[Pawlenty] choked at a critical moment when he wouldn’t repeat the criticisms he’s made of Romney to his face…if you criticize someone when they’re not around, be ready to say it to their face. If you’re not, you’re just not for real.Josh Marshall at TPM • On Pawlenty’s refusal to repeat the phrase “ObamneyCare,” which he coined last Sunday, during tonight’s debate. source (via • follow)
Put me in charge of the fence and it will be a twenty foot wall, barbed wire, electrified on the top. And on this side of the fence, I’d have that moat that President Obama talked about. And I would put those alligators in that moat!Herman Cain • Laying out a portion of his proposed immigration policy. Some pundits wonder why Cain, who’s polling better than guys like Pawlenty and Huntsman, isn’t taken seriously by the beltway media. Sentences like “I would put those alligators in that moat” probably have something to do with it. It’s a gimmicky non-solution to a policy issue that deserves to be taken seriously. One can be pro-immigration, anti-immigration, or somewhere in between, but ideology aside, a fence with alligators isn’t going to solve the problem. source (via • follow)
» Score one for The Donald: Arizona’s State Senate just passed a bill that requires presidential candidates to produce their “long form birth certificate” in order to appear on the state’s presidential ballots. If they can’t (or won’t) do that, other documents will be accepted—but not, much to Orly Taitz’s delight, a Certificate of Live Birth. We, like many Arizona Democrats, are skeptical as to whether or not this is within a state’s power. Regardless, the bill now heads to the state House for a vote.
» What to make of this: By and large, the takeaway here is that the Republican field is very weak, and there’s no clear favorite (Huckabee and Romney could perhaps be considered “co-favorites”). Trump has done well in a few polls, but this is more likely due to a) boredom on the part of primary voters, and b) Trump’s recent media blitz. It’s difficult to imagine a candidate with such toxic approval ratings winning a national election; he’d have to win over an additional 18% of voters just to break even. That being said, 26% of voters in the PPP poll haven’t yet made up their mind about Trump, giving him lots of room to grow. Still, we agree with Christian Heinz over at The Hill, who noted that Trump’s numbers illustrate “the tremendous thirst for a new, charismatic candidate” in the GOP primary. Charismatic? You betcha. Electable? We’re not so sure.
I already know I could win. That’s not the issue.NJ Governor Chris Christie • On what is (or isn’t) holding him back from running for President. He’s been hounded by the Republican establishment to run for prez in 2012, but has steadfastly refused to, claiming that he’s not ready for the job. For a politician to admit that they’re not ready to be President – whether or not they think they could win – is a very modest thing indeed. source (via • follow)
Tim Pawlenty has another “Transformers”-esque video out, this one rallying support for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. As with his last masterpiece, this movie trail—err, web ad employs shaky archival footage, inspirational words from T-Paw, and an ominous soundtrack implying that the end of the world might be upon us…unless, of course, a savior blesses us with his presence. Perhaps a folksy, Midwestern savior? One with a sometimes-mullet and really hot wife? source
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