Redstate

Posted at 10:00pm on May 8, 2008 What McCain should have said on the Hamas endorsement

By GOPaisano

So I just finished watching the Daily Show interview with John McCain. (Part 1 and Part 2 available here.) Mostly pretty good; as much as Stewart and his audience wants Obama to win, Stewart's residual appreciation for McCain still shines through.

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Posted at 10:38pm on Feb. 24, 2008 Apparently, we're not going to be fine.

By GOPaisano

You know, just a couple of days ago, I thought Senator Clinton might go gently into that good night. After all, she did plagarize borrow John Edwards's good-bye lines about "We're going to be fine".

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Posted at 3:36pm on Jan. 20, 2008 Sorry to interrupt...

By GOPaisano

Since I know it's primary season and all. Like my fellow McCainiacs, I expected to be celebrating today in the aftermath of a John McCain victory in South Carolina. However, I don't feel like I have a lot to celebrate.

So yesterday, I get a call from a very close friend of mine. For the sake of her privacy, we'll call her "Sarah". Sarah and I have been best friends for a very long time, and she is one of the sweetest girls you will ever meet. When I ran for student council president junior year of high school, she ran my campaign.

Posted in Miscellanea — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:10am on Dec. 30, 2007 Top 10 Reasons Not To Vote for Fred Thompson

By GOPaisano

Before your eyes bug out, read the whole thing.

Over the past couple months, I've been spending a lot of time on Redstate, and I tell you what, it sure seems like a lot of people like this Fred Thompson feller. Heck, it even seems like the people who aren't supporting him for the nomination kind of like the guy.

Obviously, that just means we haven't been looking hard enough to find out what we don't like about him. So, after weeks of painstaking research I have come up with the Top 10 Reasons Not To Vote For Fred Dalton Thompson.

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Posted at 3:30am on Dec. 28, 2007 The Ron Paul danger

By GOPaisano

Don't worry, I'm not getting on the liberal "Ron Paul is a secret Nazi!" bandwagon. Nor is this a pro-Paul diary with a reverse-psychology title (i.e. "The danger Ron Paul poses to TEH HATERS OF FREEDOM~!!!11!!). Instead, I'd like to talk about some recent Ron Paul numbers, and the danger he poses to some of our serious candidates.

Now, we all recognize that although Ron Paul can remain competitive in the money race, he poses no danger of actually winning the nomination. The problem is that while his place in the polls is low, it is substantial enough that he could wound one of the "Big Five" by placing ahead of them in an early state.

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Posted at 8:07pm on Dec. 19, 2007 There are enough ways to attack Huckabee...

By GOPaisano

...without resorting to fudging the facts.

As you know, methamphetamine usage has become a big issue in the Midwest, and particularly in Iowa. In 1994, there were two recorded meth lab incidents in the state--ten years later in 2004, there were 1472 similar incidents. The information is available is PDF form here.

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Posted at 1:23pm on Dec. 18, 2007 Andrew Sullivan Disingenuous? NEVER! (and a Christmas ad from Ron Paul)

By GOPaisano

So as you may have heard--and you may not have cared--Andrew Sullivan believes that Ron Paul would just be the bestest candidate for the Republican Party ever and ever.

He's also not a big fan of Michael Dale Huckabee. He posted Huckabee's Christmas ad, saying "Christ: Huckabee goes there" and then posting an letter from a reader who says:

My initial reaction to that ad was probably similar to yours: yes, we know Mike, you are a Christian. The Christian candidate. The conservative candidate who is an authentic Christian. In other words it got my hackles up.

I understand. After all, to run a Christmas ad--especially one with a window that sure looks like a cross!--is basically using Jesus as an endorsement. Heck, I'm sure if Ron Paul had run some kind of ad where he was sitting in front of the camera in a big red sweater a'la Mike wishing everyone a Merry Christmas while carols played in the background, Sullivan would condemn him and withdraw his endorsement.

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Posted at 1:53pm on Dec. 17, 2007 Mitt Romney: Not-So-Secret Frontrunner

By GOPaisano

This is part two in my series of statistics-based analyses of the chances of the Republican Candidates for President. Part One was Mike Huckabee, and can be found here: Putting Huckabee’s Rise in Perspective.

I was rereading an article in the American Spectator the other day called “Romney Rocks” from way back in early 2006. (PDF available here) I read it with a knowing smile, thinking that his campaign could no longer live up to the lofty predictions made by the Spectator way back when.

That thought was wrong. Very wrong. Whether or not the media will acknowledge it—the “Huckaboom” is the story of the day, and they’ve built up Giuliani as the frontrunner for months and months—Mitt Romney is quite possibly the frontrunner for the Republican nomination.

With the help of polling averages from Real Clear Politics, I have gone through multiple scenarios for the nomination chase, and they lead me to the conclusion that the primary season favors Governor Romney more than any other candidate.

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Posted at 1:03am on Dec. 9, 2007 Putting Huckabee's rise in perspective [Updated with some new numbers]

By GOPaisano

For the past couple weeks, we've had a lot of diaries touting one or another poll that shows Huckabee surging somewhere or another. Here is one example. Or here. Or here.

Understandably, many Huckabee supporters are getting excited, and just as understandably, many skeptical commentators point out that you can't look at an individual poll and turn it into a trend.

So, with the help of polling average from our friends at Real Clear Politics, I'd like to step back, take a breath, and see where Mike Huckabee is right now.

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Posted at 6:51pm on Nov. 23, 2007 An Open Letter To Congressman Duncan Hunter

By GOPaisano

Dear Representative Hunter,

First of all, I hope you and your family enjoyed Thanksgiving. I'm sure that you all kept your son, First Lieutenant Duncan Duane Hunter, in your thoughts and prayers as he serves his country in Iraq. I'm sure he's brought so much pride to your family, as he has to his country.

Truth be told, sir, you've done us proud too. I'm not merely talking about your highly decorated service in Vietnam, or all the pro bono legal work you did for the poor before entering politics. No, I'm talking about your record in the Congress. From 1980 to present day, you have served this country with honor as a United States Congressman who has carried the banner for conservatism and peace through strength. In fact, out of all our candidates, you have the most experience in government, and are only behind Senators Biden and Dodd among all the candidates.

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Posted at 8:28pm on Oct. 16, 2007 In response to Thomas: A Pledge

By GOPaisano

I admit it; I'm not feeling good about our situation. Whenever I hear about the enormous money gap between our candidates and theirs, or hear about another incumbent who looks dead in the water, or yet another poorly-timed retirement., it gets me extremely nervous.

But we have a chance to turn it around. It's not a great chance, but it's a good one. It's a good chance because it's not up to luck, it's up to us.

In his diary, Thomas says it better than I ever could, so let me quote his ending at length.

So let me lay it out for you: We are, well and truly, toast. We lack the time, the motivation, the energy, and the will to get out there and cause change, to fix all the things our Party and theirs have done wrong, individually or in unison. That is where Erick is sadly, gloriously right, in a way he's been preaching since I first met him very close to three years ago: We have millions of pundits, and a bare handful or two of activists.

But! Here's your chance: Do it. Start a group here, or in our blogs, or on your own email list. Start working out what needs to be done, and do it. Don't comment except to try to get something started, and if that doesn't work, try it a different way.

My money says this blog entry will be read, noted, and ignored, much as Erick's ultimately will be. My money says folks will get fired up, then forget it about it, and wonder why we don't mobilize as well as the baby socialists.

Prove me wrong. Or prove me right, and let's see how the 1970s play out this time.

Thomas, I want to prove you wrong. I want to prove you wrong very badly.

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Posted at 5:06pm on Aug. 30, 2007 Why, why, why, Wyoming?

By GOPaisano

Yahoo! News: Wyoming GOP moves vote to Jan. 5

Coming on the heels of primary leapfrogging of Michigan and Florida, which raised the specter of a Christmastime Iowa Caucus, now Wyoming has decided to move their primary up: not just to January, but January 5th.

Let's think about the implications of this: New Hampshire requires that its primary be at least seven days before a similar contest. So this primary date, if it stands, puts New Hampshire in December. And since Iowa must hold its caucus before New Hampshire, Gov. Chet Culver need not worry about interrupting Christmas with the Iowa caucus; at this rate, it will end up a week after Thanksgiving.

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Posted at 10:47pm on Aug. 25, 2007 The Inexperienced Hillary Clinton

By GOPaisano

If you didn’t catch it, Sen. Barack Obama was on The Daily Show the other night. The big focus of the night was spinning Obama’s lack of experience as a positive, because the Middle East is a confusing mess—clearly, because our current leaders had too much experience.

Par for the course with the Obama campaign. But then Jon Stewart came out with something interesting.

Jon: The whole meme that Hillary Clinton is very experienced — she's been in the Senate a few years longer than you, and then she was the First Lady. Are they counting that? Does that go on the résumé? 'Cause I'm not sure, I mean, if that's — they keep saying, "She's the experienced candidate," and I keep wondering, man, she's been in the Senate a couple of years, but I don't think First Lady counts. Does it? Or does her husband's résumé somehow —

Sen. Obama dodged the question entirely, which was probably a smart move for him. But Mr. Stewart raises a good point. Hillary Clinton has taken the “experience” label for herself. But does it fit?

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Posted at 7:51pm on May 1, 2007 The Quiet McCain Comeback

By GOPaisano

I saw all the polls where McCain dropped nationally. I watched as the gap between Giuliani and McCain widened and widened. I even saw the scary poll where McCain dropped to 9% among people following the Republican Primary "closely". I was stunned that all that work on the part of the McCain campaign went to nothing.

Well, maybe it hasn't.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/

John McCain doesn't have the most money. He's not the most charismatic, and he doesn't have the best story. (Well, I feel he does, but I think many people here would disagree.) But he does have an incredible machine. That machine can deliver him those first few crucial states, and if there's anything I've learned from John Kerry, it's that those first few primaries will turn the whole situation on its head.

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Posted at 7:40pm on Feb. 6, 2007 Inherent Bias: Why Evan Thomas is wrong

By GOPaisano

So I clicked Jeff's RedHot link to NewsBusters (http://newsbusters.org/node/10631) and Evan Thomas's quote that "Our job is to bash the president". Now, that's going to obviously not fly well here. But if you asked a random sampling of people, they might agree that the media's job is to bash the powers-that-be and act as a check on that power. A fourth branch of government, if you will.

But that's not the correct answer. It's certainly the job of the media to ask questions of the government. Even if those questions might not always be fair, we wouldn't question that.

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