Tuesday’s political round-up

January 30, 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:

* Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) found a clever, and apparently, legal way to collect more than the legal limit for presidential candidates’ campaign donors. Right now, the most an individual can give a candidate is $2,300 per election. Romney, meanwhile, has 16 donors who were able to contribute more than $100,000. The key was finding a gap between federal and state law: “While most states limit political donations, about a dozen don’t. Mr. Romney’s political team set up fund-raising committees in three of those: Michigan, Iowa and Alabama. During that time, his political action committees raised $7 million.”

* Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) is already getting the word out that she’d like to be considered as the GOP’s running mate in 2008. “If our party’s nominee called me and said we are putting everything in the grid, and we think you are the best person, would I say no? I can’t imagine that I would say no,” she said. Hutchison insisted, however, that she wasn’t “promoting” herself for the job.

* John Edwards appeared at Wake Forest University yesterday in North Carolina and was asked by an audience member why he was a better candidate than Barack Obama. “Experience,” Edwards responded. “I’ve been through a presidential campaign.”

* An extremely early Quinnipiac poll out of Ohio today shows Hillary Clinton looking quite strong against the GOP’s top contender in hypothetical general-election match-ups. Clinton leads McCain by four (46% to 42%), Giuliani by three (46% to 43%), and Romney by 21 (52% to 31%).

* And in several key House races in ’08, expect a series of rematches of recently defeated Republicans. Former Rep. Jeb Bradley (R-N.H.), Joe Negron (R-Fla.), and former Rep. Jim Ryun (R-Kan.) all said yesterday that they’ll run again next year.

Just a thought

  • Lots of good news here.

    1) Mitt Romney is sucking up millions of dollars that won’t be available to McCain or Guiliani, while he’s already in third place and sinking fast.

    2) Kay Bailey Hutchinson is second only to Dan Quayle in competence and value to a ticket.

    3) Hillary is already leading all the main Retard candidates, and while that doesn’t mean that she will definitely win the nomination it’s a very good start.

    4) Running loser candidates again just means they don’t have any better options out there and when they lose again it just makes it worse for them.

    I like it. 🙂

  • Curmudgeon,

    Hillary may not be my first choice, but it is obvious that Bush-fatigue is a growing cancer on the Republican party. It seems that the American people have come to realize–and rightly so–that the only to “drain the swamp” (created by Bush and the Republican) is to elect the Democratic candidate for president.

    And of the nine Democrats presently running for president no one is as unacceptable as Joe Lieberman was in 2004. That might be remarkable!

  • “Experience… I’ve been through a presidential campaign.” — Edwards

    John, John, you disappoint me. Campaign experience may make you a better campaigner, but what would make you a better president? Inquiring minds want to know.

  • Hillary may not be my first choice, but it is obvious that Bush-fatigue is a growing cancer on the Republican party

    actually, speaking of Bush fatigue, I’m starting to get a sneaking feeling that the Grand Old Party just may turn to Jeb next year. There seems to be so much disatisfaction with the current crop of announced/annointed candidates. And Jeb got several glowing reviews of a speech he gave in DC last weekend. I’m beginning to wonder if “fatigue” is limited to Democrats (Clinton) and they may position Jeb as a “fresh face”.

  • Echo beep52 # 7. Obama and Edwards have equally little experience. Edwards’s answer betrays exactly that.

    Question to slip kid no more #6- Did you get your name from that Who song?

  • #8 Ethel-to-Tilly, I read a piece by one of the Florida reporters who have covered Jeb there extensively. He opened with a bright picture of what the world would be right now if Jeb had been elected instead of Bush. But when he compared the two brothers, the only differences to emerge was that Jeb was more a detail-guy and communicated better. Jeb had all the awful beliefs that George has and yet this reporter expected things to have been better. I don’t think so. Detail-orientation in pursuit of fascism is no virtue.

  • Haik,

    Yes and not exactly. When I was younger, I had a job with a long commute and I had a CB radio. “Slip Kid,” after the song, was my CB handle. I first used “slip kid no more” over at the Daily Kos blog, where I have a somewhat prized user ID number (4981 out of at least 114,000)

  • I sure hope they take Kay Bimbo Hutchison, so we Texans won’t have to put up with her anymore. The woman is so stupid it makes my teeth hurt.

    BTW, the Republicrooks will LOSE big time in 2008, so it doesn’t matter who they pick really.

  • Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) found a clever, and apparently, legal way to collect more than the legal limit for presidential candidates’ campaign donors.

    We’ve been underestimating the man. He’s obviously got what it takes to carry on the ShrubCo/RepubCo tradition of opportunistic sleaze. Presidential timber, (rotten), to be sure.

    Is Mitt Romney the new definition of sleaze? – Comment by slip kid no more

    Neo-Sleaze

  • no offense to Edwards, but I wouldn’t count his vp campaign as experience… I remember him completely disappearing during the general election.

    Plus, there’s plenty of people that have run for president before and that doesn’t mean they know jack about the presidency

    • Comments are closed.