Category: 2012 Election

Rick Perry says he doesn’t golf, but I heartily approve of the hobby he chose instead:

This was the final question from the CNN/Tea Party Express debate:

BLITZER: Eight Republican presidential candidates on the stage.

You know, Americans are looking at you. They also want to know a little bit more about you.

I’m going to start with Senator Santorum. I want to go down and get your thoughts on something you would bring to the White House if you were the next president of the United States.

An example, President George H. W. Bush put in a horseshoe pit. President Clinton put in a jogging track. President Obama added a vegetable garden.

Here are the responses:

Santorum – More beds.
Gingrich – Get rid of czars, my wife’s music, something ballet-related, and a giant chess set.
Paul – He’d teach economics classes. And give boring as hell answers to personality-driven questions.
Perry – A First Lady whose husband knows how to kiss ass.
Romney- Bust of Winston Churchill.
Bachmann – Things that make the Tea Party people cheer.
Cain – “I would bring a sense of humor to the White House, because America’s too uptight.”
Huntsman – Harley-Davidson and motocross bike.

Wouldn’t it have been great if one of them had named a gun? Hell, I wouldn’t care if they said a shotgun or hunting rifle. I still would have gone nuts over a broad answer like more hunting gear. Or even something like freshly harvested venison, for the White House Chef to cook up more often. I wouldn’t expect something like more great targets to display on the walls, but with Gov. Perry in the debate, it wouldn’t be out of the question.

I don’t expect any hardcore gun nut answers from a presidential campaign, but some nod to at least one of our sports and our overall community values would be nice.

First, there was the debate sponsored by MSNBC. I’m not sure what Republicans were thinking, “This is a brilliant idea! Hosted by a network that hates us and with a liberal audience who won’t be voting in Republican primaries!”

Next, there was last night. I think the timing of the debate is best summed up by Jim Geraghty in today’s Morning Jolt:

Well, sure, it was up against the season premiere of Monday Night Football, but at least the early primary states were tuned in. Wait, the New England Patriots were playing, so every football fan in New Hampshire was watching ESPN. Okay, but the debate was taking place in Florida, so at least the Florida Republicans, er, wait, no, the Patriots were playing Miami. Hey, Tea Party Express, what other debate dates were you contemplating? Halloween? Thanksgiving night? Christmas?

And that doesn’t even get into the actual debate itself, most of which we caught.

There was the 30-year-old man debacle in which Ron Paul was asked if a fit, young guy carried no health insurance at all and then got into a bad accident, what should happen to him? No real answer came out, so he was asked outright if the guy should be left to die. And, of course, a brilliant Ronulian decided to scream out that he should, which became the answer everyone focused on for the evening. Stay classy, Paul supporter. You just made your candidate look like a bigger douche. Then, Paul finally said that churches bailed sick people out when he used to practice shortly after the Stone Age. Somehow, I don’t think putting the cost of healthcare on the backs on non-profits is the world’s best plan. Bachmann was then asked to tackle the 30-year-old question and the non-answer turned into screaming about Obamacare. Apparently, no one in the GOP presidential pool can say, “Send him the bill for his care.”

But the really bizarre turn happened when the issue of giving the HPV vaccine that can prevent a form of cancer in women was more controversial than Romney’s version of Obamacare. Bachmann was on a roll with a Jenny McCarthy-type rant against the vaccine, and I’ve seen more than a fair share of social conservatives on Twitter express discomfort with the extremes in her behavior on stage when it came to the HPV issue. Hello? Tea Party audience members who were wildly cheering her on, if you’re so anti-vaccine, why stay calm & let the Romneycare go with a pass? It seemed like the audience’s priorities were a bit out-of-whack.

I just hope that all of this extra coverage & the new opportunities for Republicans to spread the crazy doesn’t result in alienating independents for the eventual nominee.

I did not watch the debate, but Clayton took a look and analyzed the transcript. I’m not even really going to read the transcript, because paying attention this far out of being able to vote is just too depressing. If I had to put money on the primary, this will end up a race between Perry and Romney. I’m not sure how much of a dog I have in that fight. Truth is, I’ll get behind anyone who’s name isn’t Barack Obama in the general election, but neither Perry nor Romney get me excited. I’d generally give an edge to Perry, since Romney is a serial panderer who can’t be counted on. All politicians paint a bit with that brush, but some make a high art of it. Romney is that type of politician.

I have to agree with Dave Kopel here, on the position of several GOP hopefuls that the 14th Amendment could be used to ban abortion:

Moreover, the next President is going to have to address a fiscal crisis that will devastate the United States economy soon if it is not solved. Dealing with the fiscal crisis is going to be quite difficult politically, in part because there are many millions of people who benefit from the current, and unsustainable, levels of federal spending. The tax consumers may be very highly resistant to any reduction in the amount of money that flows to them. So there will be no shortage of national division and acrimony. Thus, 2013 would be an especially bad time to precipitate a constitutional crisis over a social issue.

Aside from that, social conservatives ought to realize that the financial crisis, and coming fiscal crisis (if we do not get spending under control) is a greater threat to families and family values than any social issue we currently face.

What you’re seeing now, early in the primary season, is that the GOP hopefuls are wary of firing up the SoCon base against them, so they are pandering to it. Depending on libertarians to save you in a primary is not generally a winning formula, because libertarians eschew organization.

Apparently the religious right has gotten to Perry, and now he’s saying he’ll push a federal constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

… looks a bit like Ronald Reagan? Except I’m hoping Perry is better on the Second Amendment and the deficit than old Ronny was. I first thought that when I saw this picture. I wasn’t prepared, really, to jump in into the Perry camp until Michelle Bachmann won the Iowa Straw Poll.

While I remain appalled that Michelle Bachmann is being taken seriously, Clayton Cramer offers a defense of some of her history claims that are worth reading. Watching the media, talking heads, and Bachmann go back and forth is kind of like watching drunk people fight.

Of all the times that we’ve talked to politicians, the stories we’ve heard most often about why they end up voting in our favor almost always revolve around a constituent who came up to them in person and made it clear that they vote based on a candidate’s Second Amendment record. It’s simple and shockingly effective for such an easy conversation.

So it comes as no surprise that NRA is now encouraging Iowa voters to get out to the Ames straw poll and ask the candidates about their views on the Second Amendment. The effort includes a radio spot and print ad, so hopefully more than a few voters will follow their advice. Trust me, it works.