Breaking: Michele Bachmann wins Iowa caucuses!...doom-doom-doom-doomdoom-doom...
She's TOAST in a general election.Given the current economy, if the Republicans nominated Grumpy Smurf, I would think there was a good chance we were going to end up with President Grumpy. I think we have to assume that any Republican nominee could get elected. I agree that Perry (especially) and Romney seem more viable, but the idea of Bachmann getting the nomination is flat-out terrifying.
Ames: The End Of Palin?posted by joe lisboa at 5:13 PM on August 13, 2011
Well, today may not have quite been Doomsday for Pawlenty, but it may well have been for Sarah Palin. First, Perry gets in and sucks up a lot of her oxygen. He's a red-meat hurlin' Republican who - unlike her - ain't no quitter.
Then, of course, there's Bachmann's emergence as the new glamorous, crazy-eyed know-nothing of the right.
And, tellingly, Dave Wiegel of Slate tweets this:
Fewer than 1% non-Perry write-in votes, which means fewer than 1% for Palin.
Ouch.
A poet once said: life can be a challenge, life can seem impossible, but it's never easy when there's so much on the line. We have a lot on the line. Send Washington a message, and send a business problem-solver to Washington, D.C.--Herman Cain's closing statement from last night's debate
Life can be a challenge--"The Power of One," ending theme song for Pokemon: The Movie 2000
Life can seem impossible
It's never easy...
When so much...
Is on... the line...
Even right-wing conservatives have perfectly functioning gaydar.I think that's very, very debatable.
She is a great campaigner for the most part, but eventually she will do a way too high profile Swine Flu conspiracy or....You know, I heard a whole ton of census-related dingbattery from people who I didn't consider extremists. I had a whole weird discussion with someone at my knitting group who assured me that the census was unconstitutional. When I said that the census was mandated by the constitution, she told me that they weren't talking about the kind of census we have now, which records things like race. When I said that the 1790 census recorded people's race, she told me I was wrong, which I'm not. I'm not sure that being paranoid about the census would seem so out there to most Americans.
"Take this into consideration. If we look at American history, between 1942 and 1947, the data that was collected by the Census Bureau was handed over to the FBI and other organizations at the request of President Roosevelt, and that's how the Japanese were rounded up and put into the internment camps. I'm not saying that that's what the Administration is planning to do, but I am saying that private personal information that was given to the Census Bureau in the 1940s was used against Americans to round them up, in a violation of their constitutional rights, and put the Japanese in internment camps."
... type quote and she won't be able to shake it.
WOODBURY, MN—Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann fired back Wednesday at critics who have said the Minnesota congresswoman's ability to lead the nation would be greatly hindered by her frequent, hours-long blackouts from which she invariably awakens covered in blood. "This is a complete nonissue—who among us hasn't gotten the occasional blinding headache only to wake up totally nude two days later in an abandoned church, covered from head to toe in someone else's blood and with absolutely no recollection of what happened in the intervening time?" said Bachmann, later adding that she is otherwise healthy and, in fact, is fairly certain she gets a significant amount of aerobic exercise during her prolonged fugue states. "I think I can handle the job of running the country just fine even if now and again I have one of my little spells where I come to in the middle of the South Carolina woods tightly gripping a bloody lead pipe in one hand and a ragged piece of what I think was a scalp in the other."posted by Rhaomi at 9:22 PM on August 13, 2011 [7 favorites]
Sorry if this was discussed earlier: what is the point, for people who despise the idea of a central government, to get elected as a central government?To reduce or hopefully destroy its ability to function. Is this really not clear? It has essentially been the Republican Party's main strategy for a long time now.
I just learned that Colbert's PAC ran ads urging the write-in nomination of "Rick PARRY".Like, the producer of Nilsson Schmilsson? Anyone who can deal with Harry Nilsson after a raft of Brandy Alexanders may have the patience and the diplomacy required to work with some of the outlandish folks in our current government.
In an interview with The Texas Tribune on Tuesday, AFA president Tim Wildmon said Jews, Muslims, atheists or any other non-Christian would “go to hell” unless they accepted Jesus Christ as their savior.posted by craichead at 7:16 AM on August 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
Isn't that the position of pretty much all Evangelical Protestants? They tend to be nice about it, but we're all going to Hell unless we accept Jesus. As a Jew, I find it pretty mind-boggling that people choose to believe something so utterly hateful, but I have to accept that a significant portion of believing Christians do think that. To me, the question is not whether they think I'm going to hell, but whether that belief affects their policies.
Michelle Bachmann until recently attended a church that had the official doctrine that the Pope is the Antichrist. I have no idea whether Catholics care about that, but I'm going to guess not.
By comparison, the juggernaut presidential campaigns of Joe Biden, Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich and Chris Dodd made it to Iowa last cycle, and beyond. None of these Democratic campaigns were ever treated by the press as anything other than also-rans.posted by Trurl at 9:25 AM on August 14, 2011
The national press gave Tim Pawlenty their stamp of approval as a serious, viable candidate. But the national press corps is not picking the GOP nominee. It's more and more clear that it's going to be the Tea Party who picks the Republican nominee and Tea Party Republicans were just not buying Tim Pawlenty - a fairly moderate governor of a fairly liberal state - as one of them. This is the modern Republican Party and it's dramatically different from the Republican Party of 2000 or even 2008. It's changed and with it have their candidates for President. The press needs to accept this and start aligning their coverage in a way that tells the story of what is actually happening in this race and not what they'd like to have happen in this race.
I find it interesting that it was back in the nineteen-seventies that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat [sic] President, Jimmy Carter.
"I admit, Romney was for healthcare initially and his religious chops aren't as strong as we'd all like, but he's the only candidate that can credibly beat Obama! Sure, it would feel great to vote for a true believer like Bachmann, but she'd never win a general election, and then we'd have to suffer through four more years of a Democratic president!"Well, I think it's pretty obvious that Romney, or even Huntsman would be the most likely to win the general election against Obama. Romney isn't as worrysome, he seems like someone who would be willing to cooperate with the democrats, the same way Obama tries to compromize with the republicans. In fact I would be we'd have more liberal policy with Romney and a dem congress then Obama and republican one.
...and they'd be right. Heck, that's the argument I'd be making if I wanted to achieve Republican policy goals. The more radical their candidate is, the more likely they are to lose, and therefore not be able to get what they want (deeper tax cuts, a generational conservative lock on the Supreme Court, dismantling federal government, repealing healthcare reform and burying the issue for another decade or two, etc.).
Not before he has his own "Reverend Wright moment". Apparently Perry is closely aligned with the leaders of something called the American Family Association, an organization which has some clearly extreme viewpoints:Saying "something called the American Family Association" is like saying "Something called Moveon.org" or "a site called DailyKos". AFA is a major player in republican politics, and I'm sure every candidate has some 'ties' to them.
a ticket that scares the bejeebuz outta me: Perry and Ron Paul. That's a ticket that could win.One of them would have to move, or else Texas cannot vote for both of them (by the Twelfth Amendment).
...full of passionate intensity.posted by Skygazer at 6:26 PM on August 14, 2011
Fox News reporting both Paul Ryan and Chris Christie are considering jumping in and may announce within the next 24 hours!!!posted by Rhaomi at 6:03 PM on August 16, 2011
I'm really tired of nonsense like this. Ron Paul isn't getting any attention because he doesn't deserve any attention, and Simon knows it. Paul has a small but fervent fan base that hasn't grown noticeably since he ran and flamed out in 2008, and he has a well-known (but meaningless) ability to fire up this little fan base for assorted minor events like this. That's his organizational ability and everyone is keenly aware of it. At the presidential level, he deserves about as much respect as Harold Stassen.posted by Flunkie at 8:31 PM on August 16, 2011
Rick Perry to child on creationism vs. evolution: 'You're smart enough to figure out which is right'It's possible that the child is smart enough to figure that out. But is Rick Perry?
History of the U.S.: Cposted by Rhaomi at 10:35 PM on August 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
Organic Chemistry I: D
Organic Chemistry II: F
Principles of Economics: D
GPA: 2.2
Primary polls can be erratic, so the rule is not to get too worked up about any one set of numbers. But now there have been five surveys conducted since Rick Perry announced his presidential campaign — one each from Gallup, Rasmussen Reports and Public Policy Polling, and two from YouGov. Each shows Mr. Perry having vaulted into a lead over Mitt Romney.posted by cashman at 8:55 AM on August 25, 2011
On average, Mr. Perry gets 26 percent of the vote in the new surveys, as compared to 16 percent for Mr. Romney. By comparison, in polls conducted in the month prior to Mr. Perry’s announcement, he averaged 14 percent to Mr. Romney’s 21 percent.
"Bachmann says she'd consider minimum wage changes"Aside from her forgetting where she was at, and saying "Subway" instead of Angie's subs, the URL is the funniest thing about this. She seems like she's toast now.
"JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann said Friday she wouldn't rule out changes to the federal minimum wage as a way to lower the cost of doing business and lure corporations back to the United States.
The Minnesota congresswoman told supporters at a packed sandwich shop that the corporate income tax needs to be reduced because companies are moving to other countries to save money. She was later asked by a reporter whether changes to the minimum wage should also be considered to balance the cost of labor here and overseas.
"I'm not married to anything. I'm not saying that's where I'm going to go," she said.
She did say she wants to look at all aspects of doing business, from regulations to tax codes, and will consider anything that will help create jobs. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour."
Rick Perry verging on a 30 point lead in our first night of NC primary polling. It was tied 4 weeks ago.posted by Rhaomi at 2:41 PM on September 2, 2011
Very random fact: there are more black South Carolinians with a positive opinion of Strom Thurmond than white ones who like Barack Obama
More evidence the Tea Party was so 2010. In South Carolina 41% of voters view it favorably, 42% unfavorably.
Obama trails Romney, Perry, Bachmann, leads Gingrich, Palin by single digits in KY
Perry does 1 pt worse than Romney vs Obama in KY, 2 in OH, 3 in IA, 5 in VA/NC/WI, 6 in CO, 7 in SC, 8 in NV, 10 in MI http://t.co/KyrIz1Q
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posted by kuatto at 4:43 PM on August 13, 2011 [4 favorites]