Romney Leads by Mile; Paul, Santo Fight for Second; Gingrich Still Running

With a little under half precincts reporting in the Washington State caucus, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is in first place with a double-digit lead.

Ron Paul and Rick Santorum are in a tight race for second place. Newt Gingrich's flatlining campaign will most likely get even flatter as we head into Überdienstag.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but as Romney slowly gets control of the Republican nomination, it just gets clearer how much of the electable electability of his electableness is vapor. He's getting the nod in 2012 with numbers that are not appreciably better than what he got in the course of having his ass handed to him by John McCain in 2008. McCain got his clock cleaned by Barack Obama, who remains a phenomenally skilled campaigner even as he has turned out to be a rotten president. And the Obama team has not even begun to neutralize Romney on the one subject that makes Obama most vulnerable — the disastrous and hated health care reform that Romney himself invented. 

The chart above is what snatching defeat from the jaws of victory looks like. 

Comments

[Max]

Not enough neo-Nazis to put Ron Paul over the top? Scheiss!

[rsi]

You're not Max. The real Max would said something about sperm dripping out of his mouth.

Same intellectual content though.

[Max]

I've never let sperm drip from my mouth.

[Nipplemancer]

Nope, you never let a drop go to waste

[Max]

And Barack has promised to send me to London so I can let the pole-vault team use my little starfish as their box!

[Max's Special Friends]

That starfish turned out to not be so little, after WE got done with it.

[Extra Sausage]

This is like the worst chat room ever.

[anon]

You messed that up. Real Maxipad would've worked newsletters in there somehow.

[Maxxx]

Hey cocksucker,

Stop using my handle!

[Roaon PUaol's COCK]

Is still the only one in the race that will not condone drone-killing innocent black African children. MaxiPad, go vote your favorite Fearless Leader Barack, who has no compunctions about killing children around the world.

[Tulpa]

who remains a phenomenally skilled as a campaigner

Sorry, I have seen absolutely no evidence for this. He was a fresh-faced outsider from the opposite party of the hated incumbent, with a "historic" level of melanin in 2008, so please don't say that his victory over turkey neck and airhead means he's a great campaigner.

Speaking of which...how was McCain doing against Obama in polls in March 2008? Romney's beating him now. So go bark up a different tree.

[wareagle]

I never got the "phenominally skilled" part, either. Maybe phenominally motivated since that is the only time he ever looks life-like. Obama clearly has no enthusiasm for actually being POTUS.

[Tim Cavanaugh]

I have an Obama-is-a-lock post I've never bothered to write detailing the many ways team Obama is getting the message out. My favorite example was a Wells Fargo employee who called me up offering a no-closing-cost refi and explained, when I asked what I had done to deserve this charity, that it was all thanks to President Obama's determination to keep people in their homes through the H.A.R.P. I've had similar experiences at Occupy L.A., in conversation with other parents at my kids' school, and elsewhere: people who are not Obama operatives but who have given or received a loan mod, a tax credit, an extended benefit or some other free money, and who have clearly had the thank-the-Dems talking points drilled into them. These people are the deadbeat nation. There are more of them every day. They do most of the voting. And the Obama advance team has gotten to them.

[wareagle]

maybe your post should include that the campaigner-in-chief is just that, a carnival huckster with a cartful of remedies, none of which are backed by an actual person with the stomach to do the job for which he is running. With a second term, Obama would either be the single most dangerous president ever or the most inconsequential.

[juris imprudent]

With a second term, Obama would either be the single most dangerous president ever or the most inconsequential.

If we kept the job the way it was intended, he'd be a lock for most inconsequential. Unfortunately, we are as infatuated with Caesars as the Romans ever were - at least until one burns down the Empire and then we just wander back to our primitive tribal allegiances.

[LarryA]

Or both.

[Mr. Plain Devil]

Obama is the two wolves and not reticent about proclaiming it.

The economy seems to be gradually improving, and considering who the GOP has running, that's all it will take. Santorum is flavor of the day only because he was the worst of the non-Romneys and thus last choice of the anti-Romney voters, but now that all the other non-Romneys have been digested and spat out, they have only Santorum left, so people vote for him out of desperation.

It's a really weird race. I keep on expecting Republicans to settle on Ron Paul; he's everything they say they want, but he's just too damned honest and doesn't make pie-in-the-sky claims, and people want someone to promise them that pie even when they know it's just false promises.

[Tim Cavanaugh]

And as for election skills, I think Obama's track record speaks for itself: He's a "community organizer" whose most important trait is that butter has been scientifically proven not to melt in his mouth. (That and Bill Ayers' enchanting prose style.) He makes it to a statewide office where he does nothing but keep his eye on a better office. Through an improbable sequence of events he wins a Senate seat and before Jack Ryan's body is even cold he's lining up his presidential run, which ends with his becoming the first Senate-to-White House transition since Jack Kennedy's. Whatever his failings, Obama knows how to win elections.

[wareagle]

at some point, there are no elections left and one has to actually do some work. The results so far have done little more than put a political face on the old book of "how to succeed in business without really trying".

[Tulpa]

Are you suggesting that Obama caused Jack Ryan's troubles and the GOP's inability to find a sane candidate to run against him?

Are you further suggesting that Obama caused the Bush presidency to drag the GOP brand through the mud so thoroughly?

The sequence of events you describe is a combination of weak opponents and being the right man in the right place at the right time. BO has never won a difficult election.

[Maxxx]

It's better to be lucky than good.

[Tulpa]

The problem is that luck is a lot harder to sustain than goodness...

[Spiny Norman]

If his opponent is Romney, his luck is continuing.

[Paul]

This. Obama is still standing in the right place at the right time. Romney...not so much. I mean, we already have his healthcare plan, what more can he offer?

[Paul]

This. Obama is still standing in the right place at the right time. Romney...not so much. I mean, we already have his healthcare plan, what more can he offer?

[Robert]

He can offer not being Obama. And that's all people will be voting on anyway.

[Adam]

and if it's someone else, obviously at this point I'm thinking of Santorum, then? Does it make a difference at this point? I agree with Cavanaugh on this one.

[Mr. FIFY]

No, Obama didn't cause Ryan's troubles... but Barry sure as fuck pulled every legal trick out of the bag to open sealed divorce records that had nothing to do with anything.

Which is why Obama makes a perfect president... he's human slime.

[Mattrue]

Wait, he's relentless, I'll give you that. But beating that whack-job Allan Keys took zero effort. Beating Hillary was impressive, but he had a lot of help from first time voters who viewed Clinton as Bush lite, even though he ended up being more like Bush in some ways, Mussolini in others. I think a good number of independents see that. This definitely won't be a pro-Romney vote, but a lot of the anti-Bush vote won't show up or will vote against Obama. The dopes getting paid in free re-fis are too few and far between. There's too much not right in the economy right now.

Are you better off than you were four years ago? That's all that matters.

[Tulpa]

A lot of people forget how crucial the antiwar movement was to Obama defeating Hillary in the Dem caucuses, as well as the fact that Hillary actually beat him overall in the primaries.

[anon]

I agree with this. The anti-war vote was a big part of both his primary and presidential campaign; after starting two wars he doesn't really have much to stand on in that front.

[Tulpa]

Yep, and more to the point, had Hillary voted against the Iraq War he almost certainly would not have gotten the nomination.

[jj]

The antiwar liberals will STILL be voting OB this time around. Ask any of them, any but the most diehard non-hypocrites. I ask, what happened to the antiwar movement? It shut up and obeyed the One once he Arrived.

[Tulpa]

Antiwar independents -- and there were a lot -- are another story, though.

[?J?? de aguila]

"We must be like Barack's forgiving mother -- no matter what he does, he is one of us."

Warmonger, cheat, lie, torture, imprison, assassinate, invade. All okay.

[NAL]

Agreed. 95% of the anti-war movement were simply anti-GOP using the wars as their raisson du jour. A small percentage of them have some intellectual honesty that they'll complain about Obama, but they'll be right there voting for him when the time comes. As I've said before, THE most important issue for leftists is redistribution. It trumps everything else. Obama is a viking of redistribution, so he's a shoe-in for their vote.

[Adam]

While I hope you're correct, in fact I really, really, really hope so, I don't agree. I think his message of, "If it weren't for my bold moves to save "X" industry (or industries) we'd be in a whole bigger heap of crap than we are now" somehow rings true to too many people. Again, I hope I'm wrong.

[juris imprudent]

His state Senate seat was not a state-wide office.

[Adam]

A U.S. Senate Seat that is not a state-wide office?

[juris imprudent]

Tim said he parlayed his "statewide" office into the U.S. Senate seat.

[SIV]

They have nothing on Romney but Romney-care. Unlike McCain, Dole and Bush-the-Elder in 1992, Romney really wants the job and is bound and determined to get it. Obama looks a little tired of the gig. It's going to turn on the economy and everybody knows that still sucks.

Any-GOPer but Newt could win in this climate.

[Bam!]

To win, Obama doesn't have to bring out the Democrats, he just has to make sure the conservatives don't turn out for Romney.

Conservatives already don't like Romney. Once Obama begins to flog him with RomneyCare/ObamaCare connection, it'll depress conservatives turn out even more.

I find it very hard to believe Romney will beat Obama.

[Joe]

Conservatives will come out in force to vote against Obama. Obama will not win. The improving economy is a facade. It's not getting better...it just hasn't worsen in awhile. Quite a different things.

Obama beat McCain 53-48. That's with Bush as President, Obama as the human Rorschach test and McCain as the nominee. All Romney will have to do is win 3% more than McCain did. It won't be a problem...Obama has to run on his record which stinks.

[Adam]

"They have nothing on Romney but Romney-care"

Well, that and his on-the-record flip-flopping on every issue imaginable.

[Mo]

Romney is the Republican Kerry, he doesn't inspire and has taken every side of an issue imaginable.

[Matt Tanous]

If it turned on the economy, Paul would be wiping the floor with these vague, economically illiterate "conservatives". I mean, everyone says they love him on economic policy, BUT....

And this election will hinge entirely on that but - foreign policy. America (or at least the part of it that "counts") is itching for war with Iran. Even the supposed "anti-war" left is unwilling to change their vote to prevent a war. If Obama starts war with Iran before November, he will be re-elected. If he does not, Romney will be instead (because Obama is "soft" on Iran) and HE will start the war. Economically, I don't expect anything to change - the debt will still skyrocket, the Fed will still print money and ignore the real inflation documented by Shadow Stats at near 10%, and the economy will continue to experience stagflation that is ignored by the government and its crony media outlets.

[Skip]

If Obama starts a war with Iran, Republicans get to use every smear the Left used on Bush about killing brown babies for oil etc.

[Bradley]

Yeah, except they won't since their only criticism of Obama on this point is that he doesn't want war badly enough.

[Bam!]

Obama got elected to state senate by disqualifying his opponent.

He got elected to senate by first digging up his Democrat opponents divorce records. Since that worked so well, he did it again against his Republican opponent in the general.

He then got elected to president by having the media put him on their shoulders and having a half-brained, liberal-leaning Republican to run against.

His election history seems to consist of dirty tricks and luck.

[J]

"Whatever his failings, Obama knows how to win elections."

True, but he may not be good at winning re-elections. He won elections using his charm, and he is very charming when things are going his way, which they were leading up to the 2008 election.

However, he has very little charm left because his presidency hasn't really gone his way. Even in the weeks leading up to the 2012 election, he will have a very hard time concealing his general contempt and resentment towards most of the country. This will make him a very hard sell and tip the scales towards Romney.

[BarryD]

True. Has he ever won a re-election? Has he ever run as an incumbent?

[Tulpa]

He was reelected twice as a state senator in 1999 and 2001.

[J]

This may be different. In those re-elections, a good deal of the potential voters weren't sick of him.

[Tulpa]

That's not campaigning, that's buying votes with public money. Every incumbent is good at that.

[Tim Cavanaugh]

You're right, and the better you are at reminding people you've paid them the more you'll get rewarded for it, said George W. Bush as he signed his name to another $300 tax rebate check way back in the middle ages. It's more important to remind people you've paid them than it is to pay them. I'm saying Obama is excellent at reminding people, to the point that they repeat his talking points for free.

[Tulpa]

And of course, any electoral analysis based on conversations with Occupy LA residents and Californians in general is going to be a bit biased, no? There's little doubt BO will win CA.

[J]

"These people are the deadbeat nation. There are more of them every day. They do most of the voting. And the Obama advance team has gotten to them."

Maybe they will feel put upon to even have to go through the trouble of voting in order to keep these goodies, and will defiantly stay home on election day. Kinda like welfare recipients I've known who feel put upon by having to go out and pick up their check.

That's the only hope I can think of.

[Bill]

To be a skillful campaigner, you don't have to be smart or correct, you just need to be able to repeat some talking point to convince semi-informed (I'm being generous) voter you know what you are talking about.

George W. Bush was a bit of an idiot, did not really handle most questions that well and still got elected twice. Obama is much more articulate (Racist!!!!!) than Bush and may be a little smarter (or at least seems that way) and is definitely a hell of a lot better at answering questions, sounding smooth as he repeats vapid talking points and does a good job like Clinton before him of wearing his heart on his sleeve, showing empathy, etc.

Especially against Romney, who continues to say things that make him seem out of touch with the common man, Obama could do well.

[Tim Cavanaugh]

Kontrarian Korner: Although I'm sure you could put together a good five-minute gaffe real for him, I say a) George W. Bush should have done more press conferences and b) he was usually lucid, supple and informed when taking questions from the MSM.

[Mr. Plain Devil]

Obama won because he wasn't a Clinton, wasn't (yet) Bush, and McCain was a Bush and old with Palin as next in line. The only people who liked Palin did so because she wasn't Obama or Hillary.

[Maxxx]

Obama's a hell of a demagogue.

With the fossil media carrying his water, it just might be enough.

Especially since Mitt's such a horrible politician.

[Tulpa]

I'm not even convinced he's very good at demagoguing. He certainly tries, and indeed that seems to be his first instinct, but he's not terribly effective. He was demagoguing like crazy during the health care debate and still barely got the thing passed, and then only with parliamentary trickery.

If he's such a great campaigner, how the hell did the Dems get slapped around so badly in 2010 when he was out there campaigning for them?

[wareagle]

he's an empty suit whom the media cannot call as such because they have too much invested in him. The Dems ran a similar candidate with slightly more experience - John Edwards. But, Obama had the race aspect that still prevents the MSM from appropriately scrutinizing him.

[Tulpa]

It's not just that. I think they're still holding out hope for a journalism bailout.

[Max]

You're a highly skilled at turning out drivel, Cavanaugh, but you've turned out to be a rotten right-wing hack.

[Ed Schultz]

Want me to torch the fuckin' place, Max?

[Tulpa]

That said, Romney is getting even more disappointing as time goes on. He seems content to make this election a referendum on Obama rather than offering any vision of his own.

If it's a referendum on Obama, Mitt definitely gets my vote, but I'm one in 300000000. If (fake) unemployment starts dropping he's got not a leg to stand on.

[protefeed]

That's because Romney doesn't have a vision -- as his fellow Mormon, Huntsman (and then Santorum), put it, Romney is a "well-oiled weathervane" of a politician.

His vision is to get elected by always being on the side of the issue that 50.1%+ of the primary or general voters he's trying to attract currently say they are for.

[wareagle]

from what I've heard, a govt-provided chicken in every pot and Volt in every garage is NOT part of hte Romney plan. The part about looking at expenses and questioning if they were worth borrowing from China in order to provide made a lot more sense than worrying about who can get the pill on whose dime. And we've seen the Obama vision; makes Mad Max look like the better option.

[its true but]

of course that applies to almost every other candidate also (one notable exception in the race).

The only difference between the candidates, obama included, is what people project onto them.

[Bill]

Correct. He changes his beliefs in mid-sentence at times based on the debate crowds response.

[Mike M.]

If (fake) unemployment starts dropping he's got not a leg to stand on.

Naaah, gas is going up, which means Obama is going down.

When people are shelling out well above $4 in a few months from now, they won't give a crap about fake unemployment numbers, fake inflation numbers, or any other fake numbers.

[Adam]

The question will be what will the price of gas be the last week of October?

[Seer]

Why is Gingrich still running? Shouldn't candidates be required to have some plausible delegate/electoral strategy to be given coverage and debate presence?

[protefeed]

Gingrich is ahead of Paul. When you run out of money or your support tanks, then you drop out.

By your criteria, Santorum should have dropped out a couple of months ago, instead of hanging in there and waiting for the tide to turn.

[Tulpa]

He's getting the nod in 2012 with numbers that are not appreciably better than what he got in the course of having his ass handed to him by John McCain in 2008.

Oh, and speaking of which, do recall that BO barely won the Dem nomination in 2008. So Romney actually has more control over his party than BO did.

[protefeed]

Romney hasn't won the nomination. It could still go sideways for him with one really bad gaffe caught on camera -- or Santorum doing well on Super Tuesday and bursting the myth of electability.

[Lost_in_translation]

What myth? Santorum is as electable as the filth of his namesake.

[Jeffersonian]

Santa?

[Night Elf Mohawk]

The chart above is what snatching defeat from the jaws of victory looks like.

Who on that chart is more electable?

For whatever reason -- expected loss, expected continuation of a crap economy, or whatever -- the Republicans ended up with a bunch of notObamas as choices. It's not like people didn't try to get others to run.

[anon]

Are you sure Santorum or Gingrich are much different than Obama?

Hell, I throw Romney in that camp too. I'd still vote for him over Obama though.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

I think Santorum is different in that his ideals are more socially oriented, won't ever make it into law and, if they did, would be largely unenforceable. Obama's vision of some kind of combination of fascism -- state control of private business -- and communism -- state control of state-owned businesses -- is in force and looks to kill the golden goose and take the whole damned world down with it. So, as between someone who wants to be an insufferable busybody with rules that will never be enforced and someone who wants to fuck the economy in the ass with a union-made 2x4, I can see some differences and how one would be less bad than the other.

I could see Gingrich trying to the the right's version of Obama the emperorgodking.

[Bam!]

My theory for crappy Republican candidates:

The 2004 Bush election required a very narrow strategy: Stay the course in Iraq; Don't admit it was a mistake.

This required state and congressional candidates that were willing to toe the line. Didn't matter what else they believed in (like big government policies), so long as they were for the war.

Now the war is unpopular and small government in-demand. Who does the Republican party have to run? No one. The Bush years flushed those guys out of the party.

[yonemoto]

McCain got his clock cleaned by Barack Obama.

I read that as "cock".

[wareagle]

Why is Romney's electability vapor? Because he does not attract the fire-breathing types Santorum appeals to? I'll just say again - politicians of both stripes have done such a marvelous job running things that it might be nice to see how someone with an actual business background fares.

[darius404]

It's vapor because his electability is almost entirely based on his... electability. The core of people who vote for him only do so because they think he's electable. Done well, that's somewhat self-sustaining. Done poorly, and you suddenly (and very confusingly to some) lose the broad base of your support.

[Tulpa]

I also like how the media spin machine is already spinning this with "there are a lot of Mormons in SE Washington".

Were they similarly discounting Obama's victories in heavily black states? I don't recall that happening.

[Fatty Bolger]

What's funny is that Romney is exactly the type of moderate, bridge-building candidate the media types always say they want - in stark contrast to the highly partisan Obama. Yet they'll still be in the tank for Obama this fall.

[Mr. FIFY]

Yeah, but Mitt's a) too wealthy (if he were a Democrat, though, they'd be fine with it) and b) too far to the right for Democrats.

Thus, he is evil, in their eyes.

Oh, and he's a Mormon, and it's only okay to be Mormon when you're in the Church of Team Blue as well.

[protefeed]

I predict Romney will win all, or pretty much all, of the states with around 4% or more Mormons in the state, since the vast majority of Mormons are LDS, and 90% of LDS Republicans have been voting for Romney. Having 7% or more of the voters in one's pocket right from the get-go is hard to overcome in a four way race.

State, percentage LDS:

Utah 72%

Idaho 27%

Wyoming 11%

Nevada 7%

Arizona 6%

Montana 5%

Hawaii 5%

Oregon 4%

Washington 4%

Alaska 4%

[wareagle]

and that's why Noot is excited about GA and Santo has hopes for other states - they appeal to the wing that sees mormons as the scary cult in white shirts on bikes. Santo especially has been embarrassing to watch, the last fire-breather standing because he was the last one that type wanted.

[Tulpa]

Santorum's been embarrassing for a long time, it's just that now someone's paying attention to him.

[Robert]

I didn't know shirts could ride bikes. That is scary!

[robc]

the vast majority of Mormons are LDS

I would guess somewhere around 100%.

[Jerry]

In the land of the blind...

[wareagle]

yup...that's how Obama got elected. Some eyes have opened since then.

[HeroicMulatto]

the one-eyed trouser snake is king!

[juris imprudent]

"I eat more chicken,
then any man ever seen"

[Tulpa]

Gah, Santorum just pulled ahead of RP. Looks like he's pasting Paul in Pierce County (Tacoma?), though there's still most of King County to come in (Seattle).

[Tulpa]

Heh, no sooner I said that that a big chunk of King came in and Paul is back ahead.

[protefeed]

Pierce County is Tacoma plus a buttload of rural areas -- though the Republicans are a big chunk of the rural voters, not so much in Tacoma.

[Paul]

Rural voters in wa could swing santorum or paul. Tough to say.

[Hadouken]

At this point, I really hope Santorum wins the nom and the general. Fuck everyone that didn't vote for Paul.

[Ryan]

Shun the non-believers! Shuuuunnnnnnnnnnn

[Tulpa]

No thank you.

Santorum is the most vile of the GOOP.

[SIV]

Newt is far worse.

[Max]

They're both better than Ron Paul, the neo-Nazi racist sack of shit.

[Tulpa]

He got better.

</python>

[REAL Neo-Nazis]

Hey, fuckhead... walk a mile in OUR jackboots, before you go making quarter-assed comparisons.

[Hadouken]

Live results:

http://www.google.com/elections/ed/us/results

[juris imprudent]

Yo, how 'bout some love for Skamania county!?!

[Tulpa]

RP won the four northeastern counties too.

[protefeed]

His vote total for the nine counties he won is right around 1,000 voters.

Seattle and Tacoma is where the action is.

[Adam]

love? they got it...however, I'm from Washington and I still had to refer to a map as a reminder exactly where it is.

[Tulpa]

Unless Santorum wins the last 25% of King County by a lot, RP has 2nd place secured.

[Adam]

And that will completely depend on the east/southeast county conservative vote. A strange mix of neo-cons (mostly originating from Cali) and Constitutionalists. Should be interesting to see how that goes.

[G. Knight]

Like most of that coast, Washington would be a nice place if you didn't have to deal with the snobs in Seattle and the hicks in Tacoma.

[protefeed]

You forgot to slam the hipsters living in the burbs in Snohomish:

"Washington would be a nice place to live if you didn't have to deal with any of the people living there."

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Isn't that pretty much the whole west coast?

[Mr. Cooter]

Why aren't people paying attention to me?

[Mr. Cooter]

Why aren't people paying attention to me?

[Mr. Cooter]

Why aren't people paying attention to me?

[Mr. Cooter]

Why aren't people paying attention to me?

[Mr. Cooter]

Why aren't people paying attention to me?

[Mr. Cooter]

Why aren't people paying attention to me?

[heh]

Who's ready to watch Lilo implode on SNL?

[SIV]

Lindsay Lohan

[heh]

How does Edward Scissorhands play guitar like that?

[Tulpa]

What are you going to do on the toilet, ah?

[Robert]

I thought you meant the bootloader.

[Mr. Cooter]

Why aren't people paying attention to me?

[Mr. Cooter]

Why aren't people paying attention to me?

[Mr. Cooter]

Why aren't people paying attention to me?

[Mr. Cooter]

Why aren't people paying attention to me?

[Mr. Cooter]

Why aren't people paying attention to me?

[Mr. Cooter]

Why aren't people paying attention to me?

[Mr. Cooter]

8====================D?

[Mr. Cooter]

8====================D?

[Mr. Cooter]

8====================D?

[Mr. Cooter]

8====================D?

[Mr. Cooter]

8====================D?

[Mr. Cooter]

8====================D?

[Jackie Tomassis]

No way dude, who comes up with all that stuff??

http://www.Gone-Anon.at.tc

[Mr. Cooter]

8====================D?

[Mr. Cooter]

8====================D?

[Mr. Cooter]

8====================D?

[Mr. Cooter]

8====================D?

[Mr. Cooter]

8====================D?

[Mr. Cooter]

8====================D?

[Tulpa]

As a Cubs fan, I must ask that you not shorten Santorum to "Santo". It's bad enough that old Ronnie Woo-Woo is entering the Hall of Fame as a corpse without subjecting him to further indignity.

[Adam]

Especially for a Franklin High (Seattle) grad! (I'm talking about the HoF baseball player)

[XM]

Obama could easily "neutralize" Ron Paul with various demagoguery involving his racist newsletters and unfortunate penchant for conspiracy. "He wants to ax the dept of education and deregulate everything" - Obama sells himself as moderate and wins. The media sees him as a quirky character now, but the they'll zero in on him as the nominee.

In an election, the vessel matters as much the principles it contains. "Ron Paul is most libertarian / conservative"! But the guy's old, looks like a James Bond villain, and has zero charisma. His base is admirable, but you need way more than that to win elections.

At a certain point voters will abandon the purity test and take their chances. Lose for sure with Ron Paul or Santorum, or maybe win with Romney and try to influence his policies? The republicans in the house won't give him that much free rein.

[A Serious Man]

Ron Paul could hit back by pointing out 2008 Obama's promise to change Washington and comparing it with the rampant cronyism, corruption, and warmongering we see today. You'd have to be delusional to think Obama has credibility with regard to keeping campaign promises.

[Cytotoxic]

You'd have to be naive to think the electorate is that smart and the media that objective.

[?J?? de aguila]

You mean Obombster would "play on our fears."

He could also inflate the al-queda terror boogieman or even stage a couple of "failed/foiled" terror events.

[db]

Lo! 't is a gala night
Within the lonesome latter years!
An angel throng, bewinged, bedight
In veils, and drowned in tears,
Sit in a theatre, to see
A play of hopes and fears,
While the orchestra breathes fitfully
The music of the spheres.

[db]

Mimes, in the form of God on high,
Mutter and mumble low,
And hither and thither fly?
Mere puppets they, who come and go
At bidding of vast formless things
That shift the scenery to and fro,
Flapping from out their Condor wings
Invisible Wo!

[db]

That motley drama?oh, be sure
It shall not be forgot!
With its Phantom chased for evermore
By a crowd that seize it not,
Through a circle that ever returneth in
To the self-same spot,
And much of Madness, and more of Sin,
And Horror the soul of the plot.

[db]

But see, amid the mimic rout,
A crawling shape intrude!
A blood-red thing that writhes from out
The scenic solitude!
It writhes!?it writhes!?with mortal pangs
The mimes become its food,
And seraphs sob at vermin fangs
In human gore imbued.

[db]

Out ? out are the lights?out all!
And, over each quivering form,
The curtain, a funeral pall,
Comes down with the rush of a storm,
While the angels, all pallid and wan,
Uprising, unveiling, affirm
That the play is the tragedy, "Man,"
And its hero, the Conqueror Worm.

[db]

E.A. Poe, "The Conqueror Worm"

[Tulpa]

Forget about worms, there was a flerking stinkbug flying around my place today. I guess spring is back.

[db]

Fuck stinkbugs. I have found an insecticide that kills them. They shall fall before my righteous sprayer and their offspring shall be as ash in the wind.

[Tulpa]

Killing them isn't hard; holding your lunch down after they share their putridity of essence is.

[Nipplemancer]

Don't squish them and there won't be a stink. It's not so hard. I just grab em with toilet paper and flush them. I still have no idea how bad they stink because of it.

[Mitch]

It appears this is Paul's worst state so far in terms of improving on his 2008 result, no?

[Tulpa]

It was one of his best states in 2008, so that's not surprising.

[Chance Yohman]

Lynnwood 29 precinct had:

7 Paul Supporters
2 Gingrich Supporters
1 Romney Supporter

In the precinct, Paul nabbed 3 of 3 delegate slots for the Snohomish County Convention. Paul also received 2 of 3 alternate delegate slots. The Romney supporter is alternate delegate #3. I'm the #1 alternate.

I tried to be inclusive of others. Notably the Gingrich supporter who kept repeating ad nauseam, "Ron Paul can not be president.". I tried to rally around the point none of us wanted Santorum.

If there is any positive, the younger electorate of Washington State Legislative District 21 seemed to be Ron Paul supporters who hopefully can somewhat steer the local Republicans away from social conservatism and big government spending for years to come. As always, it'll take years to figure that out. At least we seemed to sweep or receive a majority of county delegates for some precincts.

[Aaron Burr]

I'm backkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!!

[Mitch]

Well if thats the case his aggregate results definitely won't average out to anywhere near actually doubling his 2008 results.

[heh]

Lilo looks better as a redhead than a blonde.

[Aaron Burr]

He squirrels look at me crapping all over this thread.

[Aaron Burr]

He squirrels look at me crapping all over this thread.

[Aaron Burr]

He squirrels look at me crapping all over this thread.

[Aaron Burr]

He squirrels look at me crapping all over this thread.

[Aaron Burr]

He squirrels look at me crapping all over this thread.

[Aaron Burr]

He squirrels look at me crapping all over this thread.

[Aaron Burr]

He squirrels look at me crapping all over this thread.

[Aaron Burr]

He squirrels look at me crapping all over this thread.

[Aaron Burr]

He squirrels look at me crapping all over this thread.

[Aaron Burr]

He squirrels look at me crapping all over this thread.

[Aaron Burr]

He squirrels look at me crapping all over this thread.

[Aaron Burr]

He squirrels look at me crapping all over this thread.

[A Serious Man]

As long as he beat Santorum I'm happy. Like in Colorado and other states, he should get a considerable number of delegates even in precients where he didn't win the straw vote.

[Aaron Burr]

"2012 Go Topless Day".

http://www.gotopless.org/gotopless-day

[Aaron Burr]

"2012 Go Topless Day".

http://www.gotopless.org/gotopless-day

[Aaron Burr]

"2012 Go Topless Day".

http://www.gotopless.org/gotopless-day

[Aaron Burr]

"2012 Go Topless Day".

http://www.gotopless.org/gotopless-day

[Aaron Burr]

"2012 Go Topless Day".

http://www.gotopless.org/gotopless-day

[Aaron Burr]

"2012 Go Topless Day".

http://www.gotopless.org/gotopless-day

[curiousgeorge]

At what point are we going to know exactly how many delegates Paul has managed to squeeze out of the caucuses?

The process is so long and convaluted, I wonder if we're going to get to the convention and find out that Paul has something like double what the conventional wisdom expects.

[Syd]

Paul's not going to get that many since he hasn't won a single caucus.

[Curiousgeorge]

Thar depends on what your definition of winning is. He has yet to take first in any caucus straw poll, but no one knows who has the most delegates since they have yet to be elected at the state conventions.

[Syd]

Obama's got it. Mitt Romney's going to get the Republican nomination, and he's Obama-lite except on social issues where people are on Obama's side.

[Syd]

You don't beat Franklin Roosevelt if you're Alf Landon.

[Lurker]

But then, only Death could defeat Roosevelt.

[social music player]

social music player, free mp3 download, mp3 download, free mp3, instant music messaging
Extend your favorite free mp3 download to 1 000 000 new versions for free!

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There are more than 2 million music tributes and 4 million remixes uploaded by users on YouTube right now. Teenagers who buy music love to personalize it by adding something personal to create their own version; however, if they have no music skills, they can't really do it and there are no lyrics when you playback music so you do not understand the song specially if you are not fluent in English.

[social music player]

social music player, free mp3 download, mp3 download, free mp3, instant music messaging An interactive track can play more than 100000000 new extended versions, thus extending your pleasing experience for free and the process is completely seamless.

3D SOLAR technology uses the existing track but empowers it with a new independent interactive layer. This simple fact allows us to scale up at an enormous rate because we just don't need any kind of authorisation as we do not modify the free mp3 download or the original recording and we also do not offer any specific remix but we help the user who will do it legally within the music player.

[Mackie Woods]

This makes a lot of sesne dude, Very cool indeed!

http://www.Been-Anon.tk

[Libertarian2]

The very scary elephant in the room here is: why is it we keep ending up voting between a shit sandwich and a douchebag in November? Every four years I tell myself it can't get any worse, and then four years later..........

What will we be facing in 2016? Santorum vs. Micheael Moore?

Again, I ask, what is the flaw(s) in our system that is driving this, and can it be fixed?

[Suthenboy]

The two party system is a solidly established institution that installs insiders when they have paid their dues and their turn comes around.

The best way to fix things would be to chase all journalism professors out of their jobs with a hickory stick and replace them with people who understand and believe in the press's role as the fourth estate.

[Robert]

No, the best way to fix things is to become the insiders, pay your dues, and wait your turn.

[Suthenboy]

Where is the emotional satisfaction in that?

Chasing those idiots out the door with solid whacks from a hickory stick is much more satisfying and a more realistic prospect.

[Paul]

Biden vs Mitt Romney.

[Fluffy]

Paul's not going to get the nomination, but stop for a moment and consider this:

Paul still has some 10%-ish performances out there in some of the southern states, but he is pulling solid 20-25% numbers in many states, too.

Think about exactly how radical Paul is.

Paul's opponents can point to the 1988 LPA platform and say, "That's Paul, right there."

And 25% of the GOP electorate in many places is saying, "Sold!"

That's pretty shocking. And encouraging.

[Bill]

Unless the economy gets worse.
People have somehow (overly generous unemployment for years on end helps) become used to 8-9% unemployment even though it is really higher and seem to be fooled by the 2-3% inflation which is really 7% or higher inflation. There are small signs (amplified in the news) that the economy is marginally better and people are not scared right now. And the stock market is soaring.

If the stock market is down and unemployment or inflation increase before the election it changes the picture.

But, yes, Obama is a good campaigner and is capable of kicking Romney's butt. I'm not sure Paul would do any better. He would draw in a bunch of people but then the media would run 6 months of scare stories and scare away just as many. The best chance may be a Romney/Paul ticket (either Paul).

[Suthenboy]

I think it is partly a reaction to how totalitarian both the dems and reps have become and how much alike they are. People are getting fed up with the entrenched establishment's failures and there is no alternative besides libertarianism.

I hold out no hope that Libertarianism proper will ever experience an influx of people to put it in the majority, but like whoopie dreams for communism, I can dream for Libertarianism.

Actively trying to win people over is probably a mistake as you will have very very limited success without somehow altering Libertarianism to accomodate non-like minded people. In order to win over a majority, the alterations would have to go so far as to make Libertarianism almost indistinguishable from current republicanism.

[Suthenboy]

Pointless. See the Ken Shultz crap from yesterday about censorship and making the site more inviting to women and those with delicate sensibilities.
Unfortunately, Libertarianism will have to stay in the minority, populated by people who are natural born Libertarians. As someone here commented recently - " The bill of rights is my culture. I am the bill of rights to the core of my being.".

Like true christians truly believe in their hearts, real libertarians have to believe in their hearts, not won over by being convinced to go through the motions. Believing in true personal liberty and having a willingness to fight for it takes a special kind of heart. You cant create one by debate. (See any discussion here with Tony)

[Suthenboy]

And....this 900 limit is maddening

[-]

Brevity is a virtue.

[BakedPenguin]

I was not a born libertarian, I had to be convinced. People can change their minds.

[Suthenboy]

You were convinced because you were born a Libertarian.

Yeah, I know....spare me the discussion about Scotsmen.

[BakedPenguin]

I was not a born libertarian, I had to be convinced. People can change their minds.

[Suthenboy]

Aristotle said there are two kinds of wise men. Those who know the truth and can speak it, and those who know the truth when they hear it.

You are saying you are the second kind. Most of the wise are, including myself. However, the majority of the population of humans goes through life pretending the world is what they wish it was and believing that somewhere 'top men' exist to solve any problem. Try and convince them, see how far you get. It is sad really.

[Robert]

But you can say that about everything in life. Everything you do is a compromise. Only very little children reject all compromise, and of course get nothing done in the process.

Remember, "they" didn't get where they are without having to compromise an awful lot, either.

[Fist of Etiquette]

There seem to be a lot of people here you are under the false impression that the general election voter is an informed one. The "middle of the road" voter that any candidate needs to win president is dumb as fuck and will usually vote for who the handsome newscaster tells her to.

However, with a now known product in the White House, who is attached to an economy such as this, no amount of shilling by anchorman hairdos can cover up what people feel about Obama. Dubya is a distant memory, and BHO's fingerprints are all over the high unemployment now. Fence-sitters may not know much, but they know Romney is someone else. Obama doesn't win re-election.

[Episiarchs Greatest Hit]

"Voting is merely participating in a rigged, bullshit game where you have no statistical effect but when you participate you give it legitimacy. Fuck that."

[Suthenboy]

"...usually vote for who the handsome newscaster tells HER to." < I see what you did there.

"...shilling by anchorman hairdos..." < Priceless. I nearly choked on my bagel.

I agree, I dont think Barry has it in the bag by any means. I am hesitant to underestimate the incompetence of the GOP however.

[Pain]

I'm still not sure who I think will win but I tend to agree with you as BO hasn't really been politically attacked yet at all. With Repubs busy swinging at each other it's easy to seem them all as not much better than the current POTUS. Add to that the MSM has been generally shrugging off or ignoring most of the bad stories about BO.

However, when the full political attack machine gets going in the general I think any remaining goodwill people have from him may quickly evaporate (of course with the exception of the 35% who will vote for him come hell or high water).

[Robert]

Exactly. It's so easy to focus on the contest at hand for the Republican nomination, and forget that come Nov. there will be so many voters who aren't even paying att'n now, and will just vote for or against Obama. All of the contenders for the Republican nomination are equally electable if they get the nomination. None of them need campaign at all once the nomination is secured. Nobody's going to be voting for them per se.

[Mike M.]

I agree. We have become a much dumber nation in recent years, but I don't believe we've become quite that dumb.

But we will find out for sure in eight months. If it turns out that America has become so dimwitted and disconnected from reality that it actually reelects this shithead, then we deserve to go bankrupt.

[sloopyinca]

I'm not sure if any of you have seen this yet, but this blows the lid off of the 2008 election, and threatens to do the same for 2012.*

*Actually, it does neither, but as far as wacky conspiracy theories go, this one may be the wackiest of all time. A must read!

[tarran]

Wow....

That guy and David Icke should totally hook up.

[Brett L]

This is either trolling turned up to 11 or someone who desperately needs his or her prescription adjusted.

[sloopyinca]

If you guys have FB, I strongly suggest linking this to your page. There's a linky thing at the bottom.

I want to get the truth out there. Please help me!

The truth, of course, being that the guy who wrote this is out of his fucking mind.

[Schmoopy]

You're Schmoopy!

[Brett L]

How dare you attempt to discredit him by doing exactly what he wants!!

[Max]

You have to admire Cavanaugh's relentless search for the truth. He never lets narrow ideological concerns cloud his vision.

[robc]

Has Romney actually broken 50% of the vote anywhere yet?

Im guessing he will in Virginia, but Im hoping that he wont.

[Tulpa]

Kind of tough to do in a four man race.

[Libertarian2]

TWO MAN race in Virginia!

[robc]

Not really. Look at past races, it was pretty common.

[Robert]

But Romney's not even breaking 40%. I don't know why many commenters elsewhere think his nomination's such a sure thing, just because opposition hasn't coalesced around one candidate yet. What if they do at the convention?

[Tulpa]

He has the majority of the delegates so far. The vote totals don't mean squat.

[Tulpa]

And as more and more states become winner take all going forward, winning with less than 50% becomes even less relevant. McCain was still struggling to get past 40% even after Super Tuesday when his only remaining opponents were Huck and Paul.

[John]

Interesting article on the rise of Libertarians among the young. New left liberalism dates back to 1968. That is 44 years ago. There is just nothing cutting edge or revolutionary about it anymore. How much longer before kids get tired of embracing the politics of their grand parents?

http://blogs.independent.co.uk.....ming-from/

[John]

The first comment is a classic

"... students are rallying around distinctly pro-liberty ideas and ideologies."

A. That's great, except that so-called "Libertarians" do not seek liberty -- they seek license.
B. Students are rallying around so-called "Libertarianism" because they, too, seek license. Having the legalization of drugs as a key plank in your platform is a great way to get young, ignorant, dope-smoking college kids to vote for you; but they do so because they seek license to keep on toking -- NOT because they view drug laws as offensive to liberty.

[John]

C. How could students possibly know what real liberty is, as opposed to license? Or to have any insight into why liberty is so important? They've had little experience with it, and know nothing about it historically -- how could they? They've been indoctrinated since grade-school by leftists who also hold that license is liberty. The only difference is that leftists seek license for themselves only, whereas so-called "Libertarians" wish for everyone to have license to do anything and everything.
D. Who gives a damn what young, ignorant, dope-smoking college kids are rallying around? They're young, dumb and full of weed.

[robc]

I think there is some projection going on.

[Tulpa]

I pick D.

[Suthenboy]

Interesting. Considering what I said above, I pray I am wrong. Hopefully in the near future all of you can say to me.....nanananana toldja so!

[Tulpa]

The current left is not the New Left. It's a much more authoritarian variant that's fairly recent at least in the US. I'd say it's really developed since 9/11, coinciding with the rise to prominence of neocons in the GOP.

[robc]

thegreenpapers.com delegate estimate has Paul back ahead of Gingrich.

Thru WA:
Romney 178
Santorum 75
Paul 51
Gingrich 49
Huntsman 2

It estimated the delegates for WA as 16-10-10-4.

[Max]

News flash: Ron Paul will never get the GOP nomination and is old and will soon be passing the torch on to his idiot son Rand, who will also never get the GOP nomination. Do we have a plan B?

[Suthenboy]

I had a dog named Max. He was a good dog, but he was dumb as hell. He ran out in the highway and a car obliterated his head.

[P Brooks]

However, with a now known product in the White House, who is attached to an economy such as this, no amount of shilling by anchorman hairdos can cover up what people feel about Obama.

There seem to be an awful lot of people who are completely impervious to the evidence before them. Just a few nights ago, I was compelled to withstand the claim that our President is fundamentally a "Man of Peace". I nearly shot beer out of my nose.

Meanwhile, the pants-pissing over the shocking! raaaaaaacist! Jokegate scandal is truly epic; that imbecile federal judge can sign a warrant which will bring a platoon of armed goons to your home in the middle of the night to terrorize you (or worse) over a harmless fucking plant and nobody even raises an eyebrow, but he sends somebody a stupid tasteless joke and the howling mobs assemble to clamor for his head on a pike.

[John]

What is jokegate?

[P Brooks]

Also- The nattering nabobs on ABC were just discussing Netanyahu's impending visit; apparently he will be at AIPAC, to which the great minds of American politics and policy will make pilgrimage, bow down and kiss his almighty sphincter.

ps-900 character limit still suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks.

[P Brooks]

What is Jokegate?

Come come, now; surely this cannot merely be a local story.

Some federal judge in Billings forwarded a stupid tasteless internet joke which will lead to the downfall of civil society as we know it. Not only is it (and he) in every way imaginable anti-American, eliminationist, racist and comprehensively anti-O, it cruelly demeans Mary Magdalene his mother and accuses her of besotted bestialic hedonism.

Or so it is told.

[P Brooks]

Weep for America. WEEEEEEEEEP!

(Reuters) - A federal judge in Montana who used official court email to circulate a racist joke about President Barack Obama has acknowledged the indiscretion and initiated a misconduct complaint against himself, court officials said on Thursday.

The scandal prompted government ethics watchdog group Common Cause and the Montana Human Rights Network to call on Thursday for the resignation of the Billings-based judge, Richard Cebull, the chief judge for the U.S. judicial district in Montana.

I eagerly await the reaction of the SPLC. I have plenty of smelling salts on hand.

[John]

That is the "You are lucky you don't bark" joke? That is not a fucking racist joke. Liberals really are stupid.

[BakedPenguin]

They can't tell a racist joke from a "your mom's a slut" joke? Do they think Limbaugh's comments about Fluke were racist, too?

[Tulpa]

I like how Reuters doesn't actually tell us what the joke was, just letting us know that they think it's racist and lewd and we should too.

[Almanian]

initiated a misconduct complaint against himself

I keep hearing the Czechoslovakian Brothers Martin and Ackroyd back in the day....

"Ah blame uh mahself...."

[P Brooks]

That is the "You are lucky you don't bark" joke?

Yup.

Never let a good manufactured outrage go to waste.

[John]

That is just pathetic.

[P Brooks]

I like how Reuters doesn't actually tell us what the joke was, just letting us know that they think it's racist and lewd and we should too.

Are you kidding? Every time somebody reads or hears that joke, an angel get its wings torn off and then gets raped by Beelzebub.

[John]

It is like child pornography. Every time someone tells that joke Obama is just revictimized.

[Rev. Blue Moon]

Does anybody other than me think that Rush shouldn't have backed down?

[Tulpa]

Why, was he standing on the ledge of a tall building?

[oldtimer]

RBM, I just sent a long answer to a friend that was outraged by Limbaugh. It's too long for here but if anyone wants it, email me, subject:Limbaugh

[arbo]

It certainly doesn't fit his usual shtick. Perhaps his current wife or mistress made him do it.

[Almanian]

*raises hand*

That slut's a slut. Wish I'd known her when I was in school. Esp if she's buying the contraception.

[Almanian]

NASCAR N TRAKTUR PULLLZ!!!1!