Patterico's Pontifications

11/5/2010

Quote of the Day: Get Your Christie Fix Right Here!

Filed under: General — Aaron Worthing @ 2:29 pm



[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; send your tips here.]

I won’t pretend I know enough about Chris Christie to say I would want him to be president, but there are times when I really like the cut of his jib.  Here he is trying to tell reporters he is definitely not running for president in 2012:

“Short of suicide, I don’t really know what I’d have to do to convince you people that I’m not running. I’m not running!” Christie told reporters in Trenton, the state capital….

“I’ve said I don’t want to. I’m not going to. There is zero chance I will. I don’t feel like I’m ready to be president. I don’t want to run for president. I don’t have the fire in the belly to run for president. But, yet, everyone seems to think that I’ve left the door open a little bit,” he said Thursday in exasperation.

So he is running, isn’t he?  (kidding)

It is actually a little reminiscent of when Obama said he was not ready to be president in 2004.  Apparently a lot changed in two years when he did start to run for president.  Oh, wait, nothing changed, except Obama’s willingness to accept his own limitations.

All of this comes via Cubachi, who also informs us that Christie will be in a Fox News special about people that pundits think might be running for president.  Another post also makes the case, convincingly, that Sarah Palin’s reality show is all about setting her up to be a presidential contender.  Ugh, a reality show to make you president?  The whole thing puts a bad taste in my mouth.  But, hey, it does give us this pic of Palin at her cheerful frontierswoman best:

Meanwhile in other “are they running or not” news, Cnn just sent me a breaking email: “Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she will run for minority leader after GOP takes control of the House.”

All I can say to Democrats is “Yes!  Please make her the botoxed face of your party!”

[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]

127 Responses to “Quote of the Day: Get Your Christie Fix Right Here!”

  1. He was in Iowa just a few weeks ago, talking about his activities in NJ. Now, it’s not for me to speculate…but you better damn well believe he’s strongly thinking about running. He’s smart enough to realize that these opportunities rarely come along more than once in a lifetime. So get ready for The Big Man in ’12 (I hope!).

    Dmac (ad2c6a)

  2. Dmac,

    I honestly take this guy at his word.

    Though if he runs it will be good for our country, I think he either thinks this opportunity will come again (and better) or he really doesn’t care if he misses this opportunity. Chris Christie is that rare guy who is completely unconventional.

    I’d bet $100 our next president is inferior.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  3. Almost every ad for a Rep represenative in Indiana featured a picture of the botoxed one along with a picture of the anointed one. The copy usually mentioned Pelosi-Obama healthcare.

    Hazy (996c34)

  4. It is actually a little reminiscent of when Obama said he was not ready to be president in 2004.

    What Dustin said. Plus, Christie has proven to be truer to his word that Obama.

    Some chump (4c6c0c)

  5. The fact that he supports cap n trade, was agnostic
    (too be charitable) on the GZM, and apparently hasn’t committed to the Obamacare suit, plus his jettisoning of Schundler are more important consideration.

    She loves the place she calls ‘god’ country’ unapologetically, even though I’m not terribly
    impressed with their political class right now, remember the Russians tagged her the Okhanitsa,
    the Huntress, and you kind of see why

    justin cord (82637e)

  6. my two favorite things about Chris Christie are he’s a good governor and he’s not running for president

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  7. I think Pelosi ought to challenge Obama in the primaries.

    Kevin M (73dcc9)

  8. Huckabee/Palin in 2012 for President of the the United KKKristian States of America.

    w (9df40f)

  9. Christie campaigned for Meg Whitman; a sure sign he has higher ambitions. I wouldn’t be surprised if he runs for president in 2012. But the cap-and-trade support is surprising and dismaying to me.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (a18ddc)

  10. He believes in it, that’s in part why he endorsed Castle, the kind of Enron economics that has served
    us in bad form

    justin cord (82637e)

  11. Yelverton finally woke up from last night’s stupor, and started hitting the bottle immediately.

    JD (0c5de4)

  12. Just as Palin took herself out of the 2012 race when she resigned her office in Alaska, so too has Christie with this statement. I would love for either to actually be president, but they can’t now credibly run until 2016 at the earliest.

    I also want to admit I was very likely wrong when I predicted that NP would not take the oath of office in January. It’s still possible, but not likely now.

    Ed from SFV (c16c43)

  13. ok ok ok…I get no Presedential run…..so he will take VP ???

    wtpct (707778)

  14. Yelverton finally woke up from last night’s stupor, and started hitting the bottle immediately.

    JD, he is awesome, he is quintessential example of unintended satire. He is a walking talking cliche. Hilarious. Patterico’s wouldn’t be the same without him.

    quiznilo (9628b3)

  15. wtpct

    Good question…

    Aaron Worthing (b8e056)

  16. Wilson was elected in 1910, as NJ Governor, although he’s more of a Charles Edison type, TR
    served a year or so, before becoming VP as I recall

    justin cord (82637e)

  17. Christie/Jindal in 2012!

    gahrie (ed7a50)

  18. Can you believe Pelosi will likely be Minority Leader. That’s the best news since Tuesday night’s shellacking.

    No matter what happens between now and 2012, and I mean no matter what — they could catch the whole GOP Congressional delegation in bed with Lindsey Lohan and a hamster — all they will have to do to respond is post her picture with the enormous gavel and ask the question:

    “Do you want this again?”

    The best thing, though, is the fellow-travelers actually want her to be Minority Leader.

    Ag80 (743fd1)

  19. “I’ve said I don’t want to. I’m not going to. There is zero chance I will. I don’t feel like I’m ready to be president. I don’t want to run for president. I don’t have the fire in the belly to run for president. But, yet, everyone seems to think that I’ve left the door open a little bit,”

    I’ve never been more convinced Christie will run

    Jones (72b0ed)

  20. Christie might not be running, but he would be a good pick for the VP for the Republican candidate – from the northeast, a Dem stronghold, a fair-sized electoral state, and if he can straighten out NJ’s finances, it’s brings (that dreaded word) gravitas to the ticket.

    JEA (71ae04)

  21. I agree that Palin’s hosting a reality show makes her unqualified. Almost as stupid as hosting a hick show called “Death Valley Days”. How do you think that turne out, RINO boy?

    Bill07407 (217707)

  22. @#9. Watch his waistline. If he drops some serious weight, he’ll be making a serious run at something.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  23. IMP’s continuing string of jackwaggonry remains unbroke. Go diddle Von Braun.

    JD (85b089)

  24. JD, that was great: jackwaggonry. Is it a JD original?

    Eric Blair (c8876d)

  25. Newly minted, Eric.

    JD (c8c1d2)

  26. It’s not reminiscent of Obama at all. Christie cannot run without demolishing the basis of his credibility, i.e., his pledge, his mission, his reason for being — to rectify generations of liberal fiscal squalor in New Jersey. If he runs 2-3 years into his first term, the work not done, his word means nothing.

    rrpjr (c28ebf)

  27. “Ugh, a reality show to make you president? The whole thing puts a bad taste in my mouth.”

    That and incompetence, being a quitter, unqualified, not very bright … .

    Oh and O’Donnell, Miller, and Angle were pushed by Palin.

    Christine O'Donnell (8ec277)

  28. Well personally I hope Christie runs for President.He tells it like it is and takes no BS from the press.Now if he can get the debt down and keep folks working,well then…

    your mama (805957)

  29. As opposed to Lisa Murkowski who gives nepotism a bad name, or Sue Lowden, who thought barter was a good health care strategy.

    justin cord (82637e)

  30. What was the matter with Miller?

    JD (c8c1d2)

  31. Perhaps he would have a different answer if they were to ask him about 2016.

    kaf (eb2046)

  32. I think he will stay in NJ to finish his term. The names I look for in 2012 include Romney, with all his baggage, Daniels, who has his record, Pawlenty with his “Wal Mart voter” schtick. Huckaby is a lefty aside from social issues. I think Palin will stay a king-maker. The “reality show” is about Alaska and the previews I’ve seen are very good.

    I think Republicans have to stay with governors as candidates. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jan Brewer on the ticket although she needs coaching. Meg Whitman blew her chance by waffling on immigration and global warming. Palin is a far superior candidate, as I suspected.

    Mike K (d6b02c)

  33. Off topic, I’m thinking of starting odds on just whether or not the 2012 election will include as a hot issue, the necessity for military intervention along the Mexican border.

    Was just reading the chapter of a Patton biography on his adventures in “Blackjack” Pershings’ expedition south of the border …

    SPQR (26be8b)

  34. I just think we should be highlighting some of the good things, instead of kicking a rotting corpse. Tim Scott, Allen West, Marco Rubio, Todd Young, and countless others ….

    JD (c8c1d2)

  35. It’s a good point, ‘the Mexican insurgency’ is bound to spill over across the border, even more than it has now, echoing a recent Playstation came on the subject

    justin cord (82637e)

  36. Sarah Palin: a celebrity.

    John Stanford (576d8a)

  37. Among the gun hobbyist blogs, that photo of Sarah Palin is quite popular at the moment.

    Quite popular.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  38. But the cap-and-trade support is surprising and dismaying to me.

    What’s dismaying is you have an almost-perfect conservative in Christie, who is doing exactly what a conservative should be doing (practicing fiscal restraint, shrinking the size of his government, standing up to the bullying of unions, making his case clearly and honestly to the people) and there are conservatives who’d dump because of this one issue.

    Some chump (e84e27)

  39. First of all, cap and trade is dead until the economy improves. Even Obama will probably soft-pedal it from here on in, and someone like Christie would be far too smart to let it be a dominant issue were he to run.

    On a different but similar topic, I was listening to Limbaugh today and he was reading some of the 2009 conventional wisdom from the wise pundits of our media, especially the left wing ones, regarding candidate Chris Christie. It was absolutely hilarious. The general consensus, first advanced I think by Paul Krugman, was that even if he were miraculously to be elected Christie would quickly find out that there wasn’t much he could do with the NJ economy other than continue with Corzine’s policies. Keep that in mind next time you read some pundit say that the House majority will find out that it is impossible to cut spending any more rapidly than Obama proposes.

    JVW (eccfd6)

  40. Crist is a closeted gay, that’s why he won’t run – he knows his sweet secret wouldn’t stand closer scrutiny. Palin is a boob who appeal only to boobs. The only decent candidate Rethuglicans have is Romney and that’s why they won’t let him run. For the TeaBaggers won’t endorse but a homophobic, racist, bible-thumping and poor-hating bigot – one of them, in short.

    Gobotron (0692b1)

  41. 40. surely you must be right since the left wing press in Germany agrees with you that Tea Party is racist. Why are Euroweenies so much more enlightened and give Obama an 80% approval rating? I think the real people of the world would gladly desire him as World Prez for life. Afterall the glorious unelected EU commissioners do such a sterling job for Europeans, eh?

    If Christie does support cap and trade and AGW, he’ll never get my vote. Nor will dem lite Huckabee. The Left surely must greatly fear Palin though since all they can do is wet their panties and scream how evil she is.

    Calypso Louie Farrakhan (798aba)

  42. Christie is not perfect, he does need to get his act together on some issues, that I’ve mentioned
    before, but he has to deal with the detritus by Corzine, McGreevey, and even the previous RINO
    rolemodel, the other Whitman, who did a similar
    thing to the state’s property tax than Coons. If he picks Michele Rhee, to replace Schundler, who I still feel was unceremoniously abandoned I will be more impressed.

    Palin, in the year and a half before she was ambushed, revamped the state’s tax code, the ethics code, in light of the William Allen scandal, and moved forward the AGIA line, more than in 40 years, those are big things,

    justin cord (82637e)

  43. Since the other thread died, or is in the process of zombification, this explains the hoops has to go through, from the fellow who tried to turn the
    write in into a farce;

    ) The outgoing Lt Governor, Campbell, a Murkowskee Republican, (the guy who’s job description it is to run the Election process) changed his mind today and said Miller can be counted as a Write In candidate if he appears properly on the Ballot. Then in a complete non-sequiter Campbell said that the Election rules are the Election rules and that they will be abided by and not be changed.

    2) Then it was announced that now the Absentee Ballots (different than the Write-In Ballots) will be counted first, which has never been the policy or rule, as always before it is the Write-In’s counted first, and the Absentee Ballots counted last. This change of ‘the rules that will be abided by and not changed’ seems innocuous until you think about who benefits from this policy. By coincidence, the benefactor is Lisa, not Joe.

    The reasoning is this: There are I think between 30,000 and 80,000 Absentee Ballots out there (sorry I did not catch the proper number and may be way off) If they are counted first, and speculation is heavy that they favor Joe, then a concrete number of votes that needs to be find among the Write-Ins when they eventually are counted, will be available to the Murcowskee Cmapaign counters. If for example Joe got (X) number votes via the Absentee Count, then the folks doing the counting who support Lisa then know they need (X + 1) in order to win, so that gives them a concrete number to push for when counting and litigating the Write-In ballots—and that process as we have already seen is now a ‘flexible procedure’, since Lt Governor Campbell already has indicated it is not subject to the written rule of Law but as in previous elections, but instead is subject to some amorphous thing he refers to as “the intent of the voter”. Talk guys say this is directly against what the written Election policy on counting Write-In’s has always been before. The previous policy was that the written name MUST match the name the Write In candidate listed as the name that that individual would run under; (ie) Lisa Murkowski. No ifs, ands, or buts about it; nothing else will do but that, which is why the last Write In candidate 10 years back, Robin Taylor, had 5,000 votes tossed out.

    3) Even worse, today we learn that in Juneau, the process of examining Absentee Ballots to see if they will be accepted for the eventual count, was begun this morning at 10:00 AM. This was not on any publicized timetable. We later learned that the Murcowskee campaign was given notice of this process in advance so that they were able to have their Team of Lawyers on hand for that process of challenge this morning. The Miller camp was not advised of it, and did not know about it until Alaska Repub Party Chairman was notified of it sometime today, and then gave a call to the Miller camp this afternoon. And all this all the heels of the Lt Governor yesterday saying he was moving the process up from the usual timetable of 17 November to 10 November.

    You won’t get this from the Daily News, (sorry AD)
    which is basically a McClatchy conveyor for the latest AP Minitrue bulletin, that’s why I can’t link it

    Tom Ross (82637e)

  44. For the TeaBaggers won’t endorse but a homophobic, racist, bible-thumping and poor-hating bigot – one of them, in short.

    Were you sucking on your thumb when you wrote this, Goober, or were you clutching your binky in your widdle hands? Now don’t you worry, Goober – the mean lady with the gun won’t hurt you…because she doesn’t believe in hurting completely defenseless wussies.

    Dmac (ad2c6a)

  45. Well Tammy Bruce, makes Sarah seem like an ACLU liberal, on some things. Colonel West is one of those one would follow to the ends of the earth if need be.

    justin cord (82637e)

  46. That is not a hunting weapon. That is a home defense shotgun in case more liberal pervert writers stalk her home. She has a young daughter…

    JoeS (0d5386)

  47. Goober doesn’t seem to know that Crist and Christie are two different people. Typical for a lefty know-it-all. Hugh Hewitt has a technique for dealing with some callers. He askes them a few obvious questions, like who is the vice-president. Goober would not do well in such a quiz.

    Mike K (d6b02c)

  48. If Christie does support cap and trade and AGW, he’ll never get my vote.

    Thanks for proving my point. Christie is governing closer to true conservatism than anyone else out there, and you’re throwing him under the bus for this one issue.

    The insistence on total “purity of message” will kill this party.

    Some chump (e84e27)

  49. He’s good on cleaning out the Augean stables of Jersey, cap n trade, is a Ponzi scheme, Enron, really pioneered it, Goldman and BP were midwives
    to it, that explains their support for Obama

    justin cord (82637e)

  50. Christie campaigned for Meg Whitman; a sure sign he has higher ambitions.

    Or it’s a sign he wanted a fellow Republican to win in California. I think his “higher ambitions” are a second term as NJ governor, so it’s not hard to believe that he’d want to have some allies in high places like, say, a Republican governor in California, to help him with that campaign.

    “So why is he on the FNC series about potential candidates?” you may ask. Well, would you turn down that kind of attention?

    Tim Russert popularized insistence on the “Shermansesque statement,” where if a person doesn’t make it, it’s concluded he IS running for president. But it’s really tedious to try and parse every syllable to discern who’s going to run in 2012. Those who will run will make their intentions known soon enough.

    Not everyone wants to be president, and sometimes, when people say they aren’t going to run, they actually mean it.

    NJMark (cac685)

  51. “Now don’t you worry, Goober – the mean lady with the gun won’t hurt you…because she doesn’t believe in hurting completely defenseless wussies.”

    – Dmac

    Except for moose, I guess.

    Leviticus (30ac20)

  52. If you had ever seen what damage a Moose can do when it charges, and connects, with that immense rack, you would not claim that it is “defenseless”.

    AD-RtR/OS! (0f5c41)

  53. I’ll cut him some slack, if he says that’s not his primary concern right now, I believe him, with Clinton or Obama, I wouldn’t trust them to tell me what time it is

    justin cord (82637e)

  54. NJMark,
    Or it’s a sign he wanted a fellow Republican to win in California. I think his “higher ambitions” are a second term as NJ governor, so it’s not hard to believe that he’d want to have some allies in high places like, say, a Republican governor in California, to help him with that campaign.

    That seems a bit of a stretch. The way for a governor to get re-elected is to do the best job possible. Trading quid pro quos across the continent only makes sense in a national context. I only hope the plans are for 2016, not 2012.

    If we want a governor to defeat Obama, Daniels looks like a better choice, because he has a more extensive record of success. Christie at this point has a lot to do before he can be called a success. (I certainly hope he succeeds and like how he’s started.)

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (fb9e90)

  55. Can’t he do a good job AND collect favors?

    NJMark (cac685)

  56. Yes we can beat Obama in 2012.

    But we won’t.

    And here’s why.

    We haven’t had the right candidate at the right time for twenty years. Bush Sr. was a great president, but he failed to anticipate and manage people’s disappointment and anger over the economy. Dole was a decent guy worthy of the job, but – if you allow me to quote a French writer – we needed a dancer and we found ourselves with a comptable. McCain should’ve been our candidate in 2000, but Junior prevailed – we know what followed. And when McCain finally got the nomination, he had lost the sparkle which had made his campaign work eight years before, he was just an old man with a past facing a young one with a future. Since things don’t seem on a way to improvement, we can expect another lame duck in 2012 and an easy victory for Obama. The truth is, we have no credible candidate – by which I mean a candidate who can appeal to all geo/demographics – on which all factions can agree. Moderates won’t have anything to do with Palin, and “purists” will never accept Romney or (God forbids) Lindsey Graham.

    Optimus Prime (0692b1)

  57. That’s a silly defeatist notion, unworthy of your handle, the anger over the economy was actually ginned up by the Democrats and the media, in the way they haven’t done when Obama has been president. I voted for Dole, in the end he didn’t have the heart for it, and even Kemp was no longer
    the lion he had once been, McCain’s backers were mostly ‘the national greatness’ crew of BRooks and company and we saw how fickle they would have been. W. wasn’t perfect, but in retrospect we expected him to keep to promises he never made

    justin cord (82637e)

  58. Where did this Optimus Prime fella come from? Mark, too. I have enjoyed both of their comments very much, and I hope they stick around.

    Patterico (7bd4dc)

  59. Romney is not just a problem with “purists”. He does not interest the moderates / independants either. If he was the nominee, you can expect the Democrats to run the full anti-Mormon bigotry that they possess so much of.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  60. Daniels is my current choice, but I don’t think he would win the primary because he has demonstrated insufficient fealty to the social conservatives, who are every bit as “my way or the highway” as the purist classical liberals.

    Patterico (7bd4dc)

  61. Romney is a phony and comes across as such.

    But I would vote for him over Obama in a heartbeat. Because I am not a petulant “my way or the highway” purist.

    Patterico (7bd4dc)

  62. An interesting observation, Patterico. I thought Daniels had been fairly popular with social conservatives. I hope the social cons are not thinking of Huck!

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (fb9e90)

  63. Huckabee might actually be a good candidate, at least on a political level – he at least can’t be accused of being a let-the-poor-die-starving adept of the invisible hand. What ruins his hopes is that his social conservatism and religiosity are turn-offs to moderates and independents.

    Optimus Prime (0692b1)

  64. He famously said we should put social oauses on the back burner. He was right, but purists don’t care.

    Patterico (7bd4dc)

  65. I find Huckabee creepy on a deeply personal level.

    Patterico (7bd4dc)

  66. Optimus,
    The most troublesome religious belief of Huckabee is his embrace of global warming theology.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (fb9e90)

  67. . The truth is, we have no credible candidate – by which I mean a candidate who can appeal to all geo/demographics – on which all factions can agree

    Your comment is very insightful about the GOP’s trend of presidential candidates.

    Daniels is a proven leader, and he’s a great campaigner. A lot of people like him, but don’t see him winning a nomination against someone with Palin’s intense support in a crowded primary.

    If Palin goes to bat for someone like Daniels, all factions can agree.

    I think most of us are eager to see this new crop, from Christie and Rubio on, grow in to Presidential candidates. Our movement does have a much better future than I see the democrats having. They selected Obama because his resume and leadership skill was the best they had (which is to say they had nothing). They didn’t win… the ghost of W lost.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  68. I hope the social cons are not thinking of Huck!

    Most social cons in my personal circle love Huck. It blew my mind when I realized it, because I never see Huck supporters online (These people do not participate in this kind of political activism very much).

    Take my word for it. Huck’s supporters are out there, and interestingly, some do not think a woman should be president.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  69. A rare point of agreement on Romney and Huckabee, he’s our version of Carter down to the sweater. Daniels could have been more deft in his terminology, but I don’t think that it was his
    denouement, by any means.

    justin cord (82637e)

  70. Patterico,
    Romney is a phony and comes across as such.
    I’ve long believed that after watching him trim his sails.

    But I would vote for him over Obama in a heartbeat. Because I am not a petulant “my way or the highway” purist.
    It would take me two heartbeats. I despise phonies, but so’s Obama, and he’s a far greater threat to the country.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (fb9e90)

  71. I’d vote for Satan over Obama, Satan has a much better taxation and economic growth policy. Satan knows what it takes to get the US economy going and his foreign policy is more sane.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  72. Come on, does anyone really doubt that KSM would sing if he knew Satan was authorizing waterboarding?

    SPQR (26be8b)

  73. Dustin,
    Take my word for it. Huck’s supporters are out there, and interestingly, some do not think a woman should be president.

    I take your word for it. How do your Huck-supporting friends like his support of CAGW legislation?

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (fb9e90)

  74. Daniels will never win the primary, the Hotair folks will see to that, and the socons will never let it happen. Miight as well sacrifice Palin, and get it over with, and out of our systems forever.

    JD (c8c1d2)

  75. Fackabee could make me stay home, for a long time. I wish he would just take his 5 chins and go away. Happyfeet cares for him even less than he does Palin.

    JD (c8c1d2)

  76. “Most social cons in my personal circle love Huck.”

    Dustin – Are the social cons in your circle soft on crime?

    daleyrocks (940075)

  77. You need new social con friends, Dustin.

    JD (c8c1d2)

  78. JD,
    Is Hot Air really against Daniels? I am ignorant on this issue, but an article I just Googled seemed not to be anti-Daniels.

    Of course, that article was in June, and things may have changed since then.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (fb9e90)

  79. There is something about Huckabee that bothers me … well, besides the fact that he’s on the wrong side of every policy issue that matters to me …

    SPQR (26be8b)

  80. NrotherBradley – not overtly, but they are clearlyRomneyand Pawlenty folks. Plus, they engaged in all sorts of asshattery after Daniels “truce” and value added tax made up controversies. They are not his friend.

    JD (c8c1d2)

  81. Huckabee is presidential like Dairy Queen is cuisine.

    happyfeet (42fd61)

  82. JD,
    That is sad. But I could hold my nose and vote for Romney over Obama. I don’t know much about Pawlenty. Daniels is my favorite based on his results in Indiana, and he seems unusually well-educated in issues that matter for a politician. As a former Eli Lily executive, he has some understanding of health issues.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (fb9e90)

  83. What we have left is finding an outsider, someone not identified with any party and thus palatable to a wide range of voters. We don’t even need him/her to have a background in politics or to be a registered republican; what s/he must have is natural authority and a consensual persona. It worked well with Ike, it might work again in 2012. Now what we must do is finding someone in civil society not afraid to stand and run for us and no, it won’t be a bed of roses.

    Optimus Prime (0692b1)

  84. Governor Daniels is a personal friend and a terrific Governor, and I’m very disappointed that he would…

    that quote’s all you need to know about Huckabee – his sense of honor is as useless and flabby as the gobs and gobs of excess skin he carries on his ankles and ass

    happyfeet (42fd61)

  85. Brother Bradley – watch what direction he heads with a huge new House majority, and a supermajority in the Senate.

    JD (c8c1d2)

  86. Here’s a telling contrast on views of the Tea Party.

    First, the New York Times version, that predictably casts Tea Partiers as religiously influenced. Of course, religious = bad in NYTese, except when they’re lefty religious types combating global warming and such.

    And yet the social cons sense a dreaded “Libertarian streak” in the Tea Party movement, which has “irreligious” politics.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (fb9e90)

  87. The religious meme is a Democrat attack spin faithfully repeated by the NYT without any actual substance.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  88. Brother Bradley- there is a concerted effort by the MFM and the Left to brand the teapartiers as part of thereligious socons.

    JD (c8c1d2)

  89. Are the social cons in your circle soft on crime?

    Comment by daleyrocks —

    Nope. The same folks who think we should execute repeat child molesters (a recent Texan political issue) seem to really like Huck.

    I do ramble on about politics in person as much as I do online, but I don’t press this obvious contradiction. I’ve mentioned it, but sometimes you just have to leave this stuff.

    Bradley mentions corruption (CAGW). Huck’s behavior during and when he left office (gift registry) was ridiculous, and I think it’s amazing he’s taken seriously.

    I was hoping Palin would absorb his supporters, because she’s around eleven billion times more tolerable. She probably has gotten many of them, but some of these folks just don’t think a woman should be the commander in chief. Even when I was pushing Condi on them in the ancient days of 2006.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  90. JD,
    I think that is partly right, but by no means the whole truth. There is a strong social con/religious influence, but it’s by no means the only strong influence. There are enough heathens like me to make the professionals social con politicos nervous.

    I went to a religion-influenced Tea Party reception election night, kindly sponsored by Mason Weaver. However, I went to one earlier this year in Oceanside, which had a strong Libertarian and Randian contingent. And that event had far more people.

    The social con election-night Tea Party event I attended didn’t attract more than 110 people, and it ended early. Most Tea Partiers appeared to be attending another Tea Party reception at election central, just two blocks away.

    Of course, the MSM will focus on those exotic (to them) religious types, because said types confirm their biases.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (fb9e90)

  91. She probably has gotten many of them, but some of these folks just don’t think a woman should be the commander in chief.

    Okay, someone needs to provide link(s) for the claims that his supporters don’t believe a woman should be CiC because otherwise these claims simply resemble the typically uninformed stereotyping of conservative Christians – in which there is no place within the theology that states that a woman cannot be an elected official.

    Pre-emptive strike: The United States is not a church and therefore St. Paul’s admonishment to women exercising authority over men does not apply here.

    And if there are “some” that believe this, so what? There are “some” conservative TPers who believe a black man shouldn’t be president. Do we give them credence or value? Of course not.

    I am not a Huckabee fan, but I am even less a fan of uninformed stereotyping.

    Dana (8ba2fb)

  92. Bro Bradley – I have no doubt there is overlap. I was just referring to the MFM and Dems desperate desire to characterize the tea partiers are something they are not. People like that lying f@cker Yelverton and wheelers/Nishinomiya etc … Have been pushing this meme since it began. It will only continue.

    JD (c8c1d2)

  93. Dana – I thought he was referring to a specific group of people, the F@ckabee supporters that he knows.

    JD (c8c1d2)

  94. Huckabee’s a non starter for reasons too numerous to mention. Lots of righties who love Palin’s energy, star power, fundraising prowess and ability to drive libs crazy–and believe she’s gotten a total raw deal from the media– deep down know she is not electable to the Presidency. I believe Palin herself knows this, too, but she will continue to be a popular conservative celebrity and play an important role and foil in politics for a long time to come. That’s good for everybody.

    Romney, meh, but I’d vote for him over a second term for the One. Do not underestimate Mitch Daniels or Haley Barbour as frontrunners. (But Barbour needs to go in a diet stat. for his own health and well being.) Team R fiscal cons get votes from indies and libertarians. Social cons not so much. Many tea partiers do not consider themselves social cons, either. R’s must keep laser focus on the fiscal side of things.

    I always thought maybe Jon Huntsman would come back from his current gig as ambassador to China to run in 2012 if Obama looked at all vulnerable–which clearly he now does. Huntsman has an amazing back story. (Reagan staffer, former Gov. of Utah, philanthropist.) IMO he’d be formidable against Obama and a very appealing candidate for a wide range of voters including many who voted for O’s “intellect” in 2008.

    Christie and Rubio look good for down the road after they’ve acquired some additional exprience and seasoning.

    elissa (8e5713)

  95. ______________________________________________

    Meanwhile, here’s another “quote of the day,” from a politician based not too far from Christie, regarding the nature of another politician:

    Politico.com, November 5:

    New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was taken aback by President Obama’s arrogance, Rupert Murdoch said in an interview with an Australian outlet.

    Bloomberg described his conversation with Obama as “verbal ping-pong,” Murdoch told the Australian Financial Review, and said he had a “pleasant” day golfing on Martha’s Vineyard with the president.

    “He came back and said, ‘I never met in my life such an arrogant man’.” Murdoch said.


    ______________________________________________

    Mark (411533)

  96. Buckle up.

    A Rasmussen Reports poll showed Palin with an 82 percent favorability rating, compared to 17 percent who view her unfavorably. Fifty percent of likely voters in the 2012 primary elections for the presidential nomination had a very favorable opinion of the former governor, while eight percent claimed they have a very unfavorable opinion of her.

    Former Govs. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) and Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.) trailed Palin with a favorability of 79 percent a piece. Seventeen percent hold unfavorable opinions of the two. Both potential candidates for the 2012 presidency ran in 2008, only to fall short to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was then defeated by President Obama. 11/06/10

    Dana (8ba2fb)

  97. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was taken aback by President Obama’s arrogance . . .
    More arrogant even than nanny-state mayor Bloomberg!

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (fb9e90)

  98. I refuse to make generalizations about the Tea Partiers because I believe the purists who have tried to appoint themselves Tea Party leaders do not, in fact, represent the entire movement.

    I don’t put Palin in that group because I don’t see her as a mindless purist. I see her O’Donnell endorsement as a mistake, but it doesn’t call her judgment into question. Everyone makes mistakes and her track record is pretty good.

    By and large I think she has handled matters in a fairly shrewd manner. I’d like to think this shrewdness will carry over into a decision not to run in 2012.

    Patterico (7bd4dc)

  99. Obama probably pulled out a cigarette in front of Nurse Bloomberg.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  100. I may be wrong, but I do not think a “favorability” rating for any person necessarily translates to “I want them to be President of the US.” Would like to see the actual questions and crosstabs on than Rass poll.

    elissa (8e5713)

  101. What time does today’s dick measuring contest start?

    daleyrocks (940075)

  102. Except for moose, I guess.

    Moose are anything but defenseless – but if you had spent any time at all in the wilderness (Disneyland doesn’t count), you’d have known that. Ah well…

    Dmac (ad2c6a)

  103. _________________________________________

    Obama probably pulled out a cigarette in front of Nurse Bloomberg.

    Heh! Since Bloomberg does share most of the ideological biases of Obama (ie, they’re both limousine liberals) — and since I imagine Bloomberg himself, a bigwig billionaire, isn’t exactly the picture of modesty and humbleness, and likely is accustomed to hanging out with lots of wheeler-dealer types of similar inflated-ego nature — that when he deems a person is “arrogant,” that person must be pretty damn arrogant.

    Mark (411533)

  104. Pawlenty’s OK, and so is Daniels – but woe unto us if Huckster gets the nod. I still remember his bizzare campaign ad where there were lighted crosses all over the place in the background. Made my skin crawl, it did.

    Dmac (ad2c6a)

  105. Dana,

    I’m a conservative Christian, and I don’t have any problem with a woman president. I suspect the vast majority of conservative Christians have no objection to it.

    I’m referring to a limited number of people. And while I can’t hyperlink an example of a conversation I have had on this, I can show that a lot of thought has gone into discussing this particular debate.

    I’ve heard people say Palin named her kids after witches and similar nonsense to what I’ve heard about Romney’s beliefs. You can find several articles expressing the ‘certain shame‘ of electing a woman like Palin to be president despite her opponent supporting abortion.

    I’m afraid this (I Timothy 2:11-14) argument has been expressed a few times. I think a lot of Huckabee’s supporters actually do not see things this way, but I know a few who do.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  106. the purists who have tried to appoint themselves Tea Party leaders do not, in fact, represent the entire movement.

    This is absolutely the truth.

    It’s been a constant barrage against Palin (Mccain supporter) or Beck (He’s not as angry as Levin) as not the ‘real Tea Party’. It’s as though the purists want the Tea Party to be as small as possible.

    The truth is, we have a lot of Obama voters in the Tea Party. We’ve got people whose only interest in the Tea Party is cutting government spending to a manageable level.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  107. There are “some” conservative TPers who believe a black man shouldn’t be president. Do we give them credence or value? Of course not.

    I didn’t mean to suggest the social cons who don’t want a Mormon or a woman or whatever speak for social cons generally or deserve any credence.

    I’m simply explaining that Palin cannot attract all social cons, which I think explains Huck’s continued perception of viability.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  108. I feel shame that some people believe that rotgut, in the coreligionist community. I can’t hold Romney’s faith against him, and I disdain those who do

    justin cord (82637e)

  109. ________________________________________

    I’m a conservative Christian, and I don’t have any problem with a woman president.

    That’s another illustration of the socio-political spectrum shifting over the past several decades–in a good way. It wasn’t that long ago when the idea of a woman running for the presidency was seen as a novelty and only semi-serious (eg, even Geraldine Ferraro being selected for merely the slot of VP). Today? No BFD. But it is an idea that once caused murmuring of discomfort among traditionalists or “male chauvinist pigs,” certainly before the era of Margaret Thatcher.

    That’s why the possibility there still are enough voters in America who’d resist Mitt Romney because he’s a Mormon, and therefore make a difference in his viability, strikes me as ridiculous and outright pathetic—meaning both their anti-Mormon bias and its effect on an election.

    Mark (411533)

  110. there was a concerted effort by the MFM and the Left to brand the teapartiers as part of thereligious socons.

    FTFY – try as they might, their efforts at sliming the Tea Party failed miserably. The reason why O’D and Angle lost is because they were poor candidates, and had next to nothing to do with their Tea Party affiliation. For example, Melissa Bean will probably lose her house seat here to a guy who had no money at all during the entire campaign, yet was given a shot thanks to the local Tea Party in his area. He ran a decent campaign and came off reasonably well, which is just about all it took to knock her off this year.

    Dmac (ad2c6a)

  111. Comment by Optimus Prime — 11/6/2010 @ 11:43 am

    I think we’re a little short of conquering military heroes at this time.

    AD-RtR/OS! (0f5c41)

  112. Comment by Dana — 11/6/2010 @ 12:10 pm

    A woman will be CinC when Jimmy Choo makes combat boots (sarc).

    AD-RtR/OS! (0f5c41)

  113. I see her O’Donnell endorsement as a mistake, but it doesn’t call her judgment into question. Everyone makes mistakes and her track record is pretty good. Everyone makes mistakes and her track record is pretty good.

    I don’t quite understand how this does not call her judgment into question? Is there a threshold that must be met before we do that? The mistake was made because of her lack of judgement – unless the vetting was so minimal that O’Donnell’s lack of credibility and integrity were not exposed until after it was too late for Palin to back off her endorsement – meaning it would have been far more damaging to the TP and if so, that speaks to an entirely different problem.

    Dana (8ba2fb)

  114. A woman will be CinC when Jimmy Choo makes combat boots (sarc).

    Hm, AD, I’m pretty sure a woman could win a war in these.

    Dana (8ba2fb)

  115. Seeing the tenor of the times, maybe the Delaware GOP erred in not vetting Castle’s obvious flaws in the primary, then again who else were they going to send out as their sacrificial lamb to face Coons,Chatsworthy, Ting, Protrack, Copeland, they had all had their shot, in good and bad times.

    You had an office abusing leftist technocrat ignorant of the 1st Amendment, or the importance of the mission in Afghanistan, ready to sell this
    country out to the money changers at the CCX, and we spent weeks worrying about O’Donnell’s Zoom info profile, judging the dictates of her faith,
    painting her with all the colorful metaphors reserved usually by our mad pikachu. Frankly giving him a free pass, that’s much closer to the classic definition of ‘teabagging’ pardon my language

    justin cord (82637e)

  116. justin cord – Good thing about the CCX, it stopped trading this weekend, but unfortunately some of the original charlatans made a pile of dough when it was sold earlier.

    daleyrocks (940075)

  117. Comment by Dana — 11/6/2010 @ 7:47 pm

    Didn’t Robert Redford refer to those (in “Electric Horseman“) as “Bloomingbird Boots”?

    AD-RtR/OS! (0f5c41)

  118. O’Donnell:
    Remember, she was the Party’s nominee against Joe Biden in his last run for the Senate.
    To those in the DE GOP, she was a known quantity, or should have been.

    AD-RtR/OS! (0f5c41)

  119. Of course House rules, specially when it’s Franklin Raines and Goldman, and the folks at Shorebank running the scam, it all resembled one of the less palatable Danny Ocean production, Oceans 12, I think

    justin cord (82637e)

  120. Dana – I’m pretty sure Hillary Clinton dodged sniper fire wearing something like those suckers.

    daleyrocks (940075)

  121. “To those in the DE GOP, she was a known quantity, or should have been.”

    AD-RtR/OS! – Do you think that might have anything to do with why they weren’t supporting in the primary this go around?

    daleyrocks (940075)

  122. daley, I have no idea.
    My only exposure to DE is the occassional DuPont product I buy.

    AD-RtR/OS! (0f5c41)

  123. They had netted about a 1,000 new voters in the last six years, out of a total 71,000, the enthusiasm for this party, had to be suppressed
    considerably, to get to that point.

    justin cord (82637e)

  124. AD-RtR/OS! – I meant supporting her and it was supposed to be a rhetorical question. My bad.

    daleyrocks (940075)

  125. “Most social cons in my personal circle love Huck.”

    Dustin – Are the social cons in your circle soft on crime?

    Comment by daleyrocks — 11/6/2010 @ 11:33 am

    To the SoCons I have met, nothing matters except homosexuality. They are obsessed with it to the point nothing else matters.

    the friendly grizzly (2f59a6)

  126. I think we’re a little short of conquering military heroes at this time.

    Comment by AD-RtR/OS!
    True. But Ike didn’t win just because he was a military hero; he won because he was a bipartisan figure who couldn’t be pigeonholed either way, much like Colin Powell was before 2000 (he should NEVER have accepted that job with the Bush administration) That’s the kind of rare bird we have to find, as risky as it may be (Eisenhower in many respects was not an orthodox Republican, I cherish him for that but others may not) Being a member of a minority group wouldn’t hurt either. The first African-American governor was a Republican and the first African-American president should have been one, too. It’s a shame we missed that train and let the former legal arm of the KKK making history in our place. Also, if the GOP is to survive in the changing American landscape of the 21st century, it must convince minorities that they’re welcome and that ours is their natural home (which is historically true) It doesn’t mean we have to surrender our principles, but we must persuade minorities that they’re good for them, too. For instance, praising people from Latino descent who legally found their way to the American Dream should go hand in hand with pointing that illegals are actually hurting their cause and reputation.

    Optimus Prime (0692b1)

  127. Bush should never have tendered the position. Powell was a thorn in the administration’s strategy, often indirectly through the use of Richard Armitage, who was an ‘unindicted partner’ to the Plame brouhaha. His tie was too obvious to Prince Bandar, which was a serious conflict of interest, it has nothing to do with his race, it was his politics that drove him astray.

    justin cord (82637e)


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