Tuesday’s political round-up

May 1, 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:

* The Politico reports today that former Sen. Fred Thompson’s (R-Tenn.) advisors have “begun exploring a range of staffing options,” including talking to potential campaign managers, in advance of an increasingly likely presidential campaign. Thompson advisers indicate that the actor-turned-pol-turned-actor is “on track to be ready to announce his candidacy in June or July.”

* On a related note, congressional Republicans have reportedly begun asking Thompson about possible skeletons in his closet, specifically his reputation for an active social life. “I was single for a long time, and, yep, I chased a lot of women,” Thompson replied, chuckling, according to an attendee who took notes. “And a lot of women chased me. And those that chased me tended to catch me.” Thompson is now married.

* Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco (D) announced a few weeks ago that she would not seek a second term, assuming at the time that former Sen. John Breaux (D) would seek to replace her. With Breaux withdrawing due to residency issues, Blanco is reportedly mulling a reversal. Blanco (D) “would not deny she is considering re-entering the governor’s race when questioned by TV reporters,” the Baton Rouge Advocate reported.

* Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) believes a third-party candidate could excel in the 2008 presidential race, though he didn’t mention any names and didn’t include himself in the mix. “I think the public is fed up,” he said. “If the two major parties don’t hear this going into ’08, there is a real chance of an independent third-party candidacy — and watch out if that happens,” he said at an AEI forum yesterday.

* While “what’s your favorite novel?” is a perennial campaign question, most of the answers are hardly newsworthy. Yesterday, however, Mitt Romney pointed to “Battlefield Earth,” a novel by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, as his personal favorite. “I’m not in favor of his religion by any means,” Romney said. “But he wrote a book called ‘Battlefield Earth’ that was a very fun science-fiction book.” Campaign aides later said the book is just one of the former governor’s many favorite novels.

While “what’s your favorite novel?” is a perennial campaign question, most of the answers are hardly newsworthy. Yesterday, however, Mitt Romney pointed to “Battlefield Earth,” a novel by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, as his personal favorite. “I’m not in favor of his religion by any means,” Romney said. “But he wrote a book called ‘Battlefield Earth’ that was a very fun science-fiction book.” Campaign aides later said the book is just one of the former governor’s many favorite novels.

I like the Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance series of books. That’s how I got so good at writing political comments.

  • Also Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

    I’m totally joking about the Dungeons and Dragons books, by the way, but I liked Blade Runner, the movie made from Androids. I’d bet Androids is a good read.

  • Lieberman is either trying to position himself as a candidate or preparing us for his supporting Ralph Nader as a spoiler in the ’08 election. Somebody ought to tell him that Bush isn’t running again so he need not bother. /snark

  • Oh boy, so now the public is going to start equating Mormonism with Scientology . . . this oughta be fun to watch!

    I’m worried about Fred Thompson entering the race . . . he poses a real threat to us. The Dems should be digging up as much dirt as possible on him RIGHT NOW! We need to run an opposition war room the way the Bushies did in 2000. To win, we gotta play dirty!!!

  • “I think the public is fed up… If the two major parties don’t hear this going into ‘08, there is a real chance of an independent third-party candidacy” – Joe Lieberman

    Now Joe Lieberman thinks there should be a *third* conservative Bush-enabling party? What, two weren’t enough?

  • So? I like Ender’s Game (and the related novels, altough a bit less) but that doesn’t mean I’m one of those weird, pro-Bush Democrats that the author has announced himself to be. His politics are somewhat uncomfortable for me but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying his books.

    Then again, he didn’t start a huge cult religion. Damn, I wish I thought of that. 1) Write books. 2) Start religion. 3) Profit!

  • On a related note, congressional Republicans have reportedly begun asking Thompson about possible skeletons in his closet, specifically his reputation for an active social life. “I was single for a long time, and, yep, I chased a lot of women,” Thompson replied, chuckling, according to an attendee who took notes. “And a lot of women chased me. And those that chased me tended to catch me.” Thompson is now married.

    And if you go look at a picture of him and his 30-years younger wife, you’ll see what only a Republican could consider doing: installing a trophy wife as First Lady. I hate to tell Fred this, but “regular guys” dislike guys who can get away with doing that, and “regular women” really hate guys who would do this.

    “Battlefield Earth”???? Only someone whose religion is best described by removing the second “m” would see this hackish, talentless screed as good. But then Mormonism and Scientology are very very closely related – they both rely on a fantastical story that describes their universe and they both have a religious organization that enforces “group think.”

  • To win, we gotta play dirty!!!

    If we start playing dirty, have we really won? Tough, yes. Dirty, no.

    But he does have a point. Fred Thompson appears to be the GOP’s golden boy savior and their presumptive candidate, since he seems to satisfy the GOP in ways that Guiliani and McCain and Romney do not. But I don’t know much about him except that the base loves him. He must be charismatic, from the sound of things, but is he an authoritarian?

  • AMERICA FOR LIEBERMAN? HA!

    Even if Mitt is a fan of L Ron, at least his favorite book is not “My pet goat” thus making him an improvement over W. Maybe Mitt is sucking up to the Hollywood liberals? Maybe he is starting an end-around to the middle?

    If you see Tom Cruise with a Mitt button you know it is true!

  • One can only hope that a couple of those women chasing Fred could be named Paula Jones, Monica Lewinsky or Gennifer Flowers. Wouldn’t that be fun.

  • Mr. Lieberman – we did vote you in as Vice-President in 2000, but only because we didn’t really know your true colors. Too bad you didn’t contest the ‘Jews for Buchanan’ vote.

    You missed your chance. Have fun in irrelevence-land after Dems pick up Senate seats in ’08.

  • For an administration that claims to place so value on “accountability,” the Bush White House once again exempted itself and its allies. On Monday, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice announced that President Bush would reject any Iraq funding bill that included benchmarks for the Al Maliki in government in Baghdad. As it turns out, that free pass for Al Maliki not only flies in the face the President’s own words from January, but contradicts the “accountability” talking point comically present in virtually all of Bush’s other rhetoric.

    For the details, see:
    “Benchmarks and Bush’s Double-Standard on Accountability in Iraq.”

  • So Romney doesn’t like Scientology, and he says “I’m not in favor of his religion by any means”.

    Can the rest of us say the same thing about Mormonism?

    If not, why not?

  • Now that Mitt Romney has outed himself as a fan of L. Ron Hubbard, will Tom Cruise make campaign appearances for him?

    Mormon authors are pretty thin on the ground. Orson Scott Card is about the only one I can think of who’s had any kind of mainstream success (if the SF genre can be counted as mainstream). He’s a good writer whose sincerely-held Mormon beliefs add an interesting element to his science fiction.

    Hubbard, on the other hand, was a cynical con artist whose cliche-ridden books should have been pulped and recycled to reprint “Ender’s Game” and the rest of Card’s backlist.

  • Mitt Romney pointed to “Battlefield Earth,” a novel by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, as his personal favorite.

    Far be it for me to make fun of anyone’s reading preferences but… Sneeeerk! Mwahahahaahaa!

    My cat could crap a better book than Old Mutha Hubbard. It has nothing to do with the “religion” he founded, the man can’t write.

  • Well, Romney’s favorite autobiography is Mein Kampf. He’s not in favor of the author’s political ideology but it makes for fun reading at the book burnings…

  • “I hate to tell Fred this, but “regular guys” dislike guys who can get away with doing that…

    Hey Tommy Boy, please speak for yourself! Let me revise your statement to what a true “regular guy” would think: “Cheers to the older, but ugly guy that can attract the younger trophy wife!”

  • Maybe Mitt is sucking up to the Hollywood liberals? Maybe he is starting an end-around to the middle?

    “Battlefield Earth” was made into a movie by a pair of con artists (both of whom eventually ended up in jail for mail and wire fraud) who would get “financing” for a Name Star’s pet project, this being John Travolta’s fave. It stunk, in case you didn’t notice. There are no other L. Ron Hubbard projects in development.

    In fact, most people in Hollywood wish lighting would strike the whackjobs’ world HQ on Hollywood Boulevard. While you can’t go around saying it in public with Travolta, Cruise, and other actors (Anne Archer is another) being in the biz, there is a strong “undercurrent” of dislike for these morons. When Cruise had a Scientology massage tent set up on “War of the Worlds,” most crew members studiously avoided the thing.

    Don’t conflate Hollywood with Scientology.

  • Swan: “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” is an odd book, not especially well-written in places, but definitely worth reading for its ideas. Be forewarned: the film Blade Runner is VERY loosely based on the book.

    On a more serious subject, I read that Breaux pulled out of the LA Gov race because his expected GOP opponent had already raised $5 million. My impression was that the residency issue was more of a cover story. I’ve also read that LA has become much whiter and redder, and thus a harder place for Dems to win, since Katrina. The impression I’ve gotten is that the failure to rebuild NO has been a deliberate, malevolent policy for GOP political gain, not just a result of incompetence. The fact that much of the foreign aid money was REFUSED, not just misspent, gives credence to that interpretation. Incidentally, this is yet another reflection of the essential madness of the Electoral College/overly rural Senate system: there’s a benefit to the GOP to keeping black Dem NO residents scattered in red states like Texas, rather than allowing them to return to LA and restore it to its former purple state status.

  • Oh, Fred, you skeeved me at “chuckling”.

    Ew.

    But sadly, he’s got legs. I mean, that Law & Order is a popular show…

  • “And if you go look at a picture of him and his 30-years younger wife, you’ll see what only a Republican could consider doing: installing a trophy wife as First Lady. I hate to tell Fred this, but “regular guys” dislike guys who can get away with doing that, and “regular women” really hate guys who would do this.” – Tom Ceaver

    Or take a look at a picture of Dennis Kucinich and his six inch taller wife Elizabeth (nee Harper). Now that would be a scary first couple.

  • For some reason I have little fear of Thompson – he’s got the mostly unknown quantity thing working for him right now – more myth than legend. But I think ultimately he’ll fail for the same reasons McCain will fail: because he looks sickly. I don’t buy the ‘omigod he’s 6 foot 6’ line. The guy’s got cancer in his medical records, and he looks 15 years older than he actually is.

  • Oh and by the way – I realize ‘battlefield earth’ is a big punchline these days, but everyone who giggles does so because of the movie. My guess is that few have read the book, which was 100x better than the movie (although that’s admittedly not saying much).

    Romney picking it doesn’t bother me as much as his ‘religion’ comment does. Am I obligated to mention that I don’t agree with Christianity every time I mention ‘The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe’ because CS Lewis was a zealot?

    • Comments are closed.