No one is surprised Pawlenty withdrew. He just did it sooner than expected. Your indispensable guide to presidential candidates is updated. Give me reasonable odds and I'll wager T-Paw is looking at a challenge to Al Franken.
I'm also adding a guy I knew slightly in the Reagan years. He Fred Karger, a gay Republican political "consultant" and operative. I ran into him yesterday and came as close to feeling sorry for him as I can for any hustling aspirant to the public trough. At least he had balls enough to stand right next to the political evangelicals' big tent, talk about being gay, and hand out post card promos, each with a small jelly bean taped on.
Aug 14, 2011
One Saturday in Ames
 |
| The Ron Paul registration tent a few minutes after it opened. |
 |
| Paul forces have discovered the usefulness of the carnival approach toward saving America. The little kids mobbed this one, pulling themselves laboriously up the mountain for a quick slide down. The point to be impressed on their elders was that two centuries of hard work can be erased by a couple of decades' over-borrowing. |
 |
| The Midway --gimme caps, fried food, free pop, and your choice of petitions to sign. (I limited myself to one, for constitutional carry.) |
 |
| Somebody in the Perry camp got to feeling uneasy that he had absolutely no presence and that his announcement timing was a gob of spit in the Iowa face. So they hired an untalented middle-school kid to decorate a van. This is about as good as it got for Perry here. |
From the belly of the beast
(I'm still in Straw Poll recovery, tired. So let a rambling personal note to an old and dear friend stand as my interim report on the Ames follies. He writes:
...What about that Ron Paul? I'll bet the Republican National Committee reached in and burned a few hundred votes, else wise he wold have buried Michelle. Awesome. Can he win in January? End all the wars! Audit the Fed! Repeal the drug laws!
---
And I can do no better than:
...What about that Ron Paul? I'll bet the Republican National Committee reached in and burned a few hundred votes, else wise he wold have buried Michelle. Awesome. Can he win in January? End all the wars! Audit the Fed! Repeal the drug laws!
---
And I can do no better than:
The RP of Iowa runs this show, and the count is accurate. It is a quadrennial fund raiser which generates seven figures for the party, and these guys are smart enough to know that loose tallies would kill credibility, hence the goose.
What makes Paul's finish all the more impressive is his opponent. Actually, opponents, plural.
In running against Michele he took on the entire Jesus-on-my-Sleeve political apparatus, and Iowa is a fundamentalist bastion. They are well-funded and exceptionally well-organized. To even approach the numbers of Bob VanderPlatts' crusaders is a victory more than moral.
He also bucked the muddle-headed GOP center, what Goldwater called the east coast establishment, the Rockefellerites who differ with the hard left only in the speed and direction of their statist ambitions. And these guys are even richer than the fundies.
So, I'm pleased with his c. 25 per cent even though yesterday probably marked his personal high point. You should have noticed by now that the news coverage is concentrated on how soon Michele will burn out, how Romney will fare against Perry, and the level of chaos Sarah will create if and when she jumps in. In media eyes Congressman Paul remains a quaint old fellow with a few useful thoughts but certainly is not a man to be taken seriously. I mean, who cares about those crazy Austrian economists? Who can even understand them? And Murray Rothbard? Whozzat?
To be viable six months from now, Paul would need at least very strong second-place finishes in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. (Nevada -- where he might even win -- could help him, but I haven't checked on its 2012 primary/caucus arrangements yet.) He will get the money he needs for these early contests, but his message is ultimately not salable to 50 per cent plus one at this time in our history.
---
I was there with one of those unlimited-access badges around my neck, so I got to hang out about anywhere I wanted. I chose mostly to mingle with the enthusiastic youngsters -- kids your students' age. I haven't digested the events well enough to write about them yet, and I have only one firm observation to report: Ron Paul's volunteer co-eds were quite a little prettier than Michele's, but the typical Bachmann girl showed a lot more leg. Make of it what you will.
:)
Jim
(Addendum: I hope no one confuses opposition to theocracy with opposition to religion.)
Aug 12, 2011
Ron Paul and the Seven Dwarfs
No one laid a glove on him last night, but, then, no one really tried to box him into a corner. Paul was his usual thoughtful self which is good for the national intellect, not so good for getting elected.
No one but Rick (I'm holier than Michele, honest) Santorum even swung hard, and he drew boos for saying Paul's Fed stance was "mostly wrong."
It's all background noise now, of course. The debate spin cycle has just a few more hours to run, and by the time the straw poll opens tomorrow the electrical teevee will overload circuits with news of Rick (I'm even holier than Santorum, plus I can do arithmetic and have cooler hair) Perry.
It is no longer about policy. It's about buses from the boondocks to Ames, full of people who made up their minds long ago. Paul has spent money on this little beauty contest. He has the buses and a much better organization than 2007. In the data-free expectations charades, he's tabbed to finish in the top three with Michele and Somebody Else. The better he does, the more pressure on media types to quit snickering every time someone uses the term liberty.
(There are no polls about this straw poll. The universe is too small, the expected turnout ranging from just under 14,000 to maybe 18,000.)
---
Rocinante is saddled and I've scrubbed rust from the lance. A new edition of the TSA windmill identification guide is at hand. The house sitter/dog handler arrives shortly. I am putting aside my general disinclination to join groups larger than 30,000 and attend receptions where people in shined Florsheims notice your necktie. If this doesn't pay off in at least one belly laugh and several heartfelt grins, I am going to be one pissed off old war hose.
No one but Rick (I'm holier than Michele, honest) Santorum even swung hard, and he drew boos for saying Paul's Fed stance was "mostly wrong."
It's all background noise now, of course. The debate spin cycle has just a few more hours to run, and by the time the straw poll opens tomorrow the electrical teevee will overload circuits with news of Rick (I'm even holier than Santorum, plus I can do arithmetic and have cooler hair) Perry.
It is no longer about policy. It's about buses from the boondocks to Ames, full of people who made up their minds long ago. Paul has spent money on this little beauty contest. He has the buses and a much better organization than 2007. In the data-free expectations charades, he's tabbed to finish in the top three with Michele and Somebody Else. The better he does, the more pressure on media types to quit snickering every time someone uses the term liberty.
(There are no polls about this straw poll. The universe is too small, the expected turnout ranging from just under 14,000 to maybe 18,000.)
---
Rocinante is saddled and I've scrubbed rust from the lance. A new edition of the TSA windmill identification guide is at hand. The house sitter/dog handler arrives shortly. I am putting aside my general disinclination to join groups larger than 30,000 and attend receptions where people in shined Florsheims notice your necktie. If this doesn't pay off in at least one belly laugh and several heartfelt grins, I am going to be one pissed off old war hose.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)