Chuck Hagel is considering a Unity Aught Eight run.

He said that if he ran he would seek the Republican nomination. Yet he’s also talking up Unity08. That’s a plan by a bipartisan group of political operatives to draft a bipartisan presidential ticket on the Internet and offer voters an alternative to the Democratic and Republican candidates next year.

“I think it’s a very intriguing enterprise,” Hagel said. He said most Americans are disenchanted with the major political parties.

Maybe Republicans aren’t crazy about Chuck Hagel and don’t want to vote for him, but I have a tremendously hard time believing that any significant group of Americans will vote for a presidential ticket because they are civil and not because of any ideological reasoning. Civility is a red-herring. A political party devoid of any political ideology is the last thing America needs when you look at the problems that will be facing this country after Bush’s term expires.

I really hope that Hagel either jumps into the Republican field or announces that he will not be running for president. Unity Aught Eight is about the vanity of the candidates who would consider themselves as the personal savior of American politics.

Technorati Tags: 2008 Presidential election, Chuck Hagel, Unity Aught Eight, Unity08

Other Candidates | 2 Comments »

In case you had any lingering doubts that Senator John McCain is one of the Bush administration’s favorite war hawks, Vice President Dick Cheney has confirmed that he and McCain stand shoulder to shoulder on Iran.

US Vice-President Dick Cheney has raised the possibility of military action to stop Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.

He has endorsed Republican senator John McCain’s proposition that the only thing worse than a military confrontation with Iran would be a nuclear-armed Iran.

In an exclusive interview with The Weekend Australian, Mr Cheney said: “I would guess that John McCain and I are pretty close to agreement.”

McCain is providing serious cover for the administration’s drum-beat to war with Iran. This follows the administration’s adoption of the McCain Doctrine – also know as “the surge” – in Iraq. McCain has been out in front of escalating the war in Iraq and now he’s out in front of starting a war with Iran. This should leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that McCain’s view of foreign policy is entirely informed by the Bush/Cheney neoconservative mindset of using the American military as the diplomatic tool of first resort.

Rudy Giuliani’s primary appeal is through addressing terrorism as an existential threat that transcends all social values traditionally used as metrics by the Republican base voter. He has always been a war hawk in Iraq and his campaign’s will depend on his ability to convince voters that he is more serious about national security concerns than any other GOP candidate. Giuliani cannot, from a campaign standpoint, let McCain out-hawk him on Iran. Expect Giuliani to take a similar position on McCain and Cheney with regards to Iran in the next couple of days.

Technorati Tags: Iran, Iraq, John McCain, Dick Cheney, Rudy Giuliani

John McCain, Rudy Giuliani | No Comments »

The Associate press writes an article tracing back the Romney’s families history with Polygamy. It’s more investigative history than an straight news story and it’s relevance is fairly objectionable. It actually reads more like research dropped from another campaign than actual reporting. The irony for Romney is that he’s now the victim of the same slime that Democratic candidates have endured. Maybe he’ll be the front-running Republican candidate in 4 years.

While Mitt Romney condemns polygamy and its prior practice by his Mormon church, the Republican presidential candidate’s great-grandfather had five wives and at least one of his great-great grandfathers had 12.

Polygamy was not just a historical footnote, but a prominent element in the family tree of the former Massachusetts governor now seeking to become the first Mormon president.

Romney’s great-grandfather, Miles Park Romney, married his fifth wife in 1897. That was more than six years after Mormon leaders banned polygamy and more than three decades after a federal law barred the practice.

Romney’s great-grandmother, Hannah Hood Hill, was the daughter of polygamists. She wrote vividly in her autobiography about how she “used to walk the floor and shed tears of sorrow” over her own husband’s multiple marriages.

Again, why does Romney, the Mormon candidate whose religion is despised by many of the right-wing Evangilicals who make up the base of the Republican party get this kind of scrutiny while Giuliani and McCain get a free pass? To take the question one step further, in 2004 parts of the press corps went nuts because a priest tried to deny John Kerry communion. Ed Kigore and Matt Ygelias break down the communion hypocrisies:

But given the suggestions of people like Bill Donohue in 2004 that John Kerry should be denied access to communion because he was pro-choice, it’s obviously worth asking if a conservative politician who’s not only pro-choice (despite his crab-like efforts to suggest otherwise) and perhaps, in the eyes of the Church, polygamous, can properly be described as “Catholic.”

So how about it? The press wanted Donahue to drive the conversation in 2004 regarding religion. So about communion.

Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani | No Comments »

Think Progress (with video):

In a recent interview on CNN, Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) claimed that it was “absolutely untrue” that he once said we should “take out Mecca in order to send a message.”

After airing Tancredo’s remarks, host Anderson Cooper said, “As always, we care about the facts on 360″ and proceeded to display Tancredo’s statements from an interview he conducted with Pat Campbell in July 2005. A review of the transcript showed Tancredo arguing that if terrorists were to use nuclear weapons in the U.S., we should respond by nuking the Muslim holy city of Mecca.

The transcript from July 2005:

Tancredo: “Well, what if you said something like, if this happens in the United States and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist, Muslims, um, you know, you could, you could take out their holy sites.”

Host: “You’re talking about bombing Mecca?”

Tancredo: “Yeah. I mean what if you said, what if you said that this is the, we recognize that this is the ultimate threat to the United States therefore this is the ultimate threat, this is the ultimate response. I mean, I don’t know, I’m just playing, throwing out there some ideas because it seems to me you, at this point in time, or at that point in time you’d be talking about taking the most draconian measures you could possibly imagine and other than that all you could do is tighten up internally.”

-Pat Campbell Show, WFLA 540, Thursday, July 14, 2005. [original emphasis]

Free Republic readers, sharing their sentiments on the original story, agreed with the comments of Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado).

Tom Tancredo | No Comments »

The race for the White House in 2008 received plenty of ink and pixels as of late. Here’s a quick rundown of the past few days’ news.

Christian Conservative Crisis: “A group of influential Christian conservatives and their allies emerged from a private meeting at a Florida resort this month dissatisfied with the Republican presidential field and uncertain where to turn.” [New York Times, 2/25/07]

Huge Suck-Up: “‘I’m probably going to get in trouble, but what’s wrong with sucking up to everybody?’ — John McCain, as quoted by Maureen Dowd, after being asked at a lucheon in Seattle why he was cozing up to the religious right.” [TPM Cafe | Election Central, 2/24/07]

Romney Misstates Bush on Abortion: “Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said this week that President Bush ‘was pro-choice before he became pro-life,’ an assertion the Romney campaign now acknowledges was inaccurate. The remark was based on a magazine article Romney had read, his campaign said.” [The Politico, 2/24/07]

Romney Family Polygamist History: “While Mitt Romney condemns polygamy and its prior practice by his Mormon church, the Republican presidential candidate’s great-grandfather had five wives and at least one of his great-great grandfathers had 12.” [Associated Press, 2/24/07]

(more…)

Duncan Hunter, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Rudy Giuliani, Tommy Thompson, Vice President | 3 Comments »

Strategic Vision released a poll that shows former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani ahead of the GOP pack in Iowa. The Iowa Caucuses are less than a year away.

The poll was conducted February 16-18 with 600 likely Republican caucus goers with a margin of error at ±4 percent.

1. If the 2008 Republican presidential caucus were held today between, Sam Brownback, Jim Gilmore, Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, Chuck Hagel, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, John McCain, George Pataki, Mitt Romney, Tom Tancredo, and Tommy Thompson for whom would you vote? (Republicans Only; Names Rotated)

Rudy Giuliani 29%
John McCain 22%
Newt Gingrich 11%
Mitt Romney 9%
Chuck Hagel 5%
Tommy Thompson 3%
Tom Tancredo 2%
Sam Brownback 2%
Mike Huckabee 2%
Jim Gilmore 1%
Duncan Hunter 1%
Undecided 13%

Giuliani increased his numbers by four percent. Others include: McCain +1, Gingrich -2, Romney +1, Hagel -2, Thompson +1, Tancredo ±0, Brownback ±0, Huckabee +1, Gilmore ±0, Hunter ±0, Undecided -3.

President Bush’s image as a conservative continues to crumble. In January, 11 percent believed him to be a “conservative in the mold of Ronald Reagan” with 77 percent disagreeing and 12 percent undecided. This month, only 8 percent believe that is true with 78 percent opposed. Thirteen percent are undecided.

It would be of interest to speculate how Giuliani’s numbers would fare if his opponents began tying the former mayor to President Bush on the conservative plane. Earlier this month, Giuliani, while praising Bush in California, said he would be a president just like the current Republican occupying the White House.

… America, he added, is “very fortunate to have President Bush.”

“Presidents can’t do nonbinding resolutions. Presidents have to make decisions and move the country forward, and that’s the kind of president that I would like to be, a president who makes decisions.”

McCain has taken measured shots at Bush in recent days, despite his staunch support of the President on Iraq.

Iowa, Polling, Rudy Giuliani | 1 Comment »

In the documentary Giuliani Time, the former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is featured in a light not seen by the millions of Americans that view him as a hero from September 11, 2001. (See review in the Washington Post, 5/26/06.)

But what’s remarkable about Giuliani, and a point underlined in this flick, is how little sympathy he spared for those he ruled. He couldn’t abide complaints from the poor and he was antagonistic to public schools. As Giuliani notes in the film: “My father used to threaten to put me in public school . . . and that was a really frightening thought.”

Crooks & Liars produced a clip from the film where Giuliani made fun of a caller on his weekly radio show that criticized him and called him a “criminal.” The caller, interviewed in the film, has Parkinson’s Disease.

When “Giuliani Time” gives a glimpse of this Giuliani, it’s mesmerizing. So, the smiling mayor fields a phone call during his weekly radio show. The caller is angry about city cuts to food stamps and Medicare aid for the disabled.

Hizzoner is a pit bull to the chase.

“Hey, John,” Giuliani tells his caller, “what kind of hole are you in? There’s something that’s really wrong with you. . . . We’ll send you psychiatric help because you really need it.”

As it happens, the caller, John Hynes, needs real help. A disabled lawyer, he suffers from Parkinson’s disease, and he’s had his benefits cut off and he’s running out of medicine.

Nothing chills the blood so thoroughly as the sight of a powerful man turned gleeful bully.

Speaking of Giuliani, he was a guest on The Hugh Hewitt Show with conservative blogger and radio host, Hugh Hewitt.

Rudy Giuliani | No Comments »

Michael Froomkin Steve Benen, writing at The Carpetbagger Reporter, refers us to some other outlandish statements from Duncan Hunter’s new co-chair of his South Carolina operation, Henry Jordan. Froomkin Benen knew Jordan from this bigoted 1997 statement “Screw the Buddhists and kill the Muslims.”

An unsuccessful candidate for lieutenant governor both in 1996 and last year, Jordan said in May that science does not support Darwin’s theory that man evolved from monkeys. He said students should learn “intelligent design” along with evolution. “I mean you’ve got to be stupid to believe in evolution, I mean really,” he told The Associated Press then. [Emphasis added, asshole in the original]

Not only has Hunter hired a man who advocated genocide of Muslims, he hired a man who called a major swath of America “stupid.” Personally I’d rather men trying to seek our nation’s highest office not comport with genocidal bigots and unabashed anti-intellectuals, let alone hire them to run their campaign in one of the most important primary states.

Reporters continue to remain silent and religious leaders are not calling for Hunter to fire Jordan. But that won’t stop me: Duncan Hunter must fire this bigot. Anything less is an affront to Americans of faith and Americans of science. Pissing both groups off in one fell swoop is not something to be proud of, even if it is a rarity.

Technorati Tags: Duncan Hunter, Henry Jordan

Duncan Hunter | No Comments »

Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) has introduced a new GOP classification, his second of this election cycle, in reference to himself: “Wilberforce Republican.”

New York Times blogger Sarah Wheaton explains at The Caucus:

If you don’t know who he is, never fear—Hollywood is coming to the rescue with Friday’s release of “Amazing Grace.” The film details Mr. Wilberforce’s successful, 20-year effort as a British member of parliament to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire. He was inspired by his evangelical Christian beliefs. And Mr. Brownback, a devout Catholic who was previously an evangelical Protestant, “is deeply inspired by William Wilberforce,” said Brian Hart, his campaign spokesman.

A March 2006 article in The Economist first named Mr. Brownback a “Wilberforce Republican,” referring to his faith-grounded efforts to end human trafficking, fight genocide and AIDS in Africa and to reform prisons.

The Kansas senator is running with the association. Two weeks ago, he introduced a bill to honor the British abolitionist, and today, he will participate in a panel discussion following a screening of “Amazing Grace” in Los Angeles.

Wonkette, as always, knows just how to mock Brownback’s attempt to capitalize on a recently released film that he has no connection with in order to make himself relevant.

Now, of course, other candidates have decided to hop on the film tie-in rebranding bandwagon, with Mitt Romney urging supporters to call him Ghost Rider and Mike Huckabee referring to himself, inexplicably, as a “Blood Diamonds Republican.”

(Hat tip: Wonkette)

Sam Brownback | 4 Comments »

Well, I guess when the campaign itself is tinged with the gooey residue of nativism and eliminationism, this isn’t surprising.

In his latest appeal to the Republican base, Duncan Hunter has named Dr. Henry Jordan as his South Carolina campaign co-chair. This Henry Jordan:

COLUMBIA, S.C. (May 16, 1997 12:25 p.m. EDT) — A state Board of Education member, talking Tuesday about displaying the Ten Commandments in public schools, had a ready suggestion for groups who might object to it.

“Screw the Buddhists and kill the Muslims,” Dr. Henry Jordan said during the board’s finance and legislative committee meeting. “And put that in the minutes,” he added.

The remarks made Tuesday were expunged from the written minutes, but were recorded on tape. The (Columbia) State obtained the tape under the Freedom of Information Act.

In a media environment where Republican staff hires were given 1/100th the scrutiny of Democratic staff hires, this story would lead to bad press for Hunter and boisterous cries by Muslim and Buddhist Democratic activists for Hunter for fire Jordan. Those calls would be broadcast in print and TV outlets and eventually Jordan would be fired or resign in disgrace. Both Roger Ailes and Duncan Black agree that there’s no chance in hell that will happen and I concur.

The real shame of it is that the campaign chair for South Carolina is a hell of a lot more important campaign member than the person who posts updates on the candidate’s blog. In theory Jordan will help determine what Hunter’s SC strategy is vis-a-vis endorsements, fundraising, field operations and messaging. Edwards’ staffers had much smaller roles: Marcotte was going to post blog entries and McEwan was going to talk to bloggers. In a reasonable world these distinctions would matter and Hunter would be under fire for hiring this crank.

But this is the Republican primary and racists and bigots are part of the mix, especially from a candidate whose campaign is based around drumming up fear of immigrants and confounding all brown people as terrorists.

That said, let me the first to say: Duncan Hunter must fire Henry Jordan or else have the courage of his convictions and admit that he agrees wholeheartedly with Jordan about “kill[ing] the Muslims.”

There is no place in this campaign for a candidate who openly supports genocide.

Duncan Hunter | 1 Comment »