Big buzz for McCain-Mittens! The most inspiring Republican ticket since Dole-Kemp in '96. Mitt is going to inspire the nation just like he did in his presidential candidacy! And hey, it puts Utah firmly in the Republican camp this fall!
In response to Sarah's question below, one of my favorite Republicans has to be Phil Gramm. Just because he is so consistently an idiot. I couldn't believe that Mr. Magoo was tapped to be McCain's chief economic advisor. It ended just about like you'd expect, with Gramm stepping down after staying lots of stupid things.
It is clear to me that Democrats want to attack me rather than debate
Senator McCain on important economic issues facing the country," Mr. Gramm said
in a statement issued by the campaign. "That kind of distraction hurts not only
Senator McCain’s ability to present concrete programs to deal with the country’s
problems, it hurts the country."
Mr. Gramm, a multimillionaire banker, has been under fire since last
week, when he dismissed concerns about the troubled economy by referring to "a
mental recession." He also said the United States had become "a nation of
whiners," a remark providing fodder for Democrats to portray Republicans as out
of touch with the concerns of ordinary Americans.
Quite an offer W made to help Myanmar after their cyclone. He did such a fantastic job reconstructing New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Why wouldn't the Burmese take advantage of this generous offer!
The thing is, I fully believe that the U.S. will do a better job in Burma than they did in New Orleans. Why? Because helping Myanmar recover serves their policy goals in a way that New Orleans never did. New Orleans was full of black people in a mostly Republican state. Driving them out just made Louisiana a Republican redoubt. Bush has never shown any interest in assisting African-Americans and he sure didn't after Katrina. What survived in New Orleans? Exactly what white people like. Bourbon Street, the French Quarter, the spaces of partying. Turn New Orleans into Disneyland for adults, who cares.
On the other hand, a bigger U.S. presence in Burma would serve the nation's policy interests but undermining the military dictatorship and key ally of China while rebuilding the nation's reputation around the world.
Sorry to be so cynical, but it's not as if the Republicans haven't said all of this themselves.
Marjorie has a great post about Heather Wilson's vote-buying scam. She links to F-Brilliant, who has a fantastic and disturbing rundown of the whole situation. There was a time when Wilson was considered the rising star of New Mexico politics. As tough as they come, she consistently fended off Democratic challengers for her very purple Albuquerque area congressional district. Then she was tainted in the federal prosecutor scandal--both her and her mentor Pete Domenici directly pressured the US attorneys to prosecute for supposed Democratic corruption and then had US Attorney David Iglesias fired when he refused to cooperate. With Domenici retiring, Wilson is running for his Senate seat. But she is facing tough opposition from Steve Pearce, the congressman from southern New Mexico. But it hardly matters who wins the primary for Tom Udall will almost certainly crush either like a bug.
But now Wilson is in even more hot water and showing her worst side. She paid delegates at the recent Bernalillo County Republican Party convention to vote for certain delegates. Also implicated is the man hoping to replace her in Congress, County sheriff Darren White. If that wasn't crazy enough, her staff pressured Albuquerque news radio station KKOB to pull the story, which led to the resignation of news anchor Laura MacCallum.
Although New Mexicans are by no means adverse to corruption, it's hard not to see this as extremely damaging to Wilson's political career. Her utter lack of ethics is flabbergasting. If I were Steve Pearce, I'd be running on her consistent ethical violations, something that may play well with the large numbers of rural New Mexico Republicans as well as the defense industry folks, a strength of Wilson's.
There's a lot of interesting things happening in western politics right now.
Montana:
Led by Montana Congressmen Denny Rehberg (R), a group of right-wing Montana politicians are threatening to secede from the union (!!!!!) if the Supreme Court doesn't decide in favor of gun rights in the D.C. v. Heller case now pending. Read their resolution here. Secretary of State Brad Johnson has also hinted in a letter to the Washington Times (read down a bit) that the state should have seceded in 1939 when the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Miller that gun ownership was subject to a two-part test: the type of weapon and its connection to a legitimate militia function, to steal the words from the good blog Intelligent Discontent. As Jay Stevens writes, Rehberg and the Montana secessionists are cowards and they won't do a damn thing except blubber and bluster about gun rights and secession. I guess this is Treason in Defense of Killin' Shit or something. I firmly believe the Democrats should never touch the gun issue again, but this kind of extremism is disturbing. There is political room to separate the loonies from the people who just like their guns. If there's a way to take advantage of this, I'd like to see it.
I'm surprised this hasn't received more attention. As always, Left in the West has great coverage on anything going on in Montana.
God damn, Montana is crazy sometimes.
Nebraska:
Scott Kleeb is running for Senate! Kleeb, running for Congress in one of the most conservative districts in the nation in 2006, put fear into the hearts of Republicans. He didn't win, but he did force Republicans to spend time and money in western Nebraska. W even came out to give a speech. With Chuck Hagel's retirement, there is potential for a Democratic takeover. Right now, the favorite for the Democratic nomination is Tony Raimundo. Raimundo was a Republican until recently. His switch reeks of opportunism. He wasn't going to win the Republican nomination against Mike Johanns. So he switched parties. The Democratic establishment supports Raimundo, but he sucks. At best, he's Ben Nelson, arguably the worst Democrat in the Senate not named Lieberman. I'd take him over Johanns, but Kleeb could be really great.
Candidates like Scott Kleeb really test both Howard Dean's 50 state strategy and the Netroots' ability to affect elections. In 2006, the Democratic party apparatus supported conservative Democrats in both the Virginia and Montana primaries. The Netroots got behind Jim Webb and Jon Tester instead. Both came out of nowhere to win the nomination and then the general election. They proved that Democrats can win statewide election in red states if they run true to their beliefs. Kleeb's candidacy more closely mirrors Tester's--these are very conservative western states that will occasionally elect Democrats to statewide office. Kleeb deserves a huge amount of support from the grassroots now and from the party if he wins the primary. Very exciting news.
Arizona:
This news is a bit older, but worth mentioning. Last week was a reminder how screwed up Arizona is. The massively corrupt Rick Renzi, Republican congressman, was indicted on 35 felony charges, including fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, and extortion. As of now, he is refusing to resign, though he is not running for reelection. Classic Republican. Meanwhile, Republicans, desperate to not have to fill more vacancies, convinced retiring Republican John Shadegg to change his mind and run for reelection. Endorsed by the Hair Club for Growth, Shadegg is awful, voting against raising the minimum wage and lowering interest rates on student loans, while voting for building the border fence and lowering taxes while also funding the war. He won less than 60% of the vote in 2006, meaning that the Democrats should give him a run for this money this time around.
Finally, there is the death of former Governor Evan Mecham. Like Renzi, Shadegg, Goldwater, McCain, Kyl, etc., Mecham epitomized class. He won the governorship in 1986 on an extreme right-wing agenda and openly touted the endorsement he received from the John Birch Society. He immediately canceled the state's Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Arizona was already one of the last two states to honor King. He blamed working women for the nation's high divorce rates and freely used the racist slur "pickaninny." When accused of being racist, Mechem said, "I've got black friends. I employ black people. I don't employ them because they are black; I employ them because they are the best people who applied for the cotton-picking job." He also said that a group of Japanese businessmen "got round eyes" when he told them how many golf courses Arizona had.
Of course, in less than a year, impeachment proceedings had begun against Mechem, not because of the horrid positions listed above; many Arizonans loved that. No, he was as corrupt as Renzi! He was impeached for misuse of government funds, perjury, fraud, not reporting campaign contributions, and obstruction of justice, but he was found not guilty by a sympathetic legislature.
Arizona embodies the worst of western politics--anti-government rhetoric coming out of their mouths during the rare periods when they are not sucking the government tit for every cent it can, corrupt as all get out, racist as the Deep South. The place was settled by right-wing retirees, military men, developers, and defense contractors after World War II and it has never looked back. Farmworkers, Latinos, and Native Americans are routinely treated like third-class citizens and have been basically forever. It's hardly surprising Barry Goldwater was from here--he embodied this ethic. Except that by Arizona standards, he was hardly crazy. It's also fitting that John McCain is from here. McCain fits the place perfectly. He holds retrograde positions on every issue, but he blinds the nation to his craziness by a facade of rugged masculinity. This is a tried and true strategy for Arizona politicians going back a long time. When the general public thinks of scary places in America, they come up with Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and West Virginia. But Arizona can give any of these states a run for its money.
South Dakota:
Finally, a quick note about South Dakota. The Republicans are desperate to pick up the SD Senate seat from incumbent Tim Johnson. But despite his recent health problems, Johnson is quite popular in the state. Nonetheless, the Republicans are recruiting wealthy businessman Steve Kirby to join the race. Where has Kirby made his money? He runs a company that harvests skin from dead people to sell to plastic surgeons. Not for burn victims but for cosmetic surgery like making your lips bigger or thickening your penis.
Well, that should make for some fun Democratic campaign ads at the very least.
Giuliani is dropping out.
Say what you will about St. John and Mittens, but Giuliani was the worst choice on the Republican side. That is one disaster avoided.
On the other hand, the idea of Giuliani as Attorney General in a McCain administration would be almost as bad. Great--Can't wait for the nightmare tonight.
Plus, is this nation really ready for an Italian to be president? That's the talk of bomb-throwing anarchists!
Mitt Romney is demanding an apology from John McCain. Why? McCain accused Romney of having once supported a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.
This shows how utterly out of touch the Republican candidates are with the American people. A majority of the nation wants out of Iraq, either now or very soon. Yet Republicans are fighting to see whose position is closest to a president with an approval rating south of 30%.
Does McCain or Romney really expect to argue in front of the entire electorate that we should stay in Iraq for the long haul? Are they really looking to be the next Barry Goldwater?
