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2008-02-03 Home Front: Politix

Democrats Flood States With Ads as Tuesday Nears

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Posted by Fred 2008-02-03 00:00|| || Front Page|| [7 views ] Top

#1 $19 million, just for one week of the primary, to win a job that pays $400,000 a year. In fact OpenSecrets.org is reporting that she has spent $77,704,487 so far.

That alone should scare the hell out of anyone.

Posted by bigjim-ky 2008-02-03 09:49|| 2008-02-03 09:49|| Front Page Top

#2 Hey, it's easy when it's OPM (other people's money).

WhAnd what's really scary is who those people are, in many cases.

Posted by lotp 2008-02-03 10:05|| 2008-02-03 10:05|| Front Page Top

#3 I got caught in front of a Hillary! truck yesterday, which had front mounted speakers blaring some sort of 'vote for Hillary!' schtick.

All's I could think of was the scene in The Blues Brothers, advertising for their show in that beat up Dodge with the huge speaker on the roof:

"The Blues Brothers, Rhythym and Blues Review!"

Posted by Raj 2008-02-03 10:21|| 2008-02-03 10:21|| Front Page Top

#4 I can't decide whether to ask for a DemoncRat ballot and vote for Obambam, just to screw over Billary, or to ask for a Republican ballot and vote for Fred, just to send a message to the trunks.

Any suggestions or (usable) advice?

(In Virginia, we don't need to register as a particular party adherent, just be registered to vote. Can ask for either Dem or Rep ballot in the primary, but not both.)

Posted by Barbara Skolaut">Barbara Skolaut 2008-02-03 10:26|| http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/]">[http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/] 2008-02-03 10:26|| Front Page Top

#5 commenter at AOSHQ:
"I'd vote for Obama if he changed his first name to Al"

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2008-02-03 11:04|| 2008-02-03 11:04|| Front Page Top

#6 You're not alone in that quandry, Barbara. I donated a chunk of $$ to Fred. But at this point, and this is JMHO and I know that others here may come down quite differently, but at this point my own choice is to support Romney. He's not perfect but he has some strong points IMO:

He understands how to reform a bureaucracy. We've seen how Bush has been sabotaged again and again by the permanent Beltway crowd. Romney has been successful in dealing with similar issues in the business world. I have a friend who worked in a business he did a turnaround on. Friend was prepared to hate the guy's guts, ended up a huge admirer. DC's not a totally identical problem, but there are important similarities. McCain and, I think, Fred wouldn't stand a chance of actually gaining power over the entrenched agency staffs.

Romney also understands how the economy works, which neither McCain nor the Dems show any evidence of whatsoever. We're going to have to pay for this expensive war including a long stretch ahead of us and I just don't think we can afford to make a lot of mistakes economically over the next few years.

BTW - as a businessman Romney will be pragmatic, not ideological. From my own time in business, and to paraphrase Rummy: you do business in the market you have, with the company (or national economy) you have. Improve things over time, but if you don't compete with what you've got there is no next time to do right. I don't see that as a sell-out, just as good business sense.

Romney can negotiate internationally. Again, per my friend's experience, he does quite well despite (really because of) the surface impression of not aggressively defending his interests.

I personally see McCain not only as unpalatable to me as the wife of a career military officer but also as extremely vulnerable in the general election. It would be so very easy to pull up all the scandals he's been involved in and (accurately) paint him as a tired old poster child for everything wrong about Washington. His nomination would hand the presidency to Obama or even Hillary I think, unless we suffer a major attack between now and November.

Billary is/are corrupt to the core and appear to have been bought by foreign countries from China to the Saudis to a dismaying degree. Obama is worse - a strongly left-wing ideologue with ties to Islamists and white-hating black leaders as well as to the Ill. machine and now to Teddy Kennedy. I truly fear that if he is elected we will not be able to undo the damage he + a Dem congress would do. Think of treaties that basically dissolve our borders, cutting Israel off from aid and support, forbidding the FBI from wiretapping mosque leaders here no matter what reasonable suspicion exists that they are supporting/funding extremists .....

So for me it comes down to Romney. I don't think we have the luxury of voting just to signal the Trunks that they have drifted leftward too far.

Were we not facing a really serious global collapse of Western civilization and will I might see things differently. I donated a chunk of $$ to Fred. But my own take is that we are indeed at war for our civilization's survival. Countries that should be our allies in this war are committing cultural and demograqphic suicide. Of the candidates, Romney has the best chance of pulling us together and taking us in the right direction I think.

I'm not sanguine about that happening, just think he's the best option in front of us.

Like I said, JMHO.

Posted by lotp 2008-02-03 11:17|| 2008-02-03 11:17|| Front Page Top

#7 One other thing I like about Romney, or actually 2:

First, he is the only candidate who got where he is mostly on his own smarts and energy. I know his father was CEO of GM and then Gov. of Michigan. But that did little for him at Bain, other than to open doors initially. I interviewed at Bain years ago & know their corporate culture ... it's different from a place like McKinsey which loves consultants whose daddies bring business their way. And he got elected in Mass. based on his huge success at Bain and his impact while in business on the high tech corridor around Boston.

Second, I'm pretty impressed by the people Romney has quietly assembled on his team. Like Liz Cheney for foreign affairs and some top counterjihad people.

And third, I'd really like a mature adult with a stable family life in the WH. No affairs, no tantrums, no dual-presidency. Not my first criteria but it does influence how I feel.

OK, enough from me on this.

Posted by lotp 2008-02-03 11:29|| 2008-02-03 11:29|| Front Page Top

#8 Thanks, lotp - very thoughtful analysis.

Posted by Barbara Skolaut">Barbara Skolaut 2008-02-03 13:09|| http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/]">[http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/] 2008-02-03 13:09|| Front Page Top

#9 Ditto lotp, well said.

Posted by Besoeker 2008-02-03 13:14|| 2008-02-03 13:14|| Front Page Top

#10 Word, lotp...

Posted by Raj 2008-02-03 15:06|| 2008-02-03 15:06|| Front Page Top

#11 I'm with you most of the way, lotp. But two big concerns for me about Mitt --

1) if he's that smart and organized, and spent all that money, why the hell can't he catch fire and win some big primaries? It's like the dog food joke: CEO of the dog food company doesn't understand why sales are down, since they use the best ingredients, have the best packaging, marketing, advertising, and shelf space. The answer: dogs don't like what he's selling.

Romney strikes me like that. Great ingredients, great packaging, but he can't close the sale.

2) does he have a core? When Mac went after him in the last debate, that was time for Mitt to push back, publicly and maybe with a little temper. Instead he just took it. I don't want a president for the next four years who gives the impression of 'not aggressively defending our interests'. I want a president that will push back, both quietly and loudly, whatever the situation requires.

I vote in Illinois, and I'm very likely to vote Mitt. But I don't think he's going to make it, and gives me considerable heartburn as I'm forced to vote Mac over either Shrillary or 'Bamer.

Posted by Steve White">Steve White 2008-02-03 15:20|| 2008-02-03 15:20|| Front Page Top

#12 I don't have definitive answer Steve. I think it's partly the persona of maintaining a polite exterior which he's had forever I think.

Re: core - yes, I think he does have a core and it includes some deep personal values he holds himself accountable to. I also think he really really detests the nastiness McCain is spewing out. Like Fred, he does not want to play that game.

And he may be right from a political perspective to avoid it. Obama has a lot of support from people who are sick of the venom in DC and who are investing (what I think is dangerously misguided) hope that He will Be Different. McCain on the other hand is gleefully embracing venom, as he has all his life whenever he meets obstacles or disagreement.

Mitt's challenge is to be the adult in the campaign without playing McCain's poisonous attack game, while still getting a message out.

He's begun to push back in his ads and interviews. Like his response to Hillary's threat to have the federal government impose a legal freeze on adjustable mortage rates: "I don't know if that even goes on in Russia today." It's an effective critique.

The MSM have been giving McCain a huge amount of free coverage and promotion. They WANT him to be the nominee.

Think about that for a while .....

And they have downplayed or simply ignored a lot of what Mitt has said and done in the race so far. We'll see if he gets his message out via ads sufficiently to make a difference on Tuesday.

I honestly don't know what I'll do re: voting if McCain is the nominee. Forget about policies: it's a deep deep character issue for me and a real repugnance re: the way he has been leveraging an entire career out of his POW experience over 30 years ago. The final straw for me was McCain's "leadership out of patriotism vs. management for profit" bit. There's lots and lots of evidence of sleaze on McCain's part since the 70s -- and for the son of an oil heiress whose money sent him to expensive private schools, and the husband of a business heiress whose money paid for his first successful political campaigns to play that anti-profit, anti-businessman card is clear evidence that he himself has no dependable moral core. Add to it the fact that he personalizes any disagreement on issues into personal enmity and I think he'd be a dangerous and probably disastrous president.

But I doubt he'd get elected unless the Islamists did something really stupid. Because even a political novice like I am could press his buttons with a couple town hall questions and have him blow his cover in 45 seconds. The Dem pros won't even need that long to shred him and send people rushing into Obama's arms.

Posted by lotp 2008-02-03 15:45|| 2008-02-03 15:45|| Front Page Top

#13 Some GUAM LOCALS are claiming PATRIOTS by 20-30 points.

D *** NG IT, BOYZ, SUPERBOWL SEXY/PRETTY CHEERLEADER PIC THREADS AREN'T GONNA START THEMSELVES. But, since I don't have any said pics I'll have to search the Net.

Posted by JosephMendiola 2008-02-03 17:29|| 2008-02-03 17:29|| Front Page Top

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