GOP Vixen

A Solid Win

Huckabee’s shellacking of Romney by nearly ten points should be a wake up call to the other candidates. While many in the media seem to want to pass this off as aberration due to the whims of "evangelicals", they seem to forget that Iowans were supporting other candidates just weeks ago. Huck’s impressive performance in the debates and his ability to connect with voters brought him a victory in Iowa and credit should be given where due. It’s not a fluke when you beat a seasoned politician like Romney that has outspent you 10 to 1 by such a wide margin.

The surprise in Iowa was the weak showing of both McCain and Giuliani. Ron Paul actually beat Giuliani four to one and was just three points behind Thompson and McCain. Ouch! People are in the mood for change.

John McCain and the GOP: A match made in heaven?

I'm so grateful to have been able to write a political column that disses the lame eHarmony commercials at the same time -- as I did last week for Pajamas Media. Read on:

"...A man and a woman are lackadaisically standing in front of a camera, arms around each other like limp noodles. The guy proclaims that, with eHarmony’s '29 dimensions of compatibility' matching system, he found a woman who has everything he was looking for: 'Pretty … a great smile…,' he trails off as the bouncy music tries to convince us that they’re desperately in love as they dance like fumbling eighth-graders.

It’s like the courtship of low expectations that’s become a hallmark of Campaign 2008.

What’s missing is the passion, the oomph, the can’t-live-without-you factor. The poll swings have shown that each romance with a fresh new face fizzles quickly at best, and can spell a fiery death for the GOP at worst. Candidates try to convince us they’re a perfect fit on their eHarmony-esqe dimensions of conservative street cred, true compatibility that apparently can best be determined by checking off boxes..."

And that, I theorize, brings us back to the tried-and-true when deciding who gets our electoral affection. Read the whole thing!

Hiding Huck

I am on the verge of letting action Jesus out of the package hoping some of that action includes smiting. I’m sick of hearing Romney is a Mormon and Huckabee was once a preacher. I’m especially sick of people doing everything they can to try to get a candidate to say something "insensitive" about someone’s religion. It seemed that for a few days Huckabee and Romney wised up and decided not to utter a peep about religion because they finally figured out that no matter what they said, the spin would be bad.

Now we have one of the most childish attacks on Huckabee I have ever seen. Huckabee unveiled a Christmas spot and all of the sudden it is reported that there is a "floating cross" in the ad. It’s a bookcase for Pete’s sake and if it’s anything, it’s a floating plus sign. I’m sure some people see the Virgin Mary appear from time to time in their French toast, but do we really need to have that kind of stuff reported?

I did obtain this grainy image, which does seem to show several subliminal messages the moonbats are missing.   

The tree seems to be Huckabee showing off his environmental cred. Three balls in the corner are saying that he has more balls than the other candidates. He must be ready to announce Chuck Norris as his Secretary of State. There is also something behind Huckabee's head, which really makes you wonder; what is he trying to cover up?

Put principle before political endorsements

My Los Angeles Daily News column today is one that I had to write. In light of all the recent arguments about how much a candidate's religion should figure into Campaign 2008, I've been thinking more about the endorsements from questionable religious leaders. Like Pat Robertson endorsing Giuliani, and Giuliani "standing on a stage beaming with, accepting the endorsement of, a man who's said some pretty unsavory things in the guise of religious leadership."

"Giuliani is hardly singled out here: Mitt Romney had previously courted Robertson's endorsement with appearances at Regent University, one in which he suggested that the single life was selfish. 'You cross into the deep waters by marrying and raising good children,' Romney said to Regent graduates this spring.

Romney got the endorsement of Catholic-bashing Bob Jones III, who as president of the school in 2000 only dropped its ban on interracial dating under heavy media scrutiny. 'We have the same things we want to fight for on issue after issue, so I'm happy to have his support,' Romney said in October.

Lifting the ban on interracial dating came with a caveat that parents give written consent. 'When you date interracially or marry interracially, it cuts you off from people,' Jones reportedly said in March 2000.

Haven't we moved past the point of endorsements from folks like this mattering anymore?

At some point, wouldn't a candidate of character stand up and say, 'Sorry, endorsement not needed'?..."

Now, there's another thing about Romney that I looked into over the weekend. The name of Gary Jarmin, a conservative activist who ran a distasteful senior scare scam and described from the horse's mouth as operating in the service of Sun Myung Moon, originally appeared on the roster of Romney's National Faith and Values Steering Committee. It was removed there, but still appears on this follow-up press release about additions to the committee. So I contacted the Romney campaign and asked if Jarmin was still on the committee, and received this response: "He had to resign because of other commitments."

Is "other commitments" code for "you're a liability, see ya"? Rumor has it that a major paper has been sniffing around regarding the Jarmin-Romney connection.

Vote for Bridget: Meet my campaign staff

As Cartman and Butters offered Clyde while campaigning in Season 8, would you like a butterscotch?

How about... another butterscotch?

I said I'd be back with my platform for Grande Conservative Blogress Diva 2008, a contest that is up in a few days. Here's what I'm running on:

• Being a uniter of all the political divas, not a diva divider
• Flat tax/fair tax? Pshaw — how about no tax?
• Continuing to piss off Chavez and Ahmadinejad
• Showing the world that L.A. is about more than Lohan/Spears drama — represent!
• Showing the world that being a diva is about more than liberally peppering one's blog with pictures of one's boobs

Head on over and vote now — and while you’re over there, enjoy the great commentary at Gay Patriot, represented here in L.A. by my good friend Dan (aka GayPatriotWest).

The Republican debate

After the GOP candidates -- with a cameo from Alan Keyes! -- wrapped up their Iowa duke-out, Fox News asked their audience who won. Mitt Romney, they said. Why? Most often-heard answer: "Because he looked presidential!"

Umm... does that a president make?

Best line of the debate actually goes to Fred Barnes, who commented afterward that the moderator was like Nurse Ratched. She was like a dull-dressed dominatrix: "Put your hands up!"

Mitt smacks the panic button

Finally, the Huckapult in the polls is garnering the attention it deserves: in the form, of course, of scared GOP hopefuls going on the offensive. Romney's campaign, perhaps realizing that a chunky bankroll and good hair might not win the coveted early primaries, is finally taking notice that the former Arkansas governor may be the man to Huckabeat in Iowa and is launching its first TV ad against him.

The topic of the ad? Immigration. Romney's going after Huckafriendly over in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. Never mind that a somewhat flexible stance to deal with current immigration problems coupled with tighter border security would win Huckabee votes within the giant middle ground in a general election. Also, let's be serious, Mitt did have workers sans green cards trimming the hedges at his home. So we'll see how the stone-throwing in glass mansions works out for the guy who didn't fare so well from his "I'm a Mormon, you're not" speech.

Now, I'm a big fan of campaign mudslinging. I've loved dirty campaigning ever since I wrote so in the WSJ's Opinion Journal in the 2004 horse race and somebody I won't mention at the Times ripped it off a few weeks later. I believe that if all of the candidates played nice and acted genteel, then we wouldn't see the true candidate. To understand better how he or she would handle conflict with our enemies later, I'd like to see how that candidate handles conflict with ballot foes now. So let the mudslinging fly. We'll see who comes out clean in the end.

The Speech

Romney gave the "big faith speech" yesterday, but does anyone outside the press really care? The only people that seem to be obsessed with Romney’s faith are in the media. I have yet to hear one person tell me that Romney’s faith is a real problem. The only time I hear about Romney’s faith from outside the media is when someone is parroting some poll that claims it really matter to people. What the polls really say is people are "less likely" to vote for a Mormon, which probably doesn’t hurt Romney as much as John Edwards being a trial lawyer.

In reality, people don’t care about a candidate’s faith; they care about a candidate’s record. In Romney’s case he too much like a republican John Kerry; from Massachusetts, nice hair, and lots of flip-floppery. He’s not a bad guy but the republican base does not know if they can trust him.

Romney has enough of a record to allow people to judge him on how he might govern. No one questions Ted Kennedy’s liberal credentials because he is catholic. And Teddy’s faith never stopped him from being pro abortion. However, the media never seems to focus on the democrat’s faith. I don’t remember reading anything substantial about Hillary, Obama, or Edwards's faith but I have gotten an earful about all the top tier republicans with the possible exception of McCain.

The media pushed Romney into this speech because they sold him on the idea that "evangelicals" were abandoning him in Iowa because of his faith. If that were really true they would have never supported him in the first place. The truth is Huckabee has been kicking ass in just about every debate and people have taken notice. Now the press has started to obsess about Huckabee’s faith. When asked about Romney’s faith Huckebee said, "I am just not going to go into evaluating other people's doctrines and faiths. I think that is absolutely not a role for a president." Huckabee is right. Now if only the media would let it go instead of trying to drive wedges between people of different faiths.

Huckabullet

Huckabee is moving up the charts with a bullet. Today’s Rasmussen daily tracking poll shows Huckabee leading Giuliani nationally by three percentage points. Huckabee is ahead in Iowa, moving up in New Hampshire, and running second in the latest Florida poll. It would not surprise me to see Huckabee leading in the next South Carolina poll. While just about everyone is surprised that Huckabee has moved up so quickly, it seems that there is finally some genuine excitement for a republican candidate.

This really should come as no surprise to anyone. Both Rudy and Mitt were nice enough, but they have not exactly been conservative flag bearers. McCain garnered a lot of mistrust among republicans by burnishing his maverick label before he decided to impale himself on immigration. That left many folks waiting for Thompson. Thompson got in because he knew the top candidates had soft support but Thompson’s candidacy not only didn’t generate any heat, it didn’t generate a pulse. Voters took notice of Huckabee when as he stood out and shined at the debates.

Conventional wisdom was that Huckabee’s rise was helping Giuliani by taking some of the steam from Romney and the others but now Giuliani has a real problem. As it stands, Huckabee will take Iowa with Romney taking New Hampshire. Giuliani had the lead in the last Michigan poll but those polls are old and I expect Romney to take Michigan. Then South Carolina, which Huckabee could take. At this point Florida comes into play and if Giuliani has not taken a primary or place some really close seconds, he may not be able to survive.

It remains to be seen if Huckabee can keep moving now that the long knives are starting to show. I have already noticed some people in the media have changed his title from "former governor" to "ordained minister". They must be worried.

Fair Tax Vs. Fred Tax

Fred Thompson has recently come up with a bold new Flat Tax which it turns out is neither bold nor flat. The first thing you notice when you read his plan is there is a 10% and 25% rate in the "flat" tax which makes it about as flat as Pamela Anderson. The next thing you notice is that Fred wants to leave the old tax system intact and let you choose which way to file. So now I have to figure out my taxes yet another way to try to figure out how I will least be hosed. It’s like having your proctologist letting you choose which finger he will use.

Anyone that tries to fix our tax system without first dumping the current abomination is just playing games. The current tax system rewards special interests with tax breaks and punishes the regular Joe if he happens to be more successful. The Fair Tax is appealing because it taxes those that spend money, not those that make money. Too many people in this country live beyond their means and many of those people will rely on the government for their health and well-being. It’s time we implemented a tax code that started taxing the spenders and gave a break to the savers and the job creators. I had high hopes for you Fred, but this non flat, Flat Tax sucks.