I don't have a dog in this fight, but...

[DanaC]

Is that a black walnut flavour smilie?

[tw]

Well by now I figured this thread had move on to a more relevant topic: Michael Vic.

[classicman]

Michael Vick...

[Spexxvet]

I am amused that the republicans are considering Newt, a former college professor, when they've historically sneered at the educated elite Democrats.

[Lamplighter]

Does Newt Gingrich really want to be the next GOP president ?

It strikes me that he is savvy enough to know that his comments
on "child labor laws" and the derogatory comments about "poor kids"
are going to do four things:

a) generate short term news media coverage
b) draw cheers from the bigots
c) inflame the rest of society
d) kill his chances for any votes from non-conservatives

Of all the topics Newt could chose to speak about, this one is
deliberately calculated to inflame, and to draw attention to Newt...
which may well be the only things he really wants in his life.

Does Newt Gingrich really want to be the next GOP president ?
I think not. Instead, I think he's in it for self-stimulation !
.

[richlevy]

Well, Herman Cain is not long for this race. Which is why this commentator wrote his farewell address for him. Funny!


http://www.borowitzreport.com/2011/1...m-herman-cain/

But here’s the part that really kills me. You’re kicking me to the curb because I was messing around, and instead you’re going with… Newt Gingrich? I repeat: are you fucking kidding me? Oh, I know what you’re saying: you love Newt because he’s an “intellectual.” Well, Newt Gingrich is the intellectual of the Republican field the way Moe was the intellectual of the Stooges.

[Lamplighter]

Originally Posted by richlevy

Well, Herman Cain is not long for this race. Which is why this commentator wrote his farewell address for him. Funny!


http://www.borowitzreport.com/2011/1...m-herman-cain/

very good !

[Lamplighter]

So today marks the day Herman Cain "suspended" his campaign.
Suspension allows him to continue raising campaign funds and use them.
If he "quit" the race, he would lose control of $ already contributed.

So now, we have a new field in this derby. Gingrich, Paul, and Romney,
in that order, among likely caucus members in Iowa.
So the question being asked now is:

Huffington Post
Stewart J. Lawrence
12/2/11

Could a Late Jon Huntsman Surge Spell the End of Mitt Romney?

Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman is the most "moderate" Republican candidate running for the presidency.

In fact, until recently, with first Michele Bachmann, then Rick Perry, and more recently, Herman Cain
-- to say nothing of Sarah Palin -- hogging the limelight,
Huntsman's quirky and at times bizarre campaign wasn't gaining him much attention.
His poll numbers seemed to hover between 2% and oblivion.
Many voters came away from his town halls and "meet-and-greets" impressed
with his calm and folksy manner, but hardly anyone claimed they'd actually cast a ballot for him.

But take a look at the latest polls coming out of New Hampshire.
After months of barely registering there or anywhere else,
Huntsman's suddenly broken into double-digits.

At 11%, he's nearly tied with libertarian stalwart Ron Paul for third place
behind Mitt Romney, whose candidacy has largely stalled,
and Newt Gingrich, who's surging just about everywhere,
sending the Romney campaign into panic mode
<snip>
Huntsman's plan, which among other things would would restrict bank assets
to a much lower percentage of the GDP and set a hard cap on total borrowing by any single bank,
has won him big kudos from influential conservative scholars at institutions
like the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute.

And besides all that:

USA Today

The race is far from settled. Eleven percent of likely caucus-goers in Iowa
are uncommitted to a first choice, and 60% are still willing to change their mind.

One notable finding: The results show Gingrich's ascendancy has the potential to grow,
More respondents choose Gingrich as their second choice than any other candidate.
Together, 43% of likely caucus-goers pick him as first or second.

.

[Griff]

Huntsman v Obama, moderate right v moderate left, nice outcome. Then the real question becomes, how do we get enough flexible Congressmen to do the nations work?

[DanaC]

That would be a fascinating presidential race. Either outcome could be good for America I think. That'd be a first for a long time: a win-win election :p

[Griff]

Huntsman is skipping the Trump / Newsmax debate, which is probably smart. He is also smacking Mitt around a little.

"Anyone who is in the hip pocket of Wall Street because of all the donations they are picking up, like Mr. Romney, is in these days not going to be the change agent who is going to fix the too-big-to-fail banking system," Huntsman told an audience Monday night.

[piercehawkeye45]

Originally Posted by DanaC

That would be a fascinating presidential race. Either outcome could be good for America I think. That'd be a first for a long time: a win-win election :p

Agreed.

[SamIam]

I disagree, Dana. Huntsman is claiming independence from corporate interests. Well maybe true, but maybe not. At any rate, Huntsman is the dream candidate for the Tea Party.

Jon Huntsman (R-Davos), the darling of Manhattan magazine writers. The Republican uncomfortable with being a Republican. Yet the policies Huntsman advocates, if implemented, would usher in a conservative, free-market, small-government revolution that no Tea Party member could help but applaud. No Thatcherite or Reaganite, either.

When Huntsman was governor of Utah, he scaled back the state human services program and left most assistance in the hands of the community. He could get away with this in Utah because the state is largely Mormon. The Mormon Church has more money than most people can imagine, and it has a very generous plan of assistance for its members.

However, if Huntsman's ideas are applied to the country as a whole, they will cause a social services nightmare along with a great deal of human suffering.

[DanaC]

If he had carte blanche to do whatever he wanted, I'd agree. But I get the impression that, despite his free market, small government, anti-assistance stance, he'd be more able or willing to forge a consensus compromise in Washington than some of the other candidates.

In other words, I don't necessarily think his views and policies are reasonable, but he seems a reasonable and pragmatic man.

I draw that conclusion on very fucking little, mind you. I know very little about him, other than the bits I've caught of him via the Daily Show.

[Lamplighter]

CBS News
Lucy Madison
December 5, 2011 4:23 PM

Ron Paul launches "Big Dog" ad in Iowa, New Hampshire

In a new 30-second ad his campaign describes as "fun and energetic,"
Ron Paul is taking on his fellow presidential contenders as "sorry politicians"
- who turn in to "whimpering little shih tzus" when it's "showtime."

Paul wants to eliminate at least 5 major departments of the federal government, as in this ad.



FYIW, the reference to "whimpering little shih tzus" is a play on
Rachael Maddow's poke last week at (R) Senator Scott Brown
who has a shih tzu pet dog named Snuggles.

And besides all that:

You can't drain the swamp when you're up to your ass in alligators.