We love this: Rush Limbaugh concurred with Palin on the radio Monday:
There is a story on the Drudge Report today from Sarah Palin in which Sarah Palin says that the White House wants Mitt Romney to be the Republican nominee. Now, not only did I tell you that the Broncos were gonna beat the Steelers, for months I have been telling you that the Democrats want Romney — and you all know it. You’ve been listening here and you’ve heard people call me and tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about, that I’m full of it, that they’re scared of Romney. “Romney is the only guy who can win.” And I have said, “No,” and I’ve stood tough, and I’ve said, “They can’t wait for him. What’s Occupy Wall Street all about but running against Romney? He’s the Wall Street guy on our roster — and then Romneycare,” and I’ve laid it all out. So here comes Palin, she says it, and makes news.
He, she are full of shit, of course. The White House has long known Romney is the most formidable candidate (with independents) the GOP's got... he's deeply flawed, but he's not as baggage-burdened as some or out in the deep inner space of the right-wing fringes as the others.
Not sure who Palin & Rush will endorse, but at the moment it's anyone but Romney (author's note: hee-hee).
Donna Brazile, Democrat operative may have said this first, which gives one a more of a reason to pause - than Palin or Rush. However, she has been full of crap in some of her past commentaries.
They are crazy if they endorse Newt, like Todd Palin did (he must not be paying much attention). Newt could do many a favor and drop out. His usefulness in debates has worn out and he has now become radioactive and is now helping out the other side because he can't have it, as has Perry - who should also get out, IMO.
I'd like to see Jon Huntsman be the anyone but Romney candidate. Looks like he'll finish 3rd in NH, with an outside chance to overtake Ron Paul for 2nd. South Carolina will be tougher, but think he'll stay in through Florida and maybe longer if Romney slips up. However, the Republicans have not warmed up to him, maybe because he called the Republican party - insane, which I tend to agree with. He's a smart guy, with a well thought out economic plan - implement most of the Bowles-Simpson recommendations and plans to reform and flatten the tax code.
Posted by: KS | January 10, 2012 at 06:54 PM
Yes, Brazile is hardly someone I'd listen to for political erudition.
The most formidable candidate would be Huntsman. No baggage; good looking; confident and well spoken; experienced - his 16% (so far) in New Hampshire is pretty good considering where he started. If he's got the $$$, he can still make a difference. I'm pretty liberal and I'm impressed. Well, as impressed as I can be with another politician who made all that money by inheriting it.
Romney will have to confront all those pink slips. He is definitely easy pickens.
Posted by: Mary | January 10, 2012 at 07:11 PM
Romney's comment about pink slips should have been worded better, but what he was really trying to say was that if people don't like the level of services they receive, they should be able to fire their current service rep. and find a better one. Of course, the comment was taken out of context and exploited by the other candidates and the White House. Romney will have to do damage control on that, it will come back and bite him.
Agreed that Huntsman would be the most formidable candidate vs. Obama - if he gets to the top spot, with Romney 2nd from what the polls are showing today. Unfortunately, Gov. Huntsman is battling Santorum and maybe Newt soon (he's dropping like a rock) for
3rd place behind Romney and Paul. A tectonic shift or a brokered convention will be needed deliver Huntsman as the GOP nominee, but its not over until its over.
Posted by: KS | January 10, 2012 at 07:39 PM
The fact that a liberal is impressed with Huntsman is exactly why he is not a viable republican candidate. Conservatives aren't impressed by the same qualities and positions that impress liberals. I like Huntsman, but he'd do better against Obama in a democratic primary.
Yes, KS, Romney was actually talking about insurance companies failing to provide services and being free to choose a better company when he made the "I like to fire people" comment. Edit sound bite and voila! You think you've got something to attack.
Posted by: RQ | January 10, 2012 at 07:49 PM
When one runs for President, one watches every word that comes out of one's mouth for that very reason. If he were a smarter candidate, he would have realized how that could have come across. But he is out of touch with anyone not in his income strata.
Posted by: Walt | January 10, 2012 at 08:01 PM
KS - The Romney pink slip comment is being stupidly taken out of context, but in context it's bad for an entirely different reason. He was talking about the right of an individual to fire a health insurance provider. First of all, people would have that right under ObamaCare, which he knows perfectly well since he passed it first.
But more critically, when does one become dissatisfied a health insurance company? When you get sick and they won't pay. But then you can't go to a competitor, because now you have a pre-existing condition and nobody will insure you. So freedom of choice here is a complete illusion. Of course, ObamaCare helps address that down the road, by eliminating bans on covering people with pre-existing conditions, but that undermines Romney's point, too. He was trying to criticize ObamaCare, not praise it.
BTW, this isn't to pick on Romney - it's to say that sound bite politics are inherently idiotic. When you say something because you think it'll sound good in five seconds on TV, usually it's pretty easy to poke holes in it, whether it turns out to sound good on TV or not. Huntsman and Paul are the only ones in this field who won't water down their answers for the cameras, and neither has a shot at winning the nomination.
Posted by: Pete | January 10, 2012 at 08:42 PM
Which is why you're going to lose, RQ. Huntsman is no liberal. He is a straight-talking intellectually honest right-leaning centrist.
It is interesting that you self-proclaim your inability to move beyond your extreme right-wing agenda. Of the qualities I assigned Huntsman, which do you think apply exclusively to the left: experience? confidence? attractive? no baggage?
I'm curious. Which one is too far left for you?
BTW, you assume a great deal. The pink slips I was talking about belong to the former employees of businesses Bain scrapped for investor's profit. Or don't you know about those? You might want to move beyond the sound bite - maybe? A misstep in a Romney speech is hardly news.
Posted by: Mary | January 10, 2012 at 08:44 PM
Actually, Huntsman is more conservative than Romney - just compare their records as governor, but he is also more articulate and interviews better with liberal pundits, which makes him come across as a liberal. That and the fact he graciously accepted the Ambassador to China appointment from Obama. He did very well in a Lincoln-Douglas type debate in New Hampshire with Newt Gingrich last month, before Newt went postal.
"Huntsman and Paul are the only ones in this field who won't water down their answers for the cameras, and neither has a shot at winning the nomination."
Posted by: Pete | January 10, 2012 at 08:42 PM
True story. Just another display of how low information the American electorate really is. Paul is too old (he'd be older at inauguration than Reagan was when his 2nd term was up) and his foreign policy is daunting. Other than that, I like his fiscal policy proposals.
Posted by: KS | January 10, 2012 at 08:57 PM
Excellent observations, Pete. In addition the jobless rate fell for the fourth straight month to the lowest point in nearly 3 years from burst of hiring in December. That adds up to 200,000 jobs. Mittens and the others won't talk about that either. The unemployment rate is still too high, at 8.5%, but Congress is too busy debating abortion and getting rid of unions to bother their pretty little heads about fixing that.
Posted by: sparky | January 10, 2012 at 08:59 PM
Yes, I agree. He many be more conservative than Romney. I don't think anyone knows what Romney would really do. A history of fairly liberal ideas but currently imprisoned in a network of crazy party politics.
Funny that RQ doesn't know that. I don't think she knows much about Hutnsman. An awful lot of opinions without many facts. You might try listening to him, RQ. At least you'll know why you don't like him.
"low information?" I think you're talking about RQ, KS. Now that's funny.
Posted by: Mary | January 10, 2012 at 09:03 PM
hahaahaha nice try Mary ....i see Romney has given the mad doctor an old fashioned New Hampshire Birch branch whipping.....39% to 23& ... But keep up that smug verconfidence Dem donkeys......we actually prefer it that way....,Romney is the first non-incumbent Repub in history to win Iowa and N.H. back to back. What will your boy do when he gets all flustered and angry in the debate with Mitt, bringing out the ugliness of his personality....he can't talk to him like a dog the way he did with the reporter from down south who dared to challenge him with a few mildly probing t questions...how do you try to talk down to a guy whose amassed a 250 million dollar fortune for himself and his family... what does your boy do? go to the old middle finger stunt again?...oh no oh no Mr. Bill that won't work again.... the people were just too smart for his little trick that he thought was so slick...what will Slick Rick do? what WILL he do? hahahahahahahahahaaa....good times ahead..... you have no idea how much and how widely this guy Obama is disliked in the country as a whole....no idea....
Posted by: Tommy008 | January 10, 2012 at 09:11 PM
I was just listening to Huntsman's speech: wants close the door that allows Congress people to move directly into K street; wants term limits for Congress; wants to get out of Afghanistan. And he thinks the banks and wall street are the problem.
Those are messages that excite a lot of people. He's against abortion but he can't overturn abortion by himself. I look to Congress to keep that on the books. Congress knows overturning RvW will spell the end of their term. Anybody know his stand on marijuana legalization or gay marriage?
Posted by: Mary | January 10, 2012 at 09:12 PM
Your track record isn't anything to be proud of, 00-whatever.
Posted by: Mary | January 10, 2012 at 09:32 PM
Spasrkler there ae three types of lies- lies, damn lies and statistics. The 8.5 or whatever it is U. R. is a number that works only when you compare the number of peopel employed against the new, downsized total job pool. The total number of jobs im America in january 2009 when barack started was much larger than it is now. As each successive worker stops looking for work they no longer exist as a statistic, and his or her job just goes out of the job pool like magic, but of course you already know that. This is something that you would be shouting from the rooftops if Bush was presiding over the same three years, same economy. if you take the same size total job pool that existed in jamuary 2009 and compare that with the number of people employed today, the U.R. is about 11%.
Posted by: Tommy008 | January 10, 2012 at 09:42 PM
So you are counting people who no longer can be counted?
How very magical of you.
"Spasrkler" - what does that mean? How can anyone take someone seriously who can't speak in comprehensible English? Explain please or I'll put you in the "to be ignored" gang of idiocy.
Posted by: Mary | January 10, 2012 at 10:13 PM
You should be able to keep up with what i just posted. I'm not going to spoon feed you, .
Posted by: Tommy008 | January 10, 2012 at 10:22 PM
please remember Mr.Hood's new policy regarding personally insulting fellow posters before you go any further.
Posted by: Tommy008 | January 10, 2012 at 10:27 PM
Romney's largest lead was among voters making over $200k. He won 48% of them, compared to 36% of overall vote.
Posted by: Percy Duffenais | January 10, 2012 at 10:33 PM
Spasrkler= Sparkler,....simple typo....
Posted by: Tommy008 | January 10, 2012 at 10:38 PM
Despite widespread accusations of vote fraud four years ago, New Hampshire has failed to revert to good old fashioned hand-counted paper ballots for all but 10 per cent of the votes that will be cast.
Although 40% of New Hampshire towns use publicly hand-counted paper ballots to arrive at their vote tallies, these only account for 10% of the total votes cast in the state.
Posted by: Johnny Sombrerro | January 10, 2012 at 10:44 PM
I would at least listen to what Huntsman has to say. Eventually the right-wing will understand that it can't turn the party over to the extremists. Since they have, they have no chance.
The current crop is a RESULT of Limbaugh and Palin. And, of course, like any good wing nut, they'll blame the situation on everyone and anything except themselves.
Posted by: Rand | January 11, 2012 at 10:34 AM
Mary, Mary...those who have followed my posts know that I do not have an "extreme right-wing agenda". Awfully presumptuous to label me as such in your short tenure on this blog.
And what in my post led you to assume it? Reread it: I said I like Huntsman. Both he and Romney are more centrist than the other republican candidates, but why hasn't Huntsman been doing well in the primaries? IMO (yes, we do that here), he carries the baggage of a career politician. Unlike Romney, he has little experience in the private sector--and most of that was working for his daddy's multi-billion dollar corporation. Mistrust of the government is at an all-time high, and he can't separate himself from it as well as Romney can.
As for the other Huntsman qualities you listed (good looking, confident and well spoken), didn't we already fall for those in '08?
And since no one else answered your other questions, Huntsman is anti gay marriage/pro civil unions and his stance on legalization of marijuana is to leave it up to the states--which isn't a stance at all.
Rand, the fact that Romney is doing so well and likely to be the republican nominee is a pretty strong indication that the party hasn't been turned over to extremists.
Posted by: RQ | January 11, 2012 at 03:15 PM
Why is Gingrich helping to re-elect our President?
Posted by: Johnny Sombrerro | January 11, 2012 at 04:24 PM
You're an intelligent person, Rand. Thank goodness for a few of you on this blog. Truthfully, we should all be listening to all of them. Otherwise, how to decide for whom to vote?
RQ: anybody who votes without knowing the field (including Huntsman) is an extremist. Extremely biased and uninformed. If you were informed, you wouldn't have called Huntsman a favorite of the left. I'm curious, what does Romney offer besides being attractive(?), well spoken(arguable), confident, and no baggage - oh wait a minute, give that one back, please.
Thank you for doing the research. I appreciate the information. Now we both know about Huntsman. And I'm quite satisfied with both answers.
Poor Romney. doggy doo is about to hit the fan. Bain is barking at his heels courtesy of Perry and Gingrich. We'll see how he fares. When his own side gets done with him, all Obama will have to do is mop up and smile.
It's funny really. We have two Mormons running on the right. Romney gets a lot more heat for it than Huntsman. Huntsman is more likable.
BTW, RQ,RQ...(I'm laughing here): why do you prefer Romney over Huntsman?
Posted by: Mary | January 11, 2012 at 07:14 PM
It may be too much to ask for the Repub voters in South Carolina to seriously consider what Gov. Huntsman has to say. They are probably not nuanced and intelligent enough to see that his message appeals to a wider cross section of Americans than any other GOP candidate running. The jury is still out on Romney - he has not addressed all of his noticeable vulnerabilities to my satisfaction.
Very few on this blog have made disparaging remarks toward Huntsman and apparently the consensus on BW is that he is generally regarded as the best Republican running for president - I also fall into that category - unfortunately - unless there's an epipheny - I don't think primary voters out there are smart enough to realize this.
Posted by: KS | January 11, 2012 at 09:40 PM
KS
"It may be too much to ask for the Repub voters in South Carolina to seriously consider what Gov. Huntsman has to say. They are probably not nuanced and intelligent enough to see that his message appeals to a wider cross section of Americans than any other GOP candidate running."
I had a Politcal Science Professor who used to preach that if you asked an individual American who, say, A McDonalds TV ad is aimed at, they would describe some poor dumb rube who would fall for such things.
HA, that's how Presidents are elected.
WE'RE not the dumb asses falling for the ads, THEY are.
hahhahhaha
all the way to the banksters
We're all the dumb shits in question...
Pardom my French. nuanced my ass!!!
As if people in South Carolina are dumber than anywhere else
NOT
Posted by: WILD BILL | January 11, 2012 at 10:08 PM
Thanks for the uplifting words - NOT !
PT Barnum can't be wrong - just look at what happened in Nov. 2008...
Posted by: KS | January 11, 2012 at 10:28 PM
The Bain Capital crap will not stick, either in the primes of the general. hahaNewt hahaHewt Sheldon Adelson a casino godfather, came through with millions for your campaign, including a hit piece movie against Mitt on your behalf. It won't work. The average guy on the street can see that Romney is basically a decent, good guy who may have done some bad things at Bain. They know Obama has done more bad things, so the point is moot. They believe he can fix the economy- that's basically all they care about at this point. Savage had dinner with him and was impressed with his humanity. I don't think anyone has ever come away from a private dinner with Obama impressed wth his humanity. His arrogance, yes. Absolutely. The American people don't like you Newt. Savage called you an evil little man yesterday. You still firmly believe you are going to be President- this year. You go on Greta talking about how Romney will get very few votes in S.C. when the polls are already showing him in first place there and creaming you. You are delusional, Newt.
Posted by: Tommy008 | January 12, 2012 at 01:00 AM
"savage had dinner with him" That's all we need to hear.
Posted by: Johnny Sombrerro | January 12, 2012 at 08:16 AM
Huntsman is too nice to go up against a predator like Abama. Just take a look at the vicious evil way he turned on that poor rerporter from the South who got a white House interview with him, after he asked a slightly probing question and then dared to interrupt the attempted sotnewal anf filibuster response, in i believe election time 2010. Romney has just the right mix of aggression, predatory attitude and humanity. Toom uch aggression and ego, you get Newt and oops!- there goes the women's vote. no, i beleive we have a winner here. haha haha dem donkeys- winner winner chicken dinner.
Posted by: Tommy008 | January 12, 2012 at 03:30 PM
Romney, Romney . . . what happened? Polling at 23% in S. Caroline to Newt's 21%?
Oh dear, oh dear...
Posted by: Mary | January 12, 2012 at 07:33 PM
Interestingly, Newt doesn't even have an organization working to get him elected. No offices, virtually no campaign except for him making those films and commercials and speeches about how bad Romney is. In other words, he is augmenting his book tour. And yet, because he "looks like" he is seriously running, people vote for him. Can't pull that off without a LOT of money.
Posted by: sparky | January 12, 2012 at 08:55 PM
Unfortunately, Gov. Huntsman is battling Santorum and maybe Newt soon (he's dropping like a rock)
No, unfortunately Gov Huntsman is the most intelligent candidate out there - fluent Mandarin - and that's a HUGE negative for the Tea-Knuckle-Bagger-Draggers - ie, "The Base".
Sarah Palin could release a video tomorrow of her and Glen Rice whipping-up a batch of Santorum, and the Base would still love her (so long as she refrains from extrapolating the Pythagorean Theorem).
In the Wingnut bizzaro World, stupidity is a HUGE plus.
Posted by: mercifurious | January 13, 2012 at 03:16 PM
Yes, Huntsman seems to be invisible and he's the best they've got. He would attract a lot of independents. There is some turmoil in his campaign, however. Surprising for someone who seems to be so normal and calm. I guess you never know.
Posted by: Mary | January 13, 2012 at 04:52 PM
Researching Huntsman, I came across this from the NYTimes:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/11/03/magazine/538-gdp-election-calculator.html?ref=magazine
Goes back to November but at that time they thought the percentages were with Huntsman. Pretty interesting.
Posted by: Mary | January 13, 2012 at 05:02 PM