Rove: Don’t Worry, 2012 GOP Candidates Busy with Strategy. Country: Duh — That’s Why We’re Worried
The inestimable Karl Rove (inestimable, in that conservatives either wish to buy him a scotch or label him Ruling Class, dependent on whatever he last said to Bret Baier) published a WSJ op-ed on March 17 claiming “The GOP Race is Underway.” Don’t worry, the piece sums: the failure of anyone to step ahead in the 2012 GOP race is tactical. Mitch “Mitt” Huckaromney is busy analyzing, outreaching, and sweater-testing and any day now he’ll reveal himself as the George Washington you’ve been asking for since Rick Santelli’s rant.
This being the most recent thing I’ve heard from Rove, I’m definitely calling him Ruling Class, at least until his next awesome tweet.
The presidential race, a Rove expertise, is different from a congressional contest, as I have been taught since enrolling in Intro to American Politics as a college freshman: appeal to the base — but not too intensely — for the nomination; appeal to the centrists and independents for the General.
But this is not common sense, it is “the science is settled.”
If you’ve lived 30 years, maybe 25, you’ve seen enough politics to understand that career advisors simply have no idea how to win a campaign; they (Bob Shrum) often lose (Bob Shrum). Yet Introduction to Logic — which I should have been well-advised to take instead — presents that even a great advisory won/loss record does not imply talent: it is simply a statistic, we cannot prove the advisor’s relevance to the win.
What the political class advisors are able to do is retain an encyclopedic knowledge of what happened, and attempt to draw on that base of knowledge for the current client.
This is, logically, a dart throw.
Perhaps it’s even a case of convincing the politician that such an advisor is necessary, for the sake of said advisor’s continued employment. Because we all know America — we are its citizens — and we know what drives us to hair loss about politics, and we know the best advice a candidate can get, always:
Tell the public where you stand, over and over again, until they are aware.
If that doesn’t put you ahead, pack it in. The public doesn’t agree with you.
The day-to-day news cycle doesn’t matter, and if you’re convinced it does, do some overhead squats to stabilize your spine.
Yet too much of that advice and soon enough the candidate remembers it on his own and James Carville’s doing voiceover work, so let’s resume selecting excellent neckties.
Appealing to the base for the nomination? You’d better already be the base. Move to the center, following? No, your challenge is to convince the center why the center is stupid.
The left must play a different game. The Democratic base is closer to the center than the far left, and the center is a group of people who actually do change their minds with daily news cycles, because that’s what relativism is. Perhaps the left’s tacticians have influenced/misled those on the right: the leftist candidate must feign middle and must have that relativistic dearth of integrity to do so; but the GOP candidate must be conservative and remain that way, as position integrity/objectivity is kinda what makes a conservative.
Mr. Rove: the reason there is no frontrunner right now is that everyone is following Rovian strategy and is sending out feelers, which sounds disgusting. Nobody — excepting the GOP candidates wondering why they aren’t polling well — read your op-ed and felt relieved.
The self-evident truth regarding running as a conservative — an identity which overwhelmingly comprises America’s biggest voting bloc — is that conservatives do not care who wins the GOP nomination. They are happy; they are self-sufficient and will fight on their own. If the party gets onboard with the base, good for the party, but the base is aboard with the Constitution first and the GOP second or never.
This has been evident since the Founders; this was demonstrated truth during the 2010 elections. How can you not know this yet?
We want statesmen, not Miramax thugging around for Best Picture. We truly don’t concern ourselves with who you are, your face, your alliances, what state you were raised in. We don’t care about your name. Seriously — don’t even tell us your name. We want John Doe, the vessel of Constitutional originalism, who understands natural rights are the way of nature and not the Founders’ trendy theory, and that natural rights are most threatened now by a weak border, Islamism and Communism, and — above all — the biggest government to ever exist, and that’s what he’s going to spend the next four years working on, and eight if we so honor him.
We’re begging for truth, not Rovian theory. Be American, or keep diddling and lose the West.
The job of the GOP presidential nominee, is to get a rightmost 51% or so of the electorate–properly distributed across the electoral college–to vote for them. As opposed to running to the right and then running to the left, they should adopt a center right set of policies and approaches to political problems, and be consistent in adhering to them.
The nation is center-right. The far left in the body politic is farther from the center than the far right is. It’s the Dem presidential candidate who needs to do the running around–let them. Rhetorically shoot at them while they are doing it like they are ducks at a midway arcade.
Mr Rove and his ilk are not concerned with what the American citizen wants. They are concerned with what they want and that turns out to be who is or who is not suitable for public office. They want to be king makers and then revel in the glory of their own brilliance. I have never heard Mr. Rove espousing conservative points of view because he is not a conservative. He is a party hack. For him, it is Republican party all the way and the constitution and conservative principals just get in the way…
Bingo.
Big government is in the interest of the Republicans as well as the Democrats. We should be wary of both parties.
I don’t think Rove even wants to be a kingmaker; he just wants to win at all costs. He’d back Ron Paul if he thought Ron Paul would win.
No.
People like Rand Paul and social conservatives are anathema to the likes of Carl Rove. He’d rather see a Democrat win.
Look at his track record. He’ll savage any Republican who threatens the Country Club Establishment.
I didn’t say his analysis of the situation was correct, just that Rove cares about winning more than anything else. He thinks only so-called moderates can win, but if he thought it took a conservative to win, he’d back a conservative in order to win, regardless of personal preference. Get the nomination, and Rove will help the TEA Party candidate win the general election.
I understood your point, and I disagree. Let a true conservative get the Republican nomination, and Rove will work to see the Democrat elected.
Look at his track record. “Speak no evil of a fellow Republican.” has never been Rove’s motto.
His is more like, “Speak no evil of a fellow elitist.”
No, Karl Rove would never support Ron Paul, because supporting Ron Paul would not help Karl Rove’s cronies get richer and more powerful.
2. Terminalvelocity
Well said.
Hear! Hear!
You convinced me: all in for Palin I am.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but how can the Republicans have a front runner without even one primary being held yet? What is the big deal that there is NO front runner right now? Remember, in 2008, nobody expected Mike Huckabee to win in Iowa, yet he didn’t win the nomination. Nobody expected Obama to win the early primaries because Hillary Clinton was the Democrat’s “front runner.” Remember all of that? The liberal main stream media WANTS the Republicans to have a front runner now so that, if he or she either does not run or is defeated in the early primaries, then the liberal main stream media can scream, “Republican Party in Turmoil! Front Runner Defeated!”
Oh please, most people right now are NOT thinking about the 2012 election. They are thinking about the horrible economy and a world that is falling apart. Talk to me in January 2012 about who the “front runner” in the Republican Party. And even then it won’t really matter until about March of 2012, when at least a few of the primaries have been held. Remember, Mike Huckabee was the shoe-in after Iowa. And how did that turn out for us?
Does the term “sabotage” mean anything to you? Because that’s what Fred Thompson did. The man never seriously wanted to be President, nor was he really a contender, but he did campaign just hard enough to keep Huckabee from winning South Carolina, which ultimately handed McCain the nomination.
Exactly what happened. You are the first person I have ever seen say it in public. Thank you. Fred Thompson and McCain had the fix in from the beginning.
What bothers me is I have never been able to decide if McCain was just going through the motions and this clown was supposed to take the downturn so the big boys could shove it to us all big time under the guise of a Manchurian Socialist made us do it. Anyone else notice that the final straw on our liberty as well as any chance of disposable income for the average American is that ObamaCare and these Republican establishment traitors never seem to actually care much about actually defunding it or repealing it. I think we are looking at two heads of the same Totalitarians just waiting for one more crisis to kick the last prop out from under our Constitutional rights.
And I am sure glad Fred did that. Huckabee is a pro life liberal and he supports the unfair fair tax, another nightmare we would be foolish to adopt.
You obviously don’t understand the Fair Tax, or you don’t understand basic economics and the foundations of liberty.
There is NO reform of our income tax system that can fix it. No matter what you do to it, an income tax of any kind retains the fundamental flaw of giving Big Brother the right to know every detail of our economic lives.
This is raw power handed to the government.
A sales tax does not. A retail sales tax is the ONLY tax that is completely anonymous, and no other form of tax is so much under the control of the taxed persons. All other forms of taxation put ALL of the control in the hands of government.
Like Huckabee wouldn’t have been an abject disaster. He isn’t Tea Party.
Thompson Sawyer and Huckabee Finn?
A “front runner” at this point could only be someone whom the media had anointed the “front runner,” whether because of opinion polls or from sheer editorial caprice.
I’ve long been of the opinion that presidential campaigns start far too early. The essay above seems to express the contrary opinion. If Mr. Steinberg is correct, then whoever emerges on the Right won’t have enough time left before November 2012 to persuade the electorate of his quality. If I’m correct, the eventual nominee will have the gratitude of the electorate for not wearing them down with a twenty-month campaign. We shall see.
Guess I’m weird. I think about the 2012 election literally every day, and pray we make a better choice next time than we did last time.
“The GOP Race is Underway.” Don’t worry” Guess what I’m worried. Move over Rove, get out of the way Newt. Sick of you guys. You fall into the catagory of “Old Bulls” for me. Load all the “Old Bulls’ in congess and senate up and take them with you and dissapear. Oh, RNC, forget it, you don’t represent me any more. As a long time Repub, your poor leadership and political correctness has done me in. I am going to find a new home and it ain’t with the two party system. Reach across the aisle indeed.
Handed it to the opposition on a siver plate. Old politicians die in office, they are never defeated at the polls. Color me dubious.
“The GOP Race is Underway.” Don’t worry” Guess what I’m worried. Move over Rove, get out of the way Newt. Sick of you guys. You fall into the catagory of “Old Bulls” for me. Load all the “Old Bulls’ in congess and senate up and take them with you and dissapear. Oh, RNC, forget it, you don’t represent me any more. As a long time Repub, your poor leadership and political correctness has done me in. I am going to find a new home and it ain’t with the two party system. Reach across the aisle indeed.
Handed it to the opposition on a siver plate. Old politicians die in office, they are never defeated at the polls. Color me dubious.
Rove makes me sick!! I liked George W. Bush when he was President, and wish he still was; however, Rove thinks he has all the answers since his days with Bush…who gives him the expertise of who is qualified for PresidenT? I do hope he never runs!
Mr Bush kept Mr Rove on for at least seven more years after Mr Rove replaced Colon Powell as the perfect pick for the Peter Principle’s permanent poster person. End result of Mr Bush’s misplaced loyalty was that Mr Bush’s presidency was limited by Rove’s lack of ability.
Ever occur to any of us that but for FoxNews, with its self-imposed fairness doctrine-like ‘fair and balanced’ BS format, none of the RINO establishment’s no-talents and/or has-beens (Huckabee and Newt Gingrich and Dana Perino also spring to mind) or many other way past their use-by date RINOS would ever see the light of day? Fox parades these jokers as if they’re the “republicans’ it wants the world to see.
While 90% of his hires and of Mr Murdoch’s papers and TV stations have backed the Left as long as I’ve known him — and that’s only about 60 years, back when his entire media “empire” comprised Australia’s ‘Adelaide Advertiser.’
Good stuff. Rove is a lightweight. Two squeakers against Dem losers makes for an “evil genius”? Only in the opinion of the losing side. Pudgy frat boy says good-bye.
The problem is they need us (Tea Party) and we need them (GOP)… What scares me is that will they back the person that is selected by the people… A Tea Party candidate or just one of theirs.. and will we do the same… Obama has to go along with the Democratic controlled Senate..
Donald Trump had better be embraced by the GOP fast before he runs as an Independent or Liberterian. The dirty laundry is sterilized, the financial issues have been over come and then some, and the name recognition and money is an already won battle. There is your front runner. The guy is classless but I am telling you, he shoots straight and doesnt manipulate in the way this article suggests. Few man on the street types will admit moving positions and triangulation. Extremists will deny it. Rove had his time, he couldn’t get never beaten Mike Castle (R-DE) out of the primaries with Christine O’ Donnell and we ended up with taxman Chris Coons in the Senate.
Trump is the star here and it is a mistake to underestimate him.
Oh, all that and he’s a complete idiot, too.
I can understand Romney fans, I can understand Palin fans, I can understand why any of the possible candidates has fans.
Except Trump.
What in the world makes anybody think Donald Trump is Presidential material?????
Are people really so stupid that they think all it takes is some business skill?
You said:
“Oh, all that and he’s a complete idiot, too.”
A billionaire is stupid? What are you then? A rock?
Trump is not a billionaire. Not even close. His ego is the only large thing he has.
His father left him a huge cash machine (1,000′s of paid off apatment units around NYC) that were throwing off large net cash flows.
Trump did very well on a few early projects back in the early 80′s but then his ego got in the way (casinos and some other really bad deals) and he now is reduced to earning a living by hosting moronic reality TV shows and leasing his NAME to groups of Hong Kong real estate developers who believe that having the Trump name on their building will allow them to charge a huge premium to buyers and tenants.
He’s worth $2 billion:
http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-businessmen/richest-billionaires/donald-trump-net-worth/
get your facts straight before you blog; besides, no Hong Kong businessman would buy a “stupid” guy’s name to sell real estate.
Trump, like Berlusconi of Italy and the rightwing parties there, may be more qualified than any other current pathetic potential nominee of the GOP.
I don’t know if anyone knows anything about Trump, but historically, the public has not supported very many business people moving into politics. I believe he is a high risk for conservatives.
No offense but have you ever listened to Ted Turner as far as clueless billionaires. Sometimes with daddies money and a little luck and timing you can go a long way. Both Trump and Turner had very successful fathers that tossed them the ball. Not saying it is easy to roll the ball to a billion, just saying that Trump doesn’t strike me as much more than a very rich and very good self promoter. This is a crisis time and we need real guts, not someone more interested in hyping his next television series or book, you hear me Newt?
Trump ain’t Turner in more ways than one.
As long as the Donald is honest about his background, shoots straight with the American voters, espouses pro-American principles, focuses on his lifetime of competancy and achievement, and demonstrates an allegiance to the Constituion, he should have a good chance to win the presidency….oh wait.
There is absolutely no way Trump can explain his personal/corporate bankruptcies to the public in a way that can make him look like he has a sharp business acumen. Heck, those bankruptcies could make Trump look like he was gaming the system, and he has no way around that.
Nothing he did was illegal.
And yes, many Americans have filed for bankruptcy – they have even lost their homes to banks. They would understand how the game is played in a capitalist setting.
Now, if you don’t like capitalism, then …
“Nothing he did was illegal”
That is always a poor lead in to an argument defending someone’s character
APPLAUSE!!!!
They don’t know it because they despise the Constitution. It is not relevant to them, except when it gets in their way. They are elitists, pure and simple. They are the Rockefeller Republicans, and they are just about everything the left says they are – lapdogs of big business, in it only for the money and the power. They disdain the real people of America – we exist only to serve and enrich them.
They are as much the enemies of liberty as the hard corp leftists.
These guys don’t “hate” the US Constitution. They have no idea what it says, or means. In their world it is irrelevant. You can’t hate something that is ‘irrelevant.’
Please look up the word, “despise”. It is not synonymous with “hate”.
Rove is Old Guard. Follow his advice, and the Dems will win. Whoever the Republicans choose to run must have a true Conservative message, articulate it, stick to it, and do not waver from it. If the Dems start making all sorts of wild accusations, they’ve hit the nerve, and need to step on it, repeatedly. Center-right? How different is that from center-left? Not much. What is needed is a true conservative alternative to the weasel-words and squishy trying to be all to everyone. The talking heads have already conceded the election, and the race hasn’t truly started yet. the pundits and “intelligentsia” suffer from the paralysis of analysis, to the point where they can’t see the forest for the trees. What is needed is someone who can communicate true conservative principles in a clear, articulate way, (like Reagan did), and project the optimism that true conservatism is. The American people aren’t stupid, they just need a clear choice. Rove and his ilk can never and will never provide it, let alone allow it, if they are allowed to run things.
I’m confident that the issues will drive the 2012 election. The overwhelming majority of Americans know what needs to be done in Washington, far better than those now in power (Tea Partiers excepted).
The successful candidate will present common-sense solutions to the electorate clearly and repeatedly, bypassing the MSM when possible and standing up to them when necessary. We want a strong, committed candidate with his or her head screwed on straight, much like Col. West.
Plain, truthful talk combined with the traditional American “can do” attitude will win. Unfortunately, I don’t see Carl Rove in that equation.
Americans want a strong American president who values the country, common sense and clear solutions to our problems. One who is willing to put the country and its people above politics. The squishy middle will follow this candidate, that’s why they’re in the middle in the first place. Instead of trying to court their natural indecision in vague platitudes, just plainly state the truth to them, they’ll follow right along.
It’s what they do.
If Republican leaders were indeed in the ruling class, we’d find them ruling a bit more, as opposed to falling for every Democratic trick. They often seem to be part of the get along until retirement class.
We will pick our candidates thank you. We aren’t going to have Rove or the GOP pick our President. Of course he will stomp his feet and say, how dare they, the little people not listen to my brilliant genius. Their candidate can’t win! Go away Rove. We’re sick of you.
“We want John Doe, the vessel of Constitutional originalism, who understands natural rights are the way of nature and not the Founders’ trendy theory, and that natural rights are most threatened now by a weak border, Islamism and Communism, and — above all — the biggest government to ever exist, and that’s what he’s going to spend the next four years working on, and eight if we so honor him.
We’re begging for truth, not Rovian theory. Be American, or keep diddling and lose the West.”
Thank you. This is wonderful.
Our problems have been a long time coming, and won’t be quickly solved. Rasmussen polls of attitudes/stances on issues between ‘the political class’, ie, the beltway elite, and the American people are shocking, but enlightening. This is not about Dems vs Reps. There must be some correlation between the length of time a politician stays in Washington and his disconnect with the people.
Lobbyists have for decades controlled the entire government body. How do you turn that around? The internet may be the big tool needed to clean up the corruption, as citizen journalists are increasingly shedding light on specific instances, and Americans increasingly get their news from online. Politicians can no longer hide behind the old media’s wall of silence. Cronyism knows no party; it’s the enemy of the people, and has contributed to the fiscal pit we are in. The RINOs are just political hacks intent on power.
Like all entrenched bureaucrats from public schools to Washington, entrenched politicians cannot fathom that the internet age has changed the landscape. In the elections of 2010 people donated directly to individual campaigns and bypassed the RNC. If blue dog Democrats with integrity are to survive, democrat citizens who aren’t far left politically need to bypass the DNC as well. Rent-seekers of all stripes must be de-funded, be they corporations, local government bureaucrats, labor unions, or NGO’s. With thousands of them in state and national backrooms, it’s going to be a big undertaking.
How about a strategy of articulating straightforward policy distinctions ? If contortions and nuance are needed to express fundamental ideas aren’t they then compromised ?
So long as getting re-elected is the end game election campaigns and governance will be driven by an “any means necessary” willingness to sell out the principle.
Everyone here needs to get on the Mitch Daniels bandwagon. It may take that kind of effort to get Daniels to run. I won’t say that he is our only hope to unseat Obama, but he IS our best!
I promise that once you get to know him, you will LIKE him.
The main problem is that Daniels hates politics, almost on a Shermanesque level. But, this is what we need right now, a non-politician in the Oval Office. It will be up to folks like us to put him there. Remember, we get the leaders we deserve…
Lost, “and not the founders trendy theory”, uh?
In any case, forget the usual faces, the bland who quiver in fear before the media, the Republican candidates apologetic for being what they are, who stumble and stutter at the hectoring of the stupid pimps for diseased leftism, our lepers, the media. That kind of party and problem goes back to Everett Dirksen’s passionate speech against liberal, East Coast kingmakers, and that was 1952.
The campaign, among other things assuredly, must be against that media, in subtle but direct ways. Palin right now could essay that role, they may be others.
But moderate GOP zombies left over from funeral parlors don’t.
The continued pussyfooting, dillydallying and “strategizing” on Capitol Hill are beyond insane.
Either Congressional Republicans grow a pair (many pair) and do everything in their power to stop the Obama administration on all fronts (particularly the spending front) or we go to a new American Revolution. Whenever the government becomes destructive of the ends for which it was created (and that destruction has been apparent for decades),it is the absolute right of the people to alter or abolish it.
I like listening to Rove and he is an extraordinary wonk when it comes to statistical charts, but the dance is getting very old.
Enough already. My ticket ? Mitch Daniels & Sarah Palin
All you need to know, summed up in 3 neat and tidy observations
Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.
~Thomas Jefferson
The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants.
~Albert Camus
Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.
~Mark Twain
What we desparately need is a MARGARET THACHER man or women. One who is firmly conservative and sticks to their convictions. This is NO time for a blowing in the wind POLITICIAN holding up the finger to test the way the wind is. The strongest leader we can find will do…. and we’ll know it when we see it. All we have to do now is HANG in there !
Yes, a Real Man. Remember the book written during Thatcher’s term that called her a real man. Dumbo is a blow up doll.
Now, now… listen to Winston Churchill: “It’s not only the good boys who help to win wars. It is the sneaks and stinkers as well.”
Rove is not a rock-ribbed conservative, classical Liberal or Libertarian, but he has his uses.
Hear! Hear! Read Sarah Palin’s GOING ROGUE for an inside view. The Rovian old guard RINO elite has already anointed Romney as the heir apparent–that won’t fly in 2012. Had Huckabee been the nominee in 2008 he would have won. Palin kept the Dems from winning by a landslide. In 2012 the GOP nominee will be Huckabee or Obama will continue his administration. Please read Huckabee’s books starting with his latest –A SIMPLE GOVERNMENT. We need this man in the White House. Pray that he decides to run in 2012.
Jeannie, Huckabee is never going to be President. You need to move on. See my post above.
What we need is a non-politician (is that a word?). Politics got us here and politics ruined our country. We need a constitutionalist and a businessman. Remember when presidents weren’t the evening news EVERY NIGHT! Those are the days I want to return to; where we put someone in place that constantly does his/her best for this country and avoids cameras like the plague. Someone please tell Fox News that we are tired of political analysts and washed up politicians taking a worthless poll every other day to try and support their theories. As for the rest of the media, we don’t listen to them anyway so they should just keep beating their gums if they want to.
How old are you? are you 13 y.o.? Really.
Human beings deal with politic matters always, we better get good politicians, for a change. The recipe for a good politician is already written here:
Voice your position, your beliefs and the public is to decide if they stand with you or not.
Good politician existed, exists.
One word…IKE..non-politician, i.e., not a professional politician like the big O who spends his entire life campaigning. Yes, we need another IKE.
How can there be a frontrunner when no one has really announced yet? Considering how frontrunners get picked off, no one wants to be one, yet.
SJR
The Pink Flamingo
Im DONE with voting for lesser of 2 evils. I will NOT vote for another GOP old schooler(huck, Rom, newt, ect), which is just another “me” and big govt type. If the GOP dosnt get a real candidate then i will vote straight GOP(some hope for state govts) for everything BUT pres. For pres i shall vote either 3rd party or not at all. If this means our current wuss in chief stays in power…so be it, we get what we as Americans then deserve.
We are at a cross roads, voting lesser of 2 evils is NO longer an option, its all in people. We either go “less gov” or the progressive route…or all hell breaks loose, not sure which.
We need someone like:
http://hermancain.com/
Like it or not, Herman Cain has no chance. Not in this election cycle, anyway.
He has pretty close to ZERO name recognition, and that kills him, regardless of how good he might be.
Touting some complete unknown like Herman Cain is the same mentality that keeps the Libertarian and Constitution parties in the category of mildly amusing, but irrelevant, sideshows.
You don’t win the Oval Office by running an outstanding candidate that nobody outside of your circle has ever heard of.
First: BHO was not that well known, more so than cain, but still 2 yrs before elections he was almost a nobody, so cain does have a chance.
Second: i voted for mccain, but will NOT vote for some GOP egg head again, we MUST get someone outside the normal. If people dont start trumpeting candidates like Cain then we are toast, cause i believe this time around many more people are like me and will not vote for the lesser of 2 evils. Which means Huck, rom, ect(with “name” recognition) have no chance either. If that means more Hussain then so be it, its what the country deserves then. More of the same ol’ GOP is NOT going to help.
I am not a libertarian, i was a very unhappy GOPer until the TEA party came along.
Just my 2c, we MUST have a healthy and robust GOP primary with many people like Cain..heck even Donald..let them mix it up. To say someone doesnt have “name” recognition this early in the game i find to be silly. Both B.clinton and Hussain were almost unknowns at this stage, so let the best man step up.
I’m hoping that we can shave another billion or two off the deficit.
After all, good intentions are the most important thing.
And if the Republicans REALLY get bold, maybe one of them will ask Dear Leader if he will please hold down the Black Panthers at the polls next election to maybe 3 or 4 per polling place.
HA! great article. gotta love the reference to overhead squats and link to crossfit. surprise that crossfiters are generally more conservative? i don’t think so…
Two things:
No one has been able to convince otherwise; that GW won in 2004 in spite of Rove, not because of him.
At this point in 1991 had anyone even heard of Bill Clinton?
Yes, you are correct. But the media made both the Slick One and Dumbo. Can the conservative media make an unknow into great candidate against the MSM doing everything it can to destroy our candidate? That is why name recognition is very important for us, much more so than for libs.
I’m fan of this girl:
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=213043
Palin is the only one. She has more cajones than the rest of the field put together and the Progressive/Communist/Democrats know it if we don’t. That is why they have been savaging her and her family since the first time they saw her. They know who can galvinize a nation along conservative principles. It is kind of strange that we keep quaking in our boots about Sarah Palin running as our candidate and then make a point about talking about the RINOs can’t seem to understand we want change. If you want change you are going to have to fight for it. Anyone else out there fighting for the Constitutional principals we claim we want more than Sarah Palin? I don’t think so. Wake up they want us to equivicate over this choice. They know if it is her, Obama is done in one.
Sorry guys, Palin isn’t the one. Most agree she’s an electoral risk, or counter that conservative enthusiasm is more important. But elections are fought and won in the middle. And what has she really got to recommend her over other candidates other than she’d be the most fun to go hunting with? Greater experience? No. Greater mastery of the issues, domestic and foreign? No. Greater proven conservative leadership? No. Ability to generate media attention by saying whatever is calculated to most piss off the mass media liberals, without caring that she sounds like a crackpot to anyone who isn’t already a true believer? Check. But I don’t know if that’s a good thing. Politics is a game of addition, not division. Reagan appealed to the great middle, his support grew and grew with time. Palin’s appeal has shrunk and shrunk from its peak in 2008, to the point where she no longer has strong positive numbers even among Republicans. She can divide and garner strong support, but that is not an attribute of winning candidates.
What really gets me about Palin is how much she reminds of Obama in her choice to use celebrity and division/appeal to base instead of competence and wide appeal. But Obama is far better (interested?) in lying to the middle.
Just a quick list, from most conservative to least conservative:
Palin- discussed above
Newt- also problematic, plus supports global-warming hoax
Pawlenty- holds all the conservative positions, with a record of working towards them in his state with significant success
Daniels- not a social con
Barbour- dangerous isolationist, or liar who says stuff just to get attention
Romney- healthcare, nothing else need be said
Huckabee- only cares about social issues
Huntsman- worked for Obama, as liberal as you can be in Utah and win
I think that covers everyone who might run. Tell me why Pawlenty is boring? I think people just say that cause they realize he is the biggest threat to their favorite candidate. The lack of substantive criticism should be a clue that he deserves more attention. And anyway, the middle always casts hold-the-nose votes, not excited votes.
Also, I’m disappointed he didn’t get a post about his announcement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B8BKJV6Xyg
If that doesn’t give you at least a little tingle, I may question your conservatism. Politics junkies may think its “too slick”, but there’s a reason it looks like other good political ads- they’re the ones that work…
As to not getting into the race… I wish they would, but the expectation game is what it is. From a candidate’s perspective: You think you are the best candidate, so the right thing to do for the country is to win the nomination, not come out when someone else wants you to. Plus I like the fact that the delayed start is saving conservatives’ money for the general, rather than burning it up against each other.
T-Paw? The Cap-n-Tax guy? The guy who let the clown be elected Senator with fraudulent ACORN votes? The guv of one of the most liberal states in the Union? Twice elected there, AAMOF? The guy with an excitement level registering about zero on the “staying-awake-while-he’s-speaking” scale?
Are you kidding?
You can certinly do better than that. Even dead-fish Daniels will do better, I’m sure.
How can you honestly say Huckabee cares only about social issues? Have you not heard his strong pitch for the Fair Tax Bill? What about the lead role he’s taking in the petition to overturn Obamacare?
This is absolutely the best column I’ve ever read on this site.
I voted for Bob Barr in 2008 because McShamnesty was nothing but liberal-lite and Barry Soetoro was a no-go simply for being a Democrat. I have not sent one thin dime to the GOP since 2004 and in 2012, if the GOP puts up a Pawlenty or a McLame clone instead of, say, a LtCol Allen West, then I’ll once again stick with my principles and vote for the Conservative inj the race, win or lose.
NO MORE RULING CLASS.
yes sir!! I posted earlier that more people will NOT vote the lesser of 2 evils next time around. I wont(i always have in the past, was so close to voting for Barr, regret it this day, will not compromise my principles again)! No more GOP regular big gov types! Period! No to Huck, Pawl, newt, rom, ect..
The GOP better get it thru its think heads if they want a chance..more and more of us will no longer vote GOP just to make sure the DEMs dont win…and without those votes the GOP wont win again!
If this means Barry Hussain gets reelected then so be it and its what America deserves then…..
Who scares all the long term political insiders? Who do both Democrat and Republican talking heads go out of their way to critisize? Who effortlessly dominates the political conversation by coining phrases like “Death Panels”? Who is padding their foreign policy cridentials even now? The Old bulls are going to be eaten by the Grizzly of the North, and subconsiously they all know it.
The Grizzly would likely say: “There’s a place for all the Old bulls, right next to the mashed potatos”
I couldn’t agree more. She terrifies them and boy do they need to be driven from the temple.
“We want statesmen, not Miramax thugging around for Best Picture. We truly don’t concern ourselves with who you are, your face, your alliances, what state you were raised in. We don’t care about your name. Seriously — don’t even tell us your name. We want John Doe, the vessel of Constitutional originalism, who understands natural rights are the way of nature and not the Founders’ trendy theory, and that natural rights are most threatened now by a weak border, Islamism and Communism, and — above all — the biggest government to ever exist, and that’s what he’s going to spend the next four years working on, and eight if we so honor him.”
a thousand times YES!
this article should be required reading for all politicians
Sarah Palin said it right “Republicans have the fighting instinct of sheep, sometimes.” I agree with everything but the “sometimes”. Remember how hard they fought against Obama, as I recall everyone of them except Palin were campaigning for Obama. We don’t need king makers we need a honest to God American for a change. If that person is controversial so be it.
Thank you for this piece
Watched Pawlenty on Fox, never heard of him before. He struck me as a typical elito, pretending to do/be something for the people. I wouldn’t trust him with a 10 millimeter pole.
Really? I watched him on Hannity too because one of my friends–probably one of the smarter people I have ever met–is a Pawlenty supporter. I wanted to see what Pawlenty is about. I was favorably impressed even though Sean asked him a pretty dumb bunch of questions. I don’t know where you get the “elito” thing from. He mentioned that he comes from a working class family and that his father was a meat packer. Seems like a salt-of-the-earth type background, not elite. My conclusion? “Definitely bears watching; want to learn more.”
The Republicans must beat the bushes to find a candidate that is not far, far right. I don’t think a middle right country will accept and vote for most of the people now considering a run. I think the campaigns should focus on financial and foreign relations rather than on the social issues so dear to the far right hearts.
That’s exactly what the left wants you to think.
Does the Left eschew the Social issues? Are they not the ones bringing it up? Are they not the ones who constantly try to make gay-marriage legal, failing 35 times straight? Was it someone on the Right who said we just go back to before the compromise and abolish homosexuality completely in the military? Or rather, was it someone on the Left who decided to abolish DADT, and legalize homosexuality in the military? Quit blaming the Right for bringing up these issues. We did not start this fight. Abortion and homosexuality were always illegal before the Left changed things.
What you are saying is that the Right should just capitulate to the Left on these issues. You are thus saying that you agree with the Left on these issues. “Oh, no. I do not care either way.” So, because you do not care, we should not either. Are we not allowed to care about things and pursue what we think is right, or can we only pursue the things YOU care about. What if the other guy cares about even less than you? Do your concerns get sidelined? If he says he does not care about fiscal concerns, should you then be called upon to forget about them?
You are a fool. You only care about what you care about, not what I care about. To you, I should have no voice, unless it supports your narrow concerns. I am so sick of people like you telling me to shut up, because you don’t care or are plain ignorant.
Will it kill you if we made abortion illegal again, or at least relegated it to the States where it belongs? Will it change your life one bit if gay-marriage were still not sanctioned by the government? What will it hurt you if DADT stayed the rule in the military?
If you do not care about these things, then you can get our support for the things you do care about by throwing us these free bones. This is a no-brainer for you, but you won’t even think about it, so selfish and apathetic are you.
You say you don’t care. Okay. I ask, “What do you care, then?” Let us have our way. It’s not like you care one way or the other. Or do you?
Allen West is the man we need. He is a LEADER.
Rove can kiss my grits.
rove -> architect of bush -> architect of obama.
enough said.
We just went thru reorganization of precincts for the GOP in my state, the turn out was DISMAL, the old guard showed up like they always have, and always do. Don’t like what the GOP is doing… stop bitching and GET TO WORK. I know how the Communists took over the Democrat Party, and why the OLD guard runs the GOP… because people do not care enough to DO SOMETHING about it. Find out how to become a delegate at your county convention, then your state convention… how about attending a city council meeting, or a county council meeting to see local ‘kings and queens’ spending your money like it was their personal slush fund of money. All politics is local, the good old boys are GROOMED at the local level… they get the IDEA of being privileged ruling class right there… and it is TIME TO rearrange their thinking…. BEFORE they go to Washington. Folks we are in danger of losing our Republic… if the American people don’t WAKE UP and STAY awake. Frankly, I will vote for ANYONE running against Obama, and I will send money to ANYONE running against a Democrat Senator! We must take the White House and the Senate and KEEP the house in 2012… or we are DOOMED!
Elaine, I appreciate your calls to action, to get involved to avoid losing this Republic.
Let me say though, I’m afraid we’ve already lost it. The deathmarch of this Republic started in the 1960s and the final nail in the coffin was put on 11/04/08.
We have a kenyan/indonesian fraud occupying the Oval Office, and nobody is willing to do or doing anything about it. What more do you want to show you that all is lost, the Constitution is dead, it’s everyone for him/herself now.
really cool!
Yeah, Carl. Republican hacks and big shot sell-outs like you are trying to figure out whose turn it is in the party hierarchy. The most important considerations–proper party protocol and not offending the New York Times.