Romney Vs. Santorum Vs. Obama

[Lord Jim]

Santorum spent most of last night playing defense in what was a very low key debate, (the seated format pretty much assured it would be) Romney was also far better prepped.

Romney wasn't super effective, but Santorum didn't take it to him at all, and certainly didn't help himself at all last night.

My guess at the moment is that Romney will be able to pull out a narrow victory in Michigan.

[Grim Reaper]

Santorum's latest nonsense: President Obama is a "snob" for wanting people to go to college.

[Lord Jim]

Romney came out with another one of his Daddy Warbucks dunderheaded remarks a couple of days ago...

Attempting to "relate" (when talking about Romney trying to relate to ordinary people, one must always put "relate" in quotatoion marks) and ingratiate himself to auto workers he came out with this gem:

"My wife owns two Cadillacs"

I guess he decided Ann was too well liked and he needed to try to reduce her popularity....

Romney's chronic inability to handle this "issue" properly reminds me of an old joke:

A rich family moves to a small working class town. They decide to put their young son in public school, and before his first day, the mother tells him:

"Now remember Bobby, I don't want you brahging about how well off we are to the other children. I don't want you hurting their feelings, or making them fee bad about themselves, so let's keep our wealth a secret."

So on the first day, the teacher asks the new students to stand up and tell the other members of the class a little bit about themselves. When it's Bobby's turn, he stands up and says:

"I come from a very poor family. My Father is poor. My mother is poor. My nanny is poor. Our maid is poor. Our butler is poor. Our cook is poor. Our chauffeur is poor. Our gardener is poor..."

That's a joke, but it really isn't far off from the incredible tin ear Romney seems to have about this....

[Gob]

Reminds me of John "two Jags" Prescott.

[Gob]

Speculation that a late challenger might still emerge in the increasingly bitter race for the Republican presidential nomination is set to surge after former Florida governor Jeb Bush made remarks criticising the current field.

Bush, who is the brother of President George W Bush and son of President George Bush Sr, is a beloved figure among many conservatives who see him as a strong and charismatic leader who is popular in the must-win swing state of Florida.

That contrasts with a widespread unease among many Republican leaders and grassroots activists with the remaining crop of Republican candidates and the vitriolic nature of the fight between frontrunner Mitt Romney and his main challengers Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich.

In answers to questions from the audience after a speech in Dallas on Thursday, Bush cautioned the remaining Republican campaigns from drifting so far to the right that they put off the key independent voters needed to beat President Barack Obama in November.

"I think it's important for the candidates to recognise though they have to appeal to primary voters, and not turn off independent voters that will be part of a winning coalition," Bush told the audience according to CBS news.

Bush also directly took on the strident tone of recent Republican debates, accusing participants of scare-mongering. "I used to be a conservative and I watch these debates and I'm wondering, I don't think I've changed, but it's a little troubling sometimes when people are appealing to people's fears and emotion rather than trying to get them to look over the horizon for a broader perspective and that's kind of where we are," he said according to Fox News.

With Mitt Romney failing so far to secure the nomination but with no convincing challenger emerging to unseat him, many Republican pundits have speculated about the possibility that none of the current field will be able to amass enough support to secure the nomination this August in Tampa.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/fe ... republican

[Lord Jim]

Personally, I would happily support Jeb Bush over any of the candidates remaining in the field.

He remains very popular in Florida, did an excellent job as governor (he especially shone when Florida was getting hit by a whole series of hurricanes) and is far, far brighter and more articulate than brother George...

Of course there are some problems...If his name was Jeb Smith I think he'd be in the race already, and probably running away with nomination; there's probably no one else active in the party who can unite the various factions with in it to the extent Jeb could. He'd also be quite strong at attracting independents and Hispanic voters. (His wife is a Latina)

But in addition to having to over come the "W" connection, he's got a couple of other personal issues; his wife is kind of a neurotic fruit cake, and he's got a daughter who has been a complete mess...I don't know what kind of shape she's in currently...though he has a son who's very good looking and charismatic)

But even with these problems, I'm beginning to think he'd be more formidable in November than either Romney or Santorum.

[Gob]

I see what you mean....

In June 1999 Columba Bush was thwarted at Altanta International Airport attempting to smuggle $19,000 in French clothing and jewelry into the United States without declaring the purchases. Despite the fact that the U.S. customs officers gave her two opportunities to amend the form, Bush declined. Then they found the receipts in her purse. Bush wrote a check for $4,100 to cover the fine (three times the duty amount) and went on her way. A few days later she claimed her crime had been entirely inadvertent, calling it "an awful mistake" and declaring: "It's an accident and I regret it with all my heart."

[Lord Jim]

U.S. customs officers gave her two opportunities to amend the form, Bush declined. Then they found the receipts in her purse.

When I read that story, it was even worse.....

The version I read said that she actually had the receipts in her passport....(which of course she handed to the customs inspector... )

And the whole thing was loony, because of course they're loaded; she knew they could easily afford the tax, and she also had to know what an embarrassment this would be to her husband.... (I would love to have been a fly on the wall for the conversation on the trip home from the airport)

Sounds to me like a person with some serious self destructive impulse issues...hopefully she's been getting help for this... I'm not aware of any other similar incidents....

[Grim Reaper]

I'm starting to think Mr. Santorum doesn't really want to be elected: Republican presidential primary hopeful Rick Santorum said he doesn’t believe in the separation of church and state, noting that a speech on the topic by former President John F. Kennedy makes him want to “throw up.”

[dgs49]

Just when I thought the criticism of Rick was FINALLY starting to focus on issues and actions that are REAL, as opposed to made-up bullshit (e.g., his support in '06 for "republican" turncoat Arlen Sphincter, his voting record in the Senate, etc), we have this new round of nonsense.

Senator Santorum SAID that Our Beloved President was a "snob" for implying, over and over again, that the only path to success in America is a college education. He cited examples of successful, valuable people who do not have and do not require college diplomas. He could also have pointed to tens of millions of people who have more or less worthless diplomas (and lacks of a diploma), coupled with debt that will hold them back for decades to come.

Nevertheless, the morons on the Left characterize this entirely appropriate and correct observation as, "Obama is a snob for wanting people to go to college." Nice.

Santorum says that the separation of Church and State under our Constitution is not absolute. Maybe he was thinking about the prayers that start every session of Congress, or the little phrase on our money, or the pledge of allegiance. Things that, you know, indicate that the separation of church and state is not absolute. But this is characterized as "...Santorum said he doesn't believe in the separation of church and state..."

Is this mere stupidity or rank dishonesty?

I'm voting for the latter.

[Crackpot]

But that is not what Obama or even Santorum said He said Obama is a snob for saying every american should have a chance at a college education. further stating that his purpose for doing so is for "liberal indooctrination"

[Grim Reaper]

That's just how dgs49 works. He accuses other people of the very things he does himself. He accuses us of being dishonest and then proceeds to show off his own dishonesty.

[dales]

[Grim Reaper]

He's not even being honest about Mr. Santorum's nonsense about President Kennedy's speech.

Mr. Santorum deliberately lied about the contents of President Kennedy's speech in order to sound like a victim. But of course dgs49 doesn't care about that. Mr. Santorum can be dishonest all he wants, he gets a free pass from dgs49 who supposedly hates hypocrites.

Just read what President Kennedy actually said, and compare it to what Mr. Santorum says it said. It's obvious that he's either a liar or didn't read the whole thing.

President Kennedy talks about how religion should be a private matter, not that religious people should be forbidden from public office. He in fact wants the opposite, for religious people to have no fear of entering public office, because their religion wouldn't matter.

But Mr. Santorum paints a very twisted picture of what President Kennedy said. Why? Because he knows the lie will persist long after the truth is exposed.

[dgs49]

Ahem.

President Kennedy was fighting anti-Catholic bigotry (ironically, still quite manifest on this board), and rather over-stating the case in order to mollify those who feared that he would be taking orders from the Pope or some bishop or his Confessor (if only he had!). He said quite a few things in that speech that were over the top - not only that the separation of Church & State should be absolute, but that any financial assistance to Catholic schools was "unconstitutional," and that a persons religious views should have no effect on how the execute their office. Most mainstream conservatives would disagree with Kennedy in all of these areas.

Santorum did not lie about the speech or about Kennedy. He expressed an opinion - one with which anyone is free to disagree.

Adults know the difference.

[Lord Jim]

Reginald Van Gleason III strikes again:

Asked by an Associated Press reporter as he was greeting NASCAR fans whether he follows the sport, Romney said: “Not as closely as some of the most ardent fans. But I have some great friends that are NASCAR team owners.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ele ... _blog.html

I'm beginning to think that Romney must have accidentally hired Bill Maher to write for him....

[Grim Reaper]

Santorum did not lie about the speech or about Kennedy. He expressed an opinion - one with which anyone is free to disagree.

He deliberately lied, and you're protecting him. Mr. Santorum's take on the speech is very different from what the speech actually entails.

Mr. Santorum said that the speech entailed that no religious person should ever run for office. This is a deliberate and flat out lie. You should not support that at all. Yet you will, despite your so-called claim of hating hypocrisy. A claim that you never seem to want to actually enforce against your own party.

[Sue U]

Reginald Van Gleason III strikes again:

Asked by an Associated Press reporter as he was greeting NASCAR fans whether he follows the sport, Romney said: “Not as closely as some of the most ardent fans. But I have some great friends that are NASCAR team owners.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ele ... _blog.html

"And did I mention that my wife drives two Cadillacs?"

Also, did you see his address last week to the Detroit Economic Club at Ford Field? What "optics"!!!

[Grim Reaper]

Mr. Romney had a nice little tale about remembering the 50th anniversary of the automobile held in Detroit on June 1st, 1946. Only one problem with his story, he wasn't born until March 12, 1947.

[Scooter]

I suppose if Joe Biden could say that FDR used give his talks on TV...