Before tonight's debate, all polls point to Romney picking up both New Hampshire and South Carolina. The talk is that Romney is looking for a knockout blow and to wrap the nomination up early.
But this second presidential campaign hasn't improved Romney's style or image. Yesterday, as the employment numbers were released and the unemployment rate was down to 8.5%, Romney promised in his first term to get it down to 8.9%. Dana Milbank wrote a column in the Post the other day that was devastating about the feel of the campaign and Romney's awkwardness around people.
Romney likes to brag about his job creating record versus President Obama's. The problem for him is that he has disowned his record as governor of Massachusetts and now is pining his hopes on the White House as a "successful businessman". The real problem here is that his whole record now is based on his time at Bain Capital. Romney's invitation for his record to be compared to President Obama's only got reporters to start digging into his record at Bain. The results haven't been especially positive. Yes, Romney made millions, the total amount remains unknown because of his refusal to release his tax returns. But the very projects that were the key Romney projects at Bain went belly-up. At this stage of the game, from what I can determine is that at best he had a 40% success rate as a turn-around artist, probably less. I'm sure that's pretty good for that business but it doesn't spark confidence in the man as someone entrusted with an entire country. So far in terms of job creation, it looks like Romney did not create 100,000s of jobs but lose more than he created. And remember he was not a CEO of a business that ever produced anything.
Romney chose this week to outline his tax plans. For the average American family, which now earns $50,000 or less, he would raise taxes. For those making $1 million or more, he would give them a tax cut of $150,000 to $300,000. Just his tax plan alone would increase the debt by $800 billion. As one observer marked, "This is the Bush tax-cuts on steroids." Why would that shock anyone since Romney's financial advisers are all alumni of the George W. administration.
With the exception of Ron Paul, Romney is the only Republican campaign with an organization. But that doesn't look to well-oiled. Yesterday, John McCain continued his campaign appearances for Romney, which can only be called a disaster. In the first appearance, Nikki Haley and Romney had to remind McCain not to endorse Barack Obama, who John said would lead the country back to prosperity. Then at the next stop, which followed McCain's favorite format in 2008, a townhall meeting with McCain with a microphone, John seemed to think he was running for President again and lapsed into his stum speech blasting Mitt Romney as if he was the competitor this time.
The McCain lapses got me to thinking about Romney's recent attacks on President Obama as "A Chicago-style" politician. The more he talked the wayback machine in me kept struggling to find why the reference was familiar. Romney actually was a very active surrogate for McCain last time. Romney wanted to be Vice-President and ate the $45 million he spent on his campaign rather than to ask McCain to bail him out. This got him nowhere but he was showcased as a surrogate attack dogs. Looking back almost all of Romney's lines today against President Obama were used then by Mitt in his surrogate role.
The Republican campaign against President Obama is to contrast the candidate Obama's promises with his performance as President. If the economy keeps on the mend, someone like Mitt Romney is going to have a tough sell if all he has is the time when he got filthy rich at Bain.
Today I saw the frontpage headline for the Washington,D.C. His paper:"Romney:No al Dream Act". In one of his lucid moments,John McCain explained that the GOP had to secure one consituency, which has been lost, namely the Hispanics. If the party doesn't do it, McCain said that Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and maybe Texas were in play. Political operatives have urged Romney to look at Governor Martinez in New Mexico as a possible running mate. But the problem with her is that her issues are education and opportunity, two things Romney hasn't talked about. The Hispanic advisers to George W. simply say that the GOP has lost the Hispanic community at this point. But you can't blame Romney for not trying,Mitt's people managed to get placed an article on Romney's Mexican relatives.
I know I have predicted Romney-Rubio and so has Robert Reich. I think for Romney such a move is too risky given the financial, political and familial problems Rubio has had to face in the last year. Since only Romney and Paul will be on the Virginia ticket and the Attorney-General has backed off correcting the situation, I have a hunch that our Governor McConnell will be the Vice President. He has all the evangelical baggage without acting offensive, is a Southern one-term governor and ,with the stimulus money, he appears to be an economically successful governor. Romney needs to patch up relationships with the social conservative right to make it appear that the party is united.
For the best Romney watcher this year, make regularly visits to Steve Benen at www.washingtonmonthly.com . Steve has been tracking Romney's chronic habit of laying on the campaign trail. On the business of Bain Capital, www.thinkprogress.org and Reuters have been digging things up.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Post Iowa Malaise
++The loser of the 2008 election, John McCain today endorsed a man whom he despised over the years--Mitt Romney. Sounding ancient, McCain claimed that Romney would not lead from behind (the catchy slam at Obama) but would lead like Ronald Reagan in front. McCain adds to Romney's list of aged Republicans along with Bob Dole and George H.W. Bush. The problem with today's endorsement is that it raises the question whether Romney did in fact vote for Ronald Reagan. He claimed in his Senate race that he had been an independent and didn't want anything to do with Ronald Reagan or George H.W. Bush. The other impression of McCain's speech was that like every other Republican this year he never mentioned George W. Bush. It is incredible this year that throughout the Republican debates you never heard mention that George W. Bush was ever President of the United States.
++It seems Newt is now out for blood. He told conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham that he wanted to form an anti-Romney alliance with Rick Santorum. He says that he and Rick are old friends and that they are reformers and do not like how the establishment disrespects conservatives. It will be interesting to see Newt and Rick tag-team Willard in the weeks ahead. Newt was so peeved by Iowa that he and his lovely bridge Callista fled the state by corporate jet prior to midnight.
++What I thought was a Romney dirty trick--getting Rick Perry to stay in the race--may not be that. Rick Perry took his staff by surprise by announcing he would be competing in South Carolina. The early thinking was that Perry felt he should not quit too early like Tim Pawlenty, who now backs Romney. Keeping conservatives splintered benefits Romney but if Perry's statements are to be believed he will be slugging at Romney. So while Romney benefits from the conservative splits, he will be too bloodied from the fighting.
++Labeled conservative elites, it seems that Gary Bauer, Rev. Dobson and Rev. Weldmon have flown to Texas to cook up a way to stop Romney getting the nomination. As Newt so aptly said this morning,"Romney is a timid moderate, who has been rejected by 75% of the party."
++Newt Gringrich was deeply offended last night when Ron Paul called him a chickenhawk. I expect we will see more of this from Paul as he tries to rally his Love Revolution in New Hampshire. But what really interested me was a piece in Buzzfeed, which showed a photo of a young Mitt Romney organizing protestors against the anti-war protests at Stanford University. Mitt at the time had a draft deferment because he was a "minister of his religion" and later student deferments. Buzzfeed has been documenting Mitt Romney's rather luxurious missionary days in Paris, staying in a Chateau, which is now the embassy of the UAE.
++Rick Santorum still retains his bizarre social conservative beliefs such as outlawing birth control but he is trying to sell a blue collar populism and now speaks of being the son of an Italian immigrant, who worked in the coal mines until he was 75. The one aspect of his campaign that has drawn attention is his emphasis on restoring American manufacturing. None of the other candidates have mentioned this. Where this gets him in a libertarian leaning New Hampshire and the deep South is another matter.
++ Herman Cain beat out Buddy Roemer in the Iowa Caucus. Maybe he will have Michelle Bachmann on as a co-host when he gets his Fox gig.
++Richard Cohen, the Washington Post columnist, used the name of this blog "In another country" to describe his feelings about the GOP and their candidates. He felt he was observing the folkways of "another country" and not the lifestyles of Americans. There is alot of truth to this as the Republican candidates sound and even look like they are from somewhere else. Alot of this is the result of existing inside their own media bubble called Fox and actually believing the things they tell each other. For example, it is totally bizarre to hear presidential candidates proclaim they will ignore Supreme Court rulings they disagree with,make war on Iran as the first option and repeal all the financial reforms done by the Obama Administration. This is like hearing people who have ignored what happened to the country in the years 2008 and afterwards. They come off unhinged.
++It seems Newt is now out for blood. He told conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham that he wanted to form an anti-Romney alliance with Rick Santorum. He says that he and Rick are old friends and that they are reformers and do not like how the establishment disrespects conservatives. It will be interesting to see Newt and Rick tag-team Willard in the weeks ahead. Newt was so peeved by Iowa that he and his lovely bridge Callista fled the state by corporate jet prior to midnight.
++What I thought was a Romney dirty trick--getting Rick Perry to stay in the race--may not be that. Rick Perry took his staff by surprise by announcing he would be competing in South Carolina. The early thinking was that Perry felt he should not quit too early like Tim Pawlenty, who now backs Romney. Keeping conservatives splintered benefits Romney but if Perry's statements are to be believed he will be slugging at Romney. So while Romney benefits from the conservative splits, he will be too bloodied from the fighting.
++Labeled conservative elites, it seems that Gary Bauer, Rev. Dobson and Rev. Weldmon have flown to Texas to cook up a way to stop Romney getting the nomination. As Newt so aptly said this morning,"Romney is a timid moderate, who has been rejected by 75% of the party."
++Newt Gringrich was deeply offended last night when Ron Paul called him a chickenhawk. I expect we will see more of this from Paul as he tries to rally his Love Revolution in New Hampshire. But what really interested me was a piece in Buzzfeed, which showed a photo of a young Mitt Romney organizing protestors against the anti-war protests at Stanford University. Mitt at the time had a draft deferment because he was a "minister of his religion" and later student deferments. Buzzfeed has been documenting Mitt Romney's rather luxurious missionary days in Paris, staying in a Chateau, which is now the embassy of the UAE.
++Rick Santorum still retains his bizarre social conservative beliefs such as outlawing birth control but he is trying to sell a blue collar populism and now speaks of being the son of an Italian immigrant, who worked in the coal mines until he was 75. The one aspect of his campaign that has drawn attention is his emphasis on restoring American manufacturing. None of the other candidates have mentioned this. Where this gets him in a libertarian leaning New Hampshire and the deep South is another matter.
++ Herman Cain beat out Buddy Roemer in the Iowa Caucus. Maybe he will have Michelle Bachmann on as a co-host when he gets his Fox gig.
++Richard Cohen, the Washington Post columnist, used the name of this blog "In another country" to describe his feelings about the GOP and their candidates. He felt he was observing the folkways of "another country" and not the lifestyles of Americans. There is alot of truth to this as the Republican candidates sound and even look like they are from somewhere else. Alot of this is the result of existing inside their own media bubble called Fox and actually believing the things they tell each other. For example, it is totally bizarre to hear presidential candidates proclaim they will ignore Supreme Court rulings they disagree with,make war on Iran as the first option and repeal all the financial reforms done by the Obama Administration. This is like hearing people who have ignored what happened to the country in the years 2008 and afterwards. They come off unhinged.
Obama Sticks It In Their Ear
For the past three years, Senate Republicans and their House colleagues have resorted to symbolic sessions so that the President can not make recess appointments. Two of the latest examples have been the refusal to allow Richard Cordray, the former Attorney-General of Cleveland, to be appointed to head the new Consumer Protection Agency, and the three Democratic nominations for the National Labor Relations Board. In Cordray's case, it was because Republicans objected to the creation of the Consumer Protection Agency from the beginning and did not want it to become operative until significant changes were made to water down its powers. For the National Labor Relations Board, it was to neutralize the entity because it needs at least three members to decide issues.
Today President Obama in Cleveland announced the appointment of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Agency. If you remember, the original popular choice for this position was Elizabeth Warren but Republicans overtly stated they would never approve her confirmation. Cordray, however, was strongly supported by Elizabeth Warren before she left government.
And only hours later President Obama appointed the three nominees to the National Labor Relations Board. Beneath the surface, there have been several legal reports suggesting that the President has the power to recess appointments even if and especially if Congress is only symbolically in session.
The idea is that Congress is trying to prevent the President from carrying out his constitutional duties. In the case of these two agencies,it is unprecedented for a minority party to block qualified appointments simply because they object to the existence of a legally approved agency of government. Observers were waiting for President Obama to act on these nominations believing he would have done it on Holiday. But he chose the moment when symbolically the Senate was in session, although it was not meeting on any act of governing.
Naturally Mitch McConnell and John Boehner were outraged at this "unprecedented act" and vowed to seek redress in the courts. Neither man would admit that President Obama has resorted to recess appointments less than any of his most recent predecessors. from the President's point of view, this was an adroit move. It forces Republicans in an election year to oppose the Consumer Protection Agency and for blue collar workers it shows that Republicans oppose labor with the appointments of the three Democrats to the National Labor Relations Board.
The latter has become an ideological point of conflict with the new Congress ,who believes the National Labor Relations Board is too favorable to labor, even though it has been without Democrats and any one representing labor for a long time. In fact, it was George W. Bush who appointed almost all Republicans and a few former Democrats to the board to tilt it toward business.
We can hear the screaming around town. But this is one of the few ways President Obama can produce on his promises while Congress is mired in obstructionism. Already the Senate has set an all-time record for filibusters, in fact more times than used altogether in American history. Does Obama benefit politically from this. Of course, he does.
It's worth noting that Theodore Roosevelt got this practice down to a science when he made recess appointments during 12 hour increments when Congress was in temporary recess or sessions had been adjourned.
Today President Obama in Cleveland announced the appointment of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Agency. If you remember, the original popular choice for this position was Elizabeth Warren but Republicans overtly stated they would never approve her confirmation. Cordray, however, was strongly supported by Elizabeth Warren before she left government.
And only hours later President Obama appointed the three nominees to the National Labor Relations Board. Beneath the surface, there have been several legal reports suggesting that the President has the power to recess appointments even if and especially if Congress is only symbolically in session.
The idea is that Congress is trying to prevent the President from carrying out his constitutional duties. In the case of these two agencies,it is unprecedented for a minority party to block qualified appointments simply because they object to the existence of a legally approved agency of government. Observers were waiting for President Obama to act on these nominations believing he would have done it on Holiday. But he chose the moment when symbolically the Senate was in session, although it was not meeting on any act of governing.
Naturally Mitch McConnell and John Boehner were outraged at this "unprecedented act" and vowed to seek redress in the courts. Neither man would admit that President Obama has resorted to recess appointments less than any of his most recent predecessors. from the President's point of view, this was an adroit move. It forces Republicans in an election year to oppose the Consumer Protection Agency and for blue collar workers it shows that Republicans oppose labor with the appointments of the three Democrats to the National Labor Relations Board.
The latter has become an ideological point of conflict with the new Congress ,who believes the National Labor Relations Board is too favorable to labor, even though it has been without Democrats and any one representing labor for a long time. In fact, it was George W. Bush who appointed almost all Republicans and a few former Democrats to the board to tilt it toward business.
We can hear the screaming around town. But this is one of the few ways President Obama can produce on his promises while Congress is mired in obstructionism. Already the Senate has set an all-time record for filibusters, in fact more times than used altogether in American history. Does Obama benefit politically from this. Of course, he does.
It's worth noting that Theodore Roosevelt got this practice down to a science when he made recess appointments during 12 hour increments when Congress was in temporary recess or sessions had been adjourned.
Dog On Car Inches Out Man On Dog--Iowa
How bad was it? How would you like the headline,"Romney squeezes out Santorum from behind?" The pundits said that Romney finishing 1, 2 or 3 would be a win. But Romney barely winning by single digits was a loss. He didn't even get a prime time address. It was so bad that the Romney people arranged for John "Get Off My Lawn" McCain to endorse him in New Hampshire to pick up positive media.
Romney did not reach the number he won in Iowa in 2008 and pathetically it was the Romney people who had to call the county caucus leader to get the final results for him to eek out the win--not the state party chairman. I thought Romney even made his wife Ann look bad when he had her become a political figure making remarks.
The lack of enthusiasm at the Caucus was commented on by all the journalists. This is the Party that believes defeating Obama is a Do or Die Moment for the Republic and they had less Republicans voting in the Caucus than in 2008. Democrats and independents made up the slight increase over that year. The gender breakdown was revealing--57% men 43% women. While shots of the Democratic caucus revealed vastly more women and younger people. Only Ron Paul drew younger voters.
Republican spin experts on Diane Riehm tried to portray Romney's win as significant saying that the Iowa Caucus was more right-wing than the rest of the primaries. But the details of last night showed that the Caucus goers were only 36% born-again Christians, more moderate and well-to-do than past years. In other words, this year's Iowa Caucus was different from the past. For $10 million and having run in Iowa before and having an organization when only Ron Paul had one,Romney could not reach 25%. His win was the lowest percentage victory in Iowa Caucus history. It was so bad that Barack Obama was only 5,000 behind Romney and he hadn't been in the state.
Romney's best hope today is that Michelle Bachmann's press conference will overshadow any statement by him. Meanwhile Rick Perry has gone home to think about things. But Newt is raring to go. Even Jon Huntsman got off a tweet last night that Romney would be the best representative of the bankers.
Remember Romney just got a 6 vote victory over a man who wants to make birth control illegal and wants to invade Iran. Borowitz tweeted last night that Romney must feel bad sitting between a lawn gnome (Ron Paul) and a man against man-dog marriages. In other words, the Caucus diminished Romney further. There is no spin around that.
The conservatives firewall is South Carolina and now it looks like Newt will be the only Southerner in the race and now Newt wants to make the race personal. He still is in the lead in South Carolina. For Romney I believe he has to be near 50% in New Hampshire to re-start the inevitability theme. Oddly enough Bill Kristol commented last night that Romney's performance in Iowa hurt his inevitability theme and the idea he was electable. If you can't soundly beat a man who you can't google, what will you do against Barack Obama?
Andrew Sullivan last night was live-blogging and coming to the defense of the young people for Ron Paul. I thought Ron Paul looked and acted senile last night and left the strange comment,"No one has ever done a poll about the Gold Standard." Even Frank Luntz noted that at the Romney gathering there were no young people and that no blue collar voters and that the GOP can't leave them all to Obama. But the other aspect of this was that the young people for Paul were all young white males--no women.
An interesting factoid of last night was that none of the candidates ever set foot in the one Iowa town that had a majority Hispanics. Maybe by voter suppression, the GOP can limit the electorate to white, relatively wealthy and elderly people. That's what the process is looking like.
The immediate take-away from last night is that there is no there there. David Frum this morning tried to portray a Mitt Romney presidency as a centrist one where he would retain most of Obamacare and not be radical in dismantling the safety net. But I think that is delusional because I do not believe a GOP candidate can pivot immediately away from extreme right positions to the center. It's not your father's Republican Party anymore. The other take-away is that there is no way Romney can generate any enthusiasm for his candidacy and that hating Barack Obama is not enough to win.
Who won last night? Dan Savage and Barack Obama
Romney did not reach the number he won in Iowa in 2008 and pathetically it was the Romney people who had to call the county caucus leader to get the final results for him to eek out the win--not the state party chairman. I thought Romney even made his wife Ann look bad when he had her become a political figure making remarks.
The lack of enthusiasm at the Caucus was commented on by all the journalists. This is the Party that believes defeating Obama is a Do or Die Moment for the Republic and they had less Republicans voting in the Caucus than in 2008. Democrats and independents made up the slight increase over that year. The gender breakdown was revealing--57% men 43% women. While shots of the Democratic caucus revealed vastly more women and younger people. Only Ron Paul drew younger voters.
Republican spin experts on Diane Riehm tried to portray Romney's win as significant saying that the Iowa Caucus was more right-wing than the rest of the primaries. But the details of last night showed that the Caucus goers were only 36% born-again Christians, more moderate and well-to-do than past years. In other words, this year's Iowa Caucus was different from the past. For $10 million and having run in Iowa before and having an organization when only Ron Paul had one,Romney could not reach 25%. His win was the lowest percentage victory in Iowa Caucus history. It was so bad that Barack Obama was only 5,000 behind Romney and he hadn't been in the state.
Romney's best hope today is that Michelle Bachmann's press conference will overshadow any statement by him. Meanwhile Rick Perry has gone home to think about things. But Newt is raring to go. Even Jon Huntsman got off a tweet last night that Romney would be the best representative of the bankers.
Remember Romney just got a 6 vote victory over a man who wants to make birth control illegal and wants to invade Iran. Borowitz tweeted last night that Romney must feel bad sitting between a lawn gnome (Ron Paul) and a man against man-dog marriages. In other words, the Caucus diminished Romney further. There is no spin around that.
The conservatives firewall is South Carolina and now it looks like Newt will be the only Southerner in the race and now Newt wants to make the race personal. He still is in the lead in South Carolina. For Romney I believe he has to be near 50% in New Hampshire to re-start the inevitability theme. Oddly enough Bill Kristol commented last night that Romney's performance in Iowa hurt his inevitability theme and the idea he was electable. If you can't soundly beat a man who you can't google, what will you do against Barack Obama?
Andrew Sullivan last night was live-blogging and coming to the defense of the young people for Ron Paul. I thought Ron Paul looked and acted senile last night and left the strange comment,"No one has ever done a poll about the Gold Standard." Even Frank Luntz noted that at the Romney gathering there were no young people and that no blue collar voters and that the GOP can't leave them all to Obama. But the other aspect of this was that the young people for Paul were all young white males--no women.
An interesting factoid of last night was that none of the candidates ever set foot in the one Iowa town that had a majority Hispanics. Maybe by voter suppression, the GOP can limit the electorate to white, relatively wealthy and elderly people. That's what the process is looking like.
The immediate take-away from last night is that there is no there there. David Frum this morning tried to portray a Mitt Romney presidency as a centrist one where he would retain most of Obamacare and not be radical in dismantling the safety net. But I think that is delusional because I do not believe a GOP candidate can pivot immediately away from extreme right positions to the center. It's not your father's Republican Party anymore. The other take-away is that there is no way Romney can generate any enthusiasm for his candidacy and that hating Barack Obama is not enough to win.
Who won last night? Dan Savage and Barack Obama
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
I Think I Got The Message
After a dozen debates and listening to the Iowa appearances by candidates, I think I have the core Republican message down: "Barack Obama is bad". For variations, you can riff on Santorum saying he's "anti-American" or Romney, who always gives us a double dose of Hate Obama talk. Romney claimed that Obama wants to create a social welfare state like in Europe. Can we vote on this idea? Then he claims that Obama is responsible for the loss of 2 million jobs, and the closing of car dealerships because he saved the car industry. Huh?!
For the record, we have had 22 straight months of private sector job gains and the economy is in its best shape in six years. But Romney will take his record of creating 100,000 at Bain Capital. Of course, like his governorship of Massachusetts, there are no such records validating that claim. Romney even said he would stand on his record of job-creation in Massachusetts, where he was 47 out of 50 in the country,only missing 48th because of Hurricane Katrina.
But this is the argument from the GOP front-runner. Up is down. Down is Up. Strength is weakness. Peace is war. And frankly, I have times when the constant repetition of the Obama hate will actually influence the election. But there are other times that I remember 2008 and thinking then that the media really didn't have much influence despite the hype, the aftermath of books claiming the media was for Obama,etc. On the eve of the Iowa vote, I have no feeling whether the general voters believe this shit being said by Willard.
This is the case for Willard: "Make me President because I turned around Staples." That's it. Full stop. If you believe someone who made Staples profitable again should be the leader of the Free World, then do your thing. Then we can encourage other management consultants to run in the future. "I'm Bob, I turned around Best Buy. I can turn this country around using basic commonsense business principles, too." Man, how low do you go.
Romney's closing argument in Iowa is that he is the man who can beat the evil President Obama and save the soul --as a Mormon, that's a hoot--of the country. The reason Romney believes Obama is evil is that he letting loose his Mormonism. His father denounced the racism of his own religion but Romney has assimilated it. Black people are the people of Ham, cursed, according to the fictitious Book of Abraham written by Joseph Smith.
I was at the University of Chicago when some poor Mormon scholar shipped the original Egyptian papyrii that Smith translated to the Chicago Oriental Institute. The problem was, as the experts soon discovered,the fragments were funeral epitaphs and there was no mention of Abraham, Ham or anything Smith made up. But Romney is channeling the earliest teachings he heard in going after Obama. He no longer pretends anymore that Obama is just a well-meaning guy over his head as his condescending attitudes earlier reflected.
Maybe this is a winning message during a time of high anxiety. Blame the President. Put an extremely rich white man back in the office and all our troubles go away. Because if the Republican candidates believe they have made a winning argument on policy, they are dead wrong.
Even the extremely conservative Republicans in Iowa are beginning to sound baffled by these characters trapsing around their landscape. With a low 5.7% unemployment rate, hearing talk about restructing unemployment insurance as Romney argued or drug-testing unemployment recipients, doesn't make sense to people in Iowa. Rick Santorum pledging in the second whitest state in the uinion not to "improve the lives of black people with taxpayer money" sounds goofy. Then we have the great theater of Rick Perry blasting Frothy Mix Santorum as being "pro-gay" or Ron Paul accusing Santorum of being a "liberal". This is beyond the rhetoric of reality television.
The only thing that was sensible in the last few days was Newt protesting that Romney is a liar, a very slick and dangerous liar at that. It's really no wonder that over 40% of Iowa Republicans may change their mind at the last moment. None of them are satisfied with the field. They are trying to talk themselves into accepting Willard but are uncomfortable with his "elitism" and his condescending attitude.
Reporters flying in and have been capturing some of the strangeness of the whole affair. The BBC reporter talked about America's frustrations of being a superpower but not being able to afford it anymore. Leftwing bloggers have found out that the drill, Baby, drill mantra doesn't seem to resonate because Iowa long-ago went to alternative fuels and that citizens are earning thousands by hosting large wind farms to generate local power. Chris Matthews at Java Joe's had a caniption when he learned that most of the locals there were going to vote for Obama and then he found two lonely souls who might vote for Romney.
I just can't wait until all these characters show up in Florida. I want to hear Mitt explain his draconian immigration policy. "I can't hire illegals, I'm running for office for Pete's Sake." One of the problems is that the Republicans do not think of themselves anymore as a national policy. They have written off whole segments of our society so they do not have to address anyone except the extremely wealthy. There is still very little discussion about the fate of the middle class. The middle-class is supposed to be captured by appealing to social issues, not economic ones. So even if you manage to win office at a national level, you have already narrowed the population you pretend to represent. So it is funny to see Republicans complain about Ron Paul's association with White Supremacists--that's the logical conclusion of their focus as they leave one group after another group after another behind.
For the record, we have had 22 straight months of private sector job gains and the economy is in its best shape in six years. But Romney will take his record of creating 100,000 at Bain Capital. Of course, like his governorship of Massachusetts, there are no such records validating that claim. Romney even said he would stand on his record of job-creation in Massachusetts, where he was 47 out of 50 in the country,only missing 48th because of Hurricane Katrina.
But this is the argument from the GOP front-runner. Up is down. Down is Up. Strength is weakness. Peace is war. And frankly, I have times when the constant repetition of the Obama hate will actually influence the election. But there are other times that I remember 2008 and thinking then that the media really didn't have much influence despite the hype, the aftermath of books claiming the media was for Obama,etc. On the eve of the Iowa vote, I have no feeling whether the general voters believe this shit being said by Willard.
This is the case for Willard: "Make me President because I turned around Staples." That's it. Full stop. If you believe someone who made Staples profitable again should be the leader of the Free World, then do your thing. Then we can encourage other management consultants to run in the future. "I'm Bob, I turned around Best Buy. I can turn this country around using basic commonsense business principles, too." Man, how low do you go.
Romney's closing argument in Iowa is that he is the man who can beat the evil President Obama and save the soul --as a Mormon, that's a hoot--of the country. The reason Romney believes Obama is evil is that he letting loose his Mormonism. His father denounced the racism of his own religion but Romney has assimilated it. Black people are the people of Ham, cursed, according to the fictitious Book of Abraham written by Joseph Smith.
I was at the University of Chicago when some poor Mormon scholar shipped the original Egyptian papyrii that Smith translated to the Chicago Oriental Institute. The problem was, as the experts soon discovered,the fragments were funeral epitaphs and there was no mention of Abraham, Ham or anything Smith made up. But Romney is channeling the earliest teachings he heard in going after Obama. He no longer pretends anymore that Obama is just a well-meaning guy over his head as his condescending attitudes earlier reflected.
Maybe this is a winning message during a time of high anxiety. Blame the President. Put an extremely rich white man back in the office and all our troubles go away. Because if the Republican candidates believe they have made a winning argument on policy, they are dead wrong.
Even the extremely conservative Republicans in Iowa are beginning to sound baffled by these characters trapsing around their landscape. With a low 5.7% unemployment rate, hearing talk about restructing unemployment insurance as Romney argued or drug-testing unemployment recipients, doesn't make sense to people in Iowa. Rick Santorum pledging in the second whitest state in the uinion not to "improve the lives of black people with taxpayer money" sounds goofy. Then we have the great theater of Rick Perry blasting Frothy Mix Santorum as being "pro-gay" or Ron Paul accusing Santorum of being a "liberal". This is beyond the rhetoric of reality television.
The only thing that was sensible in the last few days was Newt protesting that Romney is a liar, a very slick and dangerous liar at that. It's really no wonder that over 40% of Iowa Republicans may change their mind at the last moment. None of them are satisfied with the field. They are trying to talk themselves into accepting Willard but are uncomfortable with his "elitism" and his condescending attitude.
Reporters flying in and have been capturing some of the strangeness of the whole affair. The BBC reporter talked about America's frustrations of being a superpower but not being able to afford it anymore. Leftwing bloggers have found out that the drill, Baby, drill mantra doesn't seem to resonate because Iowa long-ago went to alternative fuels and that citizens are earning thousands by hosting large wind farms to generate local power. Chris Matthews at Java Joe's had a caniption when he learned that most of the locals there were going to vote for Obama and then he found two lonely souls who might vote for Romney.
I just can't wait until all these characters show up in Florida. I want to hear Mitt explain his draconian immigration policy. "I can't hire illegals, I'm running for office for Pete's Sake." One of the problems is that the Republicans do not think of themselves anymore as a national policy. They have written off whole segments of our society so they do not have to address anyone except the extremely wealthy. There is still very little discussion about the fate of the middle class. The middle-class is supposed to be captured by appealing to social issues, not economic ones. So even if you manage to win office at a national level, you have already narrowed the population you pretend to represent. So it is funny to see Republicans complain about Ron Paul's association with White Supremacists--that's the logical conclusion of their focus as they leave one group after another group after another behind.
New Year Resolution For Politicians
To save alot of trouble, debate and polarization, there are alot of issues which can be dealt with by doing nothing.
All these issues are interesting and thought-provoking, but the first law should be do no harm.
Concerned about a large federal government? Don't be. The Baby-Boomers are retiring in droves after two years of Recession. Now the USG can't even process all the pensions on time. Wait two years and we will have an urgent need to hire more government workers.
The National Deficit get to you? Just let the Bush tax-cuts expire and end the Afghanistan war a year sooner. The deficit disappears and hopefully more revenue will come in with a recovering economy.
Energy Independence? We are now exporting oil at a rate greater than at anytime in 50 years. All the available oil and gas rigs are being used. There is a rush to rehabilitate old ones. The Obama Administration has quadrupled alternative energy sources in public lands and there is a boom in the solar energy and wind sectors. Even without the XL pipeline, the United States looks to be energy independent within 4 years. So don't mess it up.
Illegal Immigration? Has dwindled to a trickle because of the Recession and the deportations. Now it is a wash in terms of economic affect on the country. Should there be immigration reform? Probably but nothing constructive will happen. So let it be.
Social Security? Don't touch it. It will last 36 more years paying out 100%. If we ever get sane politicians back, you can easier amend it so it will last another 75 to 100 years. The only ones talking about Social Security are ideologues who would love to destroy it.
Medicare? The Affordable Care Act actually cuts Medicare costs and provides for cracking down on fraud. Keep the Affordable Care Act and then see what happens after 2014.
Gay Marriage? If you are against it, don't marry a gay. All the efforts by NOM and homophobes will come to naught. In the meantime, alot of taxpayer funds will be spent trying to defend the Defence of Marriage Act, which two Reagan apointed judges has already ruled unconstitutional.
Voter Fraud? The RNC came up with a whopping 350 cases nationally of voter fraud. Maine, New Mexico and Wisconsin, who adopted new Voter ID systems,have admitted there is hardly any evidence of voter fraud. Not even enough to hit half of a percent. Presumably, we would like more citizens to vote in a democratic process. Just leave the process alone.
Federated funded abortions? House Republicans spent most of 2010 outlawing every kind of federally funded abortion. They have no existed since the Hyde Amendment over 20 years ago. Don't even think about it.
Drug Testing for recipients of unemployment insurance. You pay for your unemployment insurance. You are entitled to it. In the states where there is drug testing. Those who flunk are between 3 and 6 %. The costs of drug testing far outweigh the benefits these people would receive. It's a waste of time and money.
I am sure you can add to my list. But those are a few issues where I urge people to do nothing.
All these issues are interesting and thought-provoking, but the first law should be do no harm.
Concerned about a large federal government? Don't be. The Baby-Boomers are retiring in droves after two years of Recession. Now the USG can't even process all the pensions on time. Wait two years and we will have an urgent need to hire more government workers.
The National Deficit get to you? Just let the Bush tax-cuts expire and end the Afghanistan war a year sooner. The deficit disappears and hopefully more revenue will come in with a recovering economy.
Energy Independence? We are now exporting oil at a rate greater than at anytime in 50 years. All the available oil and gas rigs are being used. There is a rush to rehabilitate old ones. The Obama Administration has quadrupled alternative energy sources in public lands and there is a boom in the solar energy and wind sectors. Even without the XL pipeline, the United States looks to be energy independent within 4 years. So don't mess it up.
Illegal Immigration? Has dwindled to a trickle because of the Recession and the deportations. Now it is a wash in terms of economic affect on the country. Should there be immigration reform? Probably but nothing constructive will happen. So let it be.
Social Security? Don't touch it. It will last 36 more years paying out 100%. If we ever get sane politicians back, you can easier amend it so it will last another 75 to 100 years. The only ones talking about Social Security are ideologues who would love to destroy it.
Medicare? The Affordable Care Act actually cuts Medicare costs and provides for cracking down on fraud. Keep the Affordable Care Act and then see what happens after 2014.
Gay Marriage? If you are against it, don't marry a gay. All the efforts by NOM and homophobes will come to naught. In the meantime, alot of taxpayer funds will be spent trying to defend the Defence of Marriage Act, which two Reagan apointed judges has already ruled unconstitutional.
Voter Fraud? The RNC came up with a whopping 350 cases nationally of voter fraud. Maine, New Mexico and Wisconsin, who adopted new Voter ID systems,have admitted there is hardly any evidence of voter fraud. Not even enough to hit half of a percent. Presumably, we would like more citizens to vote in a democratic process. Just leave the process alone.
Federated funded abortions? House Republicans spent most of 2010 outlawing every kind of federally funded abortion. They have no existed since the Hyde Amendment over 20 years ago. Don't even think about it.
Drug Testing for recipients of unemployment insurance. You pay for your unemployment insurance. You are entitled to it. In the states where there is drug testing. Those who flunk are between 3 and 6 %. The costs of drug testing far outweigh the benefits these people would receive. It's a waste of time and money.
I am sure you can add to my list. But those are a few issues where I urge people to do nothing.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Polls That Matter
If you read this blog, you may not be part of the 1% but you are part of the 6%. That's right. According to a new 60Minutes/Vanity Fair poll only 6% of Americans knew that Mitt Romney's real first name was actually Willard. 20% thought his name really was Mitt, while 18% picked Mitchell and 8% chose Milton.
How would Romney's poll numbers look if people really knew his name was Willard? Isn't Willard a rat? But these are things we all have a right and a duty to know.
Will his name on the ballot read Willard?
How would Romney's poll numbers look if people really knew his name was Willard? Isn't Willard a rat? But these are things we all have a right and a duty to know.
Will his name on the ballot read Willard?
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