Category — Republican Primary

The end is near for Mrs. Clinton. Her Indiana win wasn’t the seismic shift needed to convince super delegates that they should abandon Barack Obama. It’s just a matter of time before her campaign succumbs to a lack of time and money.

Liberals must be ecstatic at Obama’s ascendancy. They have the nation’s most liberal senator one step away from the presidency. Conservatives can only shake their heads as the Republican Party nominates a quasi-liberal. Maybe McCain can battle Obama for the independents, but will conservatives support him? I certainly don’t see or feel much conservative energy or enthusiasm for McCain or the Republican Party. There’s not much about either a conservative can get excited about.

Every now and then I find a photo that captures an idea. This one reminds me of the upcoming election and the primary season for both parties.

Face time for the Candidates

This election is a wreck

Politics is like horseshoes. They don’t always have to be ringers, some leaners are OK. But ALL of them have to be close!
Whom is Bush talking about when he mentions conservative? McCain bashed Alito, voted against the tax cuts and gave us these three conservative items namely:

• McCain Feingold
• McCain Liberman
• McCain Kennedy

He reached across the aisle, but that was all one way. Try the Gang of 14 too. While you are at it, add the Keating Five to this list.

Watch Bush push conservative programs » The only place Bush pushed conservative ideas was out the back door, except when the voters bludgeoned him into backing them.
Conservatives yes, McCain NO. Bush, no more years.
Now Bush is a comedian coming up with this:

Bush: Keep a conservative in White House

WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush, in a rousing speech to fellow conservatives, exhorted his ideological cohorts to “fight for victory and keep the White House in 2008.” [snip]

The two-term U.S. leader, who addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, leaves office next year and said it is important that the next president continues to reflect the conservative political principles he represents. [snip]

Bush’s address highlighted his conservative credentials in similar language to that McCain used when he spoke to the same group Thursday.

McCain noted his support for Bush’s policies, including permanent tax cuts, the appointment of conservative judges such as Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito and his early call for the addition of troops in Iraq as part of the so-called surge. [snip]

I read John McCain’s CPAC speech, and I’m struggling to find the positives.  Hugh Hewitt describes it as “superb” and Ed Morrissey says it was “excellent”.  However, it strikes me as arrogant and condescending.  In a nutshell, McCain will seek conservative “counsel”, but won’t change his mind unless he’s “convinced” his “judgment is in error”.  And judging from his actions, he hasn’t found too many of those over the years.  It won’t be long before he’s swearing at us and calling us “racists” again.

Sorry, folks, but one speech does not erase McCain’s history.  I know some of you are desperately trying to put your fingers in the dike this election season.  But if I was interested in supporting a good orator, I’d jump on the cult of Obama bandwagon.  That’s his main qualification as far as I can tell.

So John McCain is the new face of the Republican Party. If true, count me out. I just spent 8 years watching President Bush sabotage the conservative movement on almost every major domestic policy issue. I’m not going to shot myself in the foot over and over again just to get a Republican elected.

It’s time for conservatives to reexamine their relationship with the Republican Party. The old platitudes about any Republican being better than a Democrat just aren’t true. I didn’t derive much consolation from the fact that George Bush was a Republican when he was partnering with Teddy Kennedy on illegal immigration and education.

It’s also well past time to look at the bigger picture and not blindly accept the notion that nothing matters besides the War on Terrorism. Conservatives need to resist the temptation to become single issue voters. That’s not to say that you’ll agree with everything a particular candidate does, but you do have to look at a much broader canvas.

And that’s why the Republican Party and John McCain have lost me. When you look at the broader core of what John McCain and the Party under a McCain presidency would represent (global warming, illegal immigration, socialized medicine, higher taxes, expansion of government scope and size, etc.), there’s very little reason to support it or him. The ever so prized independents and liberals are welcome to it.

Looks like West Virginia was too tough for McCain, he had to drop, push all his voters to Huckabuck. The reincarnated Gortner took to the hills and stills for some down shouting about demon rum and Mormon dancing. The Woodchuck’s photographer captured some of the goings on!

After all this religion and shouting, surely some heftier potables get swilled.

Huckabee adds some snake oil to the layin’ on of the hands hoping for the Veep slot.

Hoping to draw off enough voters to give McCain the nomination, Huckster will be callin’ down the Lord’s wrath if Romney dancing as a winners.

Romney voters are sinners, you hear!

The MSM is promoting him as the Big Mac.

With all the hosannas floating in the air over Obama, Clinton and McCain the fifth column fourth estate may call for a Ruling Troika. They surely will wet their pants calling for that dream team.

It’s a bit early for all this tripe.

Maybe they should forbid Floridians the vote. I’m surprised Jimmah Carter isn’t somehow involved in this assault on sanity.

Primary day glitches few but frustrating

By Robert Nolin
Sun-Sentinel.com
1:48 PM EST, January 29,2008

South Florida voters took to the polls in force Tuesday, setting the stage for what may be a record turnout for a primary election, deciding a make-or-break race for Republican presidential hopefuls and the fate of a property tax overhaul measure.[snip]

Buried at the bottom of this story is this tidbit:

In northern Coral Springs, near the Sawgrass Expressway and Coral Ridge Drive, David Nirenberg arrived to vote as an independent. Nevertheless, he said poll workers insisted he choose a party ballot.
“He said to me, ‘Are you Democrat or Republican?’ I said, ‘Neither, I am independent.’ He said, ‘Well, you have to pick one,”’ Nirenberg said.
In Florida, only those who declare a party are allowed to cast a vote in that party’s presidential primary.
Nirenberg said he tried to explain to the poll worker that he should not vote on a party ballot because of his “no party affiliation” status.
Nirenberg said a second poll worker was called over who agreed that independents should not use party ballots, but said they had received instructions to the contrary.
“He said, ‘Ya know, that is kind of funny, but it was what we were told.’ … I was shocked when they told me that.” Nirenberg said he went ahead and voted for John McCain.

Area voters in Florida Primary are reporting problems at polls

One voter was told by poll workers there was no Democratic primary today

On Florida Primary day, voters are reporting problems across Central Florida from Daytona Beach to Hunter’s Creek. Among the precincts experiencing glitches was one in Orange County where voters were told by poll workers early on there was no Democratic primary today.
Phil Marjason said poll workers at precinct 145 in Hunter’s Creek would not give him a Democratic ballot.
[snip]

But Orange County officials said their records show Marjason was given a Democratic ballot and it was cast. Marjason disagreed.
“You sign a piece of paper then you walk over to the next table and they hand you a ballot,” he said. “It probably shows that I signed for it, but they didn’t give me a Democratic ballot.”

Sheneka McDonald spent 10 minutes trying to convince poll workers at the same precinct that she should have a Democratic ballot. She questioned poll workers when she was handed a Republican ballot but was told, “this is the only ballot we have.”
“I said, ‘How can this be the only ballot,’” McDonald recalled. “That’s when the guy chimed in from the back and said the Democratic primary was in March.”

The poll captain eventually apologized to McDonald and told her they had forgotten to unpack all the ballots. “It was a little unnerving this morning,” she said. “I don’t see how you forget to unpack ballots. This is what gives Florida its reputation.” [snip]

I had to cut this here, the rest of this story, it just gets worse, and funnier, and dumber, and—Maybe the south had it right with literacy tests to vote. The problem then was the selectivity. Give the test first to the poll workers.

Iowa has a population of about 3 million people give or take a few depending on if you believe Michele Obama’s assertion that not a single black person inhabits the state. New Hampshire has a population of about 1.3 million people give or take a few new “Massholes” who probably snuck across the border last night. But to hear the media tell it, the Republican Party is in deep disarray because it didn’t have a clear cut nominee after less than 1.5% of the US population got a chance to vote on it.

But this is exactly what states like California and Florida have been asking for all along—choices. Less than a month ago the states were all scrambling to move their primaries up because they felt left out. Now that Iowa and New Hampshire haven’t anointed a nominee, the NY Times declares that the GOP is “adrift”. Of course, the Democrats haven’t anointed their nominee either, but they’re Democrats, so it’s see, speak, and hear no evil time at the NY Times.

The media’s real issue here is they don’t get to play kingmaker. Every prominent candidate with a legitimate shot at the nomination was written off by the media at one point so far. And they’ve been wrong on all counts. The real losers here aren’t the GOP or the electorate; it’s the ‘lamestream’ media who are crying sour grapes because they don’t have the power to eliminate candidates they don’t like as quickly anymore.

This CNN exit poll for the Michigan Primary looks a lot like the New Hampshire one. McCain wins the Democrats and Independents. Mitt Romney wins the Republicans by a pretty comfortable margin. So the million dollar question is how will McCain compete in the closed primaries when he can’t count on crossover votes?

Tonight’s Romney win is a serious blow to McCain. By slowing his momentum, McCain no longer looks like the inevitable nominee. And without that forgone conclusion feeling, I have no idea how John McCain woos Republicans who don’t appear to be too fond of him yet. On the other hand, Romney is sitting pretty if he continues to hold serve with Republican voters.

The media punched McCain’s ticket to the nomination and wrote Romney’s epitaph way too early.

We have a Jane Swift sighting. You’ll remember Jane as the incompetent, ticket balancing lieutenant governor who liked to ride around in state helicopters and use her aides as baby sitters. She took over as acting governor (strong emphasis on acting) when Paul Cellucci made a run for the northern border by becoming the ambassador to Canada. It really says something about a state when even its governor joins the great unwashed in exiting stage left. But I digress.

Flash forward to today and “Pitbull Swifty” is trying to take a chunk out of Mitt Romney’s leg. It seems that “Swifty” is still none too pleased about being pushed aside by Mitt in the 2002 Republican state primary. So, in an attempt to return the favor Sicilian style, she’s attacking him for raising state fees while governor just before the Michigan primary.

Ironically and rather ineptly, while attacking Romney on fees, she officially supports John McCain. McCain voted against President Bush’s tax cuts twice. And that’s why I’d tell everyone considering Romney to take everything Jane Swift says with a few grains (read salt mines worth) of salt.

This Suffolk University poll shows Mitt Romney up 29/25 on John McCain in NH. If it represents truth on the ground, Mitt’s commercial blitz against McCain might be having an impact. But keep this important fact in mind, the poll projects that more than 25% of the votes cast in the Republican Primary will actually come from independents. Those independents are projected to break overwhelming for McCain.

If this were a party only primary, McCain wouldn’t be a serious threat to anyone. Sadly, if McCain wins, the media will proclaim its favorite RHINO the front runner when in reality, his Republican support is thimble deep.

A McCain ticket might trounce its rival for the independent vote in November, but can it drive its own party to the polls? I don’t see the prospect of 4 more years of “compassionate” conservatism rebranded as the Straight Talk Express driving a huge turnout in November. And if the specter of another President Clinton isn’t lurking, say hello to President Barack Obama.

Filling the GOP presidential contender ranks are individuals whose ideological home is very left of center. Pandering to the conservative side of the GOP is job #1; we get all sorts of ridiculous positions asserted. Giuliani fractured his spine, holding polar positions on the abortion and gun issues. Romney does the same. The rest are no better.

Jacob Sullum | April 11, 2007

Rudy Giuliani’s narrow reading of the Second Amendment

Despite his promise to appoint “strict constructionists” to the Supreme Court if he is elected president, Rudy Giuliani recently said he has no interest in overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that discovered a previously unnoticed constitutional right to abortion. Offending social conservatives (and strict constructionists) even further, he told CNN this constitutional right may require government financing of abortions for women who otherwise cannot afford them.

Since Giuliani also claims to support “the right to bear arms” (a right that is actually mentioned in the Constitution), he should, by similar logic, advocate the use of taxpayer money to buy guns for poor people. But the idea would never occur to him, because his sudden interest in the Second Amendment, like his sudden interest in strict constructionism, is merely an affectation intended to allay the concerns of Republican primary voters. [snip]

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has joined the ranks of gun control advocates willing to employ the brute force of litigation as an end run around democracy. “[F]ollowing the lead of many of the nation’s other large cities, [Giuliani] announced yesterday that his administration would file its own lawsuit against handgun manufacturers, seeking tens of millions of dollars to compensate New York City for injuries and other damage caused by illegal gun use.” Maybe he wouldn’t have made such a good Senator after all (Eric Lipton, “Giuliani Joins the War on Handgun Manufacturers”, New York Times, June 20).

Since John Lindsay, no elected mayor in NYC sported a conservative label. One must be a democrat or if republican, be as liberal as them. Giuliani fits this mold. Bloomberg was a Donk who changed party but not doctrine. Giuliani supported him.

Like Giuliani, Romney has switched positions, even recently buying a life membership in the NRA to buttress his hyaloid change in dogma. Thank God, he’s a lifetime hunter.

Like Daschle, McCain says one thing at home, a very different set of positions in DC. Unlike Daschle, he’s avoided firing. With Feingold, he assaulted free speech, voted against conservatives on abortion and guns. He resisted cutting taxes and works with Kennedy on many fiscal pacts.

Match the purported leaders’ votes with any of the Democrat candidate; you won’t find too many degrees of separation.

Where are the true Republicans, those of the same credo of Reagan and Goldwater?

We need choices, not sound bites.

Via the St. Petersburg Times:

One rumor that refuses to go away: retired Gen. Tommy Franks for Senate. If anyone has the celebrity power to unseat an incumbent senator (or beat Katherine Harris in a Republican primary), the thinking goes, it would be the former U.S. Central Command chief who enthusiastically campaigned for President Bush and Mel Martinez last year.

A spokesman for Franks, now a consultant, said he was unaware of the rumor but declined to put it to rest: “Gen. Franks has no comment on your question right now.”

HT: Political Wire