You know, I’d like to hear the phrase, “I’m a Gerald Ford Republican” more often. Doesn’t it just roll off your tongue? But we haven’t heard it that often in the 2008 Republican race. Thankfully Rudy Giuliani has decided to step up to the challenge.

“I voted for Gerry Ford,” Giuliani told the Weekly Standard. “I had met him, really respected him–big supporter of Gerry Ford. And then, by the time I left Washington I was a Republican.”

There’s more of course (like the fact that he voted for McGovern in ‘72), but there you have it–Gerald Ford turned Rudy Giuliani into a Republican. This will really strengthen his conservative bona fides. I can’t wait to see the campaign ads.

Rudy Giuliani | No Comments »

I started watching about halfway through the interview, so that’s all that’s below. Note to readers: throat-clearings were not included.

Fred Thompson | 10 Comments »

The Log Cabin Republicans unanimously endorsed Mitt Romney when he ran for governor in 2002. They’re not so keen on him now. See the ad below, soon to be played in Iowa and on Fox News.

Mitt Romney | 1 Comment »

In case you missed it, Matt Bai gave us a good read in last week’s NYT Magazine about Rudy Giuliani. The following analogy seems about right:

“Giuliani’s presidential campaign brings to mind that famous scene from “A Few Good Men,” in which Jack Nicholson lectures a boyish Tom Cruise on the practical realities inherent in protecting freedom. In Giuliani’s telling, only a thin wall separates innocent Americans from the violent apostles of a brutal and repressive ideology. You want me on that wall, Rudy would have us believe. You need me on that wall.“

The article has some good reporting. If you have the time, read it. If not, then just watch the clip below.

Rudy Giuliani | 2 Comments »

John McCain plans to own the “surge is working” meme in hopes of propping up his near-dead presidential campaign, according to an internal campaign memo. We got a preview of that tactic during last Wednesday’s GOP debate when McCain skirmished with Mitt Romney, arguing the troop escalation has been successful. “It is working,” McCain said. “No, not ‘apparently.’ It’s working.”

On Tuesday–September 11, of course–McCain will begin his so-called “No Surrender Tour” in the early primary states. But he might be surprised to find his message poorly received. That’s because the war is quite unpopular in Iowa–even among Republicans. Indeed, a majority (56 percent!) of likely Republican caucus-goers polled in late June want all U.S. forces out of Iraq within the next six months.

At least he can always retreat to his Piece of Shit Express.

John McCain | No Comments »

The GOP debate just ended. I’ve turned off the TV; these views are solely my own. We are in a no-spin zone.

A few thoughts, but first, I’ve got to hand it to the GOP and Fox, for that matter. They know how to host a debate. Moderators threw some truly tough questions at the candidates. Often it was as simple as asking candidates to stand by a wildly outrageous statement they had previously made. But they didn’t have to do that. Moderators also encouraged hand to hand combat between the contenders, allowing (or forcing) the candidates to actively confront each other. It’s easy to criticize someone’s lack of national security credentials on the campaign trail–it’s a bit harder when he’s standing two podiums down. I wish Democratic debates were this fierce.

So who won? Well, these debates–and this, I’d say, was a debate–are never so cut and dry. Mike Huckabee scored some major points during his argument with Ron Paul (who garnered impressive applauses at times himself). Rudy Giuliani was decent. Mitt Romney seemed to be hit on all sides tonight–by the candidates and by the moderators. The others don’t require a mention. But I think it was John McCain who came the closest to winning if a winner must be declared. Whether it was the New Hampshire setting (a home field of sorts for him) or delusions that the surge was working, he performed strongly tonight. He looked too old but he didn’t sound too old. And he brought the house down several times.

Will this debate revive McCain’s corpse-like campaign? No, of course not. But if it indicates that McCain still has a chance in New Hampshire–and I think it does–than perhaps he still has a shot, though barely, at the Republican nomination. Everybody loves the comeback kid.

p.s. — Fred Thompson probably made the right call strategically by skipping this debate; there would have been far too much scrutiny and he’s going to need these next few weeks to try to define himself without being hampered by a potentially weak debate performance. But he looked like a coward–and a bit ridiculous, too, since everyone knows he’s running. He better ace his Leno appearance tonight.

Presidential Debates | No Comments »

Mitt Romney goes back on the air in Iowa and New Hampshire today with an ad that “emphasizes vigor, change” according to Jonathan Martin. Honestly, I think the ad is a little ridiculous, but Martin is right to note the not so subtle contrast between the running Romney and the golf-carting Grandpa Fred. Also of note: Romney sweats a lot. But knowing the Romney campaign, he probably just doused some bottled water on to his head.

Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney | 3 Comments »

Via Pam’s House Blend, we see that Ron Paul, the anti-war Republican presidential candidate (doesn’t that sound like an oxymoron?) with libertarian tendencies, supports the foolish (militarily) and repugnant (morally) policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” What makes this all the more hypocritical is that prior to arguing for “DADT,” Paul had told John Lofton, his kooky interviewer, that “I think everybody’s God’s child” and that he had “trouble” with the idea that homosexuality is a sin.

From Pam’s:

LOFTON: Do you believe it [homosexuality] is a sin?

PAUL: I have not…I’m not as judgmental about that probably because of my medical background, so I don’t see it in those simplistic terms; I think it’s a complex issue (emphasis added) to decide whether it’s sin or other problems with the way people are born. It’s to me too complex to give an answer as simple as that.

LOFTON: Do you believe that God says it is a sin?

PAUL: Well, I believe a lot of people understand it that way, but I think everybody’s God’s child too, so I have, you know, trouble with that (emphasis added).

LOFTON: Well, actually everyone’s made in the image of God, but not everyone’s a child of God. Some of them are children of the devil…

[snip]

LOFTON: We’ll try to stop anyone from getting in the military who is a homosexual, who is an adulterer, who is a fornicator, and then other categories that indicate a character flaw. Why we shouldn’t try to do that?”

PAUL: Looking it in protecting the military if they are going to perform the services, and they are imperfect — because we’re all imperfect and we all sin. If a heterosexual or homosexual sins, that to me is the category of dealing with their own soul. Since we cannot have only perfect people going in the military I want to separate the two because I don’t want to know the heterosexual flaws, nor the homosexual flaws and that’s why I got in some trouble with some of the civil libertarians because I don’t have any problem with Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (emphasis added). Because I don’t think that, for the practicality of running a military, I’d just as soon not know every serious thing that any heterosexual or homosexual did, and those flaws have to do with all our flaws because each and everyone one of us has those imperfections.

Ron Paul refused to take the bait when asked if homosexuality is a sin. Instead of tossing out the red meat to the Christian right, he demurred, calling it a “complex issue.” While that response is far worse than anything any Democratic hopeful would say (yes, even Bill Richardson), at least Paul is not a hate-monger. It’s unfortunate, then, that Paul continues to support “DADT.” He also seems to be ignorant of what that policy often actually does, which is oust qualified gay soldiers from service who did not wish to be outed, but were for whatever reason. As a commenter at Pam’s writes, “The policy should be renamed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Get Found Out, Don’t Be the Object of Gossip, Don’t Piss Anybody Off, Don’t Get Unlucky, Don’t….”

In the interview, Paul said that everyone has flaws and imperfections. It’s clear he’s included.

Cross-posted at Ben Weyl Blog

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Fox News has been delivering some harsh coverage lately to Fred Thompson’s non-campaign campaign. Last week, Fox’s Carl Cameron disapprovingly noted Thompson loafing around in a golf cart while “not campaigning” in Iowa. And now, Thompson’s getting criticized on the channel of Murdoch for failing to give a half-decent speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. “The former U.S. Senator seemed to struggle at times delivering his speech. … Thompson seemed unfamiliar with the applause lines in his own speech.” The Fox commentator also pointed out that while Thompson was interrupted seven times for applause, the “anti-Iraq war Democrat” Barack Obama received 18 applause breaks. If Thompson can’t get favorable coverage in the conservative press, how soon until the rest of the media pops the already deflating Thompson bubble?

Fred Thompson | 1 Comment »

As many probably know, former Virginia Senator George “Macaca” Allen recently created his own blog. News of his new blog sped rapidly throughout the internet’s many tubes. But it turns out that another former presidential wannabe from Virginia has also become a blogger: Jim Gilmore. The website for Gilmore’s presidential bid, gilmoreforpresident.com, now redirects automatically to virginiapatriot.com. Indeed, Gilmore started up his blog less than two weeks after withdrawing from the GOP race in mid-July.

Both Allen and Gilmore occasionally wade into the comments sections of their posts (usually to thank adoring fans). Gilmore’s seems to be more of a regular opinion blog, while Allen’s is more likely to highlight articles by and about him. Allen’s blog is sponsored by the “Good Government Action Fund PAC” which he formed in late May to support local and statewide candidates and the blog allows visitors to donate (by snail mail) to the PAC. The PAC might be a stepping stone for Allen to reenter the political field, and Gilmore has already mused aloud about running for senate or governor in Virginia. Their sites also share one other similarity: their latest political defeats are glaringly absent from their biography sections.

Cross-posted at Ben Weyl Blog

On the Web, James Gilmore | 2 Comments »