Tuesday’s political round-up

March 20, 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 seems to have annoyed an important GOP constituency: Cubans in Miami. Romney inadvertently associated a notorious Fidel Castro-spewed Communist catch phrase with freedom fighters, describing the socialist saying “Patria o muerte, venceremos” as “inspiring,” and claiming the phrase was swiped from liberty-seeking Cubans by leftist admirers of Castro. Better yet, Romney then tried to cover up his mistake, editing an online transcript and removing the video from his site.

* Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), in a bit of a surprise, announced yesterday that he plans to seek a sixth term in 2010. “There are a lot of important things to be done and finally after being here to acquire some seniority, I’m in a position to do that,” Specter said. “I’m full of energy and my wife doesn’t want me home for breakfast, lunch and dinner.” Specter, who has had health problems, will be 80 in 2010. (thanks to K.M. for the tip)

* Sen. Joe Lieberman (I) told MSNBC’s Nora O’Donnell yesterday that he’s still undecided on caucusing with the GOP. “I wouldn’t rule out,” Lieberman told O’Donnell, adding that “my real hope here is to stay and fight for the kind of Democratic Party I joined when John F. Kennedy was president.” He also says that he could support a Republican pro-war presidential candidate.

* If you haven’t seen it, the political world is surprisingly abuzz with speculation and analysis about the “Big Sister” ad, which incorporates Hillary Clinton into Apple Computers’ famous 1984 dystopian commercial. I’m not quite sure what it’s causing such a stir, but Barack Obama, who appears to have the backing of the anonymous creators of the web video, has said his campaign has nothing to do with it.

* And former Bush HHS Secretary and former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) will reportedly appear on CNN tomorrow to unofficially announce that he’s going to run for president. Thompson has practically moved to Iowa to help improve his chances, which at this point, remain remote.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I) told MSNBC’s Nora O’Donnell yesterday that he’s still undecided on caucusing with the GOP. “I wouldn’t rule out,” Lieberman told O’Donnell, adding that “my real hope here is to stay and fight for the kind of Democratic Party I joined when John F. Kennedy was president.” He also says that he could support a Republican pro-war presidential candidate.

Yeah, that pork-eating pigfucker was just fine with a Democratic Party whose southern wing is today’s heart of the Republican Party, now a fully-owned subsidiary of Confederate Treason, Inc., aDemocratic Party where Richard Daley had no problem coming up with “lost” ballot boxes in Cook County at midnight to put JFK over the top, a Democratic Party that owed more than a bit of its electoral success in Chicago, various large cities in Ohio, Kansas City, New Jersey, etc., to the Mafia. Yes indeed, that Democratic Party does indeed look like the kind of political organization Holy Joe would just love to pieces. Thank God we destroyed it between1968-72 – it was worth losing to accomplish that. Good ol’ “Progressive Joe.” No wonder he’s a right winger, I notice he never even went to Israel and volunteered to joing the IDF, let alone the Army of his own country.

  • [tinfoilhat]
    If you haven’t seen it, the political world is surprisingly abuzz with speculation and analysis about the “Big Sister” ad, which incorporates Hillary Clinton into Apple Computers’ famous 1984 dystopian commercial.

    It’s probably the swifties trying to put a wedge between the two campaigns and get them fighting each other to waste time and resources…

    [/tinfoilhat]

    But that’s not really such tin foil hat material is it? I could see it happening.

  • Oh swell, possibly six more years of:

    Who could have imagined that Specter would cave so completely and abandon the positions he so forcefully articulated just weeks ago? Oh wait, everyone could have imagined it.

    Thanks Carpetbagger, from post on June 9, 2006, “Sun rises in east, 1 + 1 = 2, and Specter caves”

  • BTW – there is a good analysis out that the “Hillary/1984” video is “disinformation” from the Right. You look at it, what she’s saying and all, given the way the Right thinks of her in Orwellian terms, and this seems about right. When I first saw it two weeks ago I said “no way” to the thought it was done by the Obama campaign.

    It’s stupid and uncreative. Isn’t that the hallmark of anything done by the fascists?

  • I hope against hope that the Dems increase their Senate majority enough in 2008 that they kick Censorin’ Joe out on his ass and it won’t matter whether he caucuses with the GOP or not.

  • I agree with kanopsis and Tom Cleaver. That type of Hillary ad, comparing her to big brother, could only have come from the right-wing. Only the nutty right-wingers see her in those terms. I can’t see how anyone could believe that it belongs to anyone else. Certainly not any Obama supporters.

    Does anyone know how the so-called Arlen Specter is doing in the polls? Is he vulnerable in 2010 after his abysmal performance in the 109th Congress?

  • At age 80 Specter will be a target for the left and the right. Here in Pennsylvania, the rumor has been for years that Arlen was keeping the seat warm for his son Shanin (a prominent Phila. lawyer and an election campaign manager to his dad).

  • I doubt there are any Specter polls beyond approval this far out. Everyone’s mind is on 2008 and 2010 might as well be light years away. Who knows what will happen between now and then in terms of Specter both politically and physically and who would be his challenger.

  • Lieberman is such a tedious little man. Every three weeks or so, he makes noises about becoming a Republican. He just wants attention.

  • Sorry for tooting my own horn:

    Me, yesterday: “Maybe they’ll offer to let Rove testify under the same conditions Bush testified under during the 9/11 investigation: Severe time limits, no note-taking, no recordings, no oath, “special friends” allowed, only certain questioners allowed.”
    http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/10248.html#comment-200847

    TPM today: The White House will allow Rove and Miers to testify about the US Attorney Purge. But they can’t be under oath. It has to be behind closed doors and no transcript can be kept.
    http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/013150.php

  • Actually, although I agree with most of Tom Cleaver’s analysis of the Kennedy Democratic Party, it is myth that Daley’s machine held up the city returns in order to deliver Illinois, and the presidency, to Kennedy.

    When Kennedy won Texas, that already put him over the top in the electoral college before the Illinois returns came in. Nixon needed to have taken both Illinois and Texas to win.

    That said, the margin of victory in both those states (4,000 in Texas and 9.000 in Illinois) made it likely that the Daley and LBJ machines were both working well enough that day.

    Even though he longs for the day, Richard J. Daley would have some interesting things to say about a Democrat like Lieberman.

    Off topic, Mike Royko, noted Daley machine hater, used to always say that Daley’s Chicago should change it’s city motto from “Urbs en Horto” (City in a Garden) to “Ubi est Mea” (Where’s Mine).

  • Tom Cleaver, et.al.,

    BTW – there is a good analysis out that the “Hillary/1984″ video is “disinformation” from the Right.

    Why do you think they want Hillary to lose the Dem primary? Everything I’ve seen is that they would love to go against her in the general election. I’m not so sure this was done by the right.

  • Why do you think they want Hillary to lose the Dem primary? — Edo, @13

    Well… I think she was quite correct when she said she’s more worried about winning the Dem primary than about winning in general. There are a lot of us, on the left, who don’t want her as peresident and who definitely won’t support her in the primary. But, should she win the primary anyway, we’ll probably swallow our bile and vote for her in general, simply because the (repub) alternative is likely to be much worse. Add in the establishment Dems who’ll support her in the primaries and, come general elections, she’s likely to beat the holy crap out of them.

    But, should someone else win in the primaries, who knows what might happen in general. They have to figure they’d have a chance. As for it being Obama being used as the divisive pint… There’s already been some bad blood (thanks a lot, Maureen Dowd) between the two, why not keep stoking up that fire?

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