Day: August 22, 2012

This TPM story about a teabag Republican Sheriff in New Hampshire claiming outlandish powers under the Constitution (including the power to use deadly force to prevent doctors from performing legal abortions and the power to bring elected officials to trial in front of a "citizen’s grand jury") made me pine for stories about our own Republican Sheriff.

I had forgotten that Mike Protack was actually, once again, running for something. This year he is a Republican candidate for New Castle County Council President. This is a change in the trajectory of his political career. For before this year, he had been on a downward spiral in the office he was seeking in any given year. In 2004, he ran for Governor and lost in the Republican Primary. In 2006, he ran for the U.S. Senate and lost in the Republican Primary. In 2008, he ran again for Governor and lost at the Republican convention. In 2010, he finally lowered his sights and ran for something that even I thought he could win: a County Council seat. But he lost in the Republican Primary. If he were to run again, I thought the next logical stop would have been Alderman or whatever similar office they have in Hockessin (or dogcatcher if they don't). But to my surprise, Protack, ever the poker player, is upping the ante once again. And this time, finally, at long last, after a long quioxitic journy, Michael D. Protack will be the nominee of the Republican Party for something.

The Republican Convention is next week in Tampa, Florida. On Saturday and Sunday before the start of the convention, Tropical Storm (and perhaps by then, Hurricane) Isaac will be bearing down on the GOP's convention hall. I want to discern the symbolism of this, somehow implying that God's wrath is being evidenced by the coincendental events. Where is Pat Robertson when you really need him? I guess I will have to settle for Dana Milbank

The big poll from yesterday was the new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, that found that, despite Mitt Romney's choice of Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate, the race remains unchanged. The poll found Obama leading Romney 48 to 44, but the more interesting result are that Obama leads by 22 points on the question about which candidate cares about average people. Further, the GOP's favorability gap is -9 (36% favorable, 45% unfavorable) while the Dems are at +2 (42% favorable, 40% unfavorable). That's not good for Republicans. These are the same numbers from prior wave years in 2006 and 2008. Here is our new map, reflecting changes from new polls in Virginia and Wisconsin:

Todd Akin, Richard Murdock, Christine O'Donnell, Sharon Angle, Ken Buck, etc. etc. etc. I'm not sad that teabags appear to be on the George Soros payroll, but I do pine for the days when Democrats won majorities on the merits of their policies.