We’ve been hard at this 2012 campaign game for months, but it wasn’t until this weekend that the race attracted a candidate who is “in love with America.” Who wants to pitch woo, wine and dine America, shortly before -- you know -- dismantling its institutions completely. That candidate is the “rascally” Rick Perry. He’s running for President now! Have a news cycle, sir, one that Michele Bachmann’s not using.
Rick Perry, in his infinite wisdom, decided that this was a good moment to suggest that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was somehow deserving of sustained corporal harm. A third round of quantitative easing, to Perry’s mind, would be “treacherous” and “treasonous,” and he darkly mused, “I don't know what you all would do to him in Iowa, but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas.” The media paused, momentarily weirded out, but soon were back at it, gushing in amusement over Perry’s “colorful tongue.”
But what happened next was interesting. Amid all of the condemnation of Perry’s Bernanke comment, one set of voices rang out the loudest -- the voices of the old Dubya Camp, who hate Perry like feline leukemia. Tony Fratto and Nicolle Wallace were quick out of the gate. Alex Castellanos piled on. But it was Karl Rove -- warning of right-wing extremism as if the concept of irony had never been invented -- who finally got the worm to turn. By mid-week, the media was over Perry, and amplifying the renewed voice of all those in the GOP bandstand who want someone -- anyone! Paul Ryan! Chris Christie! Nyan Cat! -- to get into the 2012 race and rescue it from oblivion.
Perry's entrance into the race made the press wonder if he'd be the guy to crack Mitt Romney's veneer at last. But Romney kept right on playing aloof, in the style he's stuck to since the game began. Perry surmounted Bachmann almost immediately in New Hampshire polling, but Mitt's stronghold remained and the first test of his composure had been passed. Still, with the calls for a "savior" renewed, Romney can't be that comfortable. The party elites' concerns over the field may be framed around a dislike of the extreme and the unelectable, but at their core, every call for Chris Christie or Paul Ryan or Jeb Bush is also a whisper that no one believes Mitt's good enough to be the standardbearer.
Of course, while we gained Rick Perry this week, we said goodbye to Tim Pawlenty. He finished third in the straw poll, but that was not deemed good enough to continue. Being forced out may be a kinder fate than the one Ron Paul received -- his second place finish earned him a media blackout, which only ended once everyone started reporting on the lack of Ron Paul reporting.
Meanwhile, Jon Huntsman took to Twitter to offer support for science and 70's-era avant-garde psychedelia. Fred Karger took his debate beef to the FEC. President Obama endured new polling lows and an email contretemps. Herman Cain talked impeachment, Buddy Roemer railed against Wall Street, and Newt Gingrich took his game to ... Hawaii? That sounds dubious! To get all of this and more from the campaign trail, please enter the Speculatron for the week of August 19, 2011.
Michele Bachmann courted the state of Iowa with a fury, and Iowa redeemed her effort this past weekend with a historic Ames Straw Poll win -- Bachmann becomes the first woman to capture the prize. Her reward was superstar treatment on the following Sunday. Bachmann made the political chat-show rounds all morning long, mostly dispensing the same talking points (and constantly promoting the idea that America could benefit from defaulting on its credit through not raising the debt ceiling).
But Bachmann's hard-won rewards quickly lost some of their luster, thanks to her behavior at a late-Sunday appearance at the Black Hawk County Republican Party's Lincoln Day dinner. There, she showed up, refused to get out of her bus while new 2012 entrant Rick Perry was onstage, demanded a change in lighting for her appearance, took the stage late to musical accompaniment, declined to do a Q&A with the audience, and didn't do much meeting-and-greeting afterward. Perry, on the other hand, painstakingly worked the crowd. When all was said and done, Bachmann ended the day having earned the "diva" tag.
Bachmann compounded this by claiming that she was late to the event because she was attending a family reunion in Iowa. Trouble is, people at that family reunion said she never showed. Well, the campaign had an answer for that: she was at a different family reunion. Of course! She also earned what's probably the worst possible headline in the world: "Bachmann Staffer Once Accused Of Terrorism." The staffer in question is Peter E. Waldron, who was "arrested on charges of terrorism in Uganda." What was this guy doing in Uganda? Glad you asked!
A deeply religious born-again Christian, Waldron traveled to Uganda in 2004 to sell HIV-monitoring computer software to the government and preach on the weekends. There, he attended and was featured in the Church services of Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa, "the prominent supporter of Uganda's draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which calls for the death penalty for LGBT people under certain circumstances."
Michele Bachmann courted the state of Iowa with a fury, and Iowa
redeemed her effort this past weekend with a historic Ames Straw
Poll win -- Bachmann becomes the first woman to capture the prize.
Her reward was
superstar treatment on the following Sunday. Bachmann made the
political chat-show rounds all morning long,
mostly dispensing the same talking points (and constantly
promoting the idea that America could benefit from defaulting on
its credit through not raising the debt ceiling).
But Bachmann's hard-won rewards quickly lost some of their luster,
thanks to
her behavior at a late-Sunday appearance at the Black Hawk
County Republican Party's Lincoln Day dinner. There, she showed up,
refused to get out of her bus while new 2012 entrant Rick Perry was
onstage, demanded a change in lighting for her appearance, took the
stage late to musical accompaniment, declined to do a Q&A with
the audience, and didn't do much meeting-and-greeting afterward.
Perry, on the other hand, painstakingly worked the crowd. When all
was said and done, Bachmann ended the day having earned the
"diva"
tag.
Bachmann compounded this by claiming that she was late to the event
because she was attending a family reunion in Iowa. Trouble is,
people at that family reunion said she never showed. Well, the
campaign had an answer for that:
she was at a different family reunion. Of course! She also
earned what's probably the worst possible headline in the world:
"Bachmann
Staffer Once Accused Of Terrorism." The staffer in question is
Peter E. Waldron, who was "arrested on charges of terrorism in
Uganda." What was this guy doing in Uganda?
Glad you asked!
A deeply religious born-again Christian, Waldron
traveled to Uganda in 2004 to sell HIV-monitoring computer software
to the government and preach on the we
We’ve been hard at this 2012 campaign game for months, but it wasn’t until this weekend that the race attracted a candidate who is “in love with America.” Who wants to pitch woo, wine and dine...
We’ve been hard at this 2012 campaign game for months, but it wasn’t until this weekend that the race attracted a candidate who is “in love with America.” Who wants to pitch woo, wine and dine...
Having already played a creepy, semi-charismatic practitioner of fanatical and manipulative gospel in "There Will Be Blood," Paul Dano should be well prepared to take...
Ron Paul got a great birthday present Saturday, as the 76-year-old defeated 11 other Republicans in Saturday's New Hampshire Young Republicans Straw Poll....
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. -- Voters are more concerned about jobs and the economy than an occasional gaffe by a candidate, Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann...
This week, Texas Governor Rick Perry blustered his way into the thick of the GOP presidential race, racking up national exposure and controversial statements with equal swiftness. He referred to evolution as "a theory that is out there"; knocked Social Security as little more than a "Ponzi Scheme"; and derided worries about climate change, saying climates have "been changing ever since the earth was formed" (when pressed on when, exactly, that occurred, he would only say that the planet is "pretty old"). But the Perry quote of the week had to be his warning that should Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke come down to the governor's home state, Texans "would treat him pretty ugly." Pretty old, pretty ugly... pretty scary. And on the pretty geeky side of the news ledger, it was announced that "retweet" and "sexting" have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary. No word on whether @RepWeiner feels validated.
Three of the last nine presidents were from Texas and each of them led us into disastrous wars that have divided our nation, bankrupted our economy, undermined our world image, eroded our military might and killed and maimed tens of thousands.
As onerous as the prospect of a Mitt Romney candidacy may be, the thought that Rick Perry might be our next president inspires the paraphrasing of an infamous George H.W. Bush slogan.
HuffPostMedia
'Forget Rachel, Bill, Anderson, and Sean. The broadcaster who will most determine the 2012 elections is Jorge Ramos.' http://t.co/fzYggdDZ
God surely works in mysterious ways... He granted Ricky his "Texas Miracle".
- Texas has a $27 billion budget hole in a $95 billion budget. - Texas will cut $9 billion in education while college tuition had doubled. - Texas has the highest minimum-wage workers in the nation. - Texas has the highest insurance rates in the nation. - Texas ranks #1 in children without health
Read More... insurance. - Texas ranks #1 in pollution. - Texas ranks #1 in Teen pregnancies. - Texas is #1 in population without health insurance. - Texas executes more people per capita than China. - Texas has the highest rate of child abuse/incest/r8pe. - Texas receives 1/3 of its total budget from Washington. - Texas received $12 billion of Obama stimulus money. - Texas has the third highest incarceration rate in the USA - One of the highest per capita capital punishment rates in the world. - Texas has the 4th highest property crime rate in the USA. - Texas is in the top 10 of the national murder rate statistics.
Welcome to God's vision for America!
BeVeryAfraid: God surely works in mysterious ways... He granted Ricky his
Abolish the IRS tax on your labor? .Good idea Approximately 50% don't pay income tax.Most people with children get money back .Cutting the large government departments you wouldn't need Income tax it would be circulated back into the economy threw the consumer. Removing sanctions open up real free trade instead of the selected few we trade with today. Ron opposes Nafta and the isolation it creates economically
novastarz47: Abolish the IRS tax on your labor? .Good idea Approximately
But without all those wars to make the puppet masters backing our fearless DC leadership rich how will America "continue to prosper". We clearly need to continue with these foreign policies of sticking our nose into the business of other nations, they want our help whether they know it or not! Conform to the status quo or your not getting your universal healthcare, welfare or your SS check. To think about freedom and liberty is treason, just be happy with what your government provides you will be taken care of... yeah this is what America has become/ is becoming.
Ron Paul is the only Statesman that can start a reversal in these precedents and by golly there may even be a civil war over it but America shall be restored and we will have our liberty! Choice makes us free, the government that attempts to make our choices for us and does not listen to the people that elected it is one that needs to be reformed.
chaos1045: But without all those wars to make the puppet masters
RICK PERRY!!! GO RICK PERRY!!!! THE REPUBLICAN ANSWER -- RICK PERRY!!! Now that was fun. I guess now it's time for the next great white hope from the right! Bobby Jindall...come and gone. Newt Gingrich. Come and gone. Mark Sanford. Come and gone. Herm Caine. Come and gone. "Budah" Christie. Come and gone. Paul Ryan. Come and gone. Now Perry has had his five minutes. Time for the next one!
imtheoz: RICK PERRY!!! GO RICK PERRY!!!! THE REPUBLICAN ANSWER -- RICK
Wake up america, we are so blind and conditioned
ron paul ron paul ron paul ron paul ron paul ron paul ron paul!
Rick perry is just another average gop following the status quo like the rest of them....
Government does not like the idea of Dr. Paul changing history.
RON PAUL 2012
Genelle_Edulan: Wake up america, we are so blind and conditioned ron
let's face it...the majority of the Republican candidates posing as Presidential candidates are only going through the motions just to get more public exposure to earn a lucrative fees by giving speeches, and a nice contract from Fox...I see you.
Patriot66: let's face it...the majority of the Republican candidates posing as
Rick Perry did such a good job in Texas, if elected president he plans to bring the rest of the states down to Texas' level.
Do you want your state with the per capita income of Texas?
With the health care coverage of Texas?
With the school systems of Texas?
With more job growth than any other state, however 75,000 private jobs lost and job growth that Perry is talking about is from government jobs.
A balanced state budjet because federal funds made up the Texas state budget deficit (doesn't quite seem to be the balanced budget that I was envisioning, but then again, I'm not the one doing the spin).
Etc., Etc., Etc.
IWantTofu: Rick Perry did such a good job in Texas, if
Why wouldn't ANYONE be concerned? When a Representative, who is the Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology, is willing to LIE to the American People for political gain, it's worrisome. When it's a LIE like "We, as a Country, are BANKRUPT", you have to seriously wonder about the man's cognitive function.
BANKRUPT?
Does he even know what that word means?
SirReal1: Why wouldn't ANYONE be concerned? When a Representative, who is
80 trillion in debt and obligations and you say the country is not bankrupt? Who has any ideas how to fix is mess? I hear not one GOP with any sound answers, just talk of endless wars .Any time you have to borrow daily from foreign countries and banks>"BANKRUPT" don't kid yourself. We are bankrupt with a AA- rating only going to get worse as they print more money and stimulate a bad economy We are the worlds reserve currency, only reason we are not officially BANKRUPT Don't worry few years the 10 dollars wont buy a loaf of bread
novastarz47: 80 trillion in debt and obligations and you say the
Sounds like you're defending the Fed Reserve with that statement about the financial committee .I thought most people woke up the to mad hatters of printing money .I guess you're still asleep. Sry Ron Paul beat your bubby Perry in his own state He also wins most polls
novastarz47: Sounds like you're defending the Fed Reserve with that statement
The Republican party is 100% against recognizing women, gays and all minorities are equal to white males so my question is how can any of these people ever vote for any of their candidates. These politicians don't try and conceal their bigotry yet the American people continue to support them regardless of what their policies will do to them personally.
timberdoodle: The Republican party is 100% against recognizing women, gays and
"These politicians don't try and conceal their bigotry yet the American people continue to support them regardless of what their policies will do to them personally. "
Sure, ignorant mice will allways defend cat's interests.
albant: "These politicianÂs don't try and conceal their bigotry yet the
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First Posted: 08/19/11 07:12 PM ET Updated: 10/19/11 06:12 AM ET