John McCain: Friend of the Guatemalens

It's already old news in web-years, but John McCain's double judo-chop of Mitt Romney (who's bellyaching about the McCain-Kennedy immigration compromise) represents a mastery of soundbite-fu.

In the case of Governor Romney, you know, maybe I should wait a couple of weeks and see if it changes, because it's changed in less than a year from his position before. And maybe his solution will be to get out his small-varmint gun and drive those Guatemalans off his lawn. I don't know.

"Varming-hunting gun" is a reference to this bit of Romney magnificence. Question: What is it about ornery, aging men and peoples' lawns?

Comments

[sage]

Man, people from Mass are such double-talking wusses.

What are you lookin' at, joe?

[How to block the amnesty]

That certainly is a cute comment; I wonder whether he thought it up himself or whether it was on a cue card.

Of course, some might forget that the BostonGlobe spent *months* on the "story" about the lawn service, even traveling to Guatemala (note: correct spelling):

http://lonewacko.com/blog/archives/005951.html

Says me: Obviously, Romney should have been more careful, but then again if the owner of the service now says the workers were legal he probably would have told that to Romney as well. If Romney had decided to be better safe than sorry and hired a service with an all non-Latino crew, the Globe probably would have accused him of profiling.

Then, the LAT lied about it:

http://lonewacko.com/blog/archives/005962.html

Here's Howie Carr on the "story":

http://lonewacko.com/blog/archives/005968.html

And, of course, the unexplored subtext is that a U.S. Senator is supporting illegal activity. Too bad there were no real reporters around to call him on it.

[joe]

I count a triple there: flip-flop, Mitt the Hunter, and immigration hypocrite.

[sage]

Good one you for not taking the bait, joe. I was just kidding.

[Cesar]

Joe-

How about "Multiple-Choice Mitt"?

BTW, how exactly did a Republican get elected governor in Massachusetts?

[NotThatDavid]

The same way one was elected to two terms running New York City, and another took a race against the Philadelphia Democratic machine for that city's mayorship down to the wire. They stake out positions that are only conservative relative to the local Democrats, and get enough registered Dems to vote on ideas instead of party.

[Cab]

Poor Romney.

[joe]

Cesar,

The short version is that the legislative leadership is very powerful in Massachusetts, owing to the size and permancne of their majority, and people elect a governor based on his perceived ability to check them. Democrats who are seen as too close to the Beacon Hill Democrat machine, or as too weak to stand up to them, make people look for another choice, even if they disagree with that other choice's politics. It's not as if a conservative governor is going to accomplish anything, anyway, so people feel free to vote for Republicans.

It's worth noting that Deval Patrick, the the first Democratic governor in over decade, is black, liberal, from out of state, and worked in public service in Washington (Clinton's Justice Dept, Civil Rights division). That's about as far as a Democrat can be from the Irish-Italian, centrist, Beacon Hill careerists that make up the Democratic leadership.