2022 Campaign Oddities

 In Ohio, Turkish citizen Dr. Oz touts his "America First" cred.

In Nebraska, the Pussy Grabber in Chief defends an aspiring groper.

"Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV."

GOP GOTV Better Be On Hyperdrive in 2020

Demography is usually a dry discipline that few find attractive, let alone riveting. But the folks at Pew have done some work that should garner a fair amount of attention from electoral handicappers.

...this strong growth among minority populations means that a third of eligible voters will be nonwhite in 2020, up from about a quarter in 2000. This increase is at least partially linked to immigration and naturalization patterns: One-in-ten eligible voters in the 2020 election will have been born outside the U.S., the highest share since at least 1970.

Even with energetic GOTV efforts by Republicans in 2018, they lost 40 seats in the House. Add in a growing distaste for President Trump and the changing demographics of potential voters and I think RNC chair Ronna McDaniel must be losing sleep. 

(On the plus side, if Mr. Trump is deposed, Ms. McDaniel can go back to using her maiden name - Romney. Uncle Mitt will be pleased.)

But wait! I hear someone object. There's still a white majority of all potential voters. That's true, but keep in mind: more partisan voters are Democrats (35%) than Republican (25%).

Perhaps Ms. McDaniel isn't the only Republican who should have insomnia.

I Thought We Weren't Going To Talk About Social Issues

Republicans, from GOProud to Scott Walker, have urged their party's candidates to avoid social issues on the campaign trail. Still smarting from the "war on women" theme that put a polish on the GOP's image of Old White Men trying to run the country, Republicans were advised to avoid certain topics - marriage equality and abortion, for example - that would energize their aging voter base at the cost of, as Rudy Giuliani phrased it, "we lose the suburbs." 

But it isn't easy to follow that advice with presidential candidates like Mike Huckabee raising those issues. Indeed, it's likely to get a whole lot more difficult in the heat of the 2016 campaign for the White House. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a major decision on the single most volatile social issue of them all - abortion.

In Whole Women's Health v Cole, the Court will address abortion rights for the first time in a generation. At issue are Texas laws that impose strict standards on clinics that provide abortions and the doctors who staff them. The new rules may cause up to 75% of existing clinics to close, imposing what the plaintiffs call an "undue burden" on women seeking abortions while the state of Texas insists the law will promote women's health. A decision is expected by next June.

The Court's decision will absolutely impact women's healthcare in Texas and undoubtedly influence lawmaking in many other states in the years to follow. Pro choice and anti-abortion advocates will, I'm sure, energetically respond to the decision no matter which way the Court rules.  

But the more immediate concern for Republicans will be how to respond to the decision without appearing to take unpopular sides on this fundamental "social issue."

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

From YouGov:

Republicans (43%) are more than twice as likely as Democrats (20%) to say that they could conceive of a situation in which they would support a military coup in the United States. Independents tend to say that they could not (38%) rather than could (29%) imagine supporting a coup.

How Republicans Helped the Iran Deal

Jamelle Bouie has an interesting theory.

But for as much as the White House can justly gloat over its strategy for securing Senate support, we shouldn’t ignore the extent to which it had a huge ally in persuading Democrats to stand with the deal. Namely, the Republican Party.

In short, he claims the GOP refusal to compromise is a prime factor in Democratic cohesion. Since no compromise is possible, an all-or-nothing game inevitably follows, and in the case of Democrats prevailing (as they did with this deal and the passage of the ACA in 2010) the GOP walks away with little more than recriminations.

I'm not convinced he's right on all counts, but there are enough examples over the past 6 years to make this a credible theory.

Another Duh-bya Moment

OK, now can we get back to teaching facts?

US teen pregnancy and syphilis rates rose sharply during George Bush's presidency, Centres for Disease Control finds | World news | guardian.co.uk

Teenage pregnancies and syphilis have risen sharply among a generation of American school girls who were urged to avoid sex before marriage under George Bush's evangelically-driven education policy, according to a new report by the US's major public health body.

Not to be too snarky, but the home of so many fundigelicalS and core Republicans rates special mention in the report:

The CDC says that southern states, where there is often the greatest emphasis on abstinence and religion, tend to have the highest rates of teenage pregnancy and STDs.

Christmas in July

Speaking for all late night comedians and snarky bloggers, oh, please, please, let it be so.

Palin-Bachmann 2012? | RonP's Blog

So what about a Palin/Bachmann dog & pony show? It would be funny if it weren't so scary or is that; it would be scary if it weren't so funny. Impossible you say? The Republican campaign clown show will be something to see.

Remeber, they'll try anything and stop at nothing and at least 46% of the voting public are willing to let them have it their way.........

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Senator Grassley Solves the Healthcare Crisis

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Spiritual adviser: 'Darkness' gripped Sanford - USATODAY.com

When Jenny Sanford confronted her husband in January after finding a letter to "Maria" among his official papers, the governor turned to Culbertson. For nearly six months, Culbertson has been the first couple's spiritual counselor — and their secret keeper.

The Sanfords "passed" the Culbertsons' course with flying colors. A week later, Jenny Sanford asked her husband to leave their home.

Res ipsa loquitor

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Flailing Opposition to Healthcare Reform

TheHill.com - Graham calls Dem tactics Rove, DeLay politicsThe elder generation of Republican leaders are apparently trying every Rovian tactic in memory to slow or derail the healthcare reform process, including using Rove's name as a negative. Instead of addressing the issues and offering alternatives, it seems talking points are all the opposition party can offer. In fact, it's starting to look like an almost generational divide. Witness longtime pol and healthcare critic Charles Grassley's latest.

"When we're restructuring 16 percent of our economy, that's what healthcare is, and we're affecting every person in this country, then we ought to have bipartisan support," Grassley said.

It does not, apparently, occur to Senator Grassley that his party had an excellent window of opportunity, about eight years in width, to create a bipartisan effort to address the problem.

Memo to Grassley - don't like the way things are going in Congress? Win a few elections.

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We Support Free Speech - Now STFU!

UPDATE: McAuliffe, LU Democrats hold call on club ban | Lynchburg News Advance

Liberty University has revoked its recognition of the campus Democratic Party club, saying “we are unable to lend support to a club whose parent organization stands against the moral principles held by” the university.

“It kind of happened out of nowhere,” said Brian Diaz, president of LU’s student Democratic Party organization, which LU formally recognized in October.

Diaz said he was notified of the school’s decision May 15 in an e-mail from Mark Hine, vice president of student affairs.

According to the e-mail, the club must stop using the university’s name, holding meetings on campus, or advertising events. Violators could incur one or more reprimands under the school’s Liberty Way conduct code, and anyone who accumulates 30 reprimands is subject to expulsion.

Hine said late Thursday that the university could not sanction an official club that supported Democratic candidates.

“We are in no way attempting to stifle free speech.”

Saxby Chambliss

Saxby Chambliss 2008 -- see if Saxby is helping you!

While the control of the Congress by one party is suddenly a frightening thought (to Republicans, at least) there are some who argue that it will take one party control for at least a couple of years to repair the damage done by eight years of Bush and six of one party control.

Saxby Chambliss is one of those Republicans who promoted the current Administration and the status Republican quo.

Time for a change.

The Future of Colorado Republicans?

ColoradoPols.com:: A "Howard Dean" For Colorado's GOP: Marc Holtzman?

There is one man who has shown his dedication to leadership, was victimized by the powermad ideologcal nuts who gave us Bob Beauprez and Bob Schaffer, and who remains committed to seeing the party restored to its rightful majority position.

I'm talking about Marc Holtzman.

The left has Howard Dean, who lost his presidential primary at the hands of insiders but emerged triumphant as the Chairman of the DNC. Not only did he invest in races way outside "safe" Democrat strongholds, winning many of them-he built the infrastructure that allowed Barack Hussein Obama to outspend his opponent by giant sums and carry key "red" states like Colorado. Doesn't this story closely parallel Holtzman's? At least the first half?

I guess having your ass handed to you two elections in a row is oikely to make you see how the dreaded liberals managed it. All the giggling at Howard Dean'sscream aside, the man had the winning strategy. It'll be interesting to see how well and how long it will take the GOP to reclaim Colorado.

Why do so many media conservatives, like Mona Charen, sound so depressed these days? Mona's lament on NRO is well nigh pathetic.

All of a sudden, this election is shaping up as a verdict on capitalism. The Obama campaign wanted it to be about George W. Bush. The McCain campaign wanted it to be about character. But instead, because the markets are shooting off in all directions like bullets from a dropped pistol, the stakes have suddenly been raised dramatically.

We are in the midst of the worst panic in history, it’s true (because it is global). . . historian John Steele Gordon . . .  believes more sensible banking policy would prevent future panics. But if we elect a crypto-socialist like Barack Obama and give him a bigger Democrat majority in the House and a filibuster-proof Senate, banking regulation may be the least of our troubles.

No matter how much real wealth is evaporating before our very eyes, a Democratic Administration could be worse? It's symptomatic of the disarray of the once-formidable GOP - there's a missing subtext now, and in a campaign frenzy Dems and Republicans alike will inevitably say some batshit-crazy stuff. Used to be, though, that the Rs always kicked ass on Ds. It's always hard to say, but it sure feels like a change in the wind.

Three weeks to go. Then poor Mona can take a few days off and recover.

The Perils of Friends with Imaginary Friends

Now that lots of buzz has been generated by Rev. Jeremiah Wright's positions ("Hillary is not a black man!") maybe it's a good time to recall my favorite debate, the Values Voter confab held last fall in Florida. A series of high profile Republicans stood up in public and claimed to have an invisible friend, one that qualified each candidate to run the most powerful country in the world.



From my point of view, once a person admits to imaginary friends, we shouldn't be surprised at any nonsense that follows. Fortunately, most people are middling faithful to their theology, if any, and therefore what happens in church stays in church. Religion is, I think, largely irrelevant, especially in public life.