Getting a little crowded…
Over the weekend, we heard that former New York Governor George Pataki might, or would, depending on the source, enter the race for the GOP Presidential nomination, perhaps as early as this week.
The GOP Establishment must be pushing him to enter the race as a “moderate savior,” since Romney and Hunstman are deemed too liberal or too Mormon by their whacko fundamentalist base. The problem is, Pataki is just as “liberal” as his fellow Northeastern governor Romney, and perhaps just as unacceptable. Add that to the fact that Pataki, out of the public eye since 2006 when he left office, is a has been who couldn’t even win his own state of New York for the GOP. So we will see how long this boomlet lasts.
Meanwhile, Teabagger organizers Peter Singleton, who is putting together a big Teabagger event in Iowa that will feature to comedic stylings of one Sarah Palin, has let it be known that he believes the failed half term quitter will launch by the end of September.
Said Singleton: “Labor Day will kick off the Republican campaign for the nomination. She is going to make a major, major speech.”
The GOP field has separated itself into a top tier, a plausible but unlikely tier, and a bottom no way in hell tier. Currently, the top tier is Rick Perry, Michelle Bachmann, and Mitt Romney. With the addition of Pataki and Palin, they would make up the plausible tier along with Governor Jon Hunstman. And the bottom tier is Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul and Herman Cain and anyone else too insignificant to recall right now.
The bottom tier is already struggling for oxygen. Two more canidates, especially one with the star quality of Palin, would probably end the candidacies of Cain and Santorum. Gingrich is arrogant and foolish enough to stay on until Iowa. And Paul will stay in until the convention. Glibertarians are crazy like that.
I have one thing in common with the GOP establishment: We are both afraid one of these kooks will win and we think there is a real chance this will happen.
Pataki entering the race is immediately in the bottom tier, like a movie releasing to DVD. I guess his job is just to draw some dollars and oxygen away from the undesirable frontrunners.
She is going to make a major, major speech.
She will need to write her notes on BOTH HANDS.
And Paul will stay in until the convention.
This will make it interesting as Perry will have to keep saying kookier and kookier things to try to grab Paul supporters (during the primary at least). It is no accident that Perry’s opening act was to attack the Federal Reserve.
Obama has thrown the GOP establishment shot callers off by looking so beatable. If they had known how the budget hostage taking was going to turn out, Christie and Pataki would have had mature campaigns up and running six months ago.
If they didn’t know how the hostage taking would turn out, then they weren’t paying attention.
Next up we will have the funhouse experience of Republicans holding TAX CUTS hostage. Obama wants an extension of his payroll tax cuts, which is the centerpiece of his jobs plan (I am not kidding). And Republicans will no doubt extract something else in exchange for extending the tax cuts.
This will play out during the GOP primary, so all the candidates will have the chance to register their position on Obama’s tax cuts/jobs plan.
If we had a working media they would be pressing the GOP candidates on what their jobs plan is (besides more tax cuts for fake job creators).
On the other hand, the GOP establishment can’t lose. If (as I assume), the GOP establishment’s main concern is eliminating business taxes, and cutting or at least holding steady on income tax for the rich (a la the Ryan budget) – then any of the current candidates will do. They just need to try to pick one that can beat Obama.
And if the election turns out to be a referendum on Obama and the economy, which seems likely, then any GOP candidate will win.
So what if President Crazy-Eyes is universally thought to be a joke. As long as she signs those tax cuts, her work is done – just like Bush.
I agree with you re the GOP. It is interesting to me that there is more than a bit of Aztec Empire (circa 1519) style thinking among GOP shot callers. The business guys were supposed to be the sane ones.
But now, nothing matter except further enriching the rich. When the whole society buys into that thinking, we know it does not end well.
Gallup confirms: Any one of those idiots could beat Obama.
Obama is in a dead heat with “generic teabagger.”
And that is *before* the anonymous unlimited money starts flowing behind the chosen Republican.
It’s easy to say, 14 months before the election, that you’ll vote for Bachmann or Perry. And the “unlimited money” for any Republican will have to match or top the $1 billion Obama is shooting for.
How many people can their “unlimited money” turn against Obama considering the level of animus against him already?