol Hill rule: Members don’t date staffers. Period.
Congressional staffers are hired at taxpayer expense to conduct the people’s business, not to serve as “comfort women” to lonely politicians. In the hierarchy of D.C. sins, dating a Hill staffer is not as bad as shagging an intern — interns are absolutely off-limits — but it is still a breach of trust, in part because of its demoralizing influence on other staffers. Granted, the future Mrs. Gingrich worked for Rep. Steve Gunderson, so Newt wasn’t her boss, but still: It simply isn’t done.
Despite all that, however, I feel no need to mount an anti-Gingrich campaign, for the simple reason that I don’t think Gingrich has a realistic chance at winning the nomination. He will be an important voice in the 2012 debate, but I don’t see him sparking a grassroots brushfire of enthusiasm. In fact, at the Georgia state GOP convention, Gingrich was at risk of being overshadowed by another 2012 candidate:
MACON, Ga. — It had all the trappings of a homecoming. Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker who helped Republicans rise to power in this once-solid Democratic state, returned Friday deliver his first speech as a presidential candidate before thousands of state GOP delegates.
But ahead of Gingrich’s scheduled address Friday evening, party activists were buzzing about another favorite son — Herman Cain.
“He doesn’t talk political,” said Jeanette Bean, a Gwinnett County delegate who was passing out Draft Cain stickers. “He talks straight. He doesn’t mince his words and says it how it is. It’s so refreshing,”
Plenty of other attendees seemed to agree. Kicking off the two-day convention, Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss gave a shout out to both Georgia natives. “We’ve got Newt Gingrich,” he said, which earned a whistle of approval from one member of the audience.
When Chambliss added, “We’ve got Herman Cain,” loud whoops, cheers and applause were heard.
