The New York Times has the (non snarky) details.
Teeing off on the success of his F-16 fighter pilot ad, Mitt has cut another bio commercial.
In the new ad, Mitt tells of his time as a extraordinarily good looking vigilante who brings law, order and hot sex to the Mexican border region.
Antonio Banderas and Salma Hyek star as Mr. and Mrs. Romney.
Robert Rodriguez directs.
Snark.
And by "pushed", we mean by a rival to Mitt Romney.
Noted: Of course, it's not our quote being pushed. It's Donna Sytek's.
As in, Mitt Romney's NH co-chair is not sure Mitt can even win the general election.
Jon Martin has all the details.
Dare we do.
Team Giuliani is spending this afternoon trying to sort out how the new media to old media conveyor belt works (suggestion, read The Way To Win).
Meanwhile, Democrats are just looking for a way to best go yard on Rudy's fuzzy math.
And through all this we're staying cool as a cucumber, working our way through Vanity Fair's new piece on "Giuliani's Princess Bride".
W-O-W!
Live by the glitterati. Die by the glitterati.
We shot this footage of Rudy Giuliani at Great Northern Trading Company in Meredith, New Hampshire this morning.
Noted: Bloggers who actually venture out of their basement, discard their pajamas (temporarily) and hit the campaign trail? Shocking, we know.
Team Giuliani billed this morning's campaign stop as a "business visit".
About 20 voters showed up.
Hiz Honor, who arrived in a 3 car caravan but left most of his staff outside (smart), spent 15 minutes shaking hands and having his picture taken with everyone who wanted one.
After pictures, Giuliani gave a three minute stump speech. He took no questions from the smattering of local media (and 1 blogger) in attendance.
Of interest to us (and we've been watching this guy on the Trail since October of '06) "taxes" seems to be overtaking "staying on offense" as the #1 issue that Rudy wants to talk about.
Maybe the "one trick pony" label is getting a bit old for the Mayor?
In today's speech Giuliani claimed that Democrats were going to "raise taxes anywhere from 20 to 30%" if they won the White House. Right before he attacked John Edwards in particular.
We wonder if the DNC (and Edwards) is going to take issue with that.
Snark.
A true story (as related to us).
In the spring of 2001, a mere 12 (or so) weeks after George W. Bush's first inauguration, a group of White House staffers gathered in the Oval Office to plan the President's '04 re-elect. The discussion centered around identifying Democrats who "posed the greatest threat to Bush's re-elect chances".
The most dangerous Democrat, most agreed, was freshman North Carolina Senator John Edwards.
"Edwards is a scrappy, smart, articulate son-of-a-bitch," one of the meeting's participants told us years later. "Many of us saw him as the greatest threat to Bush's second term."
Of course, the terrorist attacks of 9/11 shook-up 9/10's conventional political wisdom. And the Democratic Party chose a war hero to take on the wartime President in 2004.
But GreenMountainPolitics1 has been struck in conversations over the last year at the level of (grudging) respect Edwards commands among Republican operatives who cite Edwards political savvy, ability to give (and take) a punch and his maneuverability.
"That guy (Edwards) constantly benches above his weight," was the way a top level GOP campaign strategist described it to us a few weeks ago.
And no one would be foolish enough to forget the "Elizabeth Factor".
Fast forward to late July 2007 (today) in New Hampshire. Where, at Mack's Apples in Londonderry, John Edwards wrapped up a 3-day, 13 stop swing through the Granite State with a town hall meeting.
300+ people showed up. And they didn't care to ask about haircuts or mansions or fundraising (staff) process stories.
No surprise there. Granite Staters are (generally) content to leave that drivel to the national media.
Mack's New Hampshire voters wanted to talk about health care, the War in Iraq, education, college loans, the environment and what a disaster the Bush Administration has been.
And Edwards was killing it (in a good way). Each and every question. To lots of applause.
Edwards might be mad as hell at the "sorry state of affairs", but so are a lot of people in New Hampshire.
Which is why John Edwards is selling "Big, Strong, Bold Change".
And it is why John Edwards is going to be in New Hampshire a whole lot over the next 5 months.
Noted: You can't spell inevitability, comeback or momentum without New Hampshire (we need to trademark our brilliance).
Which is why we have said for the last 8 months that if anyone can beat Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination it will be John Edwards.
Book it Danno.
This footage of John Edwards was taken in Iowa yesterday and posted by his campaign.
Ben Smith has more background.
Running on the "rage vote" in '08 might make you crazy. Crazy like a fox.
There is what you planned to say. There is what you said. And there is what you wished you said.
We taped Sunday's Political Chowder yesterday. Topic - the future of the GOP.
Or lack of it.
Host Arnie Arnesen called the shots
Joining us at the table was former NH Speaker of the House Donna Sytek and NH One Campaign head Neil Levesque.
The show airs Sunday and will be up on the web at that time.
Two things.
One, we've never done TV before so please (please!) be gentle. We're only a humble blogger swimming in the deep end of the Primary pool.
Oh look, a shark!
Two, the camera adds 60 pounds. Not 10.
Snark.
It's a bio piece. Long.
But hey, Mitt's got the money to put it up on TV.
Which is the only reason that anyone even pretends to take this joker seriously.
Seriously.
Father always told us "words matter".
Hence the difference between "lightning" and "lightning bug".
So we have to ask, what's the difference between "I've flown" and "I've flown on"?
Well, GreenMountainPolitics1 has flown on a 747 jet. But GreenMountainPolitics1 has never flown a 747 jet.
And wishing doesn't make it true. Even when the real pilot let us ride on his lap for a little bit.
So Mitt Romney's comments to John DiStaso about his flight experience gave us pause:
"He said he's flown F-16s"Locally, Romney said he had not heard of the Manchester GOP's "machine-gun" fundraiser but had no problem with it.
He said he's flown F-16s and shot Uzis and an AK 47s, "and they're fun. But I don't think anyone is suggesting that these kinds of weapons are going to be in the public domain."
John McCain participated in a "Meet The Candidate" forum this morning in New Hampshire.
The event took place at Devine Millimet, a top-shelf New England law firm. The forum was co-sponsored by the Manchester Chamber of Commerce.
About 100 people attended the event. Most of them lawyers.
McCain opened his prepared remarks with a joke, "What's the difference between a catfish and a lawyer?" he asked the crowd.
"One is a sucking bottom dweller and the other is a fish."
Of course we know McCain was only kidding.
And the white shoe crowd did to.
They cheered loudly.
We just got off the McCain blogger conference call.
Our question to the Senator was not about Iraq, the '08 horserace or the state of McCain's campaign.
Instead, we decided to ask the Senator a energy/global warming question (take note Carbon Coalition).
GMP1: Senator, Hillary Clinton is in New Hampshire today participating in a discussion on global warming. You have been a leader on this issue, particularly within the Republican Party. Can we expect to hear you talk more about energy and the need to move away from fossil fuels? And don't you think it's foolish that the GOP seems to be ceding this very important issue to the Democrats?
JSM (in a nutshell): "Yes" and "Yes".
Here is the speech McCain gave on Energy Policy back in April.
Now a question for all you budding GOP hacks who read this blog: What don't you "like" about the global warming issue?
We know, we know, your party's political bosses think that global warming is a "little girls" issue.
How did your party's political bosses do in 2006 again? How's 2008 shaping up?
Global warming is a great issue for the GOP. And the Democrats don't own it. Yet.
You please the "far right" with talk of strengthening national security by cutting off oil revenue to people like Hugo Chavez and Putin.
You please the "sorta right" with talk of free market alternative energy development and job creation.
And you please the "independents" with talk of tackling global warming.
Everybody wins. Especially with micro-targeting.
Remember, it's 2007. Not 1907.
So tell Dick "Crazy-Eyed" Cheney and his merry band of morons at the NRSC/NRCC/RNC to shut-up.
Unless you want the GOP to be out of power in the House, Senate and White House in 2008.
We're just saying.
And the hit parade continues.
Romney campaign staffers are back in the news again this morning.
Creepy. Weird. All show and no go. Who are these people?
The Manchester Republican Party is planning a August 5th party fundraiser at the Pelham, New Hampshire firing range.
Party faithful will get to blast away with Uzis, M-16 rifles and other automatic weapons.
Jerry Thibodeau, the committee chairman, told the Union Leader newspaper, "The thought just struck me one day: a machine gun shoot. What the heck?"
A machine gun shoot?
Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!
Calling all Independents! Come back into the Republican fold and fire a automatic weapon in Pelham!
Just please try and disregard the Democratic operatives armed with telephoto lenses whose '08 general election direct mail campaigns you will make. Also, please disregard the bad earned media and their "liberal bias".
Snark.
Noted: GreenMountainPolitics1 has been bow hunting. And we like it. This isn't a anti-Second Amendment post.
What we are saying is that the Manchester GOP is politically tone deaf. Damaging the candidacies of Mayor Guinta and, to a lesser extent, Senator Sununu.
Noted: There is a reason that all(!) the GOP Presidential candidates turned down the Manchester Republican's invitation to come out and shoot guns.
We expect that Guinta and Sununu are probably on the phone with Jerry Thibodeau right now. Sorting it all out.
The real Masters Of The Universe are focused on one thing right now - the slide of the U.S. Dollar.
Which hit a new low vs. the Euro and the Pound today.
Which scares the "hell" out of people who get paid not to get rattled. Ever.
Throw in a (ever widening) wealth gap, screwy government accounting (think generational pyramid scheme) and $2.00 trillion in foreign debt and it's easy to see dark storm clouds floating right over the horizon.
Of course, we're not economists and nobody likes raining on Dow 14,000.
But we'll continue to clack away.
Because we're talking to lots and lots of really smart people - "really smart people" who are "really f-ing scared".
To the extent that a friend of ours is thinking about transferring his net worth into uncut diamonds. Because it's "safer".
He's probably right.
Noted: A sick and twisted parlor game is currently making the rounds that begins with the sentence, "The U.S. economy flushes down the toilet tomorrow, how much of the global economy goes with it?"
Now cue the laughter, the "Oh Thomas, you rascal!" and the clink of scotch glasses.
Barf.
But forget all that. We choose to look for hope. And hope (fingers crossed) is on the way.
As near as we can tell, the solution to America's current fiscal troubles may be found in a "3rd Way".
Not Democrat. Not Republican. Not Karl Marx. Not Adam Smith.
But a hybrid blend of all the philosophies. Plus a few more. With a heaping dose of political courage.
Pete Peterson knows what we're talking about. Because we learned it from him.
And we look forward to seeing (hopefully) Mr. Peterson at the September 28th Fiscal Wake Up Tour in Manchester, NH.
Because there is nothing we like better than "smart".
And we need it by the bucketful these days.
We're baaaaaaaaack!
Noted: Finally back. I-95 stinks.
The fishing in DC was excellent.
And we'll update our readers regarding stuff we caught if/when it pertains to the New Hampshire Primary. Because nobody likes a conflict of interest. Real or imagined.
But we're just happy to be home in Manchester.
Right in the thick of it. Until the bloody end.
Ron Paul gets a lengthy look in this morning's New York Times Sunday Magazine.
Which should help Dr. Paul raise (even more) money. Especially from people who honestly believe that the sun rises only over Manhattan. And sets everywhere else.
Noted: The NTY's will get a nice bump in web traffic from the article. Everybody wins.
We wrote about Paul's New Hampshire support in June. Terrific long-shot yes. But you really never know. And we've seen more and more Ron Paul signs in NH of late.
At the very least, Paul (still) has a window of opportunity to help set the debate among Republican presidential candidates.
Which should help keep everyone else honest.
Sometimes, when we're off floating around fantasy land, we believe that we're better sourced than the New Hampshire AP desk.
But of course we're not. Not even close.
As our good friend Phil Elliott proves, once again, with his latest piece on Obama's trip to New Hampshire.
Well worth a read.
Note Obama's tortured answer on genocide in Iraq v. genocide in Darfur.
We expect this narrative to pop back up. With all the Democrat candidates. With no good answer for them.
Jay Garrity, Mitt's former Director of Operations who is on a leave of absence but still on the Romney campaign payroll, is back in the news this morning.
The Boston HERALD (update: we initially said it was the Globe. Or apologies!) is reporting that Garrity "created phony law enforcement badges that he and other staffers used on the campaign trail to strong-arm reporters, avoid paying tolls and trick security guards into giving them immediate access to campaign venues."
Under Massachusetts state law it is illegal to use a badge without authority.
Team Romney advance staffers Mark Glanville and William Ritter are also accused in the Globe article of flashing the fake badges along with Garrity.
Which probably means that Glanville and Ritter are now under formal investigation in Massachusetts.
Of course, we've never heard those two refered to as "the sixth brother" (as Garrity is) so we're fairly certain that Mitt's not going to have any trouble kicking Glanville and Ritter overboard if this new twist takes off.
This story is so weird!
Of course the defense lawyers are loving it.
Cute. And yes, we're chomping at the bit to write McCain's comeback story.
So sue us.
We would note that the campaign's movie night (we heard) broke up around 8:30pm tonight. This YouTube video hit our emailbox at 9:51pm.
Quick production. Quick turnaround. Not bad.
No Snark.
On our second to last night in DC we have to ask, is Human Events the most idiotic publication of all time?
Probably not.
Probably.
But it's about as inside-the-beltway as you can get.
No matter what Newt (and company) preach on the stump about needing to return power to the states.
Who are these people and what have they done to our Republic?
Just because we support Bush's troop surge (especially when the only other choice is what the Democratic Congress is peddling) doesn't mean that we're not listening/reading other folks with different ideas about "a way forward" (or out) in Iraq.
Especially folks who are as concerned as we are with the chaos that will result if/when the United States pulls all of its troops out of Iraq.
Anyone remember "You break it, you buy it"?
Noted: For you pro-Richardson folks who emailed us to tell us you weren't very happy about our anti-Richardson Snark yesterday we have two quick questions - 1. What's the difference between genocide in Darfur and genocide in Iraq? 2. What is your car's daily MPG?
Exactly. So let's get serious.
And Joe Biden, who we don't talk enough about on this blog, is as serious and able as they come on how to work our way out of this Iraqi clusterf*ck.
Biden proved it again last night on Jim Lehrer.
Also, Time's Mike Duffy has a very good piece up talking about many of the same ideas Biden has.
Neither of the two men's plans are perfect. But neither is Bush's surge. And all three are better than anything Reid/Pelosi are pushing.
Wilson Research Strategies, a Republican research and polling firm, released a "National Political Environment Assessment" this morning on voter attitudes heading into the 2008 race.
Crib Note: In July of 2007 it's looking ugly for Republicans in '08. Pig ugly.
WRS analyzed data collected from news and academic polling organizations including AP/IPSOS, USA Today/Gallup, NBC News/Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg and others.
WRS concludes that if Republicans are going to win in '08 they will have to do it by running on "local" issues. And prayer.
Which makes sense to us.
We've spent some time over the last week talking with national GOP strategists living "inside-the-beltway" (amazingly, they still take our calls) and we haven't seen an organization this out to lunch since, well, since forever.
It's like 2006 never happened.
As near as we can tell, the national GOP game plan for 2008 seems to be to expose Democrat Candidate X's "Ted Kennedy values". And go ugly early.
In other words, the RNC/NRCC/NRSC's message in '08 will be "our Democrat opponent will vote with Ted Kennedy to let illegal aliens stay in this country to rape our women and children".
That (lack of a) message is not going to take the GOP over the mountaintop in 2008. Not even close.
Especially when Democrat Candidate X will just smile at the Ted Kennedy accusation, point at a picture of George Bush and say, "At least I don't represent that guy."
Checkmate.
In 2008, in swing districts around the country, Ted Kennedy is going to beat out George Bush.
Which has got the national GOP stammering and stuttering like it's their job. Which it actually is.
So our advice to GOP candidates in '08 is to spend less time on the phone with Washington and more time down at your local diner/school board meeting/dump/shopping mall talking with real people. Who will help you craft a real message. Which might actually allow you to win.
All politics is local. And Washington doesn't know 80% of what it pretends to know.
So take DC's money. Take their nuts and bolts organizational know-how. But hang up the phone when their message "wizards" start yapping.
And then go treat yourself to a doughnut. You've really got nothing to lose.
We're just saying.
"I'm Bill Richardson.
And because no presidential candidate has yet found the stones, or ovaries, to talk about the terrific downsides of America's casual consumption of the world's natural resources, which is what got us into Iraq in the first place, I'm forced to promise you that I will pull ALL of our troops out of Iraq when I am elected President.
Which is total bullsh*t.
Because Iraq sits on top of 1/3 of the world's proven oil reserves and if you think that Washington's National Security Establishment, or the 98% of Americans who go batsh*t when gasoline prices spike, are going to let some first term President from New Mexico waltz into DC and throw into greater turmoil an area of the world that is of vital national interest to the status quo, well, you've been eating peyote.
If I was telling you the truth I would tell you that there is a better chance of us dropping The Big One on Tehran than there is of American troops coming out of Iraq in the next 10 years.
Speaking of The Big One. I'm hungry.
Let's hop in my campaign car and hit the drive-thru.
I'm Bill Richardson and I approved this message."
The informed opinion business waits for no man. Or woman.
And it certainly doesn't wait for Clackers on vacation.
Which is why we "worked" (on our vacation) to take a chance encounter in Old Town, Virginia last night and turn it into a "visit" to McCain's national headquarters in Crystal City this afternoon.
And work it did.
Which is how GreenMountainPolitics1 got to spend 2 hours this afternoon wandering around McCain's national HQ "kicking the tires".
(Mostly) unsupervised. Talking to just about everyone. About everything.
Which we consider to be a nice "get" on our part. And, at the very least, we are now more well informed.
Noted: This is (probably) the part where Team McCain reaches for the antacid tablets.
But they need not worry. Because our "deal" with Team McCain, as is our "deal" with every other campaign, is that GreenMountainPolitics1 is only "on the record" when we're jumping up and down screaming "we're on the record".
Not only is "gotcha" journalism bad form. It's also bad for the informed opinion business.
But enough about all that. Let's get into it.
And, to put it very simply, Team McCain has had a terrible last few weeks. Everyone knows that.
It's hurt them. And a lot of folks are still hurting. Bad.
Ink smarter and better informed than ours has been spilled on those stories already.
But John McCain is still standing. Tall.
And so is his (dramatically scaled down) team. Because they believe that they have the best candidate. Which, eventually, the voters will reward.
You see it in their body language when they talk about him. You hear it in the background buzz in the office.
They still believe that John McCain can win. And so do we.
Now, as always, folks are welcome to dismiss our musing on office buzz as "Clacker drinking the Kool-Aid" or "GreenMountainPolitics1 doesn't understand politics worth a damn" or "that guy is an asshole".
That's fine. We've been wrong before.
But so everyone is clear, we're taking quiet notes that we plan to utilize around the middle of this November.
Because John McCain is still standing. It's only July of 2007. And his opponents are Mitt-Flop, the guy from Law and Order and a former Mayor who can only talk about 9/11.
Anyone that thinks this is over is out of their minds.
We're just saying.
GreenMountainPolitics1 has learned that there are plans to name Jill "Nails" Hazelbaker as McCain's new National Communications Director.
'Nails was formally McCain's New Hampshire Communications Director. Her promotion is part of Team McCain's ongoing campaign shake-up.
Marc Ambinder first broke the story of the "official" resignation of McCain's former national communications team.
A source close to Hazelbaker told GreenMountainPolitics1 this morning, "Jill represents continuity for the campaign. She brings to the table an intimate knowledge of what it takes to win in NH, the place where McCain's comeback begins."
Our source continued, "Jill worked closely with the old leadership and has strong relationships with the new team. Her only concern is helping John McCain get elected."
We look forward to sparring with 'Nails at the national level.
If she'll still take our calls.
More '08 "user generated content" goes viral.
All in good (cute) fun.
And the old world is torn (further) asunder.
When I was a kid, there were three broadcast TV channels that everybody was subscribed to, a couple of local papers and a handful of local radio stations with significant range. For all these broadcasters, a community of interest was defined as all the households this broadcast is reaching, so there was no real concept of targeted content or communities of interest. If you happened to be interested in venture capital and were a college student living in Detroit, there was no way for you to participate (an important term) in any community of interest around venture capital unless you moved to Silicon Valley or paid a ridiculous sum of money to subscribe to an obscure newsletter.We've said it before, we'll say it again - The Internet is a "physical instrument" tearing the old world asunder.On the publishing side, the barriers to entry were replete with all manner of government regulation, massive capital requirements and steep learning curves, creating a natural status difference between publishers and subscribers. The publishers had massive status, the subscribers little or none. The Internet destroyed most of the barriers to publication. The cost of being a publisher dropped to almost zero with two interesting immediate results: anybody can publish, and more importantly, you can publish whatever you want. With the cost of publication at almost zero, the cost of subscribing to almost any community of interest also dropped to zero. Anybody can publish and anybody can subscribe, and publishers and subscribers are now two sides to the same coin. Any subscriber can actively participate in any community of interest by becoming a publisher in that community.
Everything is challenged and no media provider is immune from open public questioning. This is true across the spectrum of publishers. A VC blog written by an expert in Silicon Valley with 20 years' experience is subject to counterpoints from the student in Detroit who's similarly passionate about this community of interest. The challenge, of course, is that in a media democracy, it is incumbent on all of us to determine how we make decisions about authenticity and authority in media, since these traits are no longer an implicit (if sometimes unwarranted) artifact of publication.
After 10 months and 334 posts it's time for us to unplug for a bit.
Because we need a vacation.
So for the next 10 days GreenMountainPolitics1 will be "hanging in the 202". DC that is.
But our trip to Swamp City is more work than play. In fact, it's almost all work and no play.
Because we're going fishing for "The Big One" - a paycheck!
And we have some ideas about where to look for that elusive fish. And some other people have their ideas about where to look for that. So we'll be talking with and meeting with a whole mess of bright folks who are interested in injecting some new media snark into their business plan.
And we'll see what happens. Like always.
Noted: If you're in DC reading this blog and you have any suggestions please drop us a line. We would love to hear what you have to say.
And we will be back in 10 days. And the show will go on.
Because, as we've written time and again, you can't spell comeback, inevitability or momentum without New Hampshire. And the '08 first-in-the-nation is going to be one hell of a story.
We will also be posting from time to time from the road. Because even though it's July and DC is deader than dead, we reckon we can find ourselves a cocktail party (or 4) on Foxhall Lane to crash. And email traffic from NH will still find us in DC.
Happy July Swelter!
We go ahead and watch/listen to/read someone we know is "good and smart".
It help keeps our ego in check. And the good Lord knows that we need the help.
And watching Mark Halperin discuss Team Hillary on Charlie Rose Friday night made us realize, again, just how far we have to go.
But it's good for us. Like medicine.
Noted: In defense of our ego, we agreed with everything Mark said to Rose about Hillary. Or at least we can pretend that we already did. But we're fairly sure that we need a bit more warm-up before we could articulately hack Charlie's bright lights and high brow audience demographic.
But let's not focus on our inadequacies. How boring.
We also learned today that Halperin has a new book coming out. The book is tentatively titled The Undecided Voter's Guide To The Next President. It's scheduled for release this fall.
If it's even half as good as The Way To Win it will be well worth the read.
Joe Wilson, the former Ambassador to Gabon, has been invited to testify before the House Judiciary Committee regarding President Bush's decision to commute the prison sentence of Scooter Libby, a former White House official who was convicted of lying about the outing of ex-CIA operative Valerie Plame, Wilson's wife.
Give us a break.
What could Joe Wilson possibly have to say about this stale affair that is worth anyone's time?
As far as we know, Foggy Bottom doesn't post top-shelf constitutional law scholars in the African nation of Gabon.
In fact, Gabon is where Foggy Bottom posts the "last kid picked for the kick-ball team".
If you get what we mean.
Can't we just see a movie version of this whole tired affair?
Oh wait, we can!
Mark Halperin has a piece up in Time magazine about Bill and Hillary Clinton on the trail in Iowa.
Well worth the read. As always.
Today French President Nicolas Sarkozy and U.S. Senator John McCain "sorted it all out" in Paris.
The #1 topic on the menu? Climate change.
Paging '08 independent voters.
And those silly (sophisticated) French.
+4 Kudos to Bill Richardson for campaigning in New Hampshire on the 4th of July.
-18 Kudos to Bill Richardson for rolling around the Granite State in a Hummer.
(Picture compliments of Politico's Ben Smith)
UPDATE: When you post on someone else's post you update when they update. And Ben Smith is updating his original post because Team Richardson claims that the Humvee is NOT an official campaign car, the New Mexico Governor never rode in it and it was not in his caravan.
UPDATE2: I just got this 2nd picture of the Humvee from a reader at the parade (Luke Vargas, who is running for President in 2040). The Hummer might not be an official Richardson campaign vehicle. But it sure does look like the driver, whoever he is, is a "super" volunteer.
I have suspended the comment section of my blog (I'm dropping the royal "we" for this post).
For the final time.
I've never had any problem with people taking shots at me, my motivations or at my past. Fair or unfair. It's the world that I choose to live in.
Besides, I've certainly taken my shots at other people. And what is good for the goose...
Unfortunately, some "commenters" have decided to come after people in my life that have absolutely nothing to do with this blog or the public arena.
That's not fair. And it's unacceptable.
It's also pretty chickensh*t. But that's between them and the Viagra they need to get it up at night.
And that, as they say, is that.
I still love email, so keep those coming. And, if you have a burning desire to respond to something I've written (for or against) just let me know and maybe we can work something out.
Now back to the "we".
We just got this "Message From John Cox On July 4th" in our email box.
Dear FriendsThe problem is that it's July 5th. Not July 4th.Today is not just the Fourth of July; which is the name popularly given to this holiday. Today is Independence Day. Why? Because 231 years ago, some hard working and ambitious men and women decided that they had enough of being told what to do by a King who wouldn't listen to them. The King thought he could anything to them and they would have to accept it - whether it was quartering soldiers or paying exorbitant taxes - they didn't have a say in their future.At great risk to their futures, they got together and declared that this was no longer the way it was going to be. Not everyone agreed with them - they were leaders, not followers. Yet, they persevered; they talked to their countrymen about freedom; about self determination; about controlling their own destinies. They talked to their neighbors and friends about some important ideas, such as the concept that all men were created equal; they had certain specific and unchangeable qualities and rights - life, liberty and property.
The Hill's Alexander Bolton has a article up on how public funds might handcuff McCain in the early voting states.
It's worth a read.
Noted: Does ANYONE really understand campaign finance law?
Noted 2: And, we get it. Money = Free Speech.
We GET it.
But does anyone outside of the establishment players on the Left and Right think that the way we pay for our elections is sustainable?
We sure as hell don't.
So we think it's long past time that we start thinking "outside the box" on campaign finance.
The AP is reporting that Albert Gore III, son of Al Gore, was arrested in California early this morning on suspicion of possessing marijuana and prescription drugs after deputies pulled him over for speeding on the San Diego Freeway.
This is Gore's 2nd arrest (that we know about).
Al III, 24, was doing over 100 mph on the freeway in his Toyota Prius.
The spoiled little sh*t - excuse us - the son of the former Vice-President was whacked out on pot, Xanax,Valium, Vicodin and Adderall at the time.
And did we mention that he was doing over a 100 mph on a public roadway?
Now that's a sense of entitlement that's going to get other people into trouble.
Happy Independence Day.
May you all have a better 4th than Thomas Jefferson's last. Or John Adams.
Sam Brownback just doesn't care for the cut of Mitt Romney's jib.
And old Sam isn't even a sailor.
Today Team Brownback kicked off "Six Mitt-Flops In Six Weeks. A Closer Look At The Various (and at times Contradictory) Positions of Big Love".
Sorry, we meant "Mitt Romney". Not "Big Love."
Noted: Tweaking Romney on his religion is funny. It really is. Because we couldn't care less that Mitt is a Mormon.
It's Romney's "pandering thing" that really puts us up into a tree. And joining us up in that tree is Sam Brownback.
Week 1 is on Mitt Romney's gun record. An excerpt from the Brownback email -
Mitt Romney's Record on Gun Rights:
Political Opportunism, Pandering and Flip-Flopping
1994: Romney says he doesn't line up with the NRA: "At another campaign stop that year, he told reporters: 'I don't line up with the NRA.'" (Scott Helman, "Romney retreats on gun control," Boston Globe, 1/14/07)
1994: Romney favored waiting periods on gun sales: "A former advocate of gun control, Romney during his 1994 run for the U.S. Senate backed measures the gun-rights group opposed, such as a five-day waiting period on gun sales and a ban on certain assault weapons." (David Abel, "Romney joined NRA in August, was advocate of gun control," Boston Globe, 2/19/07)
1994: Romney favored assault weapons ban: "He [Romney] is a supporter of the federal assault weapons ban." (Romney Campaign Website, 2002)
2002: Romney says he favors tough gun laws: "And as the GOP gubernatorial candidate in 2002, Romney lauded the state's strong laws during a debate against Democrat Shannon O'Brien. 'We do have tough gun laws in Massachusetts; I support them,' he said. 'I won't chip away at them; I believe they protect us and provide for our safety.'" (Scott Helman, "Romney retreats on gun control," Boston Globe, 1/14/07)
August 2006: At age 59, and six months before announcing for President, Romney becomes a member of the NRA: "Speaking on ABC's 'This Week with George Stephanopoulos,' Romney said he signed up for a lifelong membership 'within the last year.'" (David Abel, "Romney joined NRA in August, was advocate of gun control," Boston Globe, 2/19/07)
February 2007: Romney says the NRA is doing good things: "'I think they're doing good things, and I believe in supporting the right to bear arms,' Romney said." (David Abel, "Romney joined NRA in August, was advocate of gun control," Boston Globe, 2/19/07)
April 2007: Romney says he's been a hunter all his life: "I've been a hunter pretty much all my life." ("Romney, self-described lifelong hunter, has hunted twice," Associated Press, 4/4/07)
April 2007: Romney campaign says Romney only hunted twice: "Questions about his hunting activities trailed Romney this past week after he remarked at a campaign stop that he has been a hunter nearly all his life. The next day, his campaign said Romney had gone hunting just twice -- once as a teenager in Idaho and last year with GOP donors in Georgia." (Glen Johnson, "Romney clarifies reports on hunting," Associated Press, 4/7/07)
April 2007: Romney says his campaign is wrong, he's hunted more then twice: "'The report that I only hunted twice is incorrect,' Romney said in a statement issued Friday. 'I've hunted small game numerous times, as a young man and as an adult.'" (Glen Johnson, "Romney clarifies reports on hunting," Associated Press, 4/7/07)
April 2007: "Lifelong hunter" Romney never took out a hunting license: "Officials in the four states where Mitt Romney has lived say the Republican presidential contender, who calls himself a lifelong hunter, never took out a license." (Glen Johnson, "Romney clarifies reports on hunting," Associated Press, 4/7/07)
The problem with history is that some of us remember it.
And the GOP "nuts" who called on President Bush to pardon Scooter Libby should try to remember what they were saying about Bill Clinton's behavior from August '98 through February of '99.
Because what is good for the goose should always be good for the gander.
Especially when Washington is playing bullsh*t power games that mean less than nothing to everyone living outside the Beltway.
And Rome continues to burn. And David Walker continues to have trouble getting ink.
John Weaver, speaking earlier today with reporters about McCain's campaign troubles, gave the title quote.
It stuck with us.
Because we know how true it is.
Just as we know that nominating John McCain is the best, last hope for the Republican Party to remain relevant in the 21st Century.
And we'll have that conversation with anyone. Anytime. Anywhere.
So buckle your safety belts New Hampshire. Because you ain't seen nothing yet.
Here comes Johnny Mac.
Please. There is nothing about Team Hillary that is "spontaneous" or "unscripted".
And that's not necessarily good, or bad, for her.
Of course that doesn't mean that Clinton's campaign can't have some fun.
It's July 2. It's summer.
We could participate in the idle speculation and spin surrounding the candidates' preliminary 2nd quarter fundraising numbers.
Or we could rock. Like it's 1983.
Noted: New Hampshire campaign staff should turn it up loud. Because even campaign managers like to rock.
