...Many Republicans are already looking past 2012. If either Romney or Santorum gains the nomination and then falls before Obama, flubbing an election that just months ago seemed eminently winnable, it will unleash a GOP apocalypse on November 7—followed by an epic struggle between the regulars and red-hots to refashion the party. And make no mistake: A loss is what the GOP’s political class now expects. “Six months before this thing got going, every Republican I know was saying, ‘We’re gonna win, we’re gonna beat Obama,’ ” says former Reagan strategist Ed Rollins. “Now even those who’ve endorsed Romney say, ‘My God, what a fucking mess.’ ”
John Heilemann in
New York Magazine on
"The Lost Party", part one of a series on the modern Republican party in light of the 2012 presidential election.
[more inside]
posted by 2bucksplus
on Feb 28, 2012 -
246 comments
When Mitt Romney Came to Town (subtitle: The King of Bain) a 30 minute attack documentary whose "overriding sensibility is not Swift Boat — it's Frontline, replete with a calming voice of God narration and meticulous sourcing to SEC filings, court documents, and the Boston Globe" (
Rolling Stone) provides an interesting moment in the future of political messaging and funding.
[more inside]
posted by stratastar
on Jan 12, 2012 -
195 comments
An awkward moment in politics. (YouTube) While campaigning in
a New Hampshire diner, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney spotted local Bob Garon, a regular to the diner, eating his breakfast while wearing a Vietnam veteran's cap. “Vietnam veteran!” Romney greeted Bob, as he slid down onto the diner seat for a little chat. Unfortunately for Mitt,
Bob was dining there that morning with his husband, and had to explain to Bob that his husband didn't deserve any of the benefits he fought for, and that the makers of the Constitution held marriage to be between a man and a woman. (Which doesn't really explain
Mitt's great-grandfather Miles and his wives Hanna, Caroline, Catherine, Alice, and Emily, but stilll...)
posted by markkraft
on Dec 12, 2011 -
168 comments
Boeing's new Dreamliner plant in South Carolina was found to be retaliation for union strikes by the National Labor Relations Board, an independent agency (
On Point radio show).
That's prompted Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) to launch an all-out
war on the NRLB according to Dahlia Lithwick.
(
Previously.)
posted by klangklangston
on Aug 19, 2011 -
78 comments
It's Election Day in America, and as is so often the case in this
fickle land, the results of the 2010 midterm elections are up in the air. Although President Obama's party is expected to suffer significant losses,
record numbers of districts remain competitive, and even minute errors in polling could mean the difference between
a historic Republican landslide and
an unexpectedly robust Democratic defense. At stake are control of not just the Senate and House, but myriad state and local offices, many of which will play key roles in the dynamics of the 2012 presidential race -- and, more subtly but no less crucially, the once-in-a-decade
congressional redistricting process. Much uncertainty surrounds the behavior of the electorate -- how many will turn out, and how informed will they be? To help move those statistics in the right direction, look inside for voter guides, national and state fact checkers, and an assortment of other resources to keep tabs on as the results roll in.
[more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Nov 2, 2010 -
858 comments
In a five part series he wrote a few years ago, blogger J. Brad Hicks breaks down how, in the mid-1960s, the Republican party made a conscious decision to rebrand themselves as the party of Christians, and in doing so, how they had to shift the ideology of the churches to what he calls a "
false gospel".
[more inside]
posted by quin
on Sep 15, 2010 -
208 comments
Fox,
the BBC and
CNN have all revealed that Republican US presidential candidate John McCain has picked Alaskan Governor
Sarah Palin as his running mate on his 72nd birthday on the eve of the start of
Republican National Convention. Despite being wildly popular in Alaska, Palin has recently been involved in
an investigation over whether she dismissed a public safety commissioner because he refused to dismiss her former brother-in-law.
posted by HaloMan
on Aug 29, 2008 -
5555 comments
Described as "the View meets the Daily Show and takes a right turn,"
The America Show, Episode 1 and
Episode 2 are pilots that are being floated for possible TV broadcast. Weigh in on their potential. The driving force behind the show is conservative comic
Julia Gorin, who also recently launched
Political Mavens as "a celebrity-studded conservative answer to Arianna's Huffington Post."
posted by madamjujujive
on Nov 27, 2006 -
247 comments
The Democrats' Sonny Bono? When George Bush used the 1970s
Orleans hit,
Still the One, as a campaign song in 2004,
John Hall issued Bush a
cease and desist order for using his song without permission. A founder of the antinuclear group,
Musicians United for Safe Energy (best known for the 1979 concert film,
No Nukes), Hall decided to
run for Congress in upstate New York, winning upset victories this year in both
the Democratic primary and
the general election against GOP incumbent,
Sue Kelly. Before his Congressional victory, Editor & Publisher posted
From Soundchecks to Soundbites, an interesting discussion with Hall about music journalism vs. political journalism.
posted by jonp72
on Nov 10, 2006 -
30 comments
CNN confirms that Tom DeLay, the scandal-embroiled Republican Congressman from Texas and former Republican House Majority Leader, has dropped out of the race for the 22nd District House seat.
posted by teferi
on Apr 3, 2006 -
144 comments
A news release by the
american institute of physics details the "unprecedented" bullying by republican senators of scientists studying climate change.
The committee's letter asks for private and public sources of Mann's research funding, location of his data, computer codes, and his response to critical reviews of his work, including "Did you calculate the R2 statistic for the temperature reconstruction, particularly for the 15th Century proxy record calculations and what were the results?" The House
web site has a collection of related materials and news articles.
posted by about_time
on Jul 25, 2005 -
46 comments
"In the Name of Politics" (NYT) Rev. John C. Danforth, the outgoing US ambassador to the UN, Republican Senator for 18 years, native Missouran and Episcopal minister worries that the Republican Party is turning very literally theocratic. In this short editorial he states "the only explanation ... is the extension of religious doctrine into statutory law."
(Just as a side note, we're taking applications.)
posted by blacklite
on Apr 10, 2005 -
52 comments
Is the GOP tampering with Florida elections? The New York Times reports that State police officers have gone into the homes of elderly black voters in Orlando and interrogated them as part of an odd "investigation" that has frightened many voters, intimidated elderly volunteers and thrown a chill over efforts to get out the black vote in November.
Also, see
here and
here.
Why do we even put up with this?
posted by black8
on Aug 16, 2004 -
61 comments
Bush camp solicits race of Star staffer. President Bush's re-election campaign insisted on knowing the race of an Arizona Daily Star journalist assigned to photograph Vice President Dick Cheney.
The jounalist's name was Mamta Popat. She sure
sounds like a terrorist.
posted by JeffK
on Jul 31, 2004 -
30 comments
