Romney and the Florida Primary: Live Blogging Arrogance and Hubris

Posted: January 31, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Live Blog, Republican politics, Republican presidential politics, We are so F'd | 59 Comments

Romney’s disdain for the electorate is one of his more deeply rooted traits. During his father’s 1968 presidential campaign, Romney wrote, “how can the American public like such muttonheads?”
I find that contempt pretty well-founded, and it is a relief that Romney does not believe the nonsense he spouts during the campaign. But the persistent awkwardness of Romney’s campaign style reflects this basic tension. It’s easy to try to persuade somebody for whom you have basic respect. It’s persuading somebody whom you consider stupid — while you must conceal any trace of your disdain — that’s excruciatingly difficult. Romney’s awkward manner on the trail is the agony of suppressed contempt.

Jonathan Chait in  New York Magazine

Romney appears to have the momentum and the early voting lead in the Florida Primary.  Newt vows to go on.  What will their speeches tonight reveal to us about their character or lack thereof?

It’s primary day in the Sunshine State, but more than 600,000 people have already voted in Florida’s Republican presidential contest. And a new public opinion poll indicates that the ballots already cast may help former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney take the 50 delegates up for grabs in Florida’s winner take all primary.

Early voting began statewide ten days ago, and according to figures released Monday afternoon by the Florida Department of State, which runs the division of elections, 293,760 people had already cast ballots. And according to the state, more than 531,000 people requested and were sent absentee ballots, and 338,753 were returned and received by Florida officials.

Add it all together and more than 632,000 votes were already cast before primary day. To put it in perspective, that’s more than the 601,577 who voted in the South Carolina primary, and far outpaces the combined 360,000 that took part in the New Hampshire primary and the Iowa caucuses.

And according to an American Research Group survey released Tuesday morning, 36% of people questioned said they already voted, and among those, Romney led former House Speaker Newt Gingrich 51% to 29%, with former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania at 12% and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas at 10%.

Things have been getting uglier.  It’s hard to think that could be possible by the Romney campaign has been using its immense campaign chest to hammer at Newt.  Could that start to backfire? Of course, Zombie Reagan figures prominantly.

“For as long as I’ve been in politics, 14 years, journalists call me and ask if this is the most negative election ad atmosphere I’ve ever seen,” says Kenneth Goldstein, president of Kantar Media CMAG, which tracks content and targeting of political advertising. “And every year I say, ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’”

“But this year it’s true. This primary season is the most negative it’s ever been,” asserts Goldstein. “I have absolutely never seen television advertising so negative in a Republican presidential primary.”

This tsunami of sleaze is being propelled by unprecedented advertising buys. The Romney campaign and its associated super PAC, Restore Our Future, have spent $15.3 million in Florida over the past month alone, according to Maggie Haberman of Politico. To put this in perspective, John McCain spent $11 million on ads during his entire 2008 primary campaign. Back on this side of Citizens United, Newt Gingrich and his billionaire-backed super PAC have spent “only” an estimated $3 million—giving Romney a 5–1 spending advantage in the Sunshine State.

Turn on the TV or radio in Florida these past few days and you’ll soon be subjected to the avalanche of negative ads, most of them purchased courtesy of Romney Co. The attacks come in a bewildering variety—from accusations that Newt worked with Nancy Pelosi “to support China’s brutal one-child policy” to Spanish-language ads that say Newt called Spanish “the language of the ghetto.” Fannie and Freddie have become household names. Both candidates are accusing the other of being insufficiently conservative and secretly pro-abortion. There has been public wrestling for a photo op with Ronald Reagan’s ghost, trying to claim closer association. Even Romney’s Get Out the Vote mailers are anti-Newt.

Axlerove must be doing jigs.

Guess we’ll see what comes out of the wash tonight.

Who’s Afraid of Grover Norquist?

Posted: January 28, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Republican politics | Tags: , , | 21 Comments

I’ve often found myself wondering why so many elected officials of the Republican persuasion live in perpetual fear of their base.  However, most of them are crazy and will primary a relatively calm Republican candidate to replace them with a bat shit crazy one.  No where is the crazy more apparent than with Grover Norquist whose reign of Terror and Greed has basically held Republican Congress Critterz hostage to really bad economic policy. Grover Norquist is a lobbyist for Trust Fund Babies although no one really knows where his money actually comes from.  He makes elder Republican Senators wet themselves.  He simply opposes any and all forms of paying for government. He’s been involved with the Abramoff scandal and yet avoids prosecution because he doesn’t have to report the sources of his funds..  Abramoff named him as one of his first and primary contacts with in the Republican part, yet Norquist continues his quest to ensure his inherited wealth and others cannot be used for any purpose other than gratuitous self-interest funding.

He’s got a new crazy idea.  He wants to impeach Obama if there’s not an extension of the Bush Tax Cuts.  The right to impeach an official is spelled out in our Constitution.  The grounds for impeachment are ” conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”  So under which one of these things does not giving the uberrich their supposedly short term tax cuts fall? The link comes from the National Journal (NJ).

NJ At the end of 2012, a number of major tax provisions, including the Bush-era cuts, are set to expire. Do you have any predictions?

NORQUIST We’re focused on the fact that there is this Damocles sword hanging over people’s head. What you don’t know is who will be in charge when all of this will happen. I think when we get through this election cycle, we’ll have a Republican majority, [though] not necessarily a strong majority in the Senate, and a majority in the House. The majority in the House will continue to be a Reagan majority, a conservative majority. Boehner never has to talk his delegation going further to the right.

If the Republicans have the House, Senate, and the presidency, I’m told that they could do an early budget vote—a reconciliation vote where you extend the Bush tax cuts out for a decade or five years. You take all of those issues off the table, and then say, “What do you want to do for tax reform?”

Then, the question is: “OK, what do we do about repatriation and all of the interesting stuff?” And, if you have a Republican president to go with a Republican House and Senate, then they pass the [Paul] Ryan plan [on Medicare].

NJ What if the Democrats still have control? What’s your scenario then?

NORQUIST Obama can sit there and let all the tax [cuts] lapse, and then the Republicans will have enough votes in the Senate in 2014 to impeach. The last year, he’s gone into this huddle where he does everything by executive order. He’s made no effort to work with Congress.

NJ The Republicans seem more divided over tax policy than in the past. The House Republicans didn’t want to pass the payroll-tax holiday bill, even though that was a tax cut. Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania proposed revenue increases as a super-committee member. Do you think the party is in disarray over its take on taxes?

NORQUIST Those are different things. Toomey is deciding on which unicorn he’d like if unicorns existed, and you’re asking me if I’m unhappy about his choice of a pet? There aren’t any unicorns. The Democrats are not going to make permanent what they said was their nonnegotiable plan for a 25 percent corporate and individual tax rate. The Democratic Party cannot physiologically do that.

NJ So you don’t get mad when Republicans propose tax increases if you feel they won’t come to fruition?

NORQUIST There’s no point in spending any time getting too worked up on imaginary conversations about imaginary things. The disarray you had was the House and the Senate being on different rhythms, and the House not understanding that anyone would lie so completely about what they’d just done.

There are crack pots and then there is Grover Norquist.  The man’s a menace to society.

Soylent Green Revisited? Nah, Just the Crazy Season in High Gear

Posted: January 25, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: abortion rights, fundamentalist Christians, Reproductive Health, Reproductive Rights, Republican politics, Women's Rights | Tags: , , , | 18 Comments

There is no end to the terror and frantic posturing when it comes to the Republicans’ fetus fetish.  I thought I had heard it all but a Oklahoma legislator, specifically Republican State Senator Ralph Shortey, has introduced a state Senate Bill 1418 prohibiting the use of human fetuses in  . . . our food.  No that is not a typo.  The proposed legislation reads as follows:

STATE OF OKLAHOMA

2nd Session of the 53rd Legislature (2012)

SENATE BILL 1418 By: Ralph Shortey

AS INTRODUCED

An Act relating to food; prohibiting the manufacture or sale of food or products which use aborted human fetuses; providing for codification; and providing an effective date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1-1150 of Title 63, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
No person or entity shall manufacture or knowingly sell food or any other product intended for human consumption which contains aborted human fetuses in the ingredients or which used aborted human fetuses in the research or development of any of the ingredients.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2012″

Why? you may ask incredulously.

Well, because a Christian anti-abortion group [reportedly, The Children of God] has made ‘allegations’ that a bio-tech firm and several food companies used embryonic stem cells to test the flavor of food and even more egregiously used stem cells to enhance the flavor of specific food products.  The companies cited included Pepsi Co., Kraft, and Nestle.  The accused bio-tech firm, Semomyx, was also connected to Campbell Soup Co. After the original accusations were made, Campbell cut its tie with the bio-tech program.

Bad PR is bad PR.  And this, of course, is stomach churning.

But an accusation is easy to make.

The original allegations made last year went nowhere and the accused companies have flatly denied all charges.  In addition, it’s absolutely illegal [not to mention unethical] under US law to use stem cells in the alleged manner.

That’s the true beauty of a witch hunt.

All one need do is scream, WITCH!  Public passion is enflamed, fears are stirred and we’re off to the races [or the stake, as the case may be].  You can even get a state senator to introduce a bill that has absolutely no bearing to reality.  Hell, it might be worth a vote or two.

Of all the idiotic fears I’ve read, this takes the cake.  Not only is it disgusting fear-mongering, something the Republicans have turned into an art form, but it distracts from and delays any real effort in solving our economic issues.

Which are very real. And for which Republicans have few solutions.

But wait, let’s think about it as Stephan D. Foster, Jr. suggests at Addicting Info. [Addicting Info cites its mission as debunking Right-Wing propaganda.] If you were hell bent on forbidding any and all stem cell research and/or products for medicinal purposes, the sort that have been proposed for the cure of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s or used to generate cell growth in brain or spinal-cord damaged patients, what better way to covertly outlaw scientific research than slide through a seemingly pointless bill outlawing fetuses entering our food chain.  As Foster states:

Depending on the source, stem cell treatments could fall under a ‘product that contains aborted human fetuses.’ You “consume” medicine in the same sense that you “consume” food; it enters the body and is processed in some fashion. Whether it is used for energy or to heal a damaged brain is irrelevant to this law.

Convoluted?  Crazy?

Certainly no crazier than Senator Shortey, originally unavailable for comment, who told Nicole Burgin, KRMG Talk Radio the following :

I don’t know if it is happening in Oklahoma, it may be, it may not be. What I am saying is that if it does happen then we are not going to allow it to manufacture here.

Oh, good Lord!  Is this a disciple of Rick Perry?  Senator Shortey claims he went ahead with the legislation because his research led him to believe a law was necessary.

Splendid!

Okay, I want a law of my own.  I propose the following: If aliens land on the earth, toting a cookbook? And if they ask for ‘volunteers’ to visit their fine planet? I want Senator Shortey and all like-minded legislators to be the first to board said aliens’ spacecraft.  Maybe they can convert a few Outworlders before the Barbeque gets going.

Pass the salt, please! 

Time for Governor Goodhair to Go

Posted: January 17, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Foreign Affairs, Republican politics, Republican presidential politics | Tags: , , | 26 Comments

I’m having a difficult time understanding why Rick Perry is still allowed into the debates.  He’s shown himself to be pretty damned ignorant on a lot of things.  Plus, he shoots his mouth off with gusto.   I think you might remember his comments on Fed Chair Bernanke.  Back in August, he implied that the central banker was guilty of treason and was basically “treacherous”.  He’s also had the “oops” moment when he forget which government agencies he’d eliminate.  Then, there were the giddy moments and the sleepy moments. Rick Perry is what we’d call a horse’s patoot where I come from.

Rick Perry’s antics have just gone international. He has truly earned a top place in the annals of stupidity.

Turkey’s foreign ministry condemned Texas Gov. Rick Perry Tuesday for saying that Turkey was a “country that is being ruled by what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists.”

Perry made the statement during a spirited debated between Republican presidential candidates in South Carolina Monday night.

Most of Turkey was fast asleep during the live broadcast, and Turkish newspapers had already gone to print by the time Perry declared that Turkey had moved “far away from the country I lived in back in the 1970s United States Air Force. That was our ally that worked with us, but today we don’t see that.”

The Texas governor also argued that it was time for Washington to cut foreign aid to Ankara.

A spokesman for Turkey’s foreign ministry fired back Tuesday, accusing Perry of making “baseless and improper claims.”

In a statement e-mailed to CNN, Selcuk Unal said presidential candidates should “be more informed about the world and be more careful their statements.”

Turkey is a member of NATO and as such is our ally. They play a key role in our anti-ballistic missile defense that shields many of our allies from Irani attacks. I just had to love this official Turkish statement.

While the United States recently deployed four Predator drones to Turkey from Iraq to aid Ankara in its fight against the autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels, Turkey does not receive U.S. foreign aid.

The Turkish statement said Turkey’s leaders were “personalities respected not only in the United States, but in our region and in the world and whose opinions are strongly relied on.”

The Turkish statement said Perry’s low standings in polls were proof that the Republicans in the U.S. do not endorse his opinions.

“Figures who are candidates for positions that require responsibility, such as the U.S. presidency, should be more knowledgeable about the world and exert more care with their statement,” the Turkish statement said.

The Turkish ambassador to Washington, Namik Tan, said: “We do hope this episode in last night’s debate leads to a better informed foreign policy discussion among the Republican Party candidates, one where long-standing allies are treated with respect not disdain.”

All he needs to do is announce that he can see Turkey from his front porch and I’d think this was an SNL skit.

Evangelical Leaders Agree to Back Santorum

Posted: January 14, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: 2012 presidential campaign, 2012 primaries, Republican politics, Republican presidential politics, U.S. Politics | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 35 Comments

Yesterday around 150 evangelical leaders met at a Texas ranch to discuss a last ditch effort to deny Mitt Romney the Republican presidential nomination. In the end, a large majority agreed to support Rick Santorum, although they stopped short of asking other candidates to drop out. In anticipation of the meeting, Peter Wallsten and Karen Tumulty wrote in the Washington Post:

A near-panic has taken hold among some core conservative activists, who are now scrambling to devise a strategy to deny Mitt Romney the Republican presidential nomination….

Many of these activists see South Carolina’s primary on Jan. 21 as their last best hope of stopping Romney by consolidating in a united front against him. But many acknowledge that they have yet to figure out which of the remaining conservative rivals to rally behind and which should get out.

The Romney conundrum will be on the agenda Friday when about 150 evangelical leaders huddle at a Texas ranch to debate their next move. Likewise, the subject of consolidating conservative opposition to the former Massachusetts governor is expected to be a major point of discussion among about 500 attendees at a tea party convention set for this weekend in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where the list of speakers includes two Romney rivals seeking the conservative mantle, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.

According to the Christian Broadcasting Network:

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council says conservatives are looking for a candidate who will repeal the nation’s health care law, fight for pro family values and address the national debt….

Expect conservative groups to start individually motivating their constituents to work for Santorum. Also look for more money and resources to start pouring into Santorum’s campaign. No question about it, this is excellent news for Santorum’s camp and a major blow to the Gingrich and Perry camps.

The LA Times has more from Perkins, who must be the ringleader of this uprising.

Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, said the decision was reached after three rounds of balloting, with Santorum winning 85 votes in the final round, to Newt Gingrich’s 29. Texas Gov. Rick Perry had strong support at the beginning of the process, but was eliminated after the first round of balloting, Perkins said.

“The focus here was on people putting aside their preferences, putting aside the candidate they had signed up with, trying to reach a consensus,” Perkins said.

“Rick Santorum has consistently articulated the issues that are of concern to conservatives, both the economic and the social, and has woven those into a very solid platform,” Perkins said. “And he has a record of stability…He’s reliable.”

As I see it, they’ve chosen the candidate least likely to appeal to general election voters. I can’t imagine Santorum winning the nomination. I guess the real question is how many of these evangelicals will come around to voting for Romney in the end and how many of them will sit stay home on election day.

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