fredo1's blog
Posted at 12:49pm on Apr. 15, 2008 How "bitter" can be sweet
By fredo1
I don't understand the reticence to go after Obama, and go after him hard. Statements released to the press only go so far. Eventually the campaign needs to get right in the ear (or the living room), of potential voters with a message that will resonate.
There are only so many softballs a candidate can expect to get over the course of the campaign. McCain would, IMO, do well to swing from the heels now that he has this chance.
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Posted at 6:27pm on Feb. 26, 2008 Yes He Can!
By fredo1
In a blog thread earlier today, a friend suggested that McCain would have to neutralize Obama's claim that Barack is for "real change" by pointing out that Obama uses, as Rush would say, the same old liberal playbook. I think that any discussion of who is the real "agent of change" will be playing right into Obama's hands: he wants to cast himself as new (easy on a variety of levels), and also as yet another liberal victim of the conservative smear machine. Instead of discussing "change", McCain will have to focus on issues and their consequences. That is his best chance to win this fall, IMHO.
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Posted at 12:06am on Oct. 18, 2007 Turkey moved. We're on the clock.
By fredo1
Now that Turkey's parliament has approved a military incursion into Iraq in order to secure their border and suppress Kurdish terrorism, Pelosi is backtracking on the Armenian genocide resolution. Why it was presented in the first place is a great question. It could come back to bite the Dems, if the electorate thinks a plausible explanation is that the Dems wanted/needed failure in Iraq to succeed in '08. But more than the electoral implications, I'm wondering where we go next in the theatre.
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Posted at 1:29pm on Oct. 5, 2007 Please tell me the NY Times is joking
By fredo1
Today's editorial slams Clarence Thomas's autobiography as hate-filled and vengeful, and unbecoming a Justice of the Supreme Court. For instance,
The level of hostility is striking. He grew up fearing the Ku Klux Klan, he says, but “my worst fears had come to pass not in Georgia, but in Washington, D.C., where I was being pursued not by bigots in white robes but by left-wing zealots draped in flowing sanctimony.”
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Posted at 11:46am on Oct. 4, 2007 A Surprising Poll on Free Trade
By fredo1
I was actually shocked when I pulled up WSJ.com this morning. The lead story: Republicans grow skeptical on free trade. If the article had said that GOP support for fair trade was trending up, I wouldn't have been that surprised. Or if it said that free trade sentiment was no longer dominant in the general population, I wouldn't have been surprised either. But that Republicans "believe free trade is bad for the U.S. economy" by a 2-to-1 margin? Jaw dropping. [Also shocking: that the story wouldn't be buried by the WSJ, which would like to see fair-traders drawn and quartered]
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Posted at 1:45pm on Apr. 2, 2007 The Fred Thompson Buzz
By fredo1
I have to admit being truly baffled about the Fred Thompson buzz. Novak's out with a column today stating that he's a serious threat to win the nomination. Novak knows the lay of the land, so I'm in no position to argue with him. But that doesn't answer the bigger question: why?
Why would a one-and-a-half term former Senator, with no executive experience whatosever, and a fairly low-key tenure on Capitol Hill, be rating so highly among the politically active GOP class?
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Posted at 2:12pm on Mar. 17, 2007 More Fred Thompson polling
By fredo1
Following the lead of the RS editors, here's a few more '08/Fred Thompson polls. I've been amazed that no pollsters have bothered to get information on where he stands right now. Given the strong response he's gotten at Red State, it's worth finding out.
The first poll asks how many RedStaters would classify Fred Thompson as their first choice.
The second poll asks for second choice candidate, primarily b/c I'm interested in seeing how many Redstaters would choose Fred Thompson as their second choice. In conjunction with the first poll, that will give more info on his current level of support.
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Posted at 8:19pm on Mar. 11, 2007 Rudy and the GWOT
By fredo1
This “Rudy is the best candidate for the GWOT” line is getting oversold to the point where it is losing credibility.
Would he be aggressive in prosecuting the war? IMHO, yes.
Is there anything that differentiates him from the other candidates in that regard? Not in the areas most important for our future President.
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Posted at 5:58pm on Mar. 7, 2007 Will Democrats follow their own precedent?
By fredo1
Obama claims he was "unaware" of potential conflicts of interest resulting from his stock ownership. As we all know, this is a completely unacceptable excuse. Democrats and the media were adamant that the presence of such a conflict required them to obstruct the confirmation of Judge Boyle to the 4th Circuit. Judge Boyle's explanation that he was unaware of the conflicts were dismissed out of hand (despite the fact that his protestations were completely plausible, based on the circumstances).
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Posted at 2:41pm on Mar. 3, 2007 Mitt, Rudy, Hunter and Huckabee at CPAC
By fredo1
ROMNEY
Mitt continues to hit all the right tones: he's optimistic, looks presidential, embraces fiscal, national defense, AND social conservatism, but does it in a way that is engaging and not confrontational. The fact that he's a convert to social conservatism will ultimately (in the general election) be a positive, not a negative for him. Seculars will be able to say, "he started his journey where I am today, so how did he get where he is?" As opposed to the knee-jerk reaction (and I don't like it, but it's real) that northern secularists have when they hear a Southern evangelical who they can simply pigeon-hole as "unsophisticated" or "trapped by his environment."
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Posted at 11:11am on Feb. 7, 2007 Rudy on immigration (and good timing)
By fredo1
Wow, Terence Jeffrey is everywhere. I linked to his article in the NRO yesterday. He's all over cable news, and now this morning, he has a new article up on Human Events.
Today's topic: Rudy's statements on immigration from the Hannity & Colmes interview.
Let me say that, in broad form, I share Jeffrey's surprise that the man who brought us the "broken windows" school of policing, to great success, would support a "virtual fence" over an actual fence. Especially since, as Jeffrey accurately points out, the already-approved fence could have the same electronic capabilities as a virtual fence--just with an actual barrier.
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Posted at 11:16am on Feb. 6, 2007 Rudy on Abortion: Hannity and Colmes, 2/5/07
By fredo1
Some interesting quotes from last night's interview on Hannity and Colmes:
“Abortion…I hate it... Abortion is something that, as a personal matter, I would advise someone against. However, I believe in a woman’s right to choose...You have to leave that to a disagreement of conscience...You have to respect the choice that somebody makes.”
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Posted at 3:58pm on Jan. 14, 2007 The BloGlo Hates Romney (surprise, surprise)
By fredo1
Mitt Romney has clearly angered the Boston Globe. The paper has made it its mission to fill the internet with hit pieces on Mitt ever since he's started to gain traction as a candidate.
Today's entry: Mitt lied on gun control!
ORLANDO , Fla. -- Former governor Mitt Romney, who once described himself as a supporter of strong gun laws, is distancing himself from that rhetoric now as he attempts to court the gun owners who make up a significant force in Republican primary politics.
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