Mitt Romney

I sense there is much campaign journalist fatigue and boredom. First we had Howard Kurtz bemoaning the fact Obama hasn't shown him much love.

Now we have CNN's Peter Hamby writing about Huckabee's trash talking Romney over friend chicken. Not policy, but FRIED CHICKEN.

"I can tell you this," he said, "any Southerner knows if you don’t eat the skin don’t bother calling it fried chicken."

"So that's good. I'm glad that he did that, because that means I'm going to win Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma … all these great Southern states that understand the best part of fried chicken is the skin, if you're going to eat it that way."

This from a guy that supposedly has his stomach stapled due to his past obesity?

Dude.

Well, in Iowa we had a HUGE surprise win for Obama. I had called it for Clinton. New Hampshire I called for Obama. Looks like, barring a sudden turn around, it will go for Clinton. Well, I DID predict they would go different ways and I got THAT part right.

Iowa: Obama, Edwards, Clinton pull delegates (in descending order)

New Hampshire: Clinton, Obama, Edwards pull delegates (probably in that order)

This throws everything back into play, of course. Will this throw South Carolina back to Clinton? I predict it will go Obama. But I do think Nevada may stick with Clinton, though if the Culinary Union really does go Obama (as rumors circulated today). Which all means Feb 5th will be the big day we all expected it to be.

On the (yawn) Republican side, my predicted win for Huckabee in Iowa and McCain in New Hampshire came to pass. I was wrong about Wyoming which went for Romney instead of my predicted Huckabee.

So:

Iowa: Huckabee, Romney, Thompson pull delegates
Wyoming: Romney, Thompson, Hunter pull delegates
New Hampshire: McCain, Romney, Huckabee pull delegates (probably in that order)

So it really looks like both parties won't have a clue who will win until Feb 5th or after. And you know, that is kind of cool.

I predicted Hucakbee would win Iowa. It doesn't mean that much. He will probably win Wyoming and South Carolina as well. I think McCain has a good shot at New Hampshire. Giuliani might just pull off some wins. Romney...well, he may take Michigan. My money is on Huckabee winning the nomination and has been for months. But it remains a three-to-four way race among the sad, sagging Republican race. Remember that Fred Thompson was supposed to save the Republicans from complete lameness. THAT sure didn't work. So lameness it remains, but Huckabee may be the most dangerous of the lame candidates. He trounced Romney tonight and I think that MIGHT spell the end of Romney. If Romney weren't a flip-flopping creep, I wouldn't think it would matter. But given that I didn't really believe he had much of a chance from the start, I think his loss tonight is significant. I think either Huckabee will surge and dominate, or he will find himself in a close heat with either McCain or McCain and Giuliani once Feb. 5th comes around.

On the Dem side I predicted Hillary would win Iowa with Edwards a possible second. Obama pulled it off. I think this means Edwards has very little chance. By no means no chance. But the polls don't look good for him elsewhere, so losing Iowa means no momentum going forward...which bodes ill. He's no fool. He could still pull off a comeback, but I don't consider it likely.

I see a screenplay blooming. Dealing with a favorite theme: time travel. You now think you'll steal this zeitgeisty gem from me, but you cannot because in the future, I have already finished it, and am mailing it to myself yesterday in a walnut sealed in Presidential earwax and pressurized to resist even election-year terror alerts.

OUR TALE BEGINS with a man who desperately seeks an answer to his deepest, heart-sprung questions, headed up by the quintessential and Googlicious How Do I Get Rid of the Mexicans? You see, our protagonist feels his very nation is under dire attack by the filthy mongrel hordes from the South, those who bark that most Arrogant and Sickening of Languages—Español, those who dare to settle into his beautiful nation, hellbent on storming the kitchens and fields and meatpacking plants and canning plants and steel factories or to otherwise seek to implement that most foul of Mexican behaviors: the trading of work for pay.

Let's call our protagonist "Greebey." Let's call him "Greebey Vather." Let's pronounce that "Vay-thur." Let's make his middle initial "N" and then let's give him two rags in his back pockets, one on each side. One is the confederate flag, which he never uses to blow his nose. The other is the one he uses to blow his nose. But he always carries both. No, make that confederate flag a stars N stripes. but with the circle of stars, not the rows. No, make it a Budweiser eagle bandanna, yeah, bleached from too many days in the sunlight falling upon his cracked dashboard, where it usually rests. Render Vather's bandanna Made in China. We don't need a label. Wait, make it a bleached-out watermark on the bandanna. Only Vather never looks close enough to see it.

Missed this when it first came out at the beginning of August. But the National Jewish Democratic Council has brought it to my attention. Mitt Romney has criticized Democrats for being unable to "recognize evil." And yet Mitt Romney ALSO is calling for America to look to Hezbollah as a role model.

...in an article titled “Mitt Romney cited Hezbollah's social network as a model for U.S. diplomacy,” the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) reported on recent comments by GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney that Hezbollah’s “kind of diplomacy is something that would help America become stronger around the world …” Today, the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) strongly criticized Mitt Romney for his praise of Hezbollah and released the following statement from Executive Director Ira N. Forman:

“It is the height of irony that, within weeks of saying Democrats are ‘uncomfortable in recognizing evil in the world,’ Governor Romney would make such ill-informed remarks that cite a terrorist organization as a model for U.S. diplomacy. Indeed, Mitt Romney’s naïve comments suggest a fundamental misunderstanding of the Middle East and geopolitical realities. Mitt Romney desperately wants to be President of the United States, but this type of comment clearly shows that he is not ready for prime time.

The following has made it onto the Recommended List on Daily Kos. Wasn't expecting that! I may have to do this regularly! If it is interesting to dKos people, maybe I should post it here as well.

Being a New Yorker, I have realized that many people don't know what Rudy Giuliani is really like. It is amazing how few people realize what a dick he is and how our first responders DETEST him. So I wanted to find some articles (including my own...) that highlight how he really is.

Which then made me realize that I already have some articles on some other Republicans that should get more attention. So, here is what might be a regular thing I do: highlighting the articles that Republicans DON'T want you to see. Please feel free to add more in the comments. I may pick up on some of them for my own blogging. And feel free to spread the word on these articles.

Rudy Giuliani:
So few people realize what a self-centered control freak this guy is and how much he is despised by the REAL heroes of 9/11. So here are a few articles that highlight the side of Rudy he doesn't want you to know:

Firefighters hate him

I mean, they REALLY hate him

Well, we already know that Rudy Giuliani screwed New York's firefighters and bears some responsibility for the deaths of so many brave firefighters on 9/11 and the poisoning of many others in the weeks afterwards.

We already know that Mitt Romney is a flip flopping opportunist who openly supports torture.

But both Rudy and Mitt are also chickenhawks in the shameful tradition of Bush, Cheney and the vast majority of hawkish Republicans. McCain, though his record on Veterans issues sucks, is certainly exempt from the "chickenhawk" accusation. But Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani are cowards who evaded service every way they could, but demand that others serve...and are willing to insult real Veterans in the process.

Chickenhawk: A politician whose hawkishness and willingness to put soldiers' lives on the line is matched only by their desperation to avoid military service themselves.

This was covered in Salon.com last week, but only now getting around to covering it.

(image and quote below from Salon.com)

Consider Giuliani...He never hesitates to suggest that politicians with differing opinions simply lack guts. When he spoke at the 2004 Republican convention, he gleefully insinuated that Democratic nominee John Kerry lacked the fortitude to combat terrorism. Now he denigrates the supposedly spineless Democrats running for president in 2008.

The Iowa Democratic Party is encouraging people to come out and meet Republican candidate Mitt Romney...and ask him about his support of Bush's plan to privatize Social Security:

Des Moines – This weekend, Iowans will get the chance to “Ask Mitt Anything” at events throughout the state. A week ago, Governor Romney praised George Bush’s plan to privatize social security, calling it “a big plus.” Iowans are encouraged to ask Romney about his plan for the future of social security.

“Apparently, Mitt Romney has forgotten that the idea of privatizing social security proved so unpopular that it was never brought up for a vote even when Republicans controlled the House and Senate,” said Carrie Giddins, Iowa Democratic Party Communications Director. “We hope that Iowans will ask why Romney supports privatization even after the plan was rejected by the American people.”

Romney Praised Bush Plan to Privatize Social Security. “Mitt Romney yesterday praised the notion of personal accounts for Social Security recipients, a key aspect of the Social Security reform plan of President Bush that never made it out of Congress. Romney said it would be a good idea to use the Social Security trust fund to allow personal accounts, which could earn higher rates of return for beneficiaries. ‘Personal accounts would be a big plus,’ Romney said.” [New Hampshire Union Leader, 6/7/07]

There's probably no end to the consernation at Mitt Romney's Boston headquarters; the former governor, currently seeking the republican Presidential nomination, is now confronted with a video in which he takes unacceptably, shockingly tolerant positions on choice and gay rights.

Republicans will now have to decide whether Romney is extremist enough to be their standard-bearer. Stay tuned.