Horton Hears a Who

Snow Pond, NH -

Keeping with the trend of Massachusetts governors running for President aligning themselves with fugitive criminals. In 1988 it was Michael Dukakis and William Horton, who committed a crime on a prison furlough program overseen by Gov. Dukakis.

It became a major campaign commercial during the general election when the Bush flunkies called him Willie in order to be more racially divisive and Bush advisor-turned-FOX News Chief Roger Ailes saw it like this, "the only question is whether we depict Willie Horton with a knife in his hand or without it."

Now fast forward twenty years and a man named Daniel Tavares has been accused of killing two people while on bail in Washington state. Better still, the judge who granted Tavares leave was a Romney appointee, and did so without requiring bail.

Romney, not wanting to appear soft on crime, instantly called for the judge to step down, having not been the law and order type he had predicted she would be. Giulaini, meanwhile, jumped on this to further present his own image as a crime fighter.

Want some icing on the cake?

Edward Ryan Jr., a past president of the Massachusetts Bar Association, said the judge made the correct call based on state law "and for Romney to call for her to resign is nothing more than political expediency."

"If Romney had any courage, he would stand up and say this judge did the right thing," Ryan said. Prosecutors "offered no facts other than to refer to his record" in arguing for him to be held on bail.

Any courage? That's rough chatter, and far more damaging to Mitt's image than a freak accident about a criminal and a judge.

The Trials of Exeter Academy

Snow Pond, NH -

This is good, from Washington Post's The Trail's coverage of Romney's visit to Phillips Exeter Academy:

"How can any of your campaign promises be trusted?" the young man asked.

"Good question," Romney said, adding that "it's real good if it were accurate."

...

As about 100 students and faculty looked on, Romney then explained his position: "I've never been an advocate of gay marriage. I've opposed gay marriage and civil unions. Now, at the same time, I'm against discrimination."

The audience started laughing.

Lesson learned, when you roll up on Exeter (aka Ex Tech) don't be bringin' that weak sauce.

Straw Poll Paul

Snow Pond, NH -

Reports are in that Ron Paul has won yet another straw poll, this time at Nevada's Conservative Leadership Conference.

Paul - 32%
McCain - 17%
Hunter - 15%

Not only does this lend credence to the Ron Paul relevance theory, as evidenced by his straw poll dominance, but it carries some importance because it is one of the first times that Duncan Hunter has scored above the margin of error. He obviously has no shot at the nomination, but will a 10%+ showing in the Western states play a spoiler role in a divided primary?

Moreover, I want to weigh in on the screed caused by Romney's "Republican wing of the Republican party" comment. CNN stole my thunder when they juxtaposed that story with the one about Leo and Clooney set to work on a Howard Dean movie. Let's be honest, can you honestly tell me that Hollywood Mitt wasn't having visions of Matt Damon playing him in a high profile 2012 movie about an early front-running candidate who represents the ____ wing of the ____ party? Seriously. Mitt would love to be President, but I bet he would be content with the consolation prize of a movie about his life and candidacy, maybe called Blowin' in the Wind or something like that.

Wherefore the Mitt Hate?

Snow Pond, NH -

Here in New Hampshire, I am a transplanted Massachusan. But when I lived in Mass, I was a transplanted Washingtonian. Although I lived in the Bay State for two years I have never voted in a major election (opting out of the 2006 foregone conclusions of Ted Kennedy, Deval Patrick and John Olver). Furthermore, while there, I had my eyes set North and West, up to New Hampshire and perpetually back to Olympia. Mass politics never really interested me outside of the Presidential candidacy of John Kerry, the legend of Teddy Kennedy, and the olden hijinx of Willie Weld.

So Mitt Romney never really concerned me, especially since it was clear from the day I set foot in the state that he wouldn't run for a second term in a race he certainly would have lost. But the thing that really struck me was how much disdain my friends had for Governor Romney. Maybe they were just a bunch of single-minded liberals who repulsed at the thought of their Republican governor, but it always seemed like more than that. There was real, genuine disdain in their voice. I guess familiarity breeds contempt, for I know my own feelings toward the likes of Slade Gorton.

Nevertheless, it has remained a pebble in my boot ever since. What's the deal with Mitt Romney? I haven't followed him too much on the trail, and if anything I have preferred his commercials to those of any other GOP candidate, whether he is presenting himself as a fresh face or implying vigor and wisdom. I mean, the GOP has to pick somebody. Well, today's Washington Post has a long article about Governor Romney. While it highlights many of his strengths, it also details the political betrayal felt by many in Massachusetts and sets the tone for what we may be able to expect in the future, should he last beyond February 5.

Family Values Tour 2007

Those elusive "values voters" are at it again! Yesterday they released results from The First Ever Values Voter Presidential Debate Straw Poll held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

While every single candidate was invited, left or right, only the ones with no chance at winning showed up. Thompson, Romney, Giuliani and McCain all stayed away, as did the entire Democratic slate.

Here are the results:

Mike Huckabee: 64%
Ron Paul: 12 %
Alan Keyes: 5%
Sam Brownback: 5%
Duncan Hunter: 4%
Fred D. Thompson: 4%
Tom Tancredo: 2%
Rudolph Giuliani: 1%
John McCain: 1%
John Cox: 1%
Mitt Romney: 0 %

What have we learned from this?

For starters, "values voters" hate Mormons. Although this is a pretty meaningless forum, Romney's folks can't be happy that the straw poll voters goose egged him. What does that mean in a state like Tennessee next fall?

Secondly, Sam Brownback needs to drop out of the race. When you lose your base to your rival by a factor of 13, and when you tie Alan Keyes, who most people didn't even know was in the race,you are done. The straw poll also reiterates Huckabee's pure and total dominance over the church crowd. This can't be totally underestimated.

Finally, these voters may value a lot of things, but wordsmithery is not one of them. Here is the headline from yesterday's press release:
"Delegates from America’s Largest Voting Block United"

Uhh, guys? I think it's called a bloc. I hope their press guy wasn't paid a whole lot.

Romney Goes Bold

It is easy to do when you have no official post other than candidate and ex-governor, but I appreciate the balls Romney is displaying today as he asks the UN to bar Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from addressing the UN under the Genocide Convention.

From the text of his letter:

If President Ahmadinejad sets foot in the United States, he should be handed an indictment under the Genocide Convention. This approach has been called for by experts as diverse as Nobel Prize Winner Elie Wiesel, human rights advocate and former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton and law professor Alan Dershowitz.

Take that!

As my boy Walter Sobchak might say, If you will it, it is no dream.


P.S. Mike Shanahan is a D-Bag.

Best New Rap, Hip-Hop, or Folk Act

In an early morning blog post over at Politico, Jonathan Martin investigates what could be a turn from folksy to Fuck You in the Huckabee campaign. Martin reports that Huckabee is getting a little bit pluckier with some of the other candidates, notably Mitt Romney.

Highlights include the following:

Voters, Huckabee continued, “want somebody who has lived a life more like they have lived it...For many of us, you know, the word summer is not a verb,” he said. “It was that very hot season that we barely made it without air conditioning in the hot South and worked in summer jobs."

Put that in your Cognac snifter and sip it! Or in Romney's case, root beer mug. But, gee whiz, I bet it is a high end root beer mug!



P.S. the title of the post is in reference to this, and not necessarily to any candidate.

More Crooks

This time from the Romney camp (again), More Crooks!

This guy's only a bundler, and not an actual staffer. But hey, you swim in the "water of filth" that surrounds you. This begs the question - what is worse, swindling millions and impersonating an officer, or a little bit of innocent and educational cuss words porno? Well, we know which path leads to success at any rate. Priorities, priorities.Publish Post

Ames Straw Poll

Read all about it! Results are on pretty much any of my Quabbinlinks, and otherwise here.

1. Romney: 4516 (31.5)
2. Huckabee: 2587 (18.1)
3. Brownback: 2192 (15.3)
4. Tancredo: 1961 (13.7)
5. Paul: 1305 (9.1)
6. T. Thompson: 1039 (7.3)
7. F. Thompson: 203 (1.4)
8. Giuliani: 183 (1.3)
9. Hunter: 174 (1.2)
10. McCain: 101 (1)
11. Cox: 41 (.1)

14,302 ballots cast

Keeping in mind F. Thompson, Giuliani and McCain didn't participate (Quitters).

The results of the Ames Straw Poll tell me two main things:
1. Brownback doesn't hold a candle to Huckabee.
In spite of all the time and money he spent relative to Huckabee, Sam Brownback got con-served by the conservative base. Huckabee is so much funnier, smarter and more articulate. He doesn't have a chance.
2. Republicans hate immigrants.
Wow. Tom Tancredo nearly pulls off a second place showing entirely on the issue of immigration. Let me tell you folks, this issue is a barn-burner for a lot of people, and will have a sizable impact on the polls all next year by ginning up fervor in fence-mongers and other such unrealists.

Mitt Romney: Blow Dried Blow Offs

Amherst, NH -

The sun was scorching when I got out of my car at 11:15am this morning. Perfect for a late summer morning in this picturesque village, birthplace of Horace Greeley and home to a quaint grassy square, a number of old war hero statues and a cute little general store called Moulton's Market where about fifty of us gathered to meet and greet Mitt Romney who, ideal for this sunny day, was sporting a nice bright tan.

As I stood inside the store waiting for the Governor to arrive I did my best to listen in to what people were saying about the Republican field. Some of them seemed to like Giuliani, but were willing to give Romney a chance. Some of them were fully decked out in Mitt gear, complete with baseball gloves (Mitts, if you will) to show their support. Others were just a little bit crazy, as is the norm for any political gathering and especially on the GOP side. One woman complained to whomever would listen to her for more than ten seconds, "why will no one in the media say that Obama's middle name is Hussein when they talk so much about Romney being a Mormon?" Good question, lady. I wonder if she knows that Mitt's real name is Willard, priming him to become arguably the second most famous Willard of all time. At the table next to her was a man with Jesus' head tattooed on his forearm. Let me tell ya, it was a darn good rendition.

While I was listening, the staff began to scuffle around so I glanced out the window to see if Romney was coming. Within moments I overheard that he was still a few minutes away, but I also saw that there was a man dressed in a human-sized dolphin suit standing next to his friend, looking remarkably like Ben Affleck on steroids, who was holding up a sign imploring Mitt to vow not to support any local Democrats. Sensing confrontation, I ran outside to await Mitt's arrival.

Regrettably, by the time the former Governor's SUV pulled up his muscle men had successfully strong-armed the would-be hecklers into the park across the street. They still shouted through their bullhorn, but embarrassment and fear ruled the day. Alas, there was no drama. Instead, Romney shook a number of hands outside the store including that of an elderly gentleman. This man, a former employee of Mitt's father, brought a picture of George Romney with him to show and tell Mitt that his father was the best boss he ever had. It was yet another nice moment in the world of politics, when a regular Joe gets to show his sincere appreciation for something related to the candidate that had happened in the past. Usually the candidate does a great job pretending to care, but I admit I was a little surprised at Mitt's performance with the gentleman. All he could muster was a series of lines like "that's great," and "oh wonderful" and "thanks for coming." He passionlessly helped the man, who brought a folding chair to wait and walked with a cane, put his photo back in his tote bag and moved into the store.

In front of the crowd, microphone now in hand, Mitt gave less of a stump speech and more of a mission statement before taking questions. He thanked everyone for stopping by, remarked upon the importance of this Presidential election due to:
A) the out-of-hand spending levels in Washington these days
B) the rise of global Islamic jihad
C) the need to support our troops.
On that last note, he busted out what seemed like his latest catch phrase, encouraging America to give a "surge of support" for the families and soldiers who are enduring a "surge of sacrifice." He managed to drop the "surge of support" line two or three more times before he left.
The Iraq war requiring a "Surge of Support?" More like it requires recognition as the Scourge of America. But hey, at least its not the Scourge of Carpathia.

At this point the questions began, and the first one had to do with supporting our troops through better mental and physical health care once they are home. This is where Mitt seems to relish his role as a non-Washington outsider. He showed nominal support for Bush's latest gambit, but mostly he stressed his hope that it be successful This way, he can disavow it when it fails. He spoke of the importance of funding the troops, but gave no promises or plans to actually get it done. Next thing you know he was changing the subject to a newspaper article about Iraq success, smiling and moving on to the next question, which was about global warming and fuel efficiency standards.

Much to my pleasant surprise, Romney talked about the failure of our policies to effectively increase gas mileage over the past twenty years, citing loopholes with trucks and SUVs, and claimed that he wanted a public-private investment into efficiency and renewables that would bring about a 50mpg fleet in the future. Of course, he didn't mention mandates or plans or time frames, but at least he spoke of it. But then the next thing you know he was talking about the ability of $3 gas prices to press America into action, and then blamed the increase on "Chavez, Ahmadinejad, Putin and others." Is that the same Chavez who gave free oil to your former state, Mr. Governor? Now, I know Chavez has bleeped up plenty, but are you into solutions are just passing the buck?

He also played the partisan blame game a bit. After he made a point against a national health care program where he stressed that he wouldn't want the people responsible for cleaning up Hurricane Katrina in charge of our national health care someone from the audience made the point that it was the Bush Administration who was in charge. Romney acknowledged the point, then backpedaled a bit before stating that he had been in Mississippi with Gov. Haley Barbour, and that the cleanup was going well. On the contrary, things weren't going so well in New Orleans. He incredulously wasn't sure why that was, and suggested that the fault might lie in the hands of the Mayor, the Governor, or possibly FEMA. I should mention that Ray Nagin and Kathleen Babineaux Blanco are both Democrats.

What really struck me throughout the entire show was that Mitt Romney never actually said anything. He talked fast, but he never actually said anything. He evoked a few principles, notably "taxes are bad," "spending is too high," "Democrats are doing a poor job," "I can solve problems," and "illegal immigration is bad," but there were no plans whatsoever. There weren't even any campaign promises, just a lot of misdirection. As soon as it became clear that a solid answer was needed to actually answer the question, he would smile and bring up a topic that was partly related and in his interest and move on. Then he would smile some more. The old Mitt and Switch. He did a masterful job of this to close the show, turning his second-to-last answer into an advertisement for the deli full of chicken and burritos behind him, saying that he had to give this fine business a chance to sell their delicious food. His last question was about the future of Social Security and Medicare. He acknowledged it, didn't answer it, smiled, and passed the microphone off to his staff. A few smiles, handshakes and autographs later, it was goodbye Romney.

Before he left I approached Mitt to shake his hand and I noticed that his tie, which appeared to be a nice plain light blue from afar, actually had the design of a bunch of little surfers cutting diagonally back and forth on the ocean. It was pretty cool, actually, but it struck me as a metaphor for his campaign approach. Judging by his pipeline-hollow answers, Romney seems to be riding a slippery wave toward the nomination. The New Hampshire primary season holds the potential for a long and gnarly break, but if the motion in the ocean ever picks up with some nasty crosscurrents and riptides, Mitt could be in for a nasty spill if he isn't constantly focusing on his balance. The bad news for the campaign is that Hampton Beach is hardly a hotspot for surfers. The good news is that if there is one candidate who is constantly focusing on his balance, his name is Mitt Romney. No matter what, after that surf, would someone please pass him the nearest hair dryer.

Recurring Brownback Bitch Slap

In the latest NH poll*, Senator Brownback has dropped from 2% in June to below 1% in July. Biblical prophesy states: the end is nigh.

What I find the most interesting about the poll isn't that McCain and Romney have traded places at virtually the same rate since February '05, nor is it that Giuliani has practically flatlined at 20% for two straight years aside from a few high 20s debate-fear-induced blips. Rather, it is that Duncan Hunter has been at ZERO for his entire candidacy. Are you telling me that these guys aren't supporting him? But I guess that is Duncan Hunter's biggest problem. In a state like New Hampshire, much of the pro-excessive force voting bloc is too often holed up in a tax-evading compound to vote in a Federal election. And of course, Tancredo has these guys locked up.

As I've predicted all along, Romney is a force. Maybe I'll ask some of the media wizards what they think of it later today. I'll be up in Hanover to listen to a slate of "all-star political journalists" talk about the primaries. Uhhhhh...jackpot!




* The official position here at 3Q is to pay no attention to poll when determining the true legitimacy of candidates. At times, though, they are very helpful.

Super Hum-Mitt

My favorite part about Mitt Romney is the admiration I have for him as America's Mormon Political Superman. In time for Father's Day, the Romney campaign released a video on it's website, a home video no less, showing the 2006 Romney Christmas holiday from their beautiful, Western, woodsy Utah vacation home with pine walls and stainless steel appliances. Apparently it was over this vacation that Mitt made the final decision to run for President of the United States to cap off his charmed life. This video shows his outrageously all-American family - men with chiseled chins playing basketball, sledding and watching football alongside attractive wives and toddlers running around playing games and drinking juice. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady even make notable cameos in the background of a number of shots on the television. Coincidence? I don't think so. More importantly, only once does anyone appear to be actually watching the game, a grandson. What's up with that? Back to the point, we see Mitt as vigorous (sledding and being rammed into by his son), patriarchal (saying a thankful prayer before dinner), studious (shooting a piercing gaze into a book while his wife gushes about how intelligent he is) and successful. What better in a President? Sound judgment perhaps, but in terms of political pageantry I think we have as fine an actor as we will see in our lifetimes. I recommend the video (only 13 minutes) even for the haters out there. At the very least you will see that he has a son named Tagg. Whoops, I guess I ruined that for you.

See you out on the trail,
BTB

Back on the Trail

Welcome back to Quabbin Qountry. Before we begin, I would like to thank the Toshiba Corporation. They sent me an AC adapter, still under warranty, to replace my broken one in under 24 hours. Literally, I placed the call Wednesday at 3pm and had a box on my porch, even way the hell out at the qabin, when I arrived home from track practice on Thursday. My joy was immeasurable. I missed the internet, and I missed the blog. Without further ado, back to the show.

Paul Krugman made a good point in yesterday's Times that maybe Bush isn't so bad relative to the rest of his party-goers. The scene from last week's debate where almost all of the gang of ten would-be nominees were falling all over themselves to be the one to say that they would inflict the most torture on terrorist bad guys was chilling, indeed. It wasn't just what the candidates had to say that was disturbing, it was the audience's reaction. It was the kind of feeding frenzy where the more blood the speaker could invoke, the hungrier the audience grew as they loudly growled with lusty approval over lines like the following
Giuliani: "And I would -- well, I'd say every method they could think of"
Romney: "Some people have said, we ought to close Guantanamo. My view is, we ought to double Guantanamo."
Hunter: "One sentence: Get the information. Have it back within an hour, and let's act on it."
At least Duncan had the respect to close his statement by saying "and I will take full responsibility" for the backlash of any torturous activity. Does that mean he would do a retaliatory self-waterboarding? Probably not, but if we take him at his word he would at least admit to it and say that he believed in it, and let history judge him as such.

There was one bright spot to the whole torture exchange, when Brit Hume gave John McCain the last word, having been the only one to go against the hard party line. He responded with this: "Yes, and the interesting thing about that aspect is that during the debate, when we had the detainee treatment act, there was a sharp division between those who had served in the military and those who hadn't." Virtually every senior officer, retired or active- duty, starting with Colin Powell, General Vessey and everyone else, agreed with my position that we should not torture people. . .So yes, literally every retired military person and active duty military person who has actually been in battle and served for extended times in the military supported my position, and I'm glad of it." I am glad, too.

Here are a few thoughts on some of the candidates. The Fix gave it's grades, but here we go from the 3Q perspective.

Tommy Thompson: Let's start with the former Wisconsin governor by treating like a cube of sharp, yellow cheddar - Stick a fork in him. This man was frightening to watch, purely from a physical standpoint. He has no discernible neck. It didn't help that he sounded vague and desperate every time he opened his mouth.

Sam Brownback: The highlight of his day for me was watching him pretend to be compassionate when asked about a rape victim being forced to carry the child of the ruthless criminal who violated her. He gives a half grimace and a reassuring nod as he begins by saying, "hat would be a very difficult situation, and it is a very difficult situation," before proceeding to completely ignore the situation and saying "will that (abortion) make the woman in a better situation if that's what takes place? And I don't think so." Of course not. Of course this woman's life will be better if she gives birth to God's rape child. I'm sorry, Sam, but your so-called "pro-life, whole-life" motto is thoroughly de-bunked every time you say "I will do it. I'll move aggressively forward on it" in reference to "deliberately and methodically" attacking other countries. Aren't confused, poor Africans God's children just as much as the rapist's bastard child? What a crock.

Mike Huckabee: Huckabee scored the most points of any of the middle-tier candidates, if only because he appears articulate and can handle the conservative banner better than any of the front-runners. There have been numerous articles saying the same thing and wondering why he hasn't taken off, and why he has raised so little money. So it seems likely that he will be the candidate that could have been, but at least he got off the most memorable zinger of the night when he said, "We've had Congress that's spent money like Edwards at a beauty shop." Hey-o! Even better, he mentioned it in reference to incurring a "fair tax" that would potentially get a lot of the IRS BS out of the way. He also seemed very even-keeled when he stood up for his tax increases to build roads and protect schools. Let's hope for the Red-State-blooded Americans out there that he will pick up some momentum. Plus, he lost a hundred pounds and ran a marathon. Props to that.

Tom Tancredo, Jim Gilmore: Meh. Not really worth a recap.

Ron Paul: Paul certainly did himself a disservice to goal of achieving the Republican nomination down at USC, but at least he went down guns blazin'. Even though he is a Libertarian, he didn't flout the notion that tax cuts alone will save our economy. He continually referred to fiscal discipline being a two-way street of reducing spending before we reduce our income. Certainly not cutting taxes while starting a war. He called out 9/11 a few times, initially saying, "we were spending $40 billion on security prior to 9/11, and they had all the information they needed there to deal with the threat." Damn. He proceeded to get himself into some trouble when he took the path of honesty and humility, admitting that American foreign policy necessarily impacts the views of hostile forces in the Middle East, a bad idea in the face of 9/11 bulldog/opportunist Rudy Giuliani, who then called him out by saying "I don't think I've heard that before." Really, Rudy? You've never heard that explanation before? What a sham. Don't bring that false exasperation to Quabbin Qountry any time soon. It belongs in one place and one place only - the Vlad Squad bench. Keep it real. I digress.

At any rate, Mr. Paul stood up to Rudy, but the damage was done. The crusty old Southerners in the audience were eating up Giuli's rabid terrorist-bating, and Ronnie was done. But not for me, as his best line was yet to come. After the debate's torture debacle (Paul was not questioned) he went out of his way to say, "but you know, I think it's interesting talking about torture here in that it's become enhanced interrogation technique. It sounds like Newspeak." Word. Second only to my horror at the crowd's reaction was my incredulous wonder at why the candidates were pussyfooting around the word torture in their defenses of it, calling it enhanced techniques and never readily admit to the direct question about waterboarding. Paul knew, though, and he dropped it like it was hot.

After that I couldn't really go on, and I ended up flipping more and more frequently to AMC where they were showing The Karate Kid. In other words, I got tired of watching the real Cobra Kai, and opted instead for the fictionalized version, where at the end even Johnny shows some mercy. Much the same today, I lack the strength to summarize the Big 3 other than to say that they were seemingly the strongest candidates. McCain kicked Romney's ass in the tete-a-tete and was honorable on torture, but was far from a sure winner. Giuli creeped me out with the red meat routine, and Romney is articulate but too easily damaged with the flip-flop attack. But hey, only EIGHT MORE MONTHS 'til New Hampshire!!! Time is a-wastin'!

. . .

The Sunshine Boy, unfazed by Huckabee's zinger, wrote a pre-emptive op-ed in the Huffington Post today, calling on Americans to take seriously their task on Memorial Day to remember the great sacrifices of American soldiers not by slapping a "Support Our Troops" magnet on their car, but by making a real effort to get the troops sent home from the current debacle in Iraq. I applaud him for the gesture. It is my belief that too often these days, in a world of instant leisure and long work days for so many, we have forgotten the purpose of national holidays. We see them as a free day to go to the beach or to be able to drink three nights in a row instead of actually pondering the meaning of the event. I think it is important for politicians to sincerely advocate their true celebration, and better yet to lead by example. Full disclosure: I will probably use it as an opportunity to drink three days in a row, but will accept any and all thoughts of good will to do the right thing. We're in this together, after all.


Sipping a Smuttynose from the banks of the Sawmill River,
BTB

Gaffes

With the quarterly earnings posted, the campaign is back in the swing of things. Everybody got their day in the sun (or, if they earned less than $10M, their day under a rock) and now is the time to rock that hott suntan. Ah, who am I kidding? It was a week full of gaffes.

Leading the charge was Johnny Mac, who last weekend gave a press conference from a Baghdad market talking progress on the war effort. Wearing full body armor, flanked by dozens of soldiers and heavy artillery, McCain said "never have I been able to drive from the airport, never have I been able to go out into the city as I was today." He quickly reverted to damage control, telling 60 Minutes (among others) "Of course I'm going to misspeak and I've done it on numerous occasions and I probably will do in the future." Given the harsh response to his Baghdad visit, McCain needed to play politics to placate his numerous critics especially after the shellacking he took in fundraising the week before. He is a wounded man trying to stay on life support long enough to heal up for the summer. But, if you actually look at his comments, which the sound byte media does not allow us, McCain really didn't misspeak in Baghdad. What he said was that there "are reasons for cautious -- very cautious optimism" in Iraq, and based upon his reasons, that is a valid argument. His only true gaffe was insensitivity. It is incredibly disrespectful to the people in Iraq everyday without an armored posse to flash the cameras, smile, and talk about progress when people are dying by the handful every single day without body armor and tanks to back them up. He should have apologized about that, and not about misspeaking. He didn't misspeak, and therein lies the twofold problem. Number 1, why is he backing down from a statement that he could easily stand behind? And number 2, does he really feel the need to seek out optimism? Straight talk? More like fate talk. Like, I think he is fated to a slippery slope away from the wide respect he used to hold.

A few days later, Mitt Romney gaffed about much more benign guns. The kind of guns that kill critters, and not neighborhoods full of civilians. My watchdog homeys up in Keene badgered Mitt into saying "I've been a hunter pretty much all my life." Pretty much. Kind of like I pretty much get every girl I go after. By pretty much, they meant once when he was a teenager he shot a rabbit with a BB gun, and then last year he shot at some quails while at a posh resort with the Republican Governors Convention. Ultimately, the campaign decided to stop lying and just came out and said "Governor Romney never said he was Teddy Roosevelt. He’s more like Jed Clampett." By the way, I was up in Keene yesterday, however briefly. Just wanted to give a shout out to the Elm City. I anxiously await next time I get to kick it at Margarita's with all the Owls.

In other news, Newt came out on Fox to call for Gonzo to get, well, gone-zo. "This is the most mishandled, artificial, self-created mess that I can remember...the buck has to stop somewhere and I am assuming it is the Attorney General and his immediate team and I think it is amazing that there's any doubt about the fact that they have totally mishandled this." Damn.

What the gaffes really come down to is this: its a damn shame that these politicians can't just Ghost Ride their campaigns when they become too hard to handle.


Ghost Ride
Go Crazy
Who's That Drivin?
Quabbin Qountry.

House Party

With official swearing-in duties over and done, the Democrats have taken over leadership duties in both the US House and Senate and I really couldn't care much less. I don't mean to be cynical, just forgetful. After a long legislative vacation, due in part to the permanent campaign and in part to the holiday season, it feels like congress has actually been do-nothing for at least 2 months. Out of sight, out of mind. Throw in all of the false promise of partnership for the new year and I would rather just skip the newspaper for a couple of days. But alas, I will give some mention to the momentous occasion that is the first edition of Madam Speaker. Well, because we must think of the children. Now bring on the legislation, and that right slowly!

The Fix tells us today that Giuliani has added more staff, including Arnold's old communications director. The Fix, I might add, truly is a fix for the political junkie. If you don't read it a few times a week already, I would recommend it as a prescient New Year's Resolution. My boy Howard Kurtz is tight and all, but this blows Media Notes out of the water.

Well, there is only so much to say out here in Quabbin Qountry and two posts in as many days leaves a fellow breathless sometimes. Give me my leave, good sirs and madam speakers, that I may look up at the still-blazing moon and feel the early spring air drift up the valley in pockets of wind and warmth.

Ahoy,
BTB

The Moon Is So Bright,

To paraphrase Timbuk3, I Gotta Wear Shades.

The amount of moonlight coming down on Quabbin Qountry was tantamount to LUNAcy. I hopped out of the cabin around 8:15 tonight, and my first few steps alongside the neighbor's pasture were chock full of sheer giddiness. I literally bounded down the lane for the first hundred meters or so until the shade of the trees finally kicked in to cloud my vision ever so slightly. By the time I got down the hill near Cadwell I began to harbor illusions that I could run in the woods. Obviously, I gave it a try. I made it roughly 55 seconds down the trail before I turned around, partly out of wariness of the dark, partly out of my inability to keep pace along the shadowy, rocky path. Nevertheless, I put in a solid 2 minutes on trail at 8:20pm in January. It would be a stretch to find much negativity in that.

Now here we are, one more 3Q entry in the books, and one year closer to Presidential Go Time according to the last two digits of today's date (1/03/07). Happy New Year. After a Dem-happy December (Dem-cember, if you will), the GOP is back in the limelight with mixed results. The most newsworthy event, if you count media coverage, ended up being Rudy's folly. Giuliani made headlines today with a leaked document allegedly stolen from a staffer, copied, and replaced in it's original briefcase. The paper, hardly containing anything surprising, went over the possible hurdles for a Rudy candidacy.

All along I had found most of the skepticism over the former NYC mayor's candidacy a bit questionable, but now I am starting to see it. We here in Quabbin Qountry are all for seeing RWG toss his hat in because of his leadership qualities and presumably bipartisan nature, but his messy divorce and the Bernie Kerik baggage should be a tough sell especially in the Republican primaries. Granted, personal lives should be withheld from politics to an extent, but there is something to be said about one's character when he leaves his wife immediately for someone else, and then the ex- summarily hates him. It is one thing to get a blow job at your desk, it is entirely another to be boinking around so seriously. I imagine this plays doubly so in early primaries like South Carolina and Iowa.

The Kerik affair is truly the most intriguing bit of his entire campaign. Many of you will recall that Bernie once seemed like the American Dream come true - son of a New Jersey prostitute done good - and a tremendous choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security. But then came nannygate and, ultimately more devastating, Regangate. My favorite part about all of this, if Rudy ends up running and if Kerik becomes a major issue, is that OJ Simpson will play a role in Presidential politics. Judith Regan, Bernie's one time sordid lover, was recently axed from a prominent position at HarperCollins publishing allegedly for anti-Semitic comments...but clearly for her decision to publish OJ's memoir, If I Did It. The "It", of course, refers not to sex but to the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Unbelievable. In fact, I sincerely hope this becomes an issue.

The other news, of course, pertains to Mitt Romney's filing for a Presidential exploratory committee. Much like Edwards earlier in the week, Mitt was overshadowed but both the Rudy scandal and the Ford funeral. Poor Mitt; not only did his Lieutenant get completely destroyed in the election to replace him, but he can't even make the local NPR news. At least, not when I was listening. On the bright side, at least Rom was able to make the historic Lone Walk today, following the footsteps of "Silent" Cal Coolidge, John Hancock and Michael Dukakis.

I'm Mitt Romney, and I disapprove of my 2nd page headlines.

Now for the lighter side. Let us take a moment to mock fundraising. In the spirit of Dubya's Rangers and Pioneers, Mitt Romney has decided to go political with those designated as "First Ballot Chairman" responsible for $250,000 in contributions in the campaign's first 30 days, "First Ballot Vice Chair" for $100,000 in donations, and "First Ballot Member" $50,000. Rudy, meanwhile, is going baseball, calling his top donors "Team Captain", "MVP", "All-Star" and "Slugger". "Slugger"? Wasn't that the name of Buddy Cole's softball team? Oh, those confused Republicans. And last but not least, outgoing Florida governor John "Jeb" Bush has chosen to include within his gubernatorial portrait a blackberry and a bible. You heard right, not only can he talk to God but he can e-mail him, too!

On a more somber note, my condolences go out to friends, family, and general populace who were saddened by the shooting death of a Foss High School student on school grounds this morning in Tacoma, Washington. We here in Quabbin Qountry wish, along with the rest of the world, for a more peaceful new year.



Sipping a Val Dieu,

BTB