July 30, 2008

And she's a Mitt groupie

Kathryn Jean Lopez has a great article on National Review Online about Gov. Sarah Palin. Let's just say I like the way it started out:

John McCain could save lives with his vice-presidential pick.

“I’m looking at him right now, and I see perfection. Yeah, he has an extra chromosome. I keep thinking, in our world, what is normal and what is perfect?”

That’s Alaska’s Republican governor, Sarah Palin, talking about her infant son, Trig, born with Down Syndrome. When Todd and Sarah Palin learned last December that their baby would have Down Syndrome, they not only saved a life but made a decision that would touch the lives of families living with similar gifts across the country.
This is a good plug, but I've almost come to the conclusion that having her as vice president would be a lost cause.  It might help McCain get elected, but I would rather her run on her own merits in 2012, regardless of who wins in November. 

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July 29, 2008

It's not a truck, it's a series of indictments

Senator Ted Stevens may be about to see a new series of tubes, mostly heavy vertical ones made of steel, and, uh, hopefully not any attached to other prisoners.  He's being indicted for not disclosing thousands of dollars of work a company did on his home.  VECO Corporation is a oil contractor that gave Sen. Stevens $250K in gifts, mostly in the form of home improvements.  Stevens will be allowed to turn himself in, oh, so sorry Nutroots, no frogmarch for you! 


Obligatory

Of course, this signals the importance of finding good conservative candidates, like what Vintage is doing at Down the Ticket, and the need to have replacements waiting in the wings.  There's no need for corrupt people like Ted Stevens and Don Young (who is facing similar accusations and may also face charges) to be in office. 

Thankfully, Sean Parnell is running for Young's seat, but to my knowledge there is no conservative running for the seat Stevens occupies, and it may have just become a mulligan for the Democrats.  There's no need for that to happen. 

Update: Here might be something, Cranky at Six Meat Buffet has a possible alternative, I haven't had the chance to check this guy out, but let us know in comments what you find. 

The conservative movement needs to become better at seeking out and supporting conservative candidates and looking for potential talents to replace RINOs in conservative districts and to promote potential replacements for corrupt politicians like Ted Stevens.  This is why efforts like The Next Right and Down the Ticket are important to promote and support.

Oh, and good riddance Ted, you corrupt tool!  Pretty much how I'm feeling about all this here.

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July 28, 2008

McCain tax positon takes on some nuance

My, how times change.  When people float the idea of a Mitt Romney vice presidency, my first thought is "how are we going to hit Obama for changing his position out of political expediency with Mitt Romney on the ticket?"  Well, we might as well put him there now, since McCain's already invalidating that attack point for us.  Here he is in March 2007:

Ponnuru: If you could get the Democrats to agree, or at least to come to the table on entitlements or on tax simplification, are those circumstances under which you’d be willing to accept a tax increase?

Sen. McCain: No; no.
And here he is yesterday on This Week with George Stephanopoulos:
STEPHANOPOULOS: So, that means payroll tax increases are on the table, as well?

MCCAIN: There is nothing that's off the table. I have my positions, and I'll articulate them. But nothing's off the table.

I don't want tax increases. Of course I'd like to have young Americans have some of their money put into an account with their name on it. But that doesn't mean that anything is off the table...

It's amazing how "straight talk" got a little more fuzzy after Maverick won the nomination.  I think this is, along with his attack on the free market, the clearest sign yet that he is more interested in wooing moderates than conservatives.  VP Charlie Crist, here we come!

(The only thing I like about this is that Ramesh Ponnuru, one of the earliest and loudest McCain supporters at National Review was the one who wrote the post noting this flip-flop at The Corner.  I hope he appreciates what he helped to make possible.)

***Thanks for the link, Ace!  Everyone make sure to check out the rest of the good stuff we've got here at doubleplusundead!

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The latest bit of Mavericky badness

I'd started to move into the maybe possibly vote for McCain column in recent days, but I'm back in the it'll be a cold day in Hell before I vote for McCain column.  How the hell did we get to the point where we have such unbelievably and unforgivably poor candidates?

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July 25, 2008

Don Young delivers

...some EPIC FAIL

What did our corrupt pork fiend do this time?  Don Young has been running an ad claiming that he has the endorsement of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a group that attacks wasteful government spending.  Young even boasts in the ad that he received an award from them.  Indeed, Don Young did receive an "award" from Taxpayers for Common Sense, their Golden Fleece Award, which is granted to those who are extraordinarily wasteful spenders, for Young's infamous Bridge to Nowhere pork project.  I think it's safe to say, Taxpayers for Common Sense didn't endorse Don Young, nor will they.

Soren Dayton makes note of Young's opponent Sean Parnell. Vintage has boosted him here in the past, so it's my turn.  If you've got a little spare change to throw Sean Parnell's way, his campaign is also a worthy cause for conservatives to consider supporting.

(h/t CB, who has a good post on a big lapse in judgment from Haley Barbour)

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 05:08 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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July 24, 2008

A little unsolicited advice for the McCain campaign and GOP leadership

John, this series of, for lack of a better term, Obama-esque posters on your site aren't going to be effective.  Some of them aren't too bad, but most of them are really obvious, lame attempts to borrow from Obama's art style.

No, I'm not gonna host all of them, you're just gonna have to click through,

Poster 1.
Poster 2.
Poster 3.
Poster 4.
Poster 5.
Poster 6.
Poster 7.
Poster 8.
Poster 9.
Poster 10.


Something that the GOP leadership (not just McCain) desperately needs to learn of late is that politics is a proactive game.  2006 and 2008 have both been years where the GOP leadership have run reactively, 2006 was a disaster, and 2008 isn't looking like a good year either.

We can see the GOP campaigning reactively in their ads in a series of lame attempts to co-opt Barack Obama's message and now his campaign art style.  This isn't going to work.  First it was the pitiful, embarrassing frankly, effort to co-opt the Hope 'n' Change message of Our Lord and Savior, most noticeably (and pitifully) by Mitt Romney.   Now we see this lame attempt by the McCain campaign to co-opt Obama's creepy Soviet/Big Brother/They Live propaganda type art style.  Look guys, trying to copy someone else's brand isn't going to work, at best, you're going to be Malt-O-Meal to Obama's General Mills, Kellogg's or Post. 

There are plenty of no-brainer initiatives the GOP can either pass, or if the Democrats shut them down, bludgeon the opposition with to generate some buzz.  "Speaker Pelosi!" didn't work in 2006, and President Obama!" isn't going to work in 2008.  The GOP can't run on their past record because the GOPs record from then is abysmal, but they may save themselves from an electoral bloodbath if they attempt to make one, starting now.  These efforts to co-opt Obama's campaign style are pathetic, embarrassing and I'd even say lazy.   You guys are better than this, aren't you?

Update:  These posters were part of a contest.  However, my broader point stands, the GOP cannot fall into the trap of trying to copy the Obama campaign, and some of these posters wade into that territory.  Also, looks like the Congressional GOP may finally be getting the point about being proactive.

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July 22, 2008

Uh-oh. Is it Pawlenty?

McCain today in New Hampshire:

It's VP tea leaf reading season, and a Republican source who attended a small private meeting with John McCain Tuesday in New Hampshire tells CNN that the GOP candidate dropped a serious hint about Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.

The Republican source said "out of the blue" McCain told the gathering that he thinks they are "really going to like" Pawlenty.

Yeah.  I bet they'll really like him

(h/t)

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July 21, 2008

Goodbye and Good Riddance, Jim Walsh.

Rep. Jim Walsh of New York is one of the many  House Republicans retiring in the fall.  However, he decided that he'd retire his loyalty and common sense before then:

Retiring politicians who need to disburse their campaign treasuries are good people to know. Apparently, that holds true even if the guy is in the other party. Outgoing Rep. Jim Walsh (R-N.Y.) cut his fellow New Yorker Edolphus Towns, a Democrat, a $1,000 check in May.

Walsh couldn’t be reached immediately, but that’s more than he’s given to at lest 20 Republicans in tight races, including fellow New Yorker Randy Kuhl.

Rep. Towns represents Brooklyn and is in a D+41 district.  Even if he didn't want to give to a fellow Republican, he could have given to a Democrat who was actually in trouble.  This is just a waste of money. 

I'd like to say this is completely unbelievable behavior, but I'm actually not that surprised.  To people like Walsh, it's about status, not adherence to any principles.

Update: Whoops!  I forgot that Rep. Towns was one of those Dems facing a purge for not supporting the Obamessiah early enough.  good thing he's got Jim behind him now.

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July 17, 2008

McCain's campaign manager lobbied for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?

It seems that Rick Davis is one of many lobbyists who have benifited from the over $200 million the government-chartered mortgage brokers have spread around K Street over the past decade:

They’ve stacked their payrolls with top Washington power brokers of all political stripes, including Republican John McCain’s presidential campaign manager, Rick Davis; Democrat Barack Obama’s original vice presidential vetter, Jim Johnson; and scores of others now working for the two rivals for the White House.

Fannie and Freddie’s aggressive political maneuvering has helped stave off increased regulation and preserve special benefits such as exemption from state and local income taxes and the ability to borrow at low rates.
In light of this information, Rick Davis' transition to a more general role on the campaign on July 2 makes much more sense.  The reason given then by many was that under Davis' leadership, the campaign had no unifying theme.  The catch with that explanation is that it's hard to have a campaign center around a philosophy when the only guiding principle the candidate has is being a mavericky maverick.  With the mortgage giants crumbling, Davis needed to be shepherded away to a less prominent position, like that of VP vetter Arthur Culvahouse, Jr., who also worked for the companies. 

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July 16, 2008

Iran Wins Another One

Ugh.

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July 14, 2008

Why am I not surprised?

If you weren't already absolutely sure that our Governator was a total RINO, peep this:

Governor Schwarzenegger of California may have endorsed Senator McCain for president, but he is signaling that he may be willing to serve in the Cabinet of a President Obama. Appearing on ABC's "This Week" yesterday, the Republican governor was asked if he would accept an offer from Mr. Obama to be an energy or environmental czar in his administration. "I'm always ready to help in any way I can the United States," Mr. Schwarzenegger said. Although he supports Mr. McCain, he said he would take Mr. Obama's call "now, and I'd take his call when he's president, anytime."
Well, isn't that special? Don't let the door hit your muscley ass on the way out.

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July 13, 2008

The McCain campaign talks about La Raza

Captain Ed has the info here

How convenient that the scheduled the conference call on a Sunday, when no one would be paying attention.  But then again, what better day to talk about God's children?

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July 11, 2008

Oh, this should be rich

The RNC is asking for input on what the Republican Party platform should be, and are allowing people to sign up and offer suggestions.  As pissed off as the base is at the GOP right now, this could get interesting, and that's not even taking nutroot trolls and Ronbots into account.  God help the fools.

(h/t)

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July 09, 2008

The Senate GOP decides against drilling in ANWR, ever winning back a majority

This is truly pathetic, even by Senate GOP standards:

Senate Republicans have dropped the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from their energy policy discussions, focusing instead on persuading Democrats to lift a moratorium on offshore drilling.

[...]

The decision to drop the ANWR proposal comes as both the House and the Senate are considering legislation intended to respond to the rising cost of gasoline. The two chambers are considering a number of different proposals, including legislation that would clamp down on speculation in the oil commodities markets, which is suspected of forcing prices upward for consumers.

It's nice that they've decided to support Sen. McCain, but should they support him over the wishes of their constituents.

Exit question: Does anyone else find it ironic that the GOP politician with the most balls on this issue doesn't actually have them?

(h/t)

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 10:04 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
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Bobby Jindal is not transparently conservative

According to New Orleans-based WDSU, Gov. Bobby Jindal's office ranks dead last when it comes to transparency. 

Caveat: I am assuming this was done by the news organizations investigative team, which, mostly likely, would hardly be objective.  I was also not able to find a list of state rankings, so take these findings with a grain of salt.

(h/t)

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July 04, 2008

Sen. John Warner continues to beclown himself

He wants to return to the national 55 mph speed limit.

I'd say something about being happy that he's out of office in January, but there's no way Sen. Mark Warner is going to be any better.

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 06:24 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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