Ticking off all the right people?

It's his second Wait, What? moment of the week. First, he says no to ethanol subsidies in Iowa and then in Florida... well, given what he threw down in the Hawkeye state, you can probably guess the rest.

CORAL GABLES — A day after telling Iowans their beloved ethanol subsidies will have to go, Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty used a stop in senior-heavy Florida to call for reining in Social Security and Medicare benefits for future retirees.

The former Minnesota governor, who launched his campaign Monday, talked about entitlement reform during a 30-minute Facebook town hall and in a question-and-answer session with reporters at the Biltmore hotel.

It's part of a tough-medicine tour, designed to highlight Pawlenty's willingness to tell "hard truths." He's also planning to visit Washington to call for less-generous pay and benefits for public sector employees and to New York to call for an end to Wall Street bailouts.

"We won't have Medicare or Medicaid or Social Security as we know it in the future if we don't make changes and adjustments now that can preserve these important programs," Pawlenty told the Facebook audience.

For his part, Pawlenty likes but stopped short of endorsing Paul Ryan's Medicare plan as he will be rolling out his own plan, shortly.

We're heartened that Pawlenty is making these kind of statements especially in the territories he is doing so. The timing of them, being the first significant policy statements by any of the prospective GOP field, helps to shape and drive the debate. Energy subsidies and entitlement reform are important topics that we can ill-afford to leave unaddressed. Let's see then how the others will respond to Pawlenty's opening salvos.

It's still way early and heeding our own advice of not shacking-up with anyone just yet, T-Paw, however, gets first crack at a second date with us.

Link of the day

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RightKlik over at Left Coast Rebel has a Republican primary straw poll but it's not the type you think. You are not voting for who you like the most but rather who you like the least. Yes, we're going Survivor here and voting people off GOP Island! And talk about a target rich environment!


Get ye over there and join in the fun, here.

We'll check back in and redirect as necessary during the winnowing process.


buh-bye, Newt.





* As Reagan/Goldwater conservatives merely squatting in that half-way house that is today's Republican Party, we got a a kick out of that logo. Besides, as far as the chosen symbols go with respect to our personal preferences, 4 out of 5 is pretty damn good.

Getting ahead of things?

CPAC wrapped up this past weekend and though we didn't follow the proceedings very closely, the appearance and speech by Indiana Governor, Mitch Daniels, generated quite a buzz as he was deemed one of the "winners" of the event by the Washington Post (please insert "back-handed" and "dubious honors" quips, here) and more importantly, a blogger who will remain nameless but with whose work you are familiar confided to us over the weekend that he was ready to go all in for Daniels ahead of the primaries.


For a video of the speech please go here. And for the text of the speech, here.



P.S. Looks like B-Daddy couldn't contain himself any longer in throwing in for Daniels so our efforts towards "outing" him have been for naught.

Sub-headline of the day

Disaster On Primary Day As Machine Glitches Cause Chaos



Given the number and degree of tea-fueled upsets that went down around the country on Tuesday, that sub-headline made us think of something other than malfunctioning vote counters.

Now What?

South Carolina Republican primary results:

McCain… 33%
Huckabee… 30%
Thompson… 16%
Romney… 15%

Well, looks like this may be it for our man, Fred Thompson. Click on over to KT’s site for his analysis of what may be the ultimate “hold your nose” square-off between McCain and Guiliani. For ourselves, we aren’t committing to anybody yet and may not even make it public when we do as a specific endorsement implies a degree of enthusiasm towards that candidate and we don’t see that happening right now. Again, merely voting for a candidate because that person has the best chance of beating the Democrat candidate lacks principle and conviction.

We’ve chronicled in this blog how ineffectual the left-wing netroot crowd is at pushing agendas and influencing outcomes… it appears that the right-wing blogosphere may be similarly impotent. By our reckoning, the sites we frequent the most and which are linked to on the right hand margin were very much pro-Fred. What does this mean…?... we’re not sure. We have some thoughts but we have more important things to talk about like…the Chargers!

We will make one prediction, though. If it is McCain v. Clinton, McCain wins going away.

We're not Saying its Going to Happen, but....

We didn’t pay it much never mind when we first heard the rumors this fall but click here and after reading it, does that not sound like the posturing of someone who may jump into the fray soon or later…. possibly at the Republican convention in August if no clear-cut primary winner emerges? That would be soooooo gnarly, dude.

Cue howls of derision from the Left.

Pastor Mike wants to get something off his chest… because he feels just terrible about it

Hi, I’m Mike Huckabee. You can call me “Mike” or “Mike, the bass player” but I’d prefer you call me “Mike, the Republican presidential candidate who is a pious, morally-upright evangelical Christian and wants your vote because of it”.

Now, I caused a bit of a dust-up last week just prior to the Iowa caucus by pulling an ad that I concluded was too negative towards one of my Republican opponents. As I told everyone, going negative (this early) is just not what I’m all about. Its not how my campaign should be run… I’m trying my level best to raise the level of discourse in these primaries.

But after my big victory in Iowa, I think its time to turn my attention to my potential adversaries on the other side of the aisle, the Democrat candidates. And similar to what happened last week on the eve of the Iowa caucus, I’m here today to tell you that I am not going to do what I had originally planned.

Just a few hours ago, I had planned on making some snarky comments about the way Hillary was extending out her right arm during the Democrats’ New Hampshire primary debates over the weekend… made it look like she was doing the “Sieg Heil” thing. I’m sure she didn’t realize she was doing it but still… anyway, that’s what I came here to tell you… that on the way over in the car I came to the realization yet again that you, the American voting public deserve more of me, a devout Christian, than for me to draw comparisons, however tongue-in-cheek, between Hillary Clinton and the Nazis… I mean c’mon, that’s just a little bit over the top dontcha think?

Yeah, that’s what I thought. I can’t help but think you feel the way you do because I’m a Christian and that your criticism is generated from within the belly of the Beltway establishment beast to take down a true outsider like myself. Does my overt evangelicalness scare you? Well, there’s nothing that I can do about your hostility except pray…. pray for wisdom, understanding and compassion…. your’s that is.

I’m Mike Huckabee and I approved this message.

...Punch the Hippies!

Some time off over the Christmas holidays and a nagging head cold has allowed for some time to assess and evaluate the candidates in the Republican field. After being initially underwhelmed, we feel better about the lot of them than we did perhaps as recently as 3-4 weeks ago.

“Fear” and “electibility” are terms we have heard quite a bit lately and which have been used here at this blog with regard to the rationale behind choosing a candidate. We’ve put these two elements aside for the selection of our candidate because the choice should not be based on mere electibility and certainly not out of fear.

These early primaries are horrible because a) we’re talking politics over the Holidays and b) they’ve caused panic among some voters and alleged “kingmakers” who have responded to their own fear and made endorsements based upon electibility rather than the candidates’ positions on issues (case in point is Pat Robertson endorsing Rudy Guiliani).

We fed into that fear back in the ’03 California gubernatorial elections when we voted for Schwarzenegger rather than the guy, McClintock, who was most aligned with our own political beliefs and now look where we are: We have a Governor who spends even more than the guy we kicked out but has us all over a barrel because he is the one man who stands athwart granting driver’s licenses to (hard-working and family-oriented) illegals. What are we gonna do?

We’re kicking fear to the curb. We as Americans are better than that. We don’t fear a Hillary or Obama Presidency (Edwards…? maybe a little). If it goes down like that, then fine – bring it on. This country is too strong and the people living in it too decent for anything to be done for fear. It’s a discredit to the Union and a slap in the face to the men and women in uniform who, at this very moment, are trying to snuff out something precisely so that we don’t have to live in fear.

As such, we want someone who takes Islamofascism and terrorism seriously and one who will be short on diplomacy and long on the hammer in dealing with it. We want someone who recognizes how out-of-control Federal spending is and is serious about doing something about it. We want someone who respects the rule of law especially when it comes to illegal immigration. We want someone who desires to see less government in our lives and who holds an appreciation and is dedicated to the most trampled-upon (or outright ignored to be more accurate) amendment in the Bill of Rights. We don’t think we’re asking for a whole lot, in fact, we really want less of what nearly all the candidates are offering.

These are the reasons why we’re coming out for Fred Thompson and why Fred Thompson has Beers with Demo’s endorsement for the Republican Party presidential nomination.

That and the fact that he has some of the most kick-ass 3rd party campaign ads around. Click here.

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Still a little bit more time to vote in the Skunkies.....

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Have a safe and happy New Year's!

W.W.R.D.

It had not been 30 minutes after reading this piece from Peggy Noonan, when we got a call from B-Daddy alerting us to the same. We’ve been big fans of hers for years. We love her easy-going style that manages to be somewhat nostalgic without sounding dated. Like her hero, Ronald Reagan, for whom she was a speech-writer, she “gets” it. She “gets” the big picture of American politics and American society.

… and speaking of Reagan, she wonders if Reagan would succeed in today’s Republican Party given the hyper-intensive religiosity upper GIs to which “we” have been subjecting our leading candidates.

For our part, we believe he would. His message of optimism, hope and belief in the greatness of America would still resonate today with voters. Goodness, would it ever. He was a man comfortable in his own skin and a man comfortable with his faith, a faith which he weaved into the narrative of his walk and talk throughout his Presidency without ever coming across as preachy or self-righteous (Obama?).

In fact, we can imagine a Reagan “moment” today where at the height of the sound and fury regarding his or any of his opponent’s religious beliefs, he would look squarely into the camera, cock his head to one side and with that dry, droll Midwestern delivery give a, “Well, ……….” and whatever the quote would be, would be so spot-on and so dripping with good-natured sarcasm that it would instantly diffuse the situation making all those who have been the most rabid theological proctologists look down-right silly.

The fact though, Noonan doubts he could, worries us.

Our friend, KT at the Scratching Post suggests that Romney is unelectable because his Mormonism is so off-putting to many conservatives. We’ve read the comments at a few conservative blog sites and it ain’t pretty….. but we hope this isn’t reflective of the general feeling of the Republican voters towards Romney. If it is, it’s a shame because it would represent the following logic: “We” fear Mitt’s Mormonism more than we fear a Hillary or Obama presidency.

This election shouldn’t be about “Mormonism” and it shouldn’t be about “fear”. We “feared” Tom McClintock was “too conservative” for California voters (this, after 69% of those polled after the single debate deemed him “most-qualified”) so we went with “electability” in the recall election back in ’03. Now look where we are.

A beautiful thing, this Democracy where, by and large, we generally get what we want. And if we reject out of hand either Mitt Romney because he is a Mormon or Mike Huckabee because he is an evangelical conservative in the general election by staying home then it’s a backhanded admission that we do indeed prefer, want and deserve Hillary or Obama in the Oval Office.

The Republican Debates and Clinton Fatigue

We’ll have more to say about the Clinton Fatigue phenomena later but it reared its ugly (but hilarious) head again last night with the alleged “plant” in the audience at the debates being blamed on Clinton Inc. One sensed a collective sigh from the nation, “… again?”

By the by, in the increasingly parody-proof world of politics, plant or not, what got lost in the shuffle was the retired general's question on gays in the military. Will post on that another time but in short, if patriotic, service-oriented gay people want to serve in our armed forces then they should be allowed to do so. As far as "unit cohesion" is concerned ask yourself how much the political and military policy makers are concerned with that concept when they put 19 and 20 yr. males and females together onboard a ship? Well, more cold shoulders and cold coals for us again at the Social Conservative BBQ this weekend, we're sure.

As far as the debates themselves… Well, we didn’t exactly get around to – hey, remember when we said the great thing about having “friends” is that they can do your work for you? Remember? Anyway, providing analysis and insight that towers over anything we could do anyway, check out the same over at our friend, KT’s hang, The Scratching Post. Man, that was easy.

“Politics Make Strange….” Hey, Careful... That’s Pat Robertson You’re Talking About.

We thought there might be some more time to sort all this out but it looks like a few people want to get it out of the way so they can concentrate on Christmas shopping. We were previously on the fence over the earlier dates for some of the primaries for party nominations. We weren’t comfortable with them but couldn’t come up with a real reason why so we we’re just “playing it by ear”. Well, now we have an actual reason: Pat Robertson has come out for Rudy. Read attached AP article, here.

We’ve been told over the years that Pat Robertson is one of the 3 or 4 most influential people in this alleged monolithic entity known as the “Christian Right”. And the term “alleged” is used because its always been the conventional wisdom that the “Christian Right” moved and acted as one. But as the article notes, the leading actors in the “Christian Right” are all endorsing different GOP candidates. Of course, this isn’t described as an example of “diversity” but rather as this supposed voting bloc being “splintered”.

But back to Pat and Rudy. This shacking-up represents the folly of moving primaries to the left because it, in turn, reduces the amount of time voters have to consider candidates in a calm, rational manner before they feel the need to hit the AbH (Anybody but Hillary) button as Pat Robertson has obviously done. We can see no other motive than this for a social conservative, Robertson, endorsing a man who has supported abortion rights and gay marriage.

Robertson can say all he wants about national security trumping social issues but its crystal clear why it is that he has endorsded Giuliani. And that’s a shame because the coronation of Hillary as her Party’s standard-bearer for the Presidential election is not nearly the lock it was just 2 weeks ago so its far to early to be hitting any AbH panic button just yet.

And do you know how we know its Christmastime, already? Because Starbuck’s said it is, OK?

B-Daddy Drops Presidential Bid

B-Daddy here. I wanted to reward the faithful readers of this blog with the scoop that I am ending my campaign for the Presidency. I had promised to conduct a "front-porch" campaign in the traditions of such grand GOP stalwarts as Warren G. Harding and William McKinnley (hey I am Ohioan by descent). Despite this, Mrs. Daddy was not too thrilled at the prospects of increased media attention. Also, my attempts to get on the Republican primary ballot in California were thwarted by the fact that I am not actually registered as a Republican. Gee, I hope the publicity of my failed bid doesn't adversely affect my book deal.

Aaawwww..... Do We Have To?

Like doing taxes or scheduling that long-overdue dentist appointment, we suppose we’ve procrastinated long enough in addressing the Republican field of Presidential candidates and coming up with one to our liking.

Its still early and there is a lot of courting to be done a year out from the elections but thus far our speed-dating has not got our hearts aflutter over anyone in particular. We tried KT’s Presidential dating service a few weeks back and John McCain wound up at our front door, flowers in hand. Thanks, no.

Here is the problem as we see it right now: Each one of these guys bring something to the table that we are attracted to but there appears to be at least one fatal flaw in each that makes it a deal-breaker.

We like Mike Huckabee’s conservative chops…. but, he’s got a soft-spot for illegal aliens.

We like Ron Paul’s “constructionist” interpretation of the constitution and by no means are we into leather, however, we do find his libertarian kink to be exciting….. but, he’s a full-fledged member of the Iraq surrender caucus.

We really like Duncan Hunter…. but no one has heard of the guy and being the shallow types we are, we’ll cop to desiring a bit of arm candy for ourselves.

We admire John McCain’s service to his country and his steadfast support of the President and this nation in the War on Terror and the War in Iraq….. but, we just don’t know if we can trust the guy. He’s on the right side of the fence, currently, on illegal immigration (sorry, couldn’t resist) but who’s to say he might not flop back over once he’s in office. Oh, and have we mentioned how much we love the McCain-Feingold Campaing Finance Reform Act?

We like Rudy’s leadership ability and he has a very high AbH (Anybody but Hillary) score …. but, dammit… at the end of the day he’s another Northeastern, Rockefeller RINO and we’re not sure we want to hand the reins of the Party back over to the very people (or more precisely, the mentality) that put the Republicans in the minority with what Barry Goldwater referred to as “me-too” Republicans trying to ape their Democrat counterparts. We're so over the country-clubbers!

And we are guilty as charged with the same geographic bias for being suspicious of Mitt Romney. He’s from Massachusetts, afterall. Look no further than our own Governor who allowed his precious bodily fluids to co-mingle with a Kennedy and as a result he has the entire right side of the political spectrum here in California over the barrel while he’s doing and proposing all manner of “centrist” non-sense because, in return, he has pledged to veto any driver’s licenses-for-illegals bill that comes across his desk. Great. What do we do with this guy considering our alternatives? (And now an important statement regarding Mitt's Mormonism: "Ahem........ We don't care. Thank you." As the late Rev. Falwell so aptly put it: "We're electing the Commander-in-Chief, not the Sunday School Teacher-in-Chief.").

And Fred….? We just don’t know how serious this guy is. What was that whole bit at the end of the summer where he was campaigning (sort of) without officially declaring? And read this. We want someone whose in it for the long haul and we have reason to believe that Fred is a tad commitment-phobic.

As stated earlier, its early and perhaps someone will distinguish themselves from the pack but as of right now we’re not about to go steady with any of these guys.