My theory … is that there has been a rarely-admitted fatigue with the Republican House, and its inability to get anything done unless there’s last-minute stop-the-clock brinkmanship. Yes, Republican voters blame Barack Obama for most of this. But if being a Tea Party candidate in November 2010 meant taking Barack Obama’s power away, in 2011, it started to mean that you were part of Washington machinery that was creaking and belching acrid smoke. Bachmann, a very good local politician, never strayed from her “record” of “leading the fight” against various Obama evils. But the evils passed. And “leading” didn’t seem to improve anything in 2011.
Key part of the commentary in italics. Fact of the matter is, she’s part of the least-popular part of the federal government, and as one of the most-vocal members, that rubs off on her. Weigel also points out what Politico’s Maggie Haberman had to say on the matter, which is that incompetence showed very quickly after she won the straw poll in Iowa.
For some Paul is seen as a homophobe and a racist. So for her fans, that may be sending them a message that she concurs with his homophobic and racist ideals. This is a problem since she does have a wide variety of die hard fans which include gays and a wide range of ethnicities who are offended by her endorsement.Cooper Lawrence, author of the book “Cult of Celebrity” • Discussing why Kelly Clarkson’s endorsement of Ron Paul struck such a raw nerve with many of her fans yesterday. Part of it, perhaps, was the timing of Clarkson’s endorsement — Paul’s long-dormant newsletters, racially-tinged tomes which he’s long claimed he didn’t write but has never fully resolved honestly and openly, resurfaced just a week ago. (The Economist has a smartly-written piece on Paul that’s worth considering for these sentences: “In the end, Mr Paul’s obsession with the Fed is an anti-government conspiracy theory. And in America, anti-government conspiracy theories attract a lot of wingnuts, some of whom have never read Hayek or von Mises.”) For us, though, the real question is whether this whole affair will cause a big enough decline in Clarkson’s career to force a movie sequel: “From Kelly Back To Justin Again”? Justin Guarini’s floppy, Muppet-like hair is waiting for your call, Kelly. source (via • follow)
» All the benefits of retirement and working! Rick Perry is 61 years old, and for most people, that’s closing in on retirement age. However, Perry is running for president, and could still be the guy to beat (you never know). But with his military and government service, he was able to score his pension now, according to the state’s Employee Retirement System. He has no regrets: ”That’s been in place for decades. … I don’t find that to be out of the ordinary,” Perry said. “ERS called me and said, ‘Listen, you’re eligible to access your retirement now with your military time and your time and service, and I think you would be rather foolish to not access what you’ve earned.’” Is the move off-key considering the fact that he’s a noted critic of entitlement programs?
The GOP field, beyond the glare and noise.
Jon Huntsman: A study in understatement.
Mitt Romney: A Dudley Do-Right in a Kim Kardashian world.
Rick Perry: Confidence man.
Michele Bachmann: A life of striking certitude.
Newt Gingrich: The smartest in the room.
Ron Paul: The alternative, a force to be reckoned with.
Rick Santorum: The longshot.
Photos by Melina Mara (The Washington Post)
This is a post ripe for parody, friends. They’re staring into your souls and begging for your vote. Who’s staring the hardest?
[Gingrich] shows a level of erratic outspokenness which may be great in a campaign but not great for someone running for president.Mitt Romney • Getting in a solid blow at Newt Gingrich on Fox News this morning, in reaction to the whole Palestine “invented people” thing that became an issue during Saturday’s debate — and which Gingrich defended under heavy pressure. Romney’s trying to lob whatever bombs he has at Gingrich, who is suddenly ahead of him in a number of important polls. source (via • follow)
If I had gotten in the NFL as a kid, I would’ve been a football star all my life, too!Mitt Romney • Getting a solid comeback on Newt’s rip on him a second ago.
No word on how long this “suspension” will be. Remember, John McCain “suspended” his campaign briefly in 2008. But we’re guessing this is the end of Herman Cain’s presidential ambitions.
orbitalcommand asks: There has to be a Ron Paul phase, there just HAS to.
» SFB says: If Herman Cain gets a phase, Ron Paul should get one too. Only fair, right? — Ernie @ SFB
swagandpassion asks: So has Ron Paul dropped out or just not receiving any major media attention? The GOP race is perplexing to me. It would seem Ron Paul would have more traction with independents and disillusioned democrats versus Newt, Mitt, or Rick. Just curious.
» SFB says: As usual, he’s getting ignored for candidates with more issues and character flaws. However, he got some pretty good attention today for this attack ad he targeted at Newt Gingrich. There are definitely some plus sides to a Paul campaign for Dems (his anti-war stances especially), but the media at large (minus Jon Stewart) hasn’t really been giving him a chance. Why is that? (By the way, highly recommend reading the Ron Paul Tumblr tag. It shows how passionate people are for and against him.) — Ernie @ SFB
My own view is that Republicans would have been better served by the candidacies of Mitch Daniels, Paul Ryan or Chris Christie. Unfortunately, none is running. You play the hand you’re dealt. This is a weak Republican field with two significantly flawed front-runners contesting an immensely important election. If Obama wins, he will take the country to a place from which it will not be able to return (which is precisely his own objective for a second term).
Every conservative has thus to ask himself two questions: Who is more likely to prevent that second term? And who, if elected, is less likely to unpleasantly surprise?
Who knows — maybe Paul Ryan, Chris Christie and Mitch Daniels might run in 2016? That would actually be an interesting GOP race, instead of the current race, which is interesting mostly for its farcical nature. We stand by our opinion that Paul Ryan would’ve been a great competitor to Obama in 2012.
Yahoo wants to buy Hulu now too. They’re going on an “I...
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...
The whole campaign was a highlight reel. The singing! The mustache! The pizza! ‘9-9-9!’ That smoking ad! That creepy, slow smile! Remember when he was the front-runner, and everyone attempted to generate serious commentary on his plans as he looked on and attempted not to giggle?Washington Post humorist Alexandra Petri • Begging Herman Cain to stay on the campaign trail. “Say what you will about Herman Cain, the man was the best joke we had,” she writes. “He can’t leave just yet.” This column is amazing.
In a conference call this morning, Herman Cain told his senior staff that he is “reassessing” whether to remain in the race. He told them he will make his final decision “over the next several days.The National Review claims that Herman Cain is having second thoughts on his campaign after word of an alleged affair surfaced last night. Game over?
» But what should we be aggressive about? Here’s the tally. Twice, Gingrich was describing how we should approach the war on drugs (“We ought to be much more aggressive about drug policy”); once, he was describing how the US went about supporting non-communist trade unions in Poland in the 1980s (“…we when we aggressively supported Solidarity”); and on three occasions, Newt was talking about US-Cuban relations (“I think we need a very aggressive model”). Oddly, he didn’t once utter the words “fundamental” or “profound,” although he did use another Gingrich fallback, “logical,” on two occasions, and busted out “totally” once.
Did Gary Johnson forget to file in New Hampshire? He did, forcing an emergency trip to the state to file in person (a total pain because he was supposed to be in Arizona this weekend). That’s gotta be a load of dog doo that’s gonna be hard to wipe off his boots.
(Source: twitter.com)
Copyright 2009-2013 Ernie Smith • Ask us stuff! • E-mail us • Follow us on Twitter • Follow us on Facebook
