Wednesday’s political round-up

September 19, 2007

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:

* With the GOP’s top tier missing, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) easily won the religious right’s “Values Voters” straw-poll this week, winning 64% of the vote that followed the movement’s debate in South Florida Monday night. “We won huge,” Huckabee said. “I’m pleased, and proud, and honored to have this historic endorsement from America’s leading social conservatives who believe, as I do, in the core values which define American culture and life. This overwhelming vote affirms that conservatives are coalescing around one candidate and that candidate is me.”

* The Republican establishment has been hoping for quite a while that former Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns (R) would run for the Senate. With Sen. Chuck Hagel (R) retiring, that now appears likely. Johanns will reportedly resign his position as Bush’s Secretary of Agriculture to return home for an expected Senate campaign, which will likely come next week. Johanns will, however, face a large GOP primary field.

* Fred Thompson likes to tell his life story on the campaign trail, but he somehow manages to ignore the one profession that has dominated his adult life: corporate lobbyist. The Miami Herald reported, “Asked why he omits public mention of his long and lucrative career, Thompson chuckled: ‘Nobody asked me the question.'”

* Speaking of Thompson, he defended himself against charges that he’s skipping debates by noting that he’ll participate in an October 14th forum in New Hampshire sponsored by ABC News. There’s just one problem: that event was cancelled quite a while ago.

* Mitt Romney released a 67-page document yesterday, offering some details about what his policy agenda would look like if elected. “I think the picture is, ‘I’m a fairly orthodox conservative,’ ” said Charlie Arlinghaus, president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, a think tank in Concord, N.H. “There’s precious little there you wouldn’t see in the Heritage Foundation talking points.”

I honestly thought that Junior would go down as the all-time dumbest Presidential candidate ever. Seems like Thompson is giving him a run for his money.

  • I think maybe Freddy the Lobbyist already has Alzheimers…

    Thompson said last week… that he had no position on the Schiavo case and couldn’t recall it, though opponents have pointed out the case underpinned a story line for Law & Order, in which he starred.

  • Um, “Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy”??? Josiah Bartlett was the name of the president in the TV show “West Wing” played by Martin Sheen. Is that a real organization?

  • Republicans like dumb. For them, being dumber than a bag of hammers is a virtue. They equate smart with sneaky and they feel that if you can look at two sides of an issue then you don’t know right from wrong.

    An IQ of 30 is no impediment to a Republican candidate if he:
    1) Promises to do bad things to non-whites.
    2) Protects our precious bodily fluids by adamantly opposing gay marriage.
    3) Swears that unborn people will receive more regard than born people.

  • From http://www.jbartlett.org/main/page.php?page_id=1

    The Center is named for Josiah Bartlett (1729-1795), a distinguished New Hampshire patriot. Bartlett was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a distinguished physician, founder of the New Hampshire Medical Society, a Colonel of the Militia, and Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. He served as chief executive of New Hampshire from 1790-1794. After the 1793 revision of the constitution, he became the first constitutionally elected chief executive of New Hampshire to bear the title of governor.

    According to a modern account, “Bartlett took his ideas of limited government seriously. In 1792 he told members of the legislature that they had carried out their duties so well that he could not think of anything for them to do. They packed their bags and went home.” The same article noted that, “Bartlett was a reluctant politician, and in any case he was more public servant than politician.”

  • actually, at several points during the run of “the west wing,” the martin sheen josiah (jed) bartlett mentions his ancestor who signed the declaration of independence and did all those other things.

  • Huksterbee was pandering his ass off. As painful as it was to watch, I did. How many times did the huckster mention or allude to his preacher past? Answer: many. He used that all too familiar preach tone and speak with the audience. He used familiar phrases and platitudes a preacher would use in a Sunday morning sermon. This shows how stupid these so-called ‘values voters’ are. Easily fooled.

  • Dennis, you are absolutely correct! They can’t see two sides of an issue because they are brain washed into believing the ‘god said, I believe it, that settles it’ garbage. It’s a sin for them to have a pluralistic belief in anything. For instance: I believe that abortion is a hideous and a selfish act in most cases. But there are many reason I believe that it should always be safe and legal. That’s heresy to them. That’s one of many reasons I left the church 20 years ago. After I left the church, the Christian college I was attending and the friends I had and went out into ‘the world’ I realized that almost everything I had learned was a lie. A lie that they must used to keep your ass in the pews.

  • Gee, you really have to wonder why Fred Thompson is skipping all the debates? Could it be that he really cannot speak unless it is scripted, perhaps Fred has nothing really to offer the people of America. I was shocked that Fred did not take up Mike Huckabee on his offer to debate. Why is Fred still top tier? He certainly does not deserve to be, he has done nothing to earn this status…

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