Video: Jon Huntsman “Country First”

I tend to believe that if Mitt Romney was not running and the Republican Party was not so far in the right corner — this guy might have a chance.

Unfortunately, Mitt Romney is there and everyone hates him; and the rest of them cannot get elected. Poor ol’ Jon cannot get a break.

It is a good ad. It just will fall on deaf ears.

Ya know, I don’t always agree with Michelle Malkin; but this is very good.

Michelle Malkin is bit more “Firebrandy’er” than me. But, she makes a very good point here.

CBS News reports via Twitter:

Huntsman tells reporters in Concord: “Governor Romney enjoys firing people; I enjoy creating jobs.”

It’s a reference to this:

Mitt Romney, who’s under attack for his business record, said Monday that he likes to have the option of firing people.

“I like being able to fire people who provide services to me,” he told business executives from the Nashua Greater Chamber of Commerce, adding if he isn’t getting a “good service, I want to say, I’m going to get someone else.”

The point will get lost down the demagogic rabbit hole:

He added: “You know, if someone doesn’t give me the good service I need, I want to say, ‘You know, I’m going to get someone else to provide that service to me.’”

Mitt Romney’s chronic flip-flopping political career is teeming with reasons to oppose his nomination — from his support for racial preferences, to government funding of abortion, liberal judges, global warming enviro-nitwittery, TARP, auto bailouts, the Obama stimulus, gun control, and of course, individual health insurance mandates that presaged Obamacare.

Instead of focusing on his long political record of expedience, incompetent non-Romneys have morphed into Michael Moore propagandists — throwing not just Bain Capital under the bus, but wealth creators of all kinds who take risks in the private marketplace.

We’re screwed.  via Michelle Malkin » The abysmal incompetence of the non-Romneys

I don’t share her pessimism; it okay to paint contrasts between the establishment and the grassroots, between Moderates and Hardcores and so forth. However, like Mrs. Malkin points out, we should not start sounding like Michael Moore on process of doing such an exercise. 😯

I mean, Michael Moore is a fairly big guy and I do not think we should be trying to squeeze between him and Nancy Pelosi on thier side of the street. Put another way; its okay to strum the guitar of populism, but let’s not start taking up camp in “tent city,” those people stink and we do take showers. (Well, some of us do! 😉 )

This is why illegal immigration bothers me

Via Preston Wright on Facebook:

The American Militia’s website

No, I did not watch the Republican Debate last night

I had good reason not to watch too. From what I was hearing on twitter last night; while I was lying in the bed and drifting off to sleep, is that the debate was lousy. This was confirmed by things that I have read this morning. I guess the usual liberal partisan hacks over at ABC NEWS were living up to their expectations — not to mention the fact that the head of the DNC was at the debate outright lying to the media.

Also, the silly back and forth, not to mention the preening; as to who is the most Republican of them all — I find all that quite the bore. The truth is none of these contenders is of the Reagan stripe of Conservative, most of them, with the exception of Ron Paul; who is too far in the other direction — are just Neo-Conservative war hawks. Now will I vote for one of them? At this point, I really do not honestly know. It depends on which one makes the cut with the GOP nomination.

To be quite honest, the primary process really does not interest me that much. Now the general election is another story; the debates that I very much look forward to are the general election debates, how is Obama going to face someone like Romney? How is Obama going to stand there with a straight face and repeat that silly mantra of Hope and Change?

The truth is the only thing that is changed, is the amount of debt and the rate of unemployment. This is not to even to mention all the bureaucratic Government regulations that was put into place that killed many jobs in the oil drilling business. I just do not see how Obama is going to defend all of that, without sounding like a blithering idiot.

There is supposed to be a debate tonight as well, from what I hear. I will most likely skip it too. Again, I just do not have any interest in the Republican Party fashion shows. I just want to see this failure of a President try to debate and defend his failures in leadership. It is something that I do look forward to very much.

Kudos to Joe Scarborough

Two Cheers to Joe Scarborough for putting this liberal’s feet to the fire! (H/T to Jazz Shaw)

Via Mediaite:

Quote:

In a remarkably heated back-and-forth on Friday’s Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough grilled MSNBC contributor Eugene Robinson over his controversial comments — calling Rick Santorum‘s handling of the death of his newborn “weird.”

“Do you think you may have gone overboard a little bit in your criticisms of Santorum?” Scarborough asked. “We haven’t talked about it. I’m not setting you up for anything. I was taken aback by what you said. My wife likes you very much, couldn’t believe you said it.”

“That was obviously not the right way to say what I was trying to express,” Robinson acknowledged.

“I certainly didn’t mean to offend anybody, especially Mr. Santorum,” Robinson added. “But it was in a discussion of his views, and, you know, which I consider extreme, and Santorum himself who is a cultural — culture warrior extraordinaire, whose faith — and we all appreciate someone of deep faith — but it is — it is extremely deep, and it’s a kind of faith that some people, I think, are going be… if not surprised by… at least want to know more about.”…

“It is a personal decision,” Robinson noted. “And I’ve certainly been educated on the subject since — in the past day, so I do understand that — that this is not — it’s not something that’s in any way beyond the pale or considered inadvisable and that many grief counselors do advise a period of saying good-bye to a child who tragically dies in that way.”…

“Do you wish you hadn’t said it?” Scarborough clarified. “You can see how prepared I am.”

“I wish I hadn’t said it that way, Joe. You know, I — we had — had this sort of discussion when I wrote about Chris Christie‘s weight, and I do think that a columnist has an obligation to — to write what he or she thinks and write what he or she sees, but obviously I did it in the wrong way. Or in a way that rubs people the wrong way, and that’s not what I intended.”

 

I think that it is good for Joe for to put Mr. Roberson through the wringer for his rather idiotic comment.  What was said by this douche-nozzle and Alan Colmes was over the top and out of bounds.  Just to put this very simply, if we are going to have a standard — that all President’s and Presidential candidates children are off-limits, we have to hold everyone and I do mean everyone to that standard.  This is not about Freedom of Speech, this about what is morally right.  I do not give two flying figs about ANY of the Presidential candidate’s children at all.  Just like, I do not care about Obama’s children.  What makes this little incident here, along with the previous one so insidious is this — Liberals are slamming a man — who chose to take his dead child home, so that the he and his family could grieve over him.

Also too, as much as I hate having to do this — But I must — could you even remotely imagine the howls of outrage from the left, if someone on the right — anywhere on the right — had made a similar comment about Obama’s kids or any other Democrat’s kids — of this sort of a nature?  The outrage from the liberal community, the black community, and the chattering class would be deafening.  However, because this is a liberal black man popping off about a white Conservative, it is seen as just perfectly fine.  How ironic is that in the so-called post-racial America?  I also find it quite ironic that the left has been largely silent about both of these people making these comments.  There are exceptions, but for the most part, the silence is deafening. Maybe it is because they see children or in this case — babies as an unneeded inconvenience or maybe it is because they are afraid of offending their “Dear Leader.”  Either way, it speaks too, in this writer’s opinion, of the moral decay that has taken over that once great party.

Rasmussen: Romney 27%, Santorum 24%, Gingrich 18% in SC Primary Poll

There is a reason for this and I will explain it:

Video:

(removed – video auto-played and was annoying…)

The Story:

 

What a difference a caucus makes. Rick Santorum who two months ago had one percent (1%) support among likely South Carolina Republican Primary voters now is running a close second there with 24% of the vote.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the Palmetto State finds former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney still in the lead, earning 27% support from likely GOP Primary Voters, up from 23% in early November. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is in third with 18% of the vote, followed by Texas Congressman Ron Paul at 11%.

Bringing up the rear are Texas Governor Rick Perry with five percent (5%) and former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman at two percent (2%). Another two percent (2%) of these likely primary voters like some other candidate, and 11% remain undecided. — Via Election 2012: South Carolina Republican Primary – Rasmussen Reports

Okay here is the reason that Romney is doing so well in this polls; First off, name recognition. Second of all, Romney is more of a moderate and those type of Conservatives will gravitate towards him. Santorum is a bit more of a hardcore Republican and Conservative, especially when it comes to social issues, like Abortion. This turns off the more fiscal Conservatives.

Not only this, Romney is appealing to the Independents as well — which will ruin Obama’s chances of relection, if Romney gets the nomination — which, at this point, I believe will be the case. Also, if he is as smart, as he seems to be — Romney will pick Santorum as as his running mate and that will be the ticket come the 2012 general election. Which will put Democrats into a frenzy and you talk about war? Holy crap! 😯

Others: The Hill, The Moderate Voice, American Research Group, Hot Air, CatholicVote.org, GOP 12, LifeNews.com, Big Government, Campaign 2012, Outside the Beltway, ABCNEWS, Taegan Goddard’s …, FiveThirtyEight, Ballot Box, The PJ Tatler, Wake up America and American Spectator

Ha! Newt says he is “not rich”

Man, this is bad.

AllahPundit calls it “laying it on with a trowel”. I was thinking more of a 12 horse motor pump into a 10 inch hose fitting myself. I’m talking about a cement pump.

What am I talking about?

This:

CONCORD, N.H. — Less than 12 hours after finishing in fourth place in the Iowa caucuses, Newt Gingrich opened a new, more aggressive chapter in his campaign, taking pointed shots at rivals Mitt Romney and Ron Paul, who both finished ahead of Gingrich. At one point, Gingrich hinted he would make Romney’s personal wealth an issue, telling a reporter “I’m not rich.”

Speaking to reporters shortly after arriving in New Hampshire, Gingrich dismissed Romney’s razor-thin victory—the former Massachusetts governor ended the night with 25 percent of the vote and only eight more votes than Rick Santorum. “The fact is, three out of four Republicans rejected him,” Gingrich said.

When asked why he chose to congratulate Santorum and not Romney on his caucus success, the former House speaker said, “I find it amazing the news media continues to say [Romney’s] the most electable Republican when he can’t even break out of his own party.… The fact is, Gov. Romney in the end has a very limited appeal in conservative party.”

Later, in a campaign stop in Laconia, Gingrich’s kept up his attack – and it got personal. Asked by a local reporter if he would buy a home in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, where Romney has a summer home, Gingrich replied, “No, I can’t afford things like that, I’m not rich.” His wife, Callista, added a jab at Romney as well. “We have one home,” she demurred. The Romneys own two summer homes, including one in California.

This coming from a dude who made 1.6 million from Freddie Mac . 🙄

Over to you AllahPundit:

Surely a man eligible for a six-figure line of credit at Tiffany’s has the means to buy himself a cottage in the sticks. Or maybe more: I’ll bet $1.6 million from Freddie Mac would get you something nice and airy in Hanover. This is the second time that Gingrich has taken a dig at Romney’s wealth, do note, but the first time came with caveats: Romney had already taken a dig at his Freddie earnings in that case, and Gingrich wasn’t sniffing then at the fact that Romney’s rich but rather what he did to become that way. Tonight’s little aside is more of a pure class pander, which is yet more evidence of just how bitter Newt is about that beating he took on the air in Iowa.

Indeed.

My question is simply this — if Newt is poor, what the heck am I?!? 😯

Oh and also; pandering?!? That doesn’t even begin to describe it. The dude is flinging poo at Romney desperately hoping something — anything will stick.

Thus another reason why I am not very big on Newt. Him, the heir to the Reagan mantle — yeah right! 🙄

Honestly why does anyone care what this stupid woman thinks?

No, No… I don’t mean Tina Korbe.

I mean this woman, Megan McCain…:

Ugh, it’s like listening to a valley girl talk about politics. Like gag me with a spoon man. 🙄

This is why I am not that big on Newt

Because of silly stuff like this right here:

Newt Gingrich still won’t congratulate Mitt Romney for winning the Iowa caucuses.

At a news conference in Concord, N.H., Gingrich was asked by CBS correspondent Dean Reynolds why he congratulated Rick Santorum but not Romney.

Gingrich stared at the reporter and raised his eyebrows in silence, eventually drawing laughter from some of the reporters.

“Because I know you would be a man of great professionalism, I know that’s a rhetorical question. And a good one,” Gingrich said.

During his speech in Des Moines last night, Gingrich visibly seethed at mention of Romney, who along with his supporters ran a barrage of attack ads against the former speaker. 

Romney said he’d spoken with every GOP rival last night except Gingrich.

Because when you do stuff like this; you come off as an old bitter curmudgeon. Last night, while watching Newt’s speech, I was not impressed at all. Because instead of being gracious, he came off as angry. Newt starting punching up, and attacking Romney and attacking Ron Paul. Whatever happened to just thanking your supporters and the others who also competed with you in the caucases?

Either way, this will not go over well for those in New Hampshire. Because it makes him sound ungratful, not to mention the fact that Newt is a bomb thrower, who is not good at thinking on his feet. All of this will flush itself out during the caucas process — hopefully.

Nate Silver explains it.

This pretty much sums it up…:

I don’t care if you call it a win or a tie. In Iowa on Tuesday, Mitt Romney had a performance that looks ugly on the stat sheet , but which accomplished quite a bit when you consider it in its broader context.

The two most important things that Mr. Romney accomplished are as follows:

First, Mr. Romney eliminated Rick Perry from the nomination contest. Of course, Mr. Romney got a lot of help from Mr. Perry himself. Maybe we should use the passive voice — Mr. Perry was eliminated from the nomination contest. The conclusion is the same: the man who once looked like Mr. Romney’s most formidable rival has suspended his campaign.

The result was not unexpected based on late-stage polling — in fact, the polling average nailed Mr. Perry’s share of the vote almost to the decimal point.

But it was not long ago that Mr. Perry looked like he might finish in a solid third place, at a bare minimum, in Iowa; a poll conducted as recently as Dec. 12 actually had Mr. Perry ahead of Mr. Romney. And there was some chance that Mr. Perry might have done quite a bit better than third place. I’m not convinced that there was anything that happened to Rick Santorum that couldn’t have happened to Mr. Perry, if only Mr. Perry had received the right injection of momentum — say, an endorsement from the Family Leader, a conservative group — at the right time. — via Winning Ugly, but Winning – NYTimes.com

I think is pretty mcu spot on, read the rest, it is very interesting. A little wonkish, but very interesting.

This is a mememorandum thread.