Charges of Racism Are Meaningless These Days

Over the weekend the Washington Post ran a front page hit piece on Rick Perry.  Here's the gist of the story:  Someone in the past wrote a racially insensitive word on a rock at a hunting camp.  Some years later Perry's dad leased the camp and painted over the word on the rock.  However, because Rick Perry continued to hunt at that camp and apparently because he didn't use a nuclear device to remove the offending rock, he's a racist.

That's it.  One of the emptiest racial attacks by the mainstream media yet.

Jim Geraghty wrote a piece when Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour was hit with a similarly weak attack and it still works today:

Any white Republican who grew up in the South is going to be accused of racism. In fact, there's quite a bit of evidence to suggest that any Republican running against Barack Obama will be accused of racism, period. Hell, any Republican, running for office, anywhere, at any time, will be accused of racism eventually.

The Monday campaign against Barbour ran on two tracks; outspoken liberals called him racist; more mainstream sources simply emphasized that he's associated with a racial controversy, which in time will turn into the modifier, "Barbour, who has been accused of racism by critics because of some comments about the South during the segregation era," and so on. The description becomes the inverse of a Good-Housekeeping Seal of Approval, warding off anyone who might give a Southern Republican the benefit of the doubt. Everyone with good sense, not wanting to be associated with a dreaded racial controversy, keeps their distance.

If Barbour's future career is derailed by these comments, it will further reflect the epic double standard reflecting race and partisan politics.Harry Reid can marvel at Barack Obama's lack of a "negro accent" with no real consequence. Bill Clinton can describe Obama to Ted Kennedy as a "guy [who] would have been getting us coffee" not long ago with no real consequence. Hillary Clinton faced accusations of racism for appearing to diminish the accomplishments of Martin Luther King in comparison to Lyndon Johnson -- until the Democratic primary ended, and then no liberal had much reason to stir the controversy further. Joe Biden can utter awful stereotypical jokes about Indians running 7-11s and Dunkin' Doughnuts with no major repercussion. The President's mentor trafficked in explicit racial insults -- referring to Italians as "garlic noses" -- and the topic was deemed irrelevant by many. And of course, there is the former recruiter of the Ku Klux Klan who used the n-word on national television with little major repercussion.

Every major Democrat in public life has made controversial comments about race; it's probably a natural consequence of speaking extemporaneously about the topic in front of television cameras. But that benefit of the doubt is rarely if ever extended to a Republican official.

I've decided to work on the text of a racial speech that I want some Republican candidate to give. It's not quite done yet, but once I have it finished I'll post it. It's time the real racist culprits are named and shamed.

Haley Barbour Out, Ron Paul In

That's not a good trade:

Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, whose outspoken libertarian views and folksy style made him a cult hero during two previous presidential campaigns, will announce on Tuesday that he's going to try a third time.

I've already got Paul's campaign slogan:  Don't Trust Anyone Under 78!

Meanwhile, Gov. Haley Barbour, who has about as much chance to win as Paul but who is a significantly more interesting candidate, will not run. Too bad.

At least I'll be able to weed by Facebook feed of all the Paulnuts who will be dancing in the street tomorrow.

Romney Should Stop Exploring

Yesterday, on the fifth anniversary of Romneycare in Massachusetts, Mitt Romney announced the establishment of his presidential exploratory committee.  I think he should stop exploring.  It ain't gonna happen.  Mitt's not going to be president, and I frankly doubt he'll be the nominee.

Look at this CNN poll as reported by Dave Wiegel:

Trump's support comes largely from Romney, who falls to his lowest support in two years.
Huckabee 19%
Trump 19% (+9)
Palin 12%
Gingrich 11% (-3)
Romney 11% (-7)
Paul 7% (-1)
Bachmann 5% (+5)
Daniels 3%
Pawlenty 2% (-1)
Santorum 2% (-1)
Barbour * (-1)

Here's the field without Trump:
Huckabee 24%
Gingrich 16%
Palin 16%
Romney 16%
Paul 9%
Daniels 4%
Pawlenty 3%
Santorum 2%

Romney is banking on the GOP's bad habit of choosing "whoever's next" and since he gave John McCain the best run in 2008, he's "next". We don't want to make that mistake again.

At this point I'm almost hoping Donald Trump makes a serious run at it. With a GOP field this lackluster at least he'd add some excitement.

Most Open GOP Field in 50 Years

Either nobody really wants the job, or Republicans just can't find anyone they really like:

There's nothing typical about this GOP field.

For more than half-a-century, the race for the Republican presidential nomination has always featured a clear front runner at this point in the campaign, according to a Gallup analysis out Monday. Not this time.

Those early Republican front-runners in past contests have had good odds, and have gone on to win the nomination in 8 out of 10 competitive Republican races since 1952.

While today Mike Huckabee has a slim lead among Republican and Republican-leaning voters with 18 percent of the vote, no one has made wide strides away from the pack. Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney are each the pick of 16 percent.

The 2008 election is the only case surveyed by Gallup in which the eventual nominee gained front-runner status late in the campaign cycle. In most elections, the nominee had netted that status by March.

The 2012 field's deviation from the familiar pattern of nominating the heir apparent could have consequences for fundraising and party cohesion beyond the race for the nomination, the analysis notes.

Let's see:

• Mitt Romney - Romneycare, part-time conservative
• Newt Gingrich - Baggage
• Sarah Palin - Baggage
• Mike Huckabee - Meh
• Rick Santorum - Can't win
• Ron Paul - Nuts
• Donald Trump - Seriously?  He could end up being the Ross Perot of 2012.
• Tim Pawlenty - Name recognition problem
• Mitch Daniels - Too willing to compromise
• Jon Huntsman - Who?
• Haley Barbour  - thick-as-molasses Southern accent may be a problem in the north.
• Herman Cain - Hate to say it, but I don't think America is going to be ready for another black president anytime soon.
• Michele Bachmann - You think Sarah Palin's been demonized, wait until you see what they do to Bachmann.
• Chris Christie - Has said numerous times he doesn't want to run in 2012.  I believe him.

Can someone other than these folks still jump into the fray and win the nomination?  I hope so.

Jerry Springer: Hey Libs, Picking on Palin is Stupid

I never expected Jerry Springer to be the voice of reason, but his advice to his fellow liberals is...well, pretty reasonable:

There is something about former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin that really upsets the left and she often finds herself in their crosshairs as a target of ridicule and scorn. But by putting such contempt on display, is the left damaging itself?

In an appearance on New York City WABC radio’s “Goodman to Go” podcast hosted by David Goodman, Jerry Springer admitted a distinct disagreement with Palin’s world view. However, he also observed she has some redeeming qualities.

“I don’t want her to be president,” Springer said. “I don’t agree with her views. But I would never say anything mean about her. I think she is incredibly charismatic. I think she takes her religion very seriously and her views very seriously. I don’t think there’s anything mean-spirited about her.”

But here’s where Springer advised his fellow liberals not to be so quick to demonize Palin. He explained that by doing so, one runs the risk of offending others because there are people that identify with the former Alaska governor.

“I think where liberals may be doing the wrong thing is when they try to make fun of her because they’re making fun of a large section of America that has those fundamental beliefs that she has,” he continued. “And I think that’s dangerous. I don’t think that’s right to do. So I can honestly disagree with her, but I would never say anything disrespectful of her.”

As we've seen with the anti-Tea Party and more recently with the Wisconsin protests, there's an almost genetic need of liberals to belittle and mock their political enemies, especially when they have no facts to back up their arguments. This has been true of Palin's critics since the very beginning. There's something about her that drives them absolutely nuts, and so they worked very hard to establish a meme that she was stupid. Nothing could be further from the truth and she's played her detractors like a Stradivarius.

The left won't listen to Springer.  The attacks on Palin will continue, and with each attack her supporters will become even more committed.

However committed they might be, though, Palin does not show signs of running for president (from Mike Allen):

BIG SIGN SARAH PALIN ISN’T RUNNING: Neither she, nor anyone on her behalf, is courting top donors, early-state activists or experienced operatives – all of whom are getting locked down, day by day.

--THE LIKELY GOP FIELD, in order of relevance: 1) Mitt Romney, 2) Tim Pawlenty, 3) Haley Barbour, 4) Jon Huntsman, 5) Newt Gingrich, 6) Rick Santorum.

If that's all we got, we lose.

The Donald To Speak at CPAC

The annual CPAC conference (conservative Woodstock) kicks off today and there will be a surprise appearance from The Donald:

Rumored presidential candidate Donald Trump will make a surprise visit to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington today. He plans to address the convention in the afternoon. The decision to attend CPAC was pushed by Trump’s longtime political advisor Roger Stone, and indicates the billionaire real estate mogul is becoming serious about seeking the Republican nomination for president next year.

Trump has been hinting at his desire to run for months. “For the first time in my life, I am absolutely thinking about it,” he told MSNBC in October. According to Newsmax, Trump is “telling friends he has decided he will definitely run.” And although he denied any involvement when someone began mysteriously polling New Hampshire residents about their thoughts on a Trump campaign, he still made sure to tell Fox News that he heard the results were “amazing.”

Trump has a lot of good ideas, and he's been very good on some key issues. However, I would worry a little bit about turning his ego loose in the White House.

The Donald isn't the only potential 2012 candidate planning to speak at CPAC.  There are 14 more:

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson,  Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, and Former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton.

Of course, some of those people either have no plans to run or can't possibly win despite many attempts (see Ron Paul).  The one most conspicuous name missing is Sarah Palin who has been regularly invited but has never attended a CPAC gathering.  And count on Ron Paul to do well, or even win, the straw poll.   The Paulinistas are unusually good at stacking these meaningless polls.

Michele Bachmann opened with a bang. Here "Hu's your daddy" line is already getting rave reviews from the pundits.

GOP + Tea Party = Obama Defeat

That's the message coming from Haley Barbour, former RNC chairman, current governor of Mississippi, and possible 2012 presidential candidate:

Christine O'Donnell's upset victory in last week's Delaware GOP Senate primary has generated a lot of talk in the media about where the tea party and the GOP are headed.

Tea party voters have been incited to political action by the policies of the Obama administration and the Pelosi-Reid Congress. These include a heretofore unimaginable federal spending spree, a failed package of stimulus programs, a government takeover of our health-care system, and the Democrats' insistence on raising taxes, particularly on job creators, even though job creation is our country's greatest need.

Tea party voters are not only motivated by the effect these terrible policies are having on them—they are worried about America's future. They fear that their children and grandchildren won't inherit the same country they inherited from their parents and grandparents. What they know with certainty is that future generations will be saddled with paying back the trillions in debt that the Obama administration and Congress are running up with so little positive result.

Replace "tea party" with "Republican" in every instance above, and each description would remain totally accurate. On the issues foremost in voters' minds—the economy, jobs, spending, taxes, debt and deficits—the overwhelming majority of tea party voters and Republican voters are in strong agreement.

That is why it was tremendously important for Republican prospects in the 2010 elections that tea partiers did not run as independents or third-party candidates. To do so would have split the votes of those who know the Obama-Pelosi-Reid policies don't work and are hurting our economy.

Every Republican should be pleased that these tea party candidates chose to run in our primaries. In the vast majority of cases, their participation was welcomed, even cultivated, by GOP leaders—and rightly so.

Read the rest of his analysis here.

Barbour knows a thing or two about building a party. He was a very successful RNC Chairman and could be a good guy to build the relationship between the Tea Party independents and the GOP.

Some of the GOP insiders really burned bridges over the Christine O'Donnell race in Delaware, and that damage needs to be fixed before the Tea Party crowd will be comfortable working with the Republicans.