2012 republican presidential nominee III: can romney get santorum out of his hair?

Y'all make Dole sound like Romney.

After his 1972 divorce, the senator from Kansas moved into an apartment in Washington's new Watergate complex -- also home to offices of the Democratic National Committee. But the future Senate majority leader was in Chicago on the night of the break-in.

Then the Republican Party's national chairman, Dole was a vocal defender of the Nixon White House during the early stages of the Watergate investigation. U.N. Representative George Bush took over Dole's party post after the 1972 elections, but the senator remained a Nixon loyalist. In September 1973, he introduced an unsuccessful Senate resolution to stop live TV coverage of the congressional Watergate hearings. "It is time to turn off the TV lights," Dole said. "It is time to move the Watergate investigation from the living rooms of America and put it where it belongs -- behind the closed doors of the committee room and before the judge and jury in the courtroom."

Later, Dole was one of the most prominent GOP lawmakers to urge Nixon to comply with a congressional subpoena seeking the president's secret Oval Office recordings.

Dole cried at Nixon's funeral.

I think Dole had a hatchet-man reputation in the early-'70s, the main reason Ford recruited him for '76; I think he toned it down later and became more of a moderate Eisenhower type. I know no one will agree, but I found his crying at Nixon's funeral completely genuine and quite moving (and, as a nice Nixonian touch, colored by self-pity).

"When Jaws die, nobody cry, but when Nixon die, everyone gonna cry."

This could leave a mark, from the Washigton Examiner: News Gingrich is a Saul Alinsky Republican

lol News Gingrich

Then you've got:

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=AC7D3B54-3A1A-4401-9CBA-87DAB16C3C15

Another Romney adviser was more derisive of the Anybody But Mitt Republicans.

“They like preachers,” the adviser said of the tea party demographic. “If you take them to a tent meeting they’ll get whipped into a frenzy. That’s how people like Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich get women to fall into bed with them.”

Reporters love these binaries.

The comments to that piece on HotAir are good fun.

I’m an educated elitist …”

I’d like to see your ass in the mountains of Afghanistan with a platoon of RECON Marines.

How long do you think you’d last?

Elitist? Nah – you’re a PU$$Y that’s all.

HondaV65 on January 26, 2012 at 1:57 PM

the name at the end of this one is a real punchline:

Wow. Politico — typically referred to here as “left-wing” and “in the tank for Obama” — really wants a Newt candidacy. They found some snotty guy at an event – probably a democrat plant; hell, probably a Politico staffer – and they quote him and suggest that he is part of Romney’s campaign, even though he’s not. Politico wants Newt. Politico wants Newt baaad. Why would that be? Hmmmmmmm. Let’s put our heads together and see if we can figure out why the media that is in the tank for Obama wants Newt to be the candidate. Anyone have any ideas? Some speculation? Anything?

Rational Thought on January 26, 2012 at 1:59 PM

I get the feeling I’m going to spend Prom night alone again…

Kraken on January 26, 2012 at 1:57 PM

lol

maybe the screenname is self-descriptive...

lonely kraken is lonely

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmnup4YmFw1qa0kkuo1_500.jpg

a defense of the ice bucket

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/289385/empty-bucket-his-hand-yuval-levin

makes you think

It's still a stupid look-at-me thing. It's like if he had abolished a position for a stapler-operator and made congressmen staple their own documents... great, but then don't hang a stapler from a chain around your neck.

Yuval-Levin: empty bucket

Someone a few days ago. cited Didion's masterful Gingrich essay. Here's an excerpt from her review of Woodward's The Agenda. Most of it is behind the NYROB firewall but if you can get it the depiction of the Dole-Clinton relationship is hilarious.

(yet another encouragement, by the way, to buy Didion's Political Fictions)

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1996/sep/19/the-deferential-spirit/?pagination=false

I disagree w Didion about a number of things but it's hard not to love her writing

is The Agenda worth checking out? i'm suspicious of woodward, though Wired is an entertaining read, if clearly mostly bunkum

I've read two of his books, most recently the one about the Supreme Court, in which he makes quite clear which sources he spoke to for dirt and that he knows jackshit about constitutional law.

e.g. Thurgood Marshall wheezing and smoking his remaining years away while his law clerks do all the work; William Rehnquist (a proto-Scalia in terms of wit and scabrous opinions, according to Woodward) plays basketball, laughs a lot, and hangs out with his clerks.

It had to be done:

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/funny-pictures-lolrus.jpg

Probably nothing, but I like the way these words go together: "Romney," "Swiss bank account," and "discrepancies."

I just want to reiterate:

Mad Mitt Beyond Blunderdome

Given the speculation earlier this week about a brokered Republican convention, with Indian Gov. Mitch Daniels being nominated, does anyone know how that would be possible with state filing deadlines?

haha waht where was this speculation

through what mechanism would Daniels get enough delegates to claim the nomination?

I already posted this but: http://plainblogaboutpolitics.blogspot.com/2012/01/deadlocked-not-brokered-is-kind-of.html

mitch daniels will not be the nominee

yeah I saw that, but in that post dude correctly points out that there are no brokers

Daniels would have to a) get on the ballot in as many states as possible, immediately, b) win the majority of the delegates in those states, and c) get one of the other candidates (Gingrich, Santorum, Romney, Paul) to try and convince their delegates to switch their votes to him and d) pray that all of that amounts to a >50% total of the delegation. All four of those things are wildly improbably at this point.

Daniels doesn't even have the money to attempt something that audacious

waht where was this speculation
Granted its only 120 news/opinion articles in the past week

I meant specifically about Mitch Daniels - the specter of a deadlocked convention's been floating over this contest for months

if any "brokering" gets done it's most likely going to be between the existing candidates, not some guy who's said he has no interest in running and has made no moves to do so

massive xp - I'm guessing it's the same speculation as has been for months - all of the people who don't want Mitt realise that everyone else in the race is a mutant, and a White Knight rides in and takes all of the non-Mitt 75% support, wins every primary and caucus, and triumphs, hooray everyone wins except those predestined to lose.

You'd expect it to have died out by now, but I would guess that there are people who disliked everything about Mitt except that his electability, and now that's starting to fade, they're starting to peel off.

xp yeah, I think that's what sanpaku's asking, do the deadlines give any mechanism to get the delegates? There's only been like 5% of the delegates assigned at this stage anyway, right?

Shakey at this point stands a stronger chance of wooing delegates.

in what universe would Daniels be able to develop an organization - literally over night - to get him on the ballot in all the remaining states. you need money and people to collect a ton of signatures, and a national apparatus to coordinate everything. there's just no way.

Totally agree it won't happen, but I do wonder how long Daniels had been slotted to give the response the other night. If you wanted to, you could interpret the timing as a trial balloon. But if he'd been scheduled weeks or months ago, doesn't apply.

eh, there really aren't a lot of national-level figures that the gop still isn't ashamed of

Look at the rapturous response this fellow got the other night from Corner types. He's tailor made for the part of Sane Establishment Conservative.

Well, they have gone with Zombie Reagan; I find it rather convenient that they chose Daniels.

Meanwhile:

Tonight’s Republican presidential debate will be the last chance before Florida votes on Tuesday for Newt Gingrich to grab back the spotlight and for his opponents to land some blows. I spoke a short time ago by phone with Rick Santorum, who is trying to supplant Gingrich as the principle challenger to Mitt Romney.

Please note the spelling of the fifth to last word.

We got no class and we got no principals.

table here lays out the delegate allocations

xp

if Mitch changed his name to Jack, he'd stand a chance for the GOP nom

If Jeb changed his last name then we wouldn't be having this discussion.