GOP’s Present and Future

I am loving this:

Aides to George W.Bush, former Reagan White House staff and friends of John McCain have all told The Sunday Telegraph that they not only expect to lose on November 4, but also believe that Mr Obama is poised to win a crushing mandate.

They believe he will be powerful enough to remake the American political landscape with even more ease than Ronald Reagan did in 1980.

Considering that Bush won by one or two percent in 2004 and called it a landslide, it’s fun to read that Bush’s minions are freaking out about a likely five percent or more win by Obama.

I know schaden freude doesn’t look good on my, but it’s damn fun!

The prospect of an electoral rout has unleashed a bitter bout of recriminations both within the McCain campaign and the wider conservative movement, over who is to blame and what should be done to salvage the party’s future.

My advice to the GOP is that if they want to be a viable party in the future, they need to dump the religous right and go back to being a party that supports smaller government, but stays away from social issues. No one wants the GOP in their bed rooms.

Snip.

“It’s hard to see a turnaround in the White House race,” he (former Bush speech writer David Frum) said. “This could look like an ideological as well as a party victory if we’re not careful. It could be 1980 in reverse.

“With this huge new role for federal government in the economy, the possibility for mischief making is very, very great. One man should not have a monopoly of political and financial power. That’s very dangerous.”

I agree with Frum on that one. I prefer an executive branch controlled by one party and the legislative branch controlled by another, but Bush and the GOP failed so badly, the Democrats deserve at least a couple of years of one-party rule.

In North Carolina, where Senator Elizabeth Dole seems set to loose, Republicans are running adverts that appear to take an Obama victory for granted, warning that the Democrat will have a “blank cheque” if her rival Kay Hagen wins. “These liberals want complete control of government in a time of crisis,” the narrator says. “All branches of Government. No checks and balances.”

Um. Didn’t we have six years of one party GOP rule recently? There were no checks and balances from 2001-2007. How did that work out for us? The Democrats will probably fuck up one party rule, but let’s let them try to deal with our nation’s problems. If they fuck it up, they’ll be out by 2011.

Snip.

But the real bile has been saved for those conservatives who have balked at the selection of Sarah Palin.

In addition to Mr Frum, who thinks her not ready to be president, Peggy Noonan, Ronald Reagan’s greatest speechwriter and a columnist with the Wall Street Journal, condemned Mr McCain’s running mate as a “symptom and expression of a new vulgarisation of American politics.” Conservative columnist David Brooks called her a “fatal cancer to the Republican Party”.

Snip.

Jim Nuzzo, a White House aide to the first President Bush, dismissed Mrs Palin’s critics as “cocktail party conservatives” who “give aid and comfort to the enemy”.

He told The Sunday Telegraph: “There’s going to be a bloodbath. A lot of people are going to be excommunicated. David Brooks and David Frum and Peggy Noonan are dead people in the Republican Party. The litmus test will be: where did you stand on Palin?”

Mr Frum thinks that Mrs Palin’s brand of cultural conservatism appeals only to a dwindling number of voters.

He said: “She emerges from this election as the probable frontrunner for the 2012 nomination. Her supporters vastly outnumber her critics. But it will be extremely difficult for her to win the presidency.”

Mr Nuzzo, who believes this election is not a re-run of the 1980 Reagan revolution but of 1976, when an ageing Gerald Ford lost a close contest and then ceded the leadership of the Republican Party to Mr Reagan.

He said: “Win or lose, there is a ready made conservative candidate waiting in the wings. Sarah Palin is not the new Iain Duncan Smith, she is the new Ronald Reagan.” On the accuracy of that judgment, perhaps, rests the future of the Republican Party.

Schadenfreude is a dish best served cold.

That being said, I am starting to think that Palin will be the GOP frontrunner in 2012 as the GOP rallies behind their socially conservative soulmate. By that time, I imagine that Obama will have had a relatively successful first term that will have the fundies up in arms over something.

Their two most viable candidates will be Palin and Romney. Huckabee may also play a role.

GOP voters will have to decide between a pro-business Romney and a pro-fundie Palin.

I have no idea which direction they will pick, but it will be a lot of fun to watch.

Cowardly Indianapolis Star Endoses No One for President

This is funny:

Americans on Nov. 4 will choose between two presidential candidates with great strengths but also significant weaknesses.

Snip.

Democrat Barack Obama is eloquent and charismatic. He has enthralled millions of new potential voters and brought hope to many Americans who for far too long have felt excluded from full participation in the democratic process, particularly African-Americans and young people. He promises a sharp break from past policies at a time when much of the public longs for a change in the nation’s direction. Obama also offers the potential to shape an administration with an inclusive and collaborative style of leadership, a quality lacking in Washington for far too long.

If elected, however, he also would be the most inexperienced president in modern American history, only four years removed from service in the Illinois Senate. And experience matters greatly in a president, particularly in the area of foreign affairs.

So the Star’s editorial board thinks Obama has the opportunity to be a transformational leader who will help our country get past the failures of the last eight years, but he’s too inexperienced. Though I don’t agree with them on the experience thing, I think it’s a fair assessment.

Snip.

Republican John McCain has a long and distinguished record of service to the nation. His personal sacrifices, including more than five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, deserve the gratitude of all Americans. He has been a strong, bipartisan leader in the Senate, pushing, among other issues, for reforms in the campaign finance system and pork barrel spending.

McCain, however, has delivered a muddled message on how to confront the economic challenges facing the nation. He also is unlikely to provide a sharp enough break from the Bush administration’s policies on the economy and foreign relations. His running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, also has limited experience, raising concerns about her readiness to lead the nation if needed.

McCain, they remind us was a war hero who used to be mavericky. They worry that he is too much like Bush and they’re concerned about Palin’s ability to step up as president. Again, that’s a fair assessment.

But even given those assessments, it seemed like an Obama endorsement might make more sense, if they are interested in looking toward the future and making a clean break with Bush’s policies.

Dennis Ryerson, the paper’s editor, has a column in today’s paper in which he discusses their decision-making process. This sentence seems to sum it up:

We considered the newspaper’s traditional positions; it had not endorsed a Democrat for president since 1964.

So in other words, rather than endorse Obama and piss off their many wingnut readers, they decided to not endorse.

It may be cowardly of them, but it certainly can’t be good for the McCain campaign. In a year when newspaper endorsements, even very conservative newspapers, are going to Obama, I imagine the McCain people were expecting the Star to be a reliable endorsement for them. This piece must sting.

But still, I lost some more respect for the Star today. In the past, I most often disagreed with them, but at least I could respect their different point-of-view. This choice was pathetic and doesn’t speak well to their ability to take stances on issues that their readers might disagree with.

Campaign Nostalgia

There are ten days left in this campaign, and things are looking really positive for Obama supporters. I’m excited that it appears that finally we are going to take our country back.

But at the same time, I’m a little bit sad, as I’ve really had a lot of fun obsessing about the campaign. What will I blog about once it’s over? I have no idea.

But as the campaign winds down, it seems appropriate to count down and rank my favorite YouTube videos from this campaign. Doing so will help us all gain a little bit of closure.

To that end, beginning tonight, I’ll be posting my top 10 campaign videos from 2008.

“Attacked” McCain Volunteer Admits to Lying about Incident

Developing…

Police sources tell KDKA that a campaign worker has now confessed to making up a story that a mugger attacked her and cut the letter “B” in her face after seeing her McCain bumper sticker.

Ashley Todd, 20, of Texas, initially told police that she was robbed at an ATM in Bloomfield and that the suspect became enraged and started beating her after seeing her GOP sticker on her car.

Police investigating the alleged attack, however, began to notice some inconsistencies in her story and administered a polygraph test.

Snip

This afternoon, a Pittsburgh police commander told KDKA Investigator Marty Griffin that Todd confessed to making up the story.

The commander added that Todd will face charges; but police have not commented on what those charges will be.

I wonder if the right-wing freak-out over this story will end, or if will they just make up something else to try to scare voters?

Todd is reprehensible, but probably is a good poster child for the GOP mindset in this campaign.

McCain Supporter Attacked in Pittsburgh?

Drudge has been screaming about this one all day:

A 20-year-old woman who was robbed at an ATM in Bloomfield was also maimed by her attacker, apparently because of her political views, Pittsburgh police said.

Snip

Police spokeswoman Diane Richard said the robber took $60 from Todd, then became angry when he saw a McCain bumper sticker on the victim’s car. The attacker then punched and kicked the victim, before using the knife to scratch the letter “B” into her face, Richard said.

If Todd’s report is true, then it’s a horrifying crime and the perpetrator needs to be apprehended and be sent away for a long time.

The only problem is that it doesn’t really pass the smell test.

I’ll let Michelle Malkin explain:

I’ve reported on the great lengths that warped attention-seekers have gone to in perpetrating fake hate crimes, including beating themselves up, carving swastikas on their dorm room doors and walls, locking themselves in bathroom stalls, and burning down their own houses.

Which is why I’m not jumping up and down with outrage over Drudge-promoted story of a McCain volunteer claiming to have been attacked by a black man whom she accused of carving a “B” in her face after spotting her McCain bumper sticker.

She refused medical treatment after reporting the incident to police. Why on earth would she do that?

Now, I’m sure that it’s possible that she may have been attacked by a dyslexic thug, but it’s odd that she has such a nicely done superficial backward “B” on her cheek. If someone were to use a knife to carve a dyslexic “B” on someone’s cheek on a sidewalk somewhere, would the “B” be as neat as that one is?

And if someone did that to you, would you refuse medical treatment?

Also, as Malkin mentions, isn’t Todd’s Twitter page a little strange?

• atodd: Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers- I’m phonebanking so let’s all work together and get John McCain elected #litf08
  Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:55:41 +0000
• atodd: Oh the blog I will be making soon… Its been a rough night #litf08
  Thu, 23 Oct 2008 03:52:58 +0000
• atodd: Pretty sure I’m on the wrong side of pittsburgh
  Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:45:59 +0000
• atodd: Stubbornly searching for a bank of america to avoid ATM fees.
  Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:23:21 +0000
• atodd: This traffic in pittsburgh needs to go away!!!! #litf08
  Wed, 22 Oct 2008 23:04:06 +0000

So she’s looking for a Bank of America ATM, says that she’s on the “wrong side” of Pittsburgh,” and her next Twitter post is about the blog she will be creating? She says nothing about the attack before she mentions the blog?

Odd.

From one of Malkin’s readers:

“I’m a cop – 8th year now – and this McCain supporter attack just didn’t pass the “smell test” as soon as I read about it.

At this point, I’ll guess the shiner was inflicted either by a friend willingly as part of this hoax or a boyfriend in a domestic dispute.

The “B” is far to shallow and clean to be taken seriously. Reminds me of the stab wounds that a “hero” would get when fighting off a phantom attacker – far to superficial to have been done in what is a fairly violent encounter.

Either way, I’m voting McCain

Again, if she was attacked, the guy who did it needs to be locked up for a long time.

But there are circumstances here that make me think: hmmmmm.

If Michelle Malkin think it’s BS, I can’t be too far in left field for questioning the story’s veracity.

John McCain is Full of Shit

I’m going to an Obama rally tomorrow in Indianapolis. If I hear one attendee at the rally call McCain a terrorist or traitor, or scream, “Kill him,” I will eat a bowl of glass, live on the internet.

Update:

No glass will be eaten. When Obama mentioned McCain, the worst thing I heard was some boos. No one called McCain a terrorist, or traitor, nor did anyone suggest that McCain ought be be killed.

Bob Herbert: The Real Scandal

Thank you, Bob Herbert, for this:

It never ends. The Republican Party never gets tired of spraying its poison across the American political landscape.

So there was a Republican congresswoman from Minnesota, Michele Bachmann, telling Chris Matthews on MSNBC that the press should start investigating members of the House and Senate to determine which ones are “pro-America or anti-America.”

Michele Bachman is a good example of what is wrong with the GOP. You’re either with them, or against America. You’re either a good-patriotic American, or your a traitorous, cheese-eating monkey. And don’t even try to create an equivalency between Obama supporters who decry real racism (dead bear with Obama sign tied on) and McCain supporters who call Obama supporters communinists (Palin, et al).

More from Herbert:

But the party is not content to stop there. Even better than demonizing opponents is the more powerful and direct act of taking the vote away from their opponents’ supporters. The Republican Party has made strenuous efforts in recent years to prevent Democrats from voting, and to prevent their votes from being properly counted once they’ve been cast.

Which brings me to the phony Acorn scandal.

John McCain, who placed his principles in a blind trust once the presidential race heated up, warned the country during the presidential debate last week that Acorn, which has been registering people to vote by the hundreds of thousands, was “on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history.”

It turns out that a tiny percentage of these new registrations are bogus, with some of them carrying ludicrous names like Mickey Mouse. Republicans have tried to turn this into a mighty oak of a scandal, with Mr. McCain thundering at the debate that it “may be destroying the fabric of democracy.”

Phony registrations are not the problem. Those are easily caught. Voter supression is the real problem:

when it comes to voting, the real threat to democracy is the nonstop campaign by the G.O.P. and its supporters to disenfranchise American citizens who have every right to cast a ballot. We saw this in 2000. We saw it in 2004. And we’re seeing it again now. In Montana, the Republican Party challenged the registrations of thousands of legitimate voters based on change-of-address information available from the Post Office. These specious challenges were made — surprise, surprise — in Democratic districts. Answering the challenges would have been a wholly unnecessary hardship for the voters, many of whom were students or members of the armed forces.

Snip

That sort of thing is widespread. In one politically crucial state after another — in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, you name it — the G.O.P. has unleashed foot soldiers whose insidious mission is to make the voting process as difficult as possible — or, better yet, impossible — for citizens who are believed to favor Democrats.

I feel confident that Obama will win by a margin that is large enough to make voter-suppresion a non-issue. But we still must be alert to what they are trying to do.

Was Sarah Palin Campaigning in North Carolina?

Disgusting:

The carcass of a black bear that had been shot in the head was found wrapped in Barack Obama campaign signs on a North Carolina campus on Monday.

 

Western Carolina University Campus Police Chief Tom Johnson said that officers were called about a dead bear on campus at about 7:45 a.m.

 

When the officers found the bear carcass, they said it was covered with two campaign signs that had been taped together. 

Death threats over yard signs, tires slashed at Obama rallies, racist fliers put out by state GOPs, and now this. I’m not sure what to say, but given Palin’s attacks on Obama and the fact that it appears likely that Obama will win, some of McCain’s wingiest nuts are starting to lash out. 

My fear is that this kind of crap will be taken to the next level where Obama supporters are physically attacked or worse.

Mom Called Me, Crying

Mom is probably the sweetest woman I have ever known. She has a hard time understanding why people are mean to each other so often, and being her son, I have a hard time understanding that as well. She was born in 1940, when the world was very different.

Why be mean when there are so many other ways to treat people?

So today, I was kind of surprised when I got her call this afternoon. She was teary. I was afraid for her upon hearing her tone.

“This has been one of the best 200 days of my life,” she said, in tears.

“Why?” I asked.

“Did you see Colin Powell?”

I missed his appearance on Meet the Press, but when I took her call, I had read about it.

“Powell spoke like we would. He told the truth,” said mom.

She was very touched and her being that moved by Powell’s endorsement of Obama caused me to look up what Powell really said.

Colin Powell:

“I think he would be a transformational president. For that reason I will be voting for Senator Barack Obama.

Snip.

It would not just electrify our country, it would electrify the world.

Snip.

He displayed a steadiness, an intellectual curiosity, a depth of knowledge and an approach to looking at (economic) problems like this, and picking a vice president (Joseph Biden) that I think is ready to be president on day one.

I was glad to hear that mom was so happy. Powell’s endorsement made me happy in a different way. I’m glad that Powell may have killed McCain’s candidacy by signaling to some moderate and military types that it’s OK to vote Obama. This is the most significant endorsement I can ever remember.

We are going to do this.

A Visual Summation of the Campaign to Date

From Yahoo!:

US Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain (R-AZ) reacts to almost heading the wrong way off the stage after shaking hands with Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) at the conclusion of the final presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, October 15, 2008.