Pollitics

Hey all,

The title might be a bit exaggerated but I am deciding to take “Pollitics” to WordPress.  I intend on reading some of the blogs I follow on here so this account won’t be wiped out and I might post some things on here from time-to-time.

But that being said, regular updates on here will be rare.  I like WordPress a bit more as it has a better commenting system and it’s easier for me to organize my blog.  I have already started blogging on here but I have a lot of good people on here who I wish to remain in contact with.  

So the NEW Pollitics is called Pollitics Today.  The link is http://polliticstoday.wordpress.com

The Twitter account is @PolliticsToday and my personal one is @JoeD5k.  I hope some of you follow!

In case you didn’t hear, David Gregory, host of NBC’s Meet The Press, is going to be the headliner of a conference hosted by the chief plaintiffs in the “Obamacare” lawsuit, the National Federation of Independent Business.  Along with Gregory, Republican strategist Karl Rove is also slated to be a speaker.

But why does Gregory get a pass on this from NBC?  Remember MSNBC, memorably suspended Keith Olbermann from the airwaves for a couple days after he admitted to donating to the campaigns of two Democrats.  After the backlash from the netroots, MSNBC then suspended Joe Scarborough for the same violation.  

Seeing how both of these men are pretty partisan individuals already, I didn’t get the controversy over it.  We know Olbermann is progressive while Scarborough is a Republican, so why should we be appalled at them not being fair and balanced?

With David Gregory however, the stakes are different as he paints himself as an independent journalist and host of a show that prides itself on no discrimination.  Gregory, by appearing at this conference, has violated his ethics as an “independent” journalist by helping an advocacy group raise money using his image.  

This doesn’t necessarily mean that Gregory is a conservative or Republican at all, but instead shows that his ethics as a journalist should be in question.  How can the viewer see Gregory as someone who can be trusted to not let his views get in the way now?  

I would assume that Gregory should at least see some type of “reprimand” in the news, right?  If Olbermann and Scarborough got suspended, I don’t see how Gregory can not.

As the election creeps closer, the coalescence of big-name Republican politicians has started around Mitt Romney.  Usually endorsements are seen as a way to get your name out there and jumpstart speculation concerning potential nominees for Vice President.  

But as Mitt Romney continues to labor into general election mode, the high profile endorsements he has received fall somewhere in-between forced and insincere.  Let’s take a look at the lack of excitement over Romney.

Newt Gingrich

To call Newt Gingrich, after his failed presidential campaign, a big name might be stretching it.  But as one of Mitt’s chief rivals, there was some interest to see how Gingrich would back Romney.  

Newt didn’t disappoint, as he hardly mentioned Mitt throughout his 30-minute vanity speech that almost sounded like he was lecturing the public on why he should’ve been President.  Newt, like others you will see later, compared Mitt to party standard bearer Ronald Reagan:

“I am asked sometimes is Mitt Romney conservative enough? And my answer is simple – compared to Barack Obama? This is not a choice between Mitt Romney and Ronald Reagan. This is a choice between Mitt Romney and the most radical leftist president in American history,”

Now to be fair to Mitt, Newt Gingrich really doesn’t care about anyone but himself so this could be overlooked for the time being.  

Rick Santorum

After losing relevance since the loss of his Senate seat, Rick Santorum blasted back on the national scene as he surprisingly became Mitt Romney’s conservative foil throughout the primary season.  

Santorum finally called it quits in early April and was silent on endorsing Mitt Romney until he released an email last night to supporters:

“The primary campaign certainly made it clear that Governor Romney and I have some differences. But there are many significant areas in which we agree,” he states.

“Above all else, we both agree that President Obama must be defeated,” Santorum says before finally offering up his support in the 13^th paragraph of the 16-paragraph missive.

But maybe Santorum has just sour grapes over not having the funds to compete with Romney and barely losing the nomination (remember, a few percentage points here and there in Ohio and Michigan could’ve changed everything), so maybe Mitt can deserve a breather here.

Marco Rubio

Perhaps the golden child of the Republican Party, the endorsement of Marco Rubio was highly coveted throughout the primary process.  Rubio is young, could cater to the country’s Hispanic base and seems highly ambitious.  To put it frank, Rubio’s stock is sky high amongst the Beltway.  

Rubio didn’t endorse any of the candidates after Romney won his home state of Florida and stayed on the sidelines until late March when he tepidly backed the frontrunner.  On Hannity, Rubio said:

Romney offers “a very clear alternative” to President Obama’s vision for the future of the country.

Romney has “earned this nomination,” Rubio said, though he again shot down questions about whether he would accept any offers of a spot on the ticket. 

This is where you start to see the lack of excitement over the establishment for Mitt Romney.  When you endorse someone because “they earned it”, it’s essentially saying that you can’t wait to run in four more years.  While speculation is high over a potential Romney/Rubio ticket, it is quite clear that Rubio wouldn’t be thrilled with the idea.

Jeb Bush

Much like Rubio, there was hope that Jeb Bush would enter the race and coalesce the field.  But while Bush continuously demurred on the prospect of entering the 2012 race, the silence from his camp was telling.  

Finally in late March, Jeb Bush got around to endorsing Mitt Romney with a call for party unity:

“Now is the time for Republicans to unite behind Governor Romney and take our message of fiscal conservatism and job creation to all voters this fall,” Mr. Bush said in a statement announcing his endorsement.

Calls for “uniting” is a cue for “just hold your nose and get over it” but the endorsement doesn’t seem to tepid.  In fact, it almost seems like Bush agrees with Mitt over something!  

Still Bush didn’t seem thrilled and it’s known that he and Romney clash on immigration.

Michele Bachmann

The darling of the Tea Party has seen her stock slide after her disastrous presidential campaign.  Still with Mitt struggling amongst female voters, he could use some support from conservative women, even if it’s only one.  

In offering her support for Romney, Bachmann announced he was:

“the last chance we have to keep America from going … over a cliff.”

Don’t show too much support now, Michele!

Kelly Ayotte

Much like Rubio, New Hampshire freshman senator Kelly Ayotte has received hype as a young gun for the GOP.  Ayotte is young and is building an image for herself in several Romney campaign stops as someone who might have national aspirations.  

Naturally Ayotte aligned herself with the Romney campaign.  In a recent interview with David Gregory, Ayotte offered this endorsement of….herself?:

“I have, some would say, better experience than Barack Obama had when he was a senator and ran”

Uh…what?  Ayotte basically supplanted herself above Romney with those comments and if she is talking about her credentials to be President, should we strike her off the short list?

Mitch Daniels

But the winner for most tepid endorsement came from Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels.  Daniels, after Rick Santorum dropped out, stated that Romney was:

“Mitt Romney has earned our party’s nomination and now deserves the support of every American still committed to government that serves the people rather than rules over them,” Daniels said in a statement.

In layman’s terms, “Mitt Romney is the last guy left”.  

___________

Yes it appears that Mitt Romney’s campaign is symbolized by people asking “so if someone stuck a gun to your heard….?”.  Romney has glaring flaws amongst the party in terms of his electability, beliefs, & personality.  

But the bigger issue is that it seems that most of these potential big players look to be viewing 2016 as a better year to run a campaign.  It’s like they are trying to convince future voters that they stayed away at arm’s length towards the 2012 nominee.  

It appears that if you want to endorse Mitt Romney, you should take Pennslyvania Governor Tom Corbett’s disgusting words to women as advice:

Just close your eyes.

On the same day that saw Mitt Romney turn the other way from a crazed protestor, the Drudge Report launched themselves into the spotlight.  

Matt Drudge, editor of the Drudge Report, ran a headline saying “HILLARY CLINTON - AU NATURALE” which showed the Secretary of State speaking without any makeup on.  Yes, he did that.

As the right continues to try to find anything they can to throw the Obama administration and women under the bus, this issue seems to almost be parodical.  

Yes, one of the most prominent (if not the most prominent) right-wing blogger is essentially ridiculing Clinton for not wearing makeup.  It doesn’t even seem like they are trying to hide their outright discrimination of any non white, straight, Christian, conservative male.  

I’m sure this issue will blow over in but a few days, but the right’s insistence on this is a fairly low blow if I do say so myself.  Imagine if the DailyKos ran an item on Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann or John Boehner without makeup?  Accusations of cross-discrimination would occur faster than you could say “Dana Loesch”.

Sure that’s part of society, trying to find hypocrisy at every turn; but again, people who claim bipartisanship is dead due to both sides; need to look at today’s headlines.

I, for one, am waiting Mitt Romney’s response to this controversy.  I’m sure it will be both courageous and bold. 

I apologize for using the “-gate” suffix, I like any person who has had access to media over the past 35+ years am also tired of it.  But I feel the need is here use it.

Mitt Romney, as I’ve stated in numerous blog posts before, has either no soul or a complete and utter lack of political skill.  Today was just another instance to give my theory more evidence.

At a campaign rally in Ohio, a woman told Mitt Romney that she thought President Barack Obama should be charged with treason.  Romney did nothing.

As always, Romney’s lack of chutzpah seeps out and he rightfully should get blasted.  But for some reason, Romney seems to get away with it enough for it not to hurt him too much in the long haul.

We had someone advocate that the President should be charged with treason!  On one side, I am happy to report that only American citizens can be charged with treason so it seems that the GOP is in its acceptance stage in denying birtherism.  But on the other side, where is the outrage amongst the right?  Is there anything more anti-American than accusing your President of treason?

Sure one can say that it’s politics and this stuff is just part of the game, but for those who claim that “bipartisanship is dead and it’s because of both sides”, I’d like for you to start paying attention.  

How can one party be expected to get anything major accomplished when the other side seems privy to the idea that the President should be impeached?  At this point, there is no way we can continue justifying the GOP establishment’s actions in going after the President’s political jugular.  

There is no excuse for Mitt Romney’s lack of words in standing up to a protestor shows that Romney is a once-in-a-generation weak candidate.

John McCain stuck up to a protestor that he believed went too far and for that he always has a small slice of my respect as a politician.  But Romney?  He is spineless and is so desperate for power that he is willing to not combat the dangerous vitriol being tossed at Barack Obama.

Instead he seems to be willing to embrace it.  Mitt Romney has a problem with conservatives and the problem continues to be himself.  For someone that is in such love with their political ambitions, Romney has completely severed himself away from having any sort of independence whatsoever.

Which is why the establishment loves him, they can control him without going rogue while he continues to sign big paychecks for them.  

This is the man that can our country and if he can’t stick up to one private citizen, then I’d be fearful to see what he’d be like on the international stage.

Throughout the fight for the Republican primaries, one meme was constantly repeated:  the slow acceptance and coalescence of the GOP base around Mitt Romney.  

The GOP just did not want to accept that this man was to be their nominee.  They had absolutely zero interest in someone who at one point called his views “progressive” to take on President Obama.  

They were desperate to find a “white knight” to save the party’s chance at defeating Obama.  Names such as Chris Christie, Mitch Daniels & Jeb Bush had to consistently deny speculation that they were interested in mounting a last minute bid for the Presidency.  The rise of “not-Romney” candidates such as Herman Cain, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich & Rick Santorum further proved that the GOP was willing to settle for anyone who did not have a skeleton in their closet over Mitt.

The fact of the matter is, the GOP is never going to like Mitt.  Mitt has been in the public eye since 2006 when he started running for the Presidency.  There is nothing he can do, short of summoning a hologram of a Ronald Reagan endorsement, in order to convince the conservative base of the GOP that he is the man to be the 45th President of the United States.

A lot of people wanted to suggest that Mitt Romney’s religion would be an issue.  Some made the argument that his experiences with Bain Capital would be stifled with the populist movement and lack of empathy towards the upper class.  Credible arguments have also been made for the “dog-on-roof” controversy, the “War on Women” or Romney’s experience with flip-flops to doom his campaign in the fall.

Yet, Romney is still mired in a quagmire that sees him down in several key swing states (VA, OH, PA, FL, CO) and barely ahead in a couple former GOP havens like Arizona.  Romney will still pull in the usual states in November but what is it about him that is still struggling to find traction?

It looks like the answer is frankly him.  He was well-defined in the 2008 election as a too-rich, flip-flopping politician that followed him all the way until now.  

Mitt Romney desperately wants to be President but it’s almost like he’s playing one on TV as opposed to wanting it.  His speeches aren’t captivating everybody and it’s always like he comes up a bit short in explaining who he is.  It takes him weeks to do something as simple as releasing his tax returns and that makes him look ineffective to the masses.  

Time is ticking for Mitt Romney.  It’s May 1st now and while there is still plenty of time remaining, November isn’t that far way.  Romney is a businessman, first and foremost, and while he may have been successful in terms of making money; it’s not translating to the polls.

An argument has been made that you can’t run a country like a business.  Well the same could be made that you can’t sell yourself to a country like you are a salesman.  Even if people hate the incumbent, voters don’t want to vote for a guy that doesn’t inspire them.  

Mitt is learning that again in this election cycle.  Will he change his tune again or is his candidacy doomed?