"Even though I have given the matter much thought and reflection and I have been encouraged by countless people to contest the Republican primaries, I will not and can not run for President in 2012. I will , of course,continue to utter my opinions on the countless issues and challenges facing this great nation of ours. I will provide the voice for all those who do not have a forum.
From my frequent travels through the heartland and listening to my fellow citizens, I just know that if I were to run,I would not only win the primary but ultimately the general election.
I know so many of you have given me your support and I know I have let so many people down. I appreciate all your unsolicted advice. But,Cheer up. Get a Life.
As you all know paying Powerball is my passion and I am not ready to leave the private sector to become a slave to your whims and fantasies. I am a Free Man, not a Number. Always remember, the Future lies ahead."
Bruce McColm, chairman of the Papoose for Not Insane Campaign.
And so it goes. Just re-word the statement above and you have the Donald bowing out of the race. This leaves Sister Sarah and Mitch Daniels left to decide.
The Republican list of non-participants is now heftier than the candidates--Trump,Mike Huckabee, Haley Barbour,John Thune, Mike Pence, Bobby Jindal, Bob Corker,Jeb Bush and Chris Christie.
Now the Veeps are beginning to bow out. Nikki Haley of South Carolina today has bowed out of the Veepstakes after saying last week she was the "flavor of the day." She said that she was committed to serving out her term as Governor. I think she learned the lesson of Sister sarah quitting her post.
If you wonder why so many Republicans are avoiding the race, you might want to consult the Politico/George Washington University Battleground Poll today. Ok, 52% approve of President Obama's performance in office,while 72% approve of him personally. The latter is key to me. It's why Mike Huckabee said that the President and the First Lady are excellent role models for the country and why the family values crowd have real problems in their attack message against the First Family. 59% said they would either "definitely" vote for President Obama or consider voting for the President again. Only 38% said definitely not. 57% did say that President Obama's re-election will hinge on the state of the economy. In the poll, President Obama knocks out both Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty.
Nate "the Great" Silver does a tap dance on the Republican primary in Iowa now that Mike Huckabee has bowed out of the race. Read it at www.fivethirtyeight.com . It's too convoluted for this early stage in the race but Nate opines on how the Christian Right vote will break. He has a nice chart on the differences between the Iowa and New Hampshire voters.
Newt was for the individual mandate on health reform before he was against it. And the last I looked he did all this in one day. Paul Ryan is crying today saying that with allies like Newt, who needs the Left. Paul, it's not just the Left which opposes your budget--it's the entire country. Newt said it was radical social engineering that the country can not afford. Bill Bennett busted a gut when he heard his friend Newt said this. Bennett on his talk show replayed Newt's statement in April how the Ryan budget was "serious."
Fox News dissed Newt by playing his ad with Nancy Pelosi on climate change and the need for cap and trade. George Will even scoffed that Newt is a serious candidate. Democrat Cokie Roberts raised the interesting issue about the resentment of divorced Catholics, who know longer can participate in their church, at Newt--twice divorced being hailed as a Catholic.
The Daily Kos raised an interesting organizational issue for Newt. Gingrich brags about his friends on Facebook and Twitter, although these numbers are fairly low, but they raise the issue that he must shepard them into a viable, functioning organization. They contrasted the Obama machine that is being re-assembled in Chicago with top-of-the-line tech support and an army of volunteers and proclaimed "No contest."
Are we to really believe Sarah Palin is going to run at this late date? Newsweek does a puff piece on secessionist Todd Palin saying he is game for another campaign. Sarah Palin is not registering much in recent polls suggesting that her novelty has worn off. My question has always been about Palin's discipline. Remember her Veep campaign lasted only two months. A presidential campaign would last 18 months and there is no evidence any of the machinery is in place.
The Love Revolution keeps rolling. Ron Paul had to one up his son who said that doctors were slaves if healthcare was a right. Paul said that both Social Security and Medicare were inconstitutional and tantamount to slavery. He's wrong on the constitutional part and God knows what he means by the slavery part. But he takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'.
Now that Paul Ryan has ruined the lives of all GOP freshmen congresspeople, he's going to jump ship and run for Senate in Wisconsin. To give you some idea of the flack this will generate, Tommy Thompson, the former Republican governor and former cabinet member, is also thinking of contesting the race. Tommy knows what the people of Wisconsin are thinking about their congressman and also their Governor Scott Walker.
Showing posts with label Newt Ginrgich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Newt Ginrgich. Show all posts
Monday, May 16, 2011
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Afternoon Coffee at the Last Manatee
Drudge reports that Obama only met with BP executives for 20 minutes today. Pretty productive meeting since he got them to fork over $20 billion for an escrow fund for the region's victims. With additonal fines of $4,300 per barrel, this is looking better than the original Louisiana Purchase.
Newt told his Fox audience that in this case it was alright for Obama to use religious language during his address to the nation.
Haley Barbour, Governor of Mississippi, one of the states affected by the spill worried that the escrow account would affect BP's profits.
Sarah Palin said the Dutch could clean up the spill. She was referring to their skimmer technology. A little late in the day, Dutch's skimmer machines have been in the Gulf for the last few days.
The House Republicans entered an amendment yesterday to strip the health reform bill of the individuals mandates. It was defeated. Look for this throughout the next few years.
The Senate Republicans managed to block the extension of unemployment and Cobra as well as the emergency $50 billion funds for the bailout of states.
Meg Whitman put another $20 million of her personal wealth into her campaign coffers. This means she has put in $90 million of her own dough. Apparently, Meg also has anger issues, having fought an employee in 2007. The poor woman was trying to prepare her for an interview. Should be interesting if she wins the California state house.
The Christian Right is back in all its lunacy, saying that the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell would mean that God would make us lose wars. In case anyone has been watching, the United States hasn't won a clearcut battlefield victory in a long time. There has been so many statements and pronouncements by the Christian Right, you're better off checking www.rightwingwatch.com on a daily basis.
I think I've finally figured out this fascination of the Hard Right for the American revolution. It's the last "good war" in their minds that America fought. You can't embrace Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War because he was for big government, the wrong side won and the slaves were freed. You can't embrace WWII because FDR was the President and, in some minds on the right, the wrong side won again. And Vietnam doesn't do it because we lost and that was the period of the civil rights movement. And we know George W and Dick Cheney have been airbrushed out of the small government conservatives' history. The Spanish-American war is a no-no because it involves Hispanics and we want them deported.
Bill McCollum, who is running for the Republican nomination in Florida, is being successfully challenged by a hospital mongol, who has been convicted of felonies and forced to pay millions of dollars in fines. I guess the appeal is that this person was a CEO.
The final arguments for the Prop 8 trial are wrapping up today. The anti-gay lawyers are moving on another front to get the 18,000 legal gay marriages reversed. In my mind, the legal arguments have been all on the pro-gay side with the anti-gays having to invoke sociological studies done in the 1950s. But I am skeptical that the final arguments can move the current Supreme Court. Conservative lawyer Ted Olson disagrees but I believe he's naive about where the current court stands.
Jim Inhofe is doubling down on his anti-DADT repeal position. He went on the floor of the Senate yesterday saying that our armed forces simply won't fight with open gays in the military. Sort of like how it happened in Sparta and Rome.
All the polls this week except the AP poll show Republicans set to make big gains in the Congressional races. The volatility of these polls showing rapid changes in the generic congressional races and the vast ups and downs of Democrartic enthusiasm make me highly skeptical that we know anything about the state of the electorate. With jobs, the deficit and terrorism ranking as the top issues. I personally can't see how Republicans can capitalize on the jobs and deficit issue, although they talk a good game on terrorism.
Republicans have not created a job since 1990 and they have never acted as deficit hawks since Eisenhower. I can't see where they gain any credibility here, especially among independents. Unless something dramatic happens, terrorism doesn't trump the economy. As we've seen, Republicans are now embracing CEOs as their star candidates. But look at Whitman and Fiorina in California. Both of them gained their reputation by either outsourcing jobs or eliminating massive numbers of jobs nationwide but also in the very state they seek to represent.
On Taxes, Republicans claim they own the franchise in tax reduction but they opposed during the stimulus debate the largest tax cut for the middle class in history. Now they are framing the tax debate as if the financial concerns of the very wealthy are those of the rest of us. They may well pull that off with their spin machine. Most Americans don't believe Obama cut their taxes.
The fate of the free world hinges on Jack Nicholson just as it did in Mars Attacks. If Jack cheers on the Lakers well in Game 7, we will be saved. While not my favorite Laker team--Kareem and Magic--the Lakers must crush the Celtics if there is any justice in the world. As President Obama said, "the arc of history bends toward justice."
We salute Ken Griffey, who retired this past month. Finishing his career with 630 hrs, Griffey could have surpassed all homer records--natural or steroid infuenced--if his career in Cincinnati hadn't been plagued with injuries.
Yankee statisticians claim that Derek Jeter surpassed the 3,000 hit mark this week--if you include his playoff and world series hits. Hey, that's cheating. Let him do it straight. It should take two more months.
Meanwhile Nick Johnson made it another year in which he made the Disabled List. That makes every year that I have been following his career.
Shame on Brazil for only beating North Korea 2-1 in the World Cup. The North Korean team was made up of all males in the country who are given daily meals. Double shame on Spain for losing to Switzerland.
Washington is abuzz with the Rookie pitcher Stephen Strassburg, who struck out 14 in his first start and 7 of his last 10 and at one point 7 in a row. So far, he's won his first two games in the big leagues and won every start at all levels of the minor leagues. Unfortunately, the Nationals still blow.
The German austerity package if passed will trigger another Great Depression. So far the euro is barely hanging on with defaults in Greece and upcoming defaults in Spain and Portugal. As European commentators have mentioned, austerity does not necessarily lead to prosperity. So far we have been insulated from this stage of the European crisis but we can't be for long. With deficit hawks in the ascendency in the United States and Britain, these austerity programs may be this century's equivalent of protectionism in the 1930s.
Newt told his Fox audience that in this case it was alright for Obama to use religious language during his address to the nation.
Haley Barbour, Governor of Mississippi, one of the states affected by the spill worried that the escrow account would affect BP's profits.
Sarah Palin said the Dutch could clean up the spill. She was referring to their skimmer technology. A little late in the day, Dutch's skimmer machines have been in the Gulf for the last few days.
The House Republicans entered an amendment yesterday to strip the health reform bill of the individuals mandates. It was defeated. Look for this throughout the next few years.
The Senate Republicans managed to block the extension of unemployment and Cobra as well as the emergency $50 billion funds for the bailout of states.
Meg Whitman put another $20 million of her personal wealth into her campaign coffers. This means she has put in $90 million of her own dough. Apparently, Meg also has anger issues, having fought an employee in 2007. The poor woman was trying to prepare her for an interview. Should be interesting if she wins the California state house.
The Christian Right is back in all its lunacy, saying that the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell would mean that God would make us lose wars. In case anyone has been watching, the United States hasn't won a clearcut battlefield victory in a long time. There has been so many statements and pronouncements by the Christian Right, you're better off checking www.rightwingwatch.com on a daily basis.
I think I've finally figured out this fascination of the Hard Right for the American revolution. It's the last "good war" in their minds that America fought. You can't embrace Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War because he was for big government, the wrong side won and the slaves were freed. You can't embrace WWII because FDR was the President and, in some minds on the right, the wrong side won again. And Vietnam doesn't do it because we lost and that was the period of the civil rights movement. And we know George W and Dick Cheney have been airbrushed out of the small government conservatives' history. The Spanish-American war is a no-no because it involves Hispanics and we want them deported.
Bill McCollum, who is running for the Republican nomination in Florida, is being successfully challenged by a hospital mongol, who has been convicted of felonies and forced to pay millions of dollars in fines. I guess the appeal is that this person was a CEO.
The final arguments for the Prop 8 trial are wrapping up today. The anti-gay lawyers are moving on another front to get the 18,000 legal gay marriages reversed. In my mind, the legal arguments have been all on the pro-gay side with the anti-gays having to invoke sociological studies done in the 1950s. But I am skeptical that the final arguments can move the current Supreme Court. Conservative lawyer Ted Olson disagrees but I believe he's naive about where the current court stands.
Jim Inhofe is doubling down on his anti-DADT repeal position. He went on the floor of the Senate yesterday saying that our armed forces simply won't fight with open gays in the military. Sort of like how it happened in Sparta and Rome.
All the polls this week except the AP poll show Republicans set to make big gains in the Congressional races. The volatility of these polls showing rapid changes in the generic congressional races and the vast ups and downs of Democrartic enthusiasm make me highly skeptical that we know anything about the state of the electorate. With jobs, the deficit and terrorism ranking as the top issues. I personally can't see how Republicans can capitalize on the jobs and deficit issue, although they talk a good game on terrorism.
Republicans have not created a job since 1990 and they have never acted as deficit hawks since Eisenhower. I can't see where they gain any credibility here, especially among independents. Unless something dramatic happens, terrorism doesn't trump the economy. As we've seen, Republicans are now embracing CEOs as their star candidates. But look at Whitman and Fiorina in California. Both of them gained their reputation by either outsourcing jobs or eliminating massive numbers of jobs nationwide but also in the very state they seek to represent.
On Taxes, Republicans claim they own the franchise in tax reduction but they opposed during the stimulus debate the largest tax cut for the middle class in history. Now they are framing the tax debate as if the financial concerns of the very wealthy are those of the rest of us. They may well pull that off with their spin machine. Most Americans don't believe Obama cut their taxes.
The fate of the free world hinges on Jack Nicholson just as it did in Mars Attacks. If Jack cheers on the Lakers well in Game 7, we will be saved. While not my favorite Laker team--Kareem and Magic--the Lakers must crush the Celtics if there is any justice in the world. As President Obama said, "the arc of history bends toward justice."
We salute Ken Griffey, who retired this past month. Finishing his career with 630 hrs, Griffey could have surpassed all homer records--natural or steroid infuenced--if his career in Cincinnati hadn't been plagued with injuries.
Yankee statisticians claim that Derek Jeter surpassed the 3,000 hit mark this week--if you include his playoff and world series hits. Hey, that's cheating. Let him do it straight. It should take two more months.
Meanwhile Nick Johnson made it another year in which he made the Disabled List. That makes every year that I have been following his career.
Shame on Brazil for only beating North Korea 2-1 in the World Cup. The North Korean team was made up of all males in the country who are given daily meals. Double shame on Spain for losing to Switzerland.
Washington is abuzz with the Rookie pitcher Stephen Strassburg, who struck out 14 in his first start and 7 of his last 10 and at one point 7 in a row. So far, he's won his first two games in the big leagues and won every start at all levels of the minor leagues. Unfortunately, the Nationals still blow.
The German austerity package if passed will trigger another Great Depression. So far the euro is barely hanging on with defaults in Greece and upcoming defaults in Spain and Portugal. As European commentators have mentioned, austerity does not necessarily lead to prosperity. So far we have been insulated from this stage of the European crisis but we can't be for long. With deficit hawks in the ascendency in the United States and Britain, these austerity programs may be this century's equivalent of protectionism in the 1930s.
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