GOP Nominee

[a completely inoffensive name]

I'm sorry Panzer, but this is what I have talked about a few times. There really are no "conservative" leaders in the Republican party. They throw a couple of good candidates your way, but then heavily marginalize them (lol Ron Paul gets this the worst) to keep you voting for them, in hopes that next time one of them will win. The frontrunners are all ideologically crazy or hacks that completely abuse the rhetoric of conservatism's classical origins and don't adhere to it in any way and instead follow an authoritarian, religious based doctrine which is what the base is.

You don't have a party PJ. Just look at the difference between Barry Goldwater and Michell Bachmann. They are worlds apart, and you will not be finding your next great conservative leader until you kick out the religious.

[Xiahou]

The Rolling Stone smear job Lemur posted got me curious, and I found a slightly less unhinged critique of Bachmann.

I think the big question mark for her is how deep her anti-gay attitudes run. Think the homosexual act is morally wrong? No real argument here. Don't approve of gay marriage? Ok by me. But she really seems to delving into anti-gay obsession and zealotry. She seems to have a track record of strange behavior and freak outs when confronted with homosexuals. This should be something to give people pause.

[PanzerJaeger]

I had to look for the pictures.

[Centurion1]

ugh the gay thing again. Once again I do not care a whit. I hate the issue and I hate attention given to it. Give them their rights and lets all focus on more pressing concerns.

I for one am heartily depressed by the field of candidates available. I want Bobby Jindall to run but that probably will never happen.

Bachmann- annoying media grabbing loon
Cain- loon, media grabber, no shot in hell has no idea what he is doing
Huntsman- too moderate on certain issues for me also too religious
Pawlenty- he is okay not really sure how i feel....


Whenever i am going down the list i am stuck with romney. Well at least he looks presidential......



Also PJ if i may point out..... Utah is a conservative dominated state unlike the failure that is Mass. or the union dominated Minn. does it really surprise you they weathered the economic storm better

[Ronin]

The Rolling Stone smear job Lemur posted got me curious, and I found a slightly less unhinged critique of Bachmann.

I think the big question mark for her is how deep her anti-gay attitudes run. Think the homosexual act is morally wrong? No real argument here. Don't approve of gay marriage? Ok by me. But she really seems to delving into anti-gay obsession and zealotry. She seems to have a track record of strange behavior and freak outs when confronted with homosexuals. This should be something to give people pause.

I did a quick read of the 2nd text....at least at first read I find no factual differences between the 2 pieces....except for the fact that the RS article is longer and goes more in dept.

As for the second part....obviously having someone that shows such unstable and delusional behavior in a position of power is not a good idea at all...

[Ronin]

In the meantime, Bachmann is facing resistance from music artists that do not wish to be associated with her particular flavor of lunacy.

Tom Petty, Katrina and the waves issue cease and desist to Bachmann

Looks like the candidate will have to pick some new song to play during her rallies....suggestions?

I´d suggest 'American Jesus' by Bad Religion.

[Kralizec]

Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode.

[Lemur]

I think Romney's latest ad is pretty darn good. Attacking Obama over economics = smart. Calling him out as a Kenyan alien = dumb. Glad to see the current GOP frontrunner is smart.

[drone]

Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode.

When a politico blasts music at events, does ASCAP get involved?

[Lemur]

When a politico blasts music at events, does ASCAP get involved?

Don't know if it's a settled matter of IP law, but many musicians have filed cease-and-desist letters when politicos used their songs. Given that artists tend to be flaming liberals, we may see the entire GOP field scouring the publishing rights of Ted Nugent before this season's out.

[Centurion1]

use a dead artist duh!

[PanzerJaeger]

Also PJ if i may point out..... Utah is a conservative dominated state unlike the failure that is Mass. or the union dominated Minn. does it really surprise you they weathered the economic storm better

Of course not. That's what makes it such a great contrast to the more liberal economic policy Obama endorses.

[Tellos Athenaios]

use a dead artist duh!

That depends. Most songs you would think of using will be under IP until roughly the second half of this century. So if you absolutely want to avoid stepping on someone's IP you can't use anything written since about 1900 or so. (The reason is that audio works fall under a rather different protection regime from others under US copyright law in any case.)

[Centurion1]

oh no i realize that but you can pay the record company for rights and those companies are either going to be more conservative (maybe not) or much more greedy and much more willing to take money for the rights

[Lemur]

Pure horse-race reporting, but interesting nevertheless:

Bolstered by support from his loyal radio talk-show audience and tea party backers, businessman Herman Cain has revved up mainstream conservatives, rising recently to third place in a poll of voters in Iowa, the leadoff caucus state. [...] Cain has been on a remarkable trajectory since entering the race more than a month ago, when a crowd of 15,000 stormed a downtown Atlanta park to cheer him on at his campaign announcement. He was received well at the Republican Leadership Conference this month in New Orleans and drew nearly 100 in Greenville, S.C., for a discussion of his economic plan.

His narrative -- outlined in a patriotic, four-minute video that winds across rolling hills and pastures and ends in a boardroom against the backdrop of the American flag -- is that of a no-excuses, no-nonsense fighter who isn't afraid of a challenge. On the stump, he offers simplified stances on complex issues like national defense, the federal income tax and why he thinks America should return to the gold standard. He has been compared to Republican heroes like Ronald Reagan.

"He's fresh, he's outspoken," said Debbie Dooley, head of the Georgia Tea Party Patriots. "If they hear him speak, he usually wins them over. With him, what you see is what you get. People like that."

[Centurion1]

I do not like cain. He is a superb businessman but knows nothing about politics or foreign affairs. He is more untested than Barack Obama was. I think he draws attention away from more legitimate candidates.

[ICantSpellDawg]

Romney

[a completely inoffensive name]

Christ, Obama's economic policies are liberal now? Now we really have deluded ourselves.

[Lemur]

Since he's the frontrunner, and nobody is yet denting him in the polls, let us consider Romney. Here's a pretty good analysis of his weaknesses as a candidate. Are any Orgahs excited about him? I know a few of our conservative Orgahs are against him, curious to hear if someone is for.

But when Romney was asked last week about the accuracy of his contention that Obama worsened the recession, he did not claim to be invoking a truth that trumps mere facts. Instead, he denied making such an assertion. "I didn't say that things are worse," he insisted. "What I said was that the economy hasn't turned around."

The denial makes him look confused and dishonest. A campaign spokesman did Romney no favor by saying (in an e-mail to me) his comment "was in response to part of the reporter's question about the stock market" -- which it obviously wasn't, and which compounded one risible deception with another. Nor did it help when, a few days later, Romney went back to saying Obama "made things worse."

This incident is not just an isolated flub. It's a reminder of Romney's chief flaws as a candidate. One is his habit of eagerly changing any position whenever he can gain by it. Another is his tendency to deny having done so.

[Strike For The South]

A straight laced white guy who lies

WILD CARD

[ajaxfetish]

I think he'd probably make an efficient administrator, which I'd see as a good thing, and I appreciate his more moderate positions compared to some GOP candidates. On a personal level, unrelated to his suitability, it'd feel nice to have had a Mormon president at some point in US history. I can't get too excited about Romney, though, since Huntsman shares all his positive features, and seems to me to have more integrity on top of it. On the other hand, Romney certainly seems more electable at this point, with all the not-attention Huntsman's been able to attract so far.

Ajax

[Lemur]

A straight laced white guy who lies

Not entirely fair. Given that politicians are in the business of (a) telling the majority what they want to hear and (b) governing, and given that (a) and (b) often do not match up, it's inevitable that they lie. I think the ding on Romney is that he does not lie well.

[PanzerJaeger]

Since he's the frontrunner, and nobody is yet denting him in the polls, let us consider Romney.

In Iowa, Bachmann is at 22% to Romney's 23% in the latest polling. To that end, the only thing that could get me excited about Romney is the real possibility of a Bachmann candidacy.

Not that it matters though, I live in a Super Tuesday state, so the GOP candidate will likely be decided before I have a chance to weigh in.

[Ronin]

Bachmann signs pledge to anti-gay organization - promises to ban all pornography.

ya done ****** up lady....you just became unelectable.

[Lemur]

No porn? For anyone anywhere? This just got personal. You can have my smutty Victorian novels when you pry them from my cold, dead fingers.

[PanzerJaeger]

More good news for Romney and bad news for the American people in today's jobs report.

U.S. employment growth ground to a halt in June, with employers hiring the fewest number of workers in nine months, dousing hopes the economy would regain momentum in the second half of the year.

Nonfarm payrolls rose only 18,000, the weakest reading since September, the Labor Department said on Friday, well below economists' expectations for a 90,000 rise.

The unemployment rate climbed to a six-month high of 9.2 percent, even as jobseekers left the labor force in droves, from 9.1 percent in May.

"The message on the economy is ongoing stagnation," said Pierre Ellis, senior economist at Decision economics in New York. "Income growth is marginal so there's no indication of momentum.

The government revised April and May payrolls to show 44,000 fewer jobs created than previously reported.

[Lemur]

More good news for Romney and bad news for the American people in today's jobs report.

Heard about it on the radio. Seems that the low number is almost entirely due to a reduction in state and federal payrolls. So ... hmmm. For people intent on deficit reduction, good news. But the number illustrates why going gonzo on deficit reduction in the early days of a recovery is an iffy idea.

[Ronin]

this could be the best unintentional comedy since Grizzly Man....

[Don Corleone]

While I agree that is has to be balanced with spending cuts, I don't see how we can save our bond rating (which will cause our problems to exponentially worsen) without balancing the budget which means raising taxes too.

We are in the final countdown days here. My kids are going to wind up debtors for life, paying off services and programs they never saw...

I may be wrong on this, but all the GOP candidates believe shrinking government, no tax raises, spending cuts only is the only means for shrinking (not ending) the defecit. In short, none of them believe in balancing the budget. Neither does Obama FWIW, he's talking about raising spending faster.

Looks like I'll be sitting 2012 out, looking for a 3rd party candidate that doesn't want to see our children live their lives as identured servants....

[Centurion1]

sitting out helps nobody.

the best process would be to raise taxes and cut spending.

however, i believe that cutting spending is mor eimportant that raising taxes and has to come first.