I keep hearing the president say he’s responsible for keeping the country out of a Great Depression. No, no, no, that was President George W. Bush and Hank Paulson.Mitt Romney • At a town hall meeting today. We’re no political strategists, but we’re wondering how helpful it is for a presidential candidate to make a statement now, in 2012, that’s both pro-George W. Bush and pro-bailout. TARP, for instance, is currently sitting with a net -13 approval rating. Not exactly a winning issue. source (via • follow)
Gary Johnson: Exclude me GOP?!? I’m gonna run as a Libertarian, jerks!: After showing up in a grand total of one major debate (in which he made a dog poo joke), the former New Mexico governor will take a stab at running on a third-party ticket. Think he might have a shot? source
I would really love to spend six months to a year in the Amazon basin, just being able to spend the day watching tree sloths.Newt Gingrich • In a 1995 Vanity Fair profile. There are lots of fun tidbits in this piece. Even back then, Gingrich was thinking of a presidential run, but his then-wife Marrianne didn’t approve. “I don’t want him to be president,” she said, “and I don’t think he should be” (he eventually divorced her). Newt often describes himself oddly journalistic terms, as if he’s a pundit writing an op-ed column, and this was true in 1995 as well. He says here that he’s “a mythical person,” “a psychodrama living out a fantasy,” and that “what makes me unusually intense is that I personalize the pain of war, the pain of children being killed.” source (via • follow)
This is, in fact, the official name of Gingrich’s New Hampshire effort. Hopefully, “Mitt Hampshire” will follow, maybe with a banner image that’s a little less self-parodical. source
I’m not supposed to know anything about foreign policy.Herman Cain • Giving a novel take on the requirements—or lack thereof—for presidential candidates. Okay, seriously? Did he actually say this? Did he mumble? Or does Herman Cain actually not understand what the job of the President of the United States is? This is indefensible. source (via • follow)
One of the Republican weaknesses is that we rely too much on consultants and too much on talking points, and we don’t rely enough on actually knowing things.Newt Gingrich • In an interview with David Brody. Not quite sure what the political calculus is here, as admitting publicly that your entire party doesn’t know what it’s talking about is rarely good politics. However, not “actually knowing things” would seem to be a disqualifying factor for someone running for president, so Newt’s obviously exempting himself from this assessment. source (via • follow)
Also, the guy is a Republican, so Cain can’t claim that this is an coordinated attack from the “Democrat machine.” At least, he says he’s a Republican. He could be lying. So could Cain’s accuser. So could Cain! So could everybody!
I’m moving back to New York in a few days. Unlike past...
OMG. I got so...
In this week’s Newsweek, a little...
Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
Here’s a hidden feature that shipped in...
Watch: PCB gets a visual shout out on GMA’s Yahoo/Tumblr...
Flavor of the Week: It looks like Gingrich is the new Black Walnut. If history is any indicator, Newt’s lead will dissipate in a few weeks and Mitt Romney will once again bask in the warm light of inevitability, but hey, you never know. One thing to keep in mind: Primaries are conducted on a state-by-state basis, so national polls, while telling, aren’t the whole story. source
I don’t want for a second for anyone to think that we didn’t screw up.Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson • Owning up to his longshot presidential campaign’s total fail, in which they had to rush to New Hampshire on Friday to fill out paperwork in person ahead of a major deadline, because they forgot to file. “Bottom line, we just screwed up,” he said. Props to Johnson for being honest about it. It’s kind of endearing, and most presidential candidates wouldn’t be so honest about their failings. source (via • follow)
What people recognize is that there’s a fear that the United States is in an unstoppable decline. They see the rise of China, the rise of India, the rise of the Soviet Union and our loss militarily going forward.Michele Bachmann • In a radio interview. Anyone fearing the rise of the Soviet Union can rest easy, as the country hasn’t existed since its collapse twenty years ago. Bachmann has previously claimed that America’s founding fathers “worked tirelessly” to end slavery, and that the Revolutionary War started in New Hampshire. Are we unfairly picking on a popular candidate for making a few innocent gaffes? Or is Bachmann’s tenuous grasp on history a legitimate concern for a candidate seeking the presidency? source (via • follow)
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