Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Tuesday Night At The Debates!!

In case you haven’t heard, there’s another Republican debate tonight -- 7:00 pm EST, on BloombergTV. So watch for periodic interruptions from Hugo Chavez Bloomberg himself as he tries to declare himself President. Tonight’s debate will be in New Hamster and could be fairly interesting. This will be Cain’s first test as the field’s punching bag. Perry needs to prove he’s not finished. Romney needs to find Waldo. And the rest need to find graceful exit strategies. Join us here for a play by play. . . join us.. In the meantime, here’s an update on recent events and some bad boxing nicknames:

● Mitt "the Rambler" Romney: Romney has been mocking Obama for creating a “Where’s Waldo economy” in which “finding a good paying job in this economy is harder than finding Waldo in one of his books.” This is of course a horrible analogy made about a book that hasn’t been culturally relevant in 15 years. Nice work Romney. . . way to show us groovy cats that you’re the bees knees.

At the Citadel, he gave a foreign policy speech in which said: “This century must be an American Century.”.... which is a mutual fund. After that it got a little confusing. He has four principles that he claims he will follow in foreign policy, but these were extremely generic. He will use American power with clarity and resolve to support our friends and promote capitalism. He intends to be a leader in multinational organizations, and he wants a strong military. You tell me what that means.

● The Herminator: Cain continues to surge in the polls. Most national polls have him in second place and climbing, though a couple had him in first place. Two separate polls released this week have him moving into second place in liberal New Hampshire: Romney 38%, Cain 20%, Paul 13%, Perry 4%. This will make Cain the candidate all the other conservative will shoot at, just as they attacked Perry before him. How he handles the heat could well determined his future. A failure tonight would likely stop his momentum dead and kill his candidacy.

Meanwhile, in establishment land, The Washington Post is trying to mock him as the “flavor of the month” and scoffs that “conservatives will tire of him at some point and once again search for the next big thing.” Thus proving that the Post is indeed clueless about conservatives. We are looking for a good candidate, we don't have ADD like liberals do.

It also scoffs that Cain can't fool the Post about his lack of foreign policy experience and it notes that candidates who don’t know foreign policy always fail. . . assuming you ignore Carter, Reagan, Clinton, Bush II and Obama, each of whom had squat in the way of foreign policy experience when they took over.

● Texas Trainwreck Rick Perry: Most pundits are saying Perry needs to win big tonight or he’s finished. For his part, Perry is taking this debate very seriously. He has reportedly been practicing against a stand-in for Romney. . . who did indeed dress like Waldo. He also apparently intends to follow Commentarama’s advice and issue a “significant economic plan” next week. Personally, I’d release it right now, before the debate, but what do I know?

Perry went through a bit of an embarrassment last week when Perry supporter Evangelical leader Robert Jeffress decided to tell the world that Mormonism is a cult and thus, we should not vote for Romney. Perry’s campaign quickly issued a statement disavowing this comment: “The governor does not believe Mormonism is a cult,” and urged us to vote for Romney. Jeffress is now being compared to Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

● St. Ron Paul: In a bit of a shocker, Ron Paul won an informal straw poll at the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit. He won 37% of the vote. Cain came in second with 23%. Perry got fourth with 8% and Romney scored sixth with 4%. Paul isn’t exactly known for being a darling of the Religious Right, so how do we account for this? FRC leaders say Paul's support came from younger FRCVVS attendees. . . which doesn’t really answer the question, does it? Could Paul have more supporters than we think? Should we prepare for a Paul Presidency? Tune in November 2012 and find out!

● Jon Super-Butch Huntsman: Huntsman continues to pound his chest to prove to us that he’s not an effete liberal. He’s now promising to bomb Iran, and no, I’m not really kidding: “I cannot live with a nuclear-armed Iran. If you want an example of when I would use American force, it would be that.” To quote the late Al Davis, “just nuke ‘em baby!”

● Michelle Bachmann, Newt Gingrich and the other guys whose names I’ve forgotten, all continue to exist.

● The End Is Nigh: Finally, nothing you’ve just read matters. The Detroit Lions are 5-0, which means the world is ending. The Mayans were right. We’re screwed.

43 comments:

DUQ said...

Woo hoo Herm!! Go Herm go Herm!

AndrewPrice said...

I'm glad you're excited DUQ!

AndrewPrice said...

UPDATE: By the way, I forgot to mention that Christie has endorsed Romney. The only real surprise is that he didn't endorse Huntsman.

Ed said...

Does anybody beside me think it's amazing that Obama announces this Iranian plot on the day of the next Republican debate? How many times has he now managed to announce big news right before a Republican debate? Also, don't forget his attempt to give a speech at the same time as the Republican debate.

As for Iran, I actually agree with Huntsman. Imagine that? Bomb them back further into the stone age than they already are.

AndrewPrice said...

Ed, That does seem to be part of his game plan, so it wouldn't surprise me. Holder is so politicized that I could easily see him timing events for maximum political effect.

Still, it won't matter. Foreign events just don't have much of an impact on election in the US unless we're talking about something like a hostage crisis or something like that. And even then, no one is going to turn to Obama as their savior on dealing with an aggressive foreign country.

CrispyRice said...

DUQ beat me to it!

Go Herm! Go Herm! Go Herm!!

Christie can kiss --- Umm, wait, it's a family site. ;) Lee Greenwood endorsed Herman, and that's a much better endorsement in my world!

Ed, Rush had an interesting point today that he suspects the whole Occupy Whatever We Think is Greedy mob thing has been orchestrated to take attention off the Republican primary race, where we really should be focused.

AndrewPrice said...

Crispy, A Lee Greenwood endorsement goes further in my book too than a Christie endorsement.


On the occupied crowd, that wouldn't surprise me either. Frankly, if that's the plan though, it's backfiring because most of the country thinks they're a bunch of idiots wasting everyone's time.

That said, I would like to smack Eric Cantor... again... because he first called them a "mob" when they really are just a "gathering of idiots" and now he's trying to back off that because he doesn't want to offend them. Good God grow a set Eric!

CrispyRice said...

I am SO sick of Republicans backing down. It really makes me furious to see them, time and again, "afraid to offend" and backtracking. ARGH!!!

AndrewPrice said...

Crispy, Tell me about it! That's one of the things I like about Cain, which the others are missing -- he doesn't back down. He rarely puts his foot in his mouth in the first place because he only says what he believes, and then he doesn't back down. That's really refreshing in a Republican!

I seriously just want to slap Cantor.

Ed said...

Andrew, I've never seen foreign events make much of an impact either. Also, don't forget Obama's already got a bunch of those under his belt and they haven't helped his popularity one bit. Bush Sr. won a war and that didn't help him. So I too think the Iran thing will mean nothing.

Ed said...

Crispy, I'm sick of that too. We need people with backbones.

AndrewPrice said...

Ed, I think the general rule is that foreign policy can destroy a President, but it can't save a President.

rlaWTX said...

OR the end of the Lions' curse is also the end of the "pretending to be conservative" Republican candidates' curse...

I have class tonight, so I'll have to read the comment thread afterward - always lots of fun!
and T-Rav's wrap-up tomorrow, right? ;-)

AndrewPrice said...

Good point rlaWTX! Maybe this Lions thing is the signal for a New Age of Conservatism?!

Have fun in class.

Anonymous said...

A Night at the Debates... sounds like the comedy classic the Marx Brothers never made.

I'll get the highlights tomorrow. :-)

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, I thought the same thing and almost went with a Marx Brothers theme. But sadly I didn't. :(

... and two hard boiled eggs.

T-Rav said...

Andrew, you're right. Detroit is 5-0, we'll never make it to the next inauguration. I think I'll just put my sockpuppets away, say a prayer, and kiss my you-know-what goodbye.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, Consider the point rlaWTX has made... the Lions being 5-0 could be a sign of the dawning of a new Conservative Age?!

Don't count out your sockpuppets' yet!

T-Rav said...

rla, you and your night classes! No excuse, I tell ya! :-)

And while I might be sockpuppeting and giving my thoughts in the thread tonight, I will defer to Andrew on all wrap-up day-after posts.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, I'll write it and put your name on it.... that way I can say all kinds of crazy things without getting the blame?

(for demonstration purposes only) "Obama sure is looking like the guy I want to vote for!" or "Sheep sure are sexy."

T-Rav said...

What the heck?!?! I could understand the "I'm voting for Obama" as a cruel joke at my expense, but "Sheep sure are sexy"? Do I sound like I'm from Scotland to you?

AndrewPrice said...

Scotland -- Missouri. It's all the same thing... where the men are men and the sheep are nervous! ;)


Hey, speaking of Scotland, do you know why Scottish men wear kilts? Because sheep can hear zippers!

Tennessee Jed said...

caught a little of the first hour of Rush today. His theory is Obama's people want Romney as the opponent. Feel the Romneycare thing is something they can run against. Maybe, maybe not, but he expects the media prefers a "moderate" to run against since they depress the conservative base. That seems to be my recollection when it comes to lame streams.

As for the Detroit Lions and conservative deja vu, ever hear of Milton Plum? O.K., how about Gail Cogdill?? Doak Walker??? Alex Karras???? Leon Hart?????

Tennessee Jed said...

no hagis for you, Andrew!!

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, Alex Karras was Mongo in Blazing Saddles! And apparently he was also a Detroit Lion.

On Rush/Obama, I think that's right. I think the MSM has always favored liberal Republicans because they think that they are less likely to win and they figure that even if they do win, they can still steamroll them and get things like OSHA turned into law. In many ways, liberal Republicans (like Nixon) and Bush Sr. have done the left's dirty deeds.

It wouldn't surprise me if Obama thought he could beat Romney, but I think he's wrong if he thinks so. They will be surprised how strong Romney turns out to be as a challenger. This election will be a referendum on Obama unless the Republican challenger has a strong enough personality to make it about themselves. Romney doesn't. So the election will turn on Obama's record, not Romney's record. In that kind of election, Obama is doomed.

BevfromNYC said...

TennJ - The haggis thing. Is that a threat or a promise?

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, I apologize to all of our Scottish readers. I did not mean to imply that everyone from Scotland molests sheep... just some. ;)

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, Good point! LOL!

How goes the occupation?

Ed said...

Andrew, I have an off topic question. Do you think any of this Fast and Furious stuff is actually going to hurt Obama?

Tennessee Jed said...

Andrew - Alex Karris was an all pro defensive tackle who happened to play Mongo and di a little t.v. As for the others, oy . . . where is Hawk when I need himm. Whippersnapper!!

Bev - Ever had hagis? Ha, we report--YOU decide!!!

Andrew - Does James Bond know about this slander, Laddy?

Unknown said...

The debate should be interesting. The only question is, who will be under the biggest pile-on? Romney or Perry?

Tennessee Jed said...

Ed - I don't think it will because unlike a Republican, every reporter in the free world won't be moving heaven and earth to find out the truth.

T-Rav said...

I think (I'm just addressing this to everyone, since I'm not speaking to Andrew for the time being) that Perry has the most to lose from this debate. Cain might have just as much to lose if he does badly, but I don't see that happening. What the TX governor absolutely has to do is give a great debate performance, emphasize his job creation, and avoid any controversial off-message stuff. Unfortunately, the latter may not be possible, in light of the "Mormonism is a cult" remarks made by that pastor over the weekend. Expect that to come up at least once tonight, because if you think Bloomberg is really going to stick to strictly economic stuff, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, If James Bond knew... I would already be dead! ;)

Yeah, I guess I should not slander the land of Sean Connery! My apologies.

Now that you mention it, by the way, I've never had haggis so I have no idea if it's any good. That said, I have had some very nasty stuff in Germany made from innards and the such.

AndrewPrice said...

Lawhawk, My guess is that Cain and Romney will be the big target tonight, but we'll see.

Missourians said...

You may make fun of our love lives, but you will never take OUR FREEDOM!!!!

AndrewPrice said...

Ed and Jed, I don't think it will matter, to tell the truth. On the one hand, as Jed says, the media will downplay this until the cows come home. So the only people who will hear about it will be conservatives who listen to talk radio or read blogs -- and they already oppose Obama.

On the other hand, I honestly think the public has a hard time caring about scandals that seem (1) complicated and (2) distant from the White House. If they can show that Obama ordered this, then yes, it would be huge. But as it is, it sounds like something done at a low level which multiple higher level people approved but weren't directly involved in. I know that's now how these things actually work, but that's how they appear to the public. And from what I've seen in Washington, scandals like that are petty minor and end up being eclipsed by economic issues and how the candidates look in the debates.

AndrewPrice said...

Dear Missourians, you might want to rethink that as it seems to be advocating the freedom to molest sheep?! Just saying.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, I couldn't help but overhear your comment and I think you're right. I think Perry needs to really shine or he's finished. But even more, I think he needs help. I think he needs Cain to crash so that the search for an "anybody but Romney" candidate starts over. That's the only way I see him getting a second chance.

I think Cain has a lot to lose too because he could sink his own candidacy if he falls on his face tonight. I doubt that will happen, but that's the risk of being the "rising star".

I think the guy with the least to lose is Romney. He seems guaranteed to make it to the end of this race in either the number 1 or number 2 spot. Tonight probably can't hurt him. If I were advising him, I'd actually advise him to start acting like the nominee and go after Obama all night and all but ignore the others on stage.

T-Rav said...

Interestingly, in an interview with Neal Boortz earlier today, Cain said he planned to go after Romney tonight, as he didn't feel any necessity to attack Perry. Not a subtle put-down or anything. I wonder how this will go.

Also, Katrina Trinko at NR has a pretty good article on the past history between the two. Although it might seem they really like each other, that isn't necessarily so; Cain has been rather critical of him during his tenure as a radio host.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, I think that's actually Cain's best strategy. By going after Romney and ignoring Perry, he minimized Perry and makes himself seem more important.

T-Rav said...

Andrew, that's why I don't think Romney will ignore Cain tonight. He can't, at least not yet; Cain's risen too far and been in the spotlight too much for Romney not to treat him as a fellow candidate. If he tries to act like the only real contender, it would probably come off as arrogant rather than presidential. Or maybe I'm just projecting.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, That could be, but I think he's better off not throwing any more criticism on the Republicans at this point -- always run a positive campaign when you can.


(P.S. I put up a new thread for the debate.)

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