b,121secondly did you guys catch Larry king last night
b,121
b,121Michelle Laxalt, a lifelong Republican consultant. Her father is, of course, the former senator, Paul Laxalt.
b,121
b,121MICHELLE LAXALT, GOP CONSULTANT: I have increasing doubts, Larry, about the ticket. And my doubts center around what I see the McCain management team doing with Governor Palin. I see a team who brought a young governor onto a national scene, tossed her into the deep end five weeks before November. I see them managing her. I hear from inside the McCain campaign that she is essentially being treated like a secretary or a staffer, not a genuine vice presidential running mate. And I think it is absolutely confirmed that when they send her out, this good 'ole boy team -- some of whom, parenthetically, Governor Reagan and my father, Senator Laxalt, fired from the Reagan campaign for these kinds of dirty tricks.
b,121
b,121They have sent this young, naive, very confident, perhaps, in Alaska, young woman out with the most incendiary talking points, the most dangerous...
b,121
b,121KING: All right...
b,121
b,121LAXALT: ...racist talking points. And I think they should be ashamed of themselves.
b,121
b,121
b,121LAXALT: Look, I think -- I can't believe the tone of this conversation. Here we are, three conservative, loyal Republican women. And we are talking about a female who could be the vice president of the United States of America.
b,121
b,121In my estimation, she is being used unfairly as a tool by a team who, by the way, do not even support, nor does their candidate, equal pay for women for equal work. So if she is going to be the traditional vice presidential attack dog -- which I concur with Bay, that's very much a traditional role -- why didn't her male running mate, i.e. the candidate himself, man up and speak to those issues, calling his opponent essentially unpatriotic, calling him a terrorist?
b,121
b,121I'm sorry. This is not the Republican Party that Bill Buckley, that Paul Laxalt, that Ronald Reagan raised me on. And I don't believe the American people like this kind of dirty politics. If they can't win fair and square, they shouldn't trash the other guy.
I can't say I am surprised by the reaction of the true believers from the Republican side of this. b,121b,121I have endured the "by all means necessary" inanity of my in-laws for the past year. They were crowing about the Palin selection and how it was game over.b,121b,121Now the reality of a black man, a liberal, as President is settling in. I expect to hear the most vile racist crap come out of their mouths because they cannot believe in their tiny little minds, tiny little world, that such a thing is possible.b,121b,121I am going to need a crap-load of grace to make it to November without popping a head gasket when I am around them.b,121b,121I believe that its going to get really ugly and something terrible is going to happen. The pump is primed.b,121b,121Stay safe. Vote. Endure.b,121b,121Obama '08.
font class="post"1b,121b,121This shit was entertaining on a few levels. b,121b,121I'm really trying to wrap my head around the viability of Palin in 2012 as a presidential candidate and while my first reaction was, "that's absurd" I was also thinking, "yeah, but who else do they have?" Suddenly, it's not so crazy!
b,121I'm really trying to wrap my head around the viability of Palin in 2012 as a presidential candidate and while my first reaction was, "that's absurd" I was also thinking, "yeah, but who else do they have?" Suddenly, it's not so crazy!
b,121
b,121
h,121
font class="post"1b,121b,121Four years is a long time.....how many folks even heard of Palin 4 years ago.b,121b,121I bet they'll find a conservative gay minority space alien woman to run just to cover all the bases.
b,121I'm really trying to wrap my head around the viability of Palin in 2012 as a presidential candidate and while my first reaction was, "that's absurd" I was also thinking, "yeah, but who else do they have?" Suddenly, it's not so crazy!
b,121
b,121
h,121
font class="post"1
b,121
b,121Four years is a long time.....how many folks even heard of Palin 4 years ago.
b,121
b,121I bet they'll find a conservative gay minority space alien woman to run just to cover all the bases.
b,121
b,121
h,121
font class="post"1b,121b,121Sounds like a Ron Paul running mate!b,121b,121Seriously though, with Palin...a lot is going to depend on her image coming out of this race. In four years, she's still going to have limited experience, she may not improve her ability to take questions well, and she may be seen as the reason McCain lost (though, I agree - it's the economy, not Palin, whose created problems). b,121b,121More importantly, in four years, I'm not sure the GOP will look the same as it has. The rift between fiscal conservatives and social conservatives has only worsened with time; it won't take a lot to permanently shatter that and require some kind of reconstitution of the Republican party. Personally, I think the social cons are going to get shaken out at some point and what you'll be left with is classic, small gov't, libertarian, fiscal conservatives running the party with the far right more marginalized than ever. b,121b,121Or not.
b,121More importantly, in four years, I'm not sure the GOP will look the same as it has. The rift between fiscal conservatives and social conservatives has only worsened with time; it won't take a lot to permanently shatter that and require some kind of reconstitution of the Republican party. Personally, I think the social cons are going to get shaken out at some point and what you'll be left with is classic, small gov't, libertarian, fiscal conservatives running the party with the far right more marginalized than ever.
b,121
b,121Or not.
b,121
b,121
h,121
font class="post"1b,121b,121I think the opposite. I think that the social conservatives will take hold of the gop. I think small gov't (Clinton shrunk the government, Regan and Bush increased it) Libertarian and fiscal conservatives (Clinton balanced the budget) will find a home in the democrat party or libertarian party.
b,121I'm really trying to wrap my head around the viability of Palin in 2012 as a presidential candidate and while my first reaction was, "that's absurd" I was also thinking, "yeah, but who else do they have?" Suddenly, it's not so crazy!
b,121
b,121
h,121
font class="post"1
b,121
b,121Four years is a long time.....how many folks even heard of Palin 4 years ago.
b,121
b,121I bet they'll find a conservative gay minority space alien woman to run just to cover all the bases.
b,121
b,121
h,121
font class="post"1
b,121
b,121Sounds like a Ron Paul running mate!
b,121
b,121Seriously though, with Palin...a lot is going to depend on her image coming out of this race. In four years, she's still going to have limited experience, she may not improve her ability to take questions well, and she may be seen as the reason McCain lost (though, I agree - it's the economy, not Palin, whose created problems).
b,121
b,121More importantly, in four years, I'm not sure the GOP will look the same as it has. The rift between fiscal conservatives and social conservatives has only worsened with time; it won't take a lot to permanently shatter that and require some kind of reconstitution of the Republican party. Personally, I think the social cons are going to get shaken out at some point and what you'll be left with is classic, small gov't, libertarian, fiscal conservatives running the party with the far right more marginalized than ever.
b,121
b,121Or not.
b,121
b,121
h,121
font class="post"1b,121b,121Bona fide conservatives should be hoping for an Obama victory--this election is a referendum on the influence of the religious nutjobs over their party. A decisive McCain loss would send a clear message that the party needs to retool and to push the religious fanatics back to the margins.
b,121secondly did you guys catch Larry king last night
b,121
b,121Michelle Laxalt, a lifelong Republican consultant. Her father is, of course, the former senator, Paul Laxalt.
b,121
b,121MICHELLE LAXALT, GOP CONSULTANT: I have increasing doubts, Larry, about the ticket. And my doubts center around what I see the McCain management team doing with Governor Palin. I see a team who brought a young governor onto a national scene, tossed her into the deep end five weeks before November. I see them managing her. I hear from inside the McCain campaign that she is essentially being treated like a secretary or a staffer, not a genuine vice presidential running mate. And I think it is absolutely confirmed that when they send her out, this good 'ole boy team -- some of whom, parenthetically, Governor Reagan and my father, Senator Laxalt, fired from the Reagan campaign for these kinds of dirty tricks.
b,121
b,121They have sent this young, naive, very confident, perhaps, in Alaska, young woman out with the most incendiary talking points, the most dangerous...
b,121
b,121KING: All right...
b,121
b,121LAXALT: ...racist talking points. And I think they should be ashamed of themselves.
b,121
b,121
b,121LAXALT: Look, I think -- I can't believe the tone of this conversation. Here we are, three conservative, loyal Republican women. And we are talking about a female who could be the vice president of the United States of America.
b,121
b,121In my estimation, she is being used unfairly as a tool by a team who, by the way, do not even support, nor does their candidate, equal pay for women for equal work. So if she is going to be the traditional vice presidential attack dog -- which I concur with Bay, that's very much a traditional role -- why didn't her male running mate, i.e. the candidate himself, man up and speak to those issues, calling his opponent essentially unpatriotic, calling him a terrorist?
b,121
b,121I'm sorry. This is not the Republican Party that Bill Buckley, that Paul Laxalt, that Ronald Reagan raised me on. And I don't believe the American people like this kind of dirty politics. If they can't win fair and square, they shouldn't trash the other guy.
I'm glad to see people do their own ads! Tho, the girl did the worst spitting out their drink That's I've ever seen!!b,121b,121b,121object width="425" height="344"1param name="movie" value=""1/param1param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"1/param1embed src="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"1/embed1/object1
b,121I'm really trying to wrap my head around the viability of Palin in 2012 as a presidential candidate and while my first reaction was, "that's absurd" I was also thinking, "yeah, but who else do they have?" Suddenly, it's not so crazy!
b,121
b,121
h,121
font class="post"1
b,121
b,121Four years is a long time.....how many folks even heard of Palin 4 years ago.
b,121
b,121I bet they'll find a conservative gay minority space alien woman to run just to cover all the bases.
b,121
b,121
h,121
font class="post"1b,121b,121Palin-Jindal. Seriously. That's what they're looking for in 2012.
b,121I'm really trying to wrap my head around the viability of Palin in 2012 as a presidential candidate and while my first reaction was, "that's absurd" I was also thinking, "yeah, but who else do they have?" Suddenly, it's not so crazy!
b,121
b,121
h,121
font class="post"1
b,121
b,121Four years is a long time.....how many folks even heard of Palin 4 years ago.
b,121
b,121I bet they'll find a conservative gay minority space alien woman to run just to cover all the bases.
b,121
b,121
h,121
font class="post"1
b,121
b,121Palin-Jindal. Seriously. That's what they're looking for in 2012.
b,121
b,121
h,121
font class="post"1b,121b,121Considering that Jindal is under an investigation that makes Troopergate look mild, that ticket is not too smart.
b,121I'm really trying to wrap my head around the viability of Palin in 2012 as a presidential candidate and while my first reaction was, "that's absurd" I was also thinking, "yeah, but who else do they have?" Suddenly, it's not so crazy!
b,121
b,121
h,121
font class="post"1
b,121
b,121Four years is a long time.....how many folks even heard of Palin 4 years ago.
b,121
b,121I bet they'll find a conservative gay minority space alien woman to run just to cover all the bases.
b,121
b,121
h,121
font class="post"1
b,121
b,121Palin-Jindal. Seriously. That's what they're looking for in 2012.
b,121
b,121
h,121
font class="post"1b,121b,121I've "heard" this but not from anyone credible. They're both terribly unproven and right now...not necessarily popularity magnets. b,121b,121THE GOP NEEDS ARNOLD. b,121b,121Expect to see Article II, Section 1. amended!
object width="425" height="344"1param name="movie" value=""1/param1param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"1/param1embed src="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"1/embed1/object1b,121b,121My nephew did this video. b,121b,121I was going to post this if McCain had picked him for vp. b,121b,121Minnesota heads, is this fair?
Palin will be long forgotten in 2012. Being the vp on a losing ticket is not a step toward the presidency. b,121b,121Edwardsb,121Libermanb,121Who ever ran with Dole.b,121Qualeb,121Ferrarob,121Mondaleb,121Rockefeller
b,121I was going to post this if McCain had picked him for vp.
b,121
b,121Minnesota heads, is this fair?
b,121
b,121
h,121
font class="post"1b,121b,121If, somehow, T-Paw were to be politically relevant enough in four years to have his name tossed around, I might suggest that your nephew remove the Moussaoui bit, and then cut out about 75% of the bridge stuff. There is plenty to take Pawlenty to task over concerning policy, anyways. b,121b,121Also, T-Paw is a smarmy, griping little man. He wouldn't have done well under the national media spotlight. b,121b,121I was on strike for a bit about a year ago. T-Paw came to speak at a building on our campus, and when it came time to cross the picket line, he tried some glad-handing, you know, his "blue-collar roots" and all. A friend of mine refused his hand, and said "no son of South Saint Paul would cross a picket line", and the Gov shriveled in front of us, turned even more pale and looked mopey instantly. Two good zingers from Biden in a debate, and he probably would have been crying on national television.
Wow, that's cold. I like it.b,121b,121My main gripe with Pawlenty is the adamant not raising of taxes. It's like his raison d'etre. At this point, it's almost comical how far he'll go to not raise taxes.
the notion that the 'real' republicans of more progressive social beliefs will take control of the party is a fantasy.b,121b,121the driving force behind the republican revolution over the last 40 yrs was not bill buckley and the NR, it was grassroots political organizing that sprang out of PTA organizations, church meetings, etc. if republicans revert to 50s era republicanism (pre-southern strategy) you don't really have any winners there. ive been reading 'nixonland' - incredible book btw - and it observes how much of nixon and then reagan's success was a result of learning to exploit the 'law and order' (racist) vote in the wake of the riots which undermined the war on poverty - something that politicians on the left and the right had not previously thought to exploit. which explains how landslide for progressive democratic candidates in '64 turned into a landslide the other way only 4 years later. (something to remember w/ the poisonous GOP brand right now ... many of the ppl voting dem in this election won't take much to swing back the other way, and we need to continue building and fighting in districts that are historically moderate)b,121b,121 after katrina (the left's 9/11?) and the fact that the economy is f*cking everyone far more than scary black criminals could ever do in the public's imagination ... the disappearance of the bradley effect ... this country is still racist obv but differently sob,121b,121(this relates btw to the most important thing i think we should be doing right now, which is talking about how bullshit the minority-scapegoating anti-CRA/ACORN talking points really are)b,121b,121the demographics are also f*cking the GOP - they've let dems take the youth vote and the anti-immigrant vote has managed to alienate the largest growing american demographic group. never mind the (too slowly) increasing acceptance of homosexuality (hey california residents if u folks dont do the right thing on the 4th, wtf)b,121b,121i dunno. the GOP is kinda fucked at the moment but I dont really see a 'reasonable GOP' emerging from this. b,121b,121ive been wondering about the cognitive dissonance between the so called 'intellectual conservative' who half assedly pretends to give a shit about 'traditional values' ... how long can they keep it up, how long can david frum pretend he totally agrees with michelle malkin?
b,121My main gripe with Pawlenty is the adamant not raising of taxes. It's like his raison d'etre. At this point, it's almost comical how far he'll go to not raise taxes.
b,121
b,121
h,121
font class="post"1b,121b,121Well, why raise taxes when you can just levy "service fees", "usage fees", and "health impact fees?"
that is true. just dont think you'll start liking the new brand any more than you liked the old oneb,121b,121the problem is so many ppl see the 'failures' as failures of ideology ... the philosophical basis of conservatism still has plenty of appeal to a huge portion of our population, the whole 'work hard and be rewarded' vs. freeloaders expecting the govt to solve their problems thing is pretty deeply ingrained - a lot of sensible obama supporters may hate palin's christinist lifestyle, but they probably are also opponents of govt-mandated health care etc.b,121b,121dems need to make the case for responsible big govt; what helped poison the GOP the past eight years wasnt that it succeeded as conservatives but that it continued irresponsible governanceb,121b,121in other words, progressives havent actually been 'successful' yet no matter what the polls say - this is a failure of the GOP. progressives need to make a case for their ideologies being the right ones, which i dont think has happened yet. ppl like obama but they dont like everything he stands for
b,121The always astute Terry_Clubbup suggested that Palin is a fertility goddess for undereducated white people, a group that can feel its influence declining, and that this is why she has so excited them.
b,121that is true. just dont think you'll start liking the new brand any more than you liked the old one
b,121
b,121the problem is so many ppl see the 'failures' as failures of ideology ... the philosophical basis of conservatism still has plenty of appeal to a huge portion of our population, the whole 'work hard and be rewarded' vs. freeloaders expecting the govt to solve their problems thing is pretty deeply ingrained - a lot of sensible obama supporters may hate palin's christinist lifestyle, but they probably are also opponents of govt-mandated health care etc.
b,121
b,121dems need to make the case for responsible big govt; what helped poison the GOP the past eight years wasnt that it succeeded as conservatives but that it continued irresponsible governance
b,121
b,121in other words, progressives havent actually been 'successful' yet no matter what the polls say - this is a failure of the GOP. progressives need to make a case for their ideologies being the right ones, which i dont think has happened yet. ppl like obama but they dont like everything he stands for
b,121
b,121
h,121
font class="post"1b,121b,121Yep.b,121b,121A socially conservative president, who was competent, might be popular today. A fiscally conservative president might be popular today. A neo-conservative president might be popular, if he only talked about neo-conservative ideas, but didn't put them into practice. b,121b,121But Bush is not competent. He is not fiscally conservative. Neo-conservative ideas don't/didn't work in practice. b,121b,121If the republicans had a candidate that might be doing better. Of the slate they offered this year, I think only Huckabee would be doing better than McCain now. People seem to think that Romney would be good because he has a business background. But he is the very image of the wall street fat cat that is so hated at the moment. b,121b,121Any way you slice it the majority is the dems to lose in the near term.
b,121ive been reading 'nixonland' - incredible book btw - and it observes how much of nixon and then reagan's success was a result of learning to exploit the 'law and order' (racist) vote in the wake of the riots which undermined the war on poverty - something that politicians on the left and the right had not previously thought to exploit.
b,121
b,121
h,121
font class="post"1b,121b,121I think the increasing priority given over to crime by voters during the 60's and the subsequent appeal to that sentiment from republicans had more to do with thisb,121b,121img src="http://www.coyoteblog.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/28/crime.gif"1 b,121b,121btw, I know that people like you enjoy reading their own ideas back to themselves, but if you want to expand your knowledge of that era I suggest you look toward a real historian rather than a hack like perlstein.
b,121ive been reading 'nixonland' - incredible book btw - and it observes how much of nixon and then reagan's success was a result of learning to exploit the 'law and order' (racist) vote in the wake of the riots which undermined the war on poverty - something that politicians on the left and the right had not previously thought to exploit.
b,121
b,121
h,121
font class="post"1
b,121
b,121I think the increasing priority given over to crime by voters during the 60's and the subsequent appeal to that sentiment from republicans had more to do with this
b,121btw, I know that people like you enjoy reading their own ideas back to themselves, but if you want to expand your knowledge of that era I suggest you look toward a real historian rather than a hack like perlstein.
b,121
b,121
h,121
font class="post"1b,121b,121Listen closely to Dolo. That's the sound of a whole, diseased movement going right down the shitter.
Allow me to say something unpopular. Obama's connections to William Ayers is not racist, it's not "swift boating" whatever that means, and it is relevant to the election and the wider politics of our nation. I do not think Obama's associations with this unrepentant terrorist and far left nutjob means that Obama shares his politics. But if McCain had served on two charity boards with an abortion clinic bomber or relied on such whackados to launch his political career, we would not be hearing the end of it. Put another way, liberals are fine with the politics of association when the association is John Hagee or the biblical literalists. b,121b,121And another thing. Not another word Democrats. Not another word. When the Iraq war became unpopular, Democrats invented a story about intelligence manipulation and forwarded a smear of mid level political appointees, bringing up their fanciful connections at times to the Likud party in Israel and implying they were foreign agents--with no proof. And then you turn around and squeal about negative campaigning. The liberal side plays a politics of fear as well. Whether it's scaring seniors that Republicans will take away their medicare or whether it's scaring people that Republicans intended to implement a draft, a key smear and lie employed by John Kerry in 2004. It's politics. I suppose we can wish the game was played more honorably, but it never has been played honorably. The first contested election between Adams and Jefferson was as dirty a campaign as you will find. b,121b,121All of this said, I don't think Obama is in league with the far left. Chances are he will win and when he does he will destroy, not vindicate, the American left. He has certainly campaigned as a war hawk on foreign policy and his call for more regulation of wall street, I doubt is code for a federal initiative to redistribute wealth. I am uneasy with his connections to ACORN and do not understand why he would attend Reverend Wright's church for as long as he did. But a man who shared Wright's conspiracy world view of our country could not deliver the father's day speech which Obama delivered this year. Ayers is relevant for another reason. I wish this criminal was not able to rehabilitate his career and reputation in Chicago. When he got off on a technicality for his terrorist years, he said, "Guilty as Sin. Free as a bird." An association with this kind of man ought to disqualify you from national office. The fact that it hasn't leads me to think that Daley pere really didn't win the battle of '68, because the street organizers and protesters ended up taking over our universities and neighborhood associations a generation later. I wish the Big Lebowski was right when he said, "your revolution is over. The bums lost." But I guess he was wrong.
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