1) GOP Frat House Rumble. 2) Did Rudy Take a Dive? 3) Excuse Me, I Think You Forgot Something.

You did not pledge Delta Phi! I Pledged Delta Phi!

It was a debate for the ages, ladies and gentlemen! Like Lincoln vs. Douglas, but on laughing gas. Underwater. In 1962.

Surely somebody else has noted the resemblance between Mitt Romney and Niedemayer from Animal House, and yet I suspect he's the more rational of the two leading GOP candidates. McCain apparently misrepresented Romney's record, which triggered a "did so! did not!" argument that resulted in both of them becoming visibly smaller as we watched. They were paramecium-sized and still shrinking when it ended. Meanwhile Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee sat at the sidelines like squirrels at a tennis match.

One of these candidates is likely to issue a press release tomorrow entitled "I'm rubber and you're glue."

The Clash Notwithstanding, Rudy Can Fail

How could Giuliani's campaign team have done such a lousy job? Was it a communications problem -- no radios, maybe? Whatever went wrong, his withdrawal is certainly good news for these families. Rudy's exploitation of their tragedy won't be quite as public anymore.

But it happened so quickly, and he looked so happy about withdrawing, that I can't be the only person to wonder if he might have deliberately thrown the race. Sure, he showed up for the debates, but other than that his heart didn't seem in it.

Consider the scenario: At first he thinks he can win, but then the race starts backfiring on him. His national security blunders after the first WTC attack begin to get major exposure. Then the personal scandals start coming out. Murdoch and Ailes probably told him all of these stories could be managed, but they're spiraling out of control anyway. And it won't stop as long as he's a candidate.

That means Brand Rudy^9/11 is in danger -- and with it, his mega-million business. What to do? He can't withdraw, because that will raise even more questions. So he slowly, gently downscales his campaign effort until he can ease himself out after the resulting poor showing in Florida. Add a helpful endorsement to the likely nominee and it's a happy ending: The brand's intact, and he's well-placed to earn more ethically questionable commissions by selling iffy technology to the new Administration.

As Jerry Lee Lewis used to say: Think about it, darlin'.

They Come and Stand at Every Door

And now John McCain inherits the Rudy mantle -- as dubious a distinction as that is. Does he inherit Rudy's policy team of discredited neocons, too? Democrats better hope so, because that will give them an even stronger case for running on the Iraq issue.

That is... if Democrats remember the Iraq issue. The Republicans certainly will, as they proved in tonight's debate. But a lot of Dems are distracting themselves with stories about whether Obama "snubbed" Hillary.

What is this? High school?

If you're obsessed with this sort of thing, just look at the picture and read what Claire McCaskill said. It's silly season. And word up: Americans and Iraqis are still dying. More than nine hundred U.S. soldiers have lost their lives since the start of the "surge" that McCain boasts of supporting. There's been no political progress, however, so the mission's no closer to ending than it was a year ago.

I would think the American people deserve a candidate who provides a timetable for withdrawal so that the Iraqi government has clear deadlines to meet. Hmm. Would that be Candidate A or Candidate B?

Oh, but excuse me, Democrats. Apparently you've hired Maureen Dowd as your Social Director. Party on.

Don't let me -- or them -- interrupt you.

A Night Light
The Sentinel Effect: Healthcare Blog
Future-While-U-Wait
RJ Eskow at the Huffington Post

Comments

[wrabbitt]

Come on now people, this is not rocket science, we have had the usual suspects running for president, and at this point the people are going to lose again. Another washington insider,no free elections, no universal health care, taxes cut to the rich. and the working class will get the short end of the stick again. We don't have many more jobs that can leave the country, And the American dream has become to survive the economy. and keep our head above water. Veterans benefits need to be addressed,­Congressio­nal spending needs to become more realistic and, i still believe in Santa.

[Puller58]

Animal House. Brilliant. McCain is actually Dean Wormer and Rudy is mafia...well, you know. To fix this mess, we need only execute the one ploy that will shake things up and restore this nation to greatness. What is it? Just remember this line from the movie, "RAMMING SPEED!!!" (Oh John Belushi's speech would be nice if someone with similar charisma gave it.)

[townsurrl]

Watching Ron Paul, the smartest person around and the McCain-Ramney exchange was like watching a teacher painfully listening to two
F students trying to outdo each other."

[angryoldman]

We are once again left to try and pick the least odorous steaming cow pie of the bunch!

[leftbehind2000]

This is an excellent post. I hadn't really thought Giuliani was trying to extricate himself, but that makes sense. Now he can only hope people continue to look the other way regarding Giuliani Partners and his shady business dealings.

[charlietuna11]

RUDY IS NOT A MYSTERY. WHEN HE ANNOUNCED HE WAS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT, HE RECD. MUCH SUPPORT BASED ON THE FACT PEOPLE KNEW WHO HE WAS. WHEN THE ELECTORATE FOUND OUT WHAT HE WAS, THAT SUPPORT EVAPORATED. ITS REALLY THAT SIMPLE. WHATS THAT OLD SAYING?,HES REALLY NOT A BAD GUY UNTIL YOU GET TO KNOW HIM. THATS WHAT WE HAVE HERE..

[elusiveyo]

no sir, it's not high school, but the sotu incident is very significant for a lot of reasons, I don't know much about Mr Obama, other than his "new poloitics", "unite, inspire" tag lines, (and the fact that the mainstream media seems to be biased for this man) havnt seen any concrete evidence of his ability to do what he says he can do, (other than his rabid supporters, and they seem very aggressive and unreasonable), so when I see him give some line about talking to Claire instead of acknowledging a rival, it doesnt sit well, and his campaign staff gives another excuse for petty behaviour, it diminishes the campaign tag lines he has lived on so far, I dont believe he's telling the truth, nor is his senate backer Claire, this seems like s.o.s. politics not any form of new politics, and as for the "he has to defend himself line", doesnt work here, he wasnt being attacked, and if he is this childish on a day he should have been on cloud 9 tells alot about him, so for me this shows his tag lines are questionable and since I've seen him make so many other mistatements and defelect responsiblity (like all other pols), I find him to be the s.o.s

[Cybershaman]

Ron Paul is still under the GOP umbrella. Will he run as a Libertarian as he claims to be? Or is the GOP using him to co-opt the talking points the Democrats make in order to siphon off votes? If everybody, who is fed up with this personality contest, were to vote Green instead, think of what could be accomplished. The corporate stranglehold on our government would be broken. Of course, we won't do that out of fear of 'wasting our vote'. Like we aren't wasting it now on this monkey race.

[Bocababs]

McCain said 2 things over these past weeks that bear repeating:

1) We will stay in Iraq for up to 100 years.
2) We will have more wars. (Straight Talk)

It was this kind of talk my GOP relatives pushed the Romney button down here in FLA - I have a feeling with with McCain, there is going to be plenty of "buyers remorse" to go around in the Republian Party.

[PeaceChristBwithU]

Yes, RJ, you got it right - Rudy threw the race. The pundits on Chris Matthews were laughing about how bad a campaigner Rudy was ("the more people see him, the less they like him") and lamenting how someone of his caliber could have made so many mistakes. It is not possible that someone without social or political skills would be elected mayor of NY. I kept thinking "how is this possible?" When he refused to show in NH, I told my husband "he's afraid of something - maybe the NY press." It made no sense. Then we saw Gracious Rudy step out with class and endorse McCain with a look of great relief on his face, beside Judy, who had quit wearing those Nancy Reagon suits. This is not the mean, vindictive Rudy described by the NY Times. Rudy was calling it in, hunkering down in Miami, waiting for the thing to be all over in one primary day. Why? I read a very unflattering Vanity Fair article last year which suggested that Rudy was hiding a lot - maybe the press had damaging info. on him above and beyond what we know. Or maybe this was always about making big bucks and retiring. Who knows. But Rudy had ambition to be President at one time - where did it go?

[Lisette]

What is with McCain and the War?
Are we going backwards?
I thought Americans were against the war.
The Republicans really have no viable candidate.

[OhgReaTone]

The rise of John McCain speaks to his willingness to remain honest and not play to the abusive commentators like Rush Limbaugh.
Ohg
http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/01/31/the-john-mccain-shelter-for-abused-conservatives/

[BetterDeadthanRedState]

I accidentally saw a little bit of the debate while I was channel surfing. It seemed to me it was more like Reagan debating Reagan.

[Maezeppa]

Did Rudy take a dive? I've always thought he was only running because the prospect of his becoming President was good for his security firm's bottom line.

[SamanthaJaneSalem]

"My friends," John McCain, "my friends," is insane, "my friends."

The Straight Talk Express has become the Strait Jacket Express.

To plagiarize the great Joe Biden, every sentence McCain says contains a verb and the noun "surge."

"My friends," McCain staked his whole career on the surge? No, "my friends," McCain staked his whole career on a war that has taken longer to win (or in this case lose) than World War II, when FDR faced three real enemy nations, not one fake threat.

As a peacenik, "my friends," I'm glad that McCain only wants to kill all the radical Islamic extremists while sparing the lives of the mere Islamic extremists. That's as redundant as saying "we must defeat the fascist Nazi National Socialist Germans of Germany."

"My friends," McCain is so crazy he thinks he can deny that he said a direct quote of his in the Wall Street Journal. He's going to read Suze Orman's latest book to find out what "recession" means.

Actually, I take all that back, "my friends," because Chris Matthews is still gushing over him.