In this video, John McCain continues to demonstrate the subtle leadership he feels best qualifies him to lead the nation:
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It actually reminds me of something McCain said once back in his original straight talk days:

“What would you do if something happened to Greenspan?” a reporter drilled John McCain during the primaries. “Well,” said the Senator, “I’d put sunglasses on him and prop him up like that guy in Weekend at Bernie’s.”

Only instead of being funny, this is a horrendously inflammatory comment towards a country and area of the world that already has a rather active dislike for us.

John McCain | 5 Comments »

Matt’s earlier post on the Brownback endorsement by Terry Schiavo’s brother reminded me of this gem from Peggy Noonan’s March 18, 2005 Wall Street Journal column:

So politically this is a struggle between many serious people who really mean it and one, just one, strange-o. And the few bearded and depressed-looking academics he’s drawn to his side.

See! She even said “serious people!” She’s one step away from opening the a bi-partisan Schiavo study center and blue ribbon commission.

Just a reminder of how well received the Schiavo intervention was with the American public and all those “serious people” that Noonan referred to, from a March 21, 2005 ABC News Poll:

March 21, 2005 — Americans broadly and strongly disapprove of federal intervention in the Terri Schiavo case, with sizable majorities saying Congress is overstepping its bounds for political gain.

The public, by 63 percent-28 percent, supports the removal of Schiavo’s feeding tube, and by a 25-point margin opposes a law mandating federal review of her case. Congress passed such legislation and President Bush signed it early today.

That legislative action is distinctly unpopular: Not only do 60 percent oppose it, more — 70 percent — call it inappropriate for Congress to get involved in this way. And by a lopsided 67 percent-19 percent, most think the elected officials trying to keep Schiavo alive are doing so more for political advantage than out of concern for her or for the principles involved.

[. . .]

Included among the 63 percent who support removing the feeding tube are 42 percent who “strongly” support it — twice as many as strongly oppose it. And among the 70 percent who call congressional intervention inappropriate are 58 percent who hold that view strongly — an especially high level of strong opinion.

This Brownback announcement highlights one of the main reasons why the Republican field is in such disarray right now. The only way that candidate’s like Brownback can get traction is by reminding Republican primary voters that he supported something that 70 percent of the country was opposed to. Thus the dilemma presented to the Republican base by the current crop of GOP presidential candidates, as reflected in the latest CBS/NYT poll:

ASKED OF REPUBLICAN PRIMARY VOTERS ONLY: Are you generally satisfied with the candidates now running for the Republican nomination for President, or do you wish there were more choices?

Satisfied 40
More choices 57

Dems poll almost the exact opposite, 57/39. And lets all remember one of the reasons why we’re not getting this email from Bill Frist for President 2008:
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Sam Brownback | 8 Comments »

Ouch. The National Journal’s latest White House Rankings for the GOP are not good for my man Duncan Hunter:

9. Duncan Hunter – “He got some press out of the March for Life. Brownback liked having him there because it made him look like the electable conservative.”

We’ll never have “Peace Through Strength” without Duncan Hunter!

Duncan Hunter | 4 Comments »

A Washington Post story about Giuliani hiring failed Iowa GOP Gubernatorial nominee Jim Nussle featured this unfortunate photo match-up of Giuliani and Iraqi Awad Hamed al-Bandar in the same pose. (I don’t think they’re doing the Vulcan “Live Long and Prosper” hand gesture.)

Of course the right will never have to deal with something like this or this.

Rudy Giuliani | No Comments »

(Kombiz has invited me to occasionally put up a snarky post on the Right’s Field of Dream (candidates). – Adam)

The National Journal’s Hotline Blog has covering of an interesting event is in Boston today, an intimate gathering of Mitt Romeny and 350 of his closest friends and family to phonebank funds for his presidential campaign:

More than 350 of Romney’s friends and early financial supporters gathered today in a canvernous convention hall in South Boston…[making] as many telephone calls as they could bear.

The day-long national “call-a-thon” to benefit Romney’s exploratory committee formally hopes” to raise about $1 million,” said Kevin Madden, Romney’s spokesman. Unofficially, the exploratory committee managed to secure more than $1 million in pledges before the event even began.

Those of you who have toiled in the trenches of political campaigns know how much fun phonebanking and call-time can be, particularly when faced with such hostile and difficult calls such as this one:

The first official call of the ‘a-thon’ was made to Lynn Romney Keenan, the candidate’s older sister. She was rapturous in praise of her brother, repeatedly interrupting his friendly overture to tell him how excited she was, how “I’ve been thinking about your leadership and your life and what you can give back and your courage and your energy and your smarts and your love of your country and how you motivate and inspire others.”

Romney was in good company, with fellow governors like Matt Blunt of Missouri, who rocks near Bush-like approval ratings of 35%, and Bill Weld, the former Governor of Massachusetts who lost his 1996 Senate bid to unseat John Kerry. Of course Weld would later overshadow Kerry as “the biggest flip-flopper in politics today” when he switched his allegiance from the Red Sox to the Yankees during his lackluster candidacy for the Republican Gubernatorial nomination last year.

The goals of the day are manifold. First, Romney’s campaign wanted to bring all of his most ardent supporters together, early, to form a bond with each other, and chat with the governor, if they so desire. Second, they want to generate some thrust for their ambitious finance plan, which has a goal of raising at least $50 million by June…Also, Romney himself got a kick out of the idea of having corporate executives sit down for a day and make fundraising calls.

Ladies and gentleman, Mitt Romney, the first candidate to actually outsource personal call-time.

Hotline blog has good, non-sarcastic, coverage of the event including some background on Spencer Zwick, Romney’s 28-year old fundraising wunderkid and look inside the rest of Romney’s inner-circle. It’s interesting look at a campaign that looks like it’s going to go out of its way to innovate.

Mitt Romney | 2 Comments »