How Can A British Paper Be So DUMB?

In a blatant demonstration of their complete lack of understanding of American politics, The Guardian labeled third tier Texas gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina a “new star” among conservatives. The article also made it sound like she had a chance to win on Tuesday (she doesn’t.)

Governor Perry has his faults, but is clearly the mainstream conservative candidate in this race. Senator Hutchinson is the moderate and was the early establishment favorite. Medina is simply a fringe candidate.

This race is one of the first major GOP primaries of 2010 and the take away lesson should be clear: Perry will beat Hutchinson by running to her right. Medina is a non-factor and will finish a distant, distant third.

No Judgment Here, But Why Mitt?

Mitt Romney recently endorsed John McCain in the Arizona Republican Senate primary against former Congressman J.D. Hayworth. All opinions of McCain, Hayworth and Romney put aside, why does such an endorsement ever need to happen in the first place?

Do Arizona Republicans really need the opinion of a former Massachusetts Governor? Even if Romney sees himself as a national party leader, why get involved in primaries? Is Romney doing anything but just further going out of his way to link his name to the failures of 2008?

GOP May Just Have A Good Year, Despite Cornyn's Best Efforts.

Last Spring, Texas Senator and head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee John Cornyn announced his preemptive support for Florida Governor Charlie Crist in that state's Senate primary. He wrote off now-favorite Marco Rubio as a novice whose time had not yet come.

Now Mr. Cornyn seems to be basking in the glow of what is predicted to be a great year for Republicans. But he also gravely warns that the GOP should not "count their chickens" too early.

Ronald Reagan used to say that candidates need to constantly campaign like they are one vote behind - the thought being that the final vote can and will be won over. Comparatively, John Cornyn seems to believe that a candidate should campaign like they are one vote ahead - to "stop the bleeding" and not do anything to rile anyone up or anger that last voter.

Instead of staying neutral and letting an exciting primary play out in Florida, he made the uninspired choice to back the early favorite regardless of ideology. Instead of seeing a huge opportunity this Fall and calling for Republicans to "go for the throat," he talks of caution and limited expectations. This reeks of the type of mediocrity that brought the GOP 2006 and 2008. If Republicans do have a good showing this November (which we predict they will), very little credit will be due to Mr. Cornyn.

Fireworks At CPAC: His Enemy, But Also His Friend!

Today at CPAC Young Americans for Freedom's Ryan Sorba went off on an out-of-left-field rant at Young Americans for Liberty's Jeff Frazee and ended it by calling Frazee his "enemy."

We will not even address the bizarreness of this episode (many have done so already), but it is worth noting that as of this hour the two are still Facebook friends.

Further, it seems Frazee has even started to make light of the situation:

This Day In New York Times History.

In a February 18, 1984 article, entitled "Omens for Phone Technology", the New York Times lamented that the break up of the government supported Ma Bell monopoly would lead to decreased quality in phone services and "increased busy signals." They did not trust the market then, just as they do not today.

Next time we receive a crystal clear call on our BlackBerry while overseas, we will think of the Times.

It Did Start In South Carolina The First Time.

We just finished hearing great speeches by Marco Rubio and Jim DeMint at CPAC. Videos of their speeches should be available shortly and the whole event can be followed at http://townhall.com/cpac.

We had to hold back a laugh, however, when Jim DeMint (properly) asserted that "real freedom is the right to succeed." With his accent it sounded very much like "secede."

If He Is An Elder Statesmen...

In a recent article, the New York Times refered to George Soros as an "elder statesmen" of Wall Street who just happens to support increased government regulation of banking.

Only the good folks at the NYT could see Soros, who has donated tens of millions of his own money to left wing and Democratic causes, as a neutral industry observer and not a blatant progessive cheerleader.

The Winter Olympics, The DC Blizzard And Global Warming.

In the wake of last week's east coast blizzard, liberal journalist have been quick to point out that the mere presence of snow is not disproof of global warming. They argue that "climate change" is complicated and that daily, seasonal or even yearly weather patterns are not the same as the "bigger concept" of climate.

The problem with this is that upon the first signs of warmer days or melting ice, the progressives argue just the opposite.

A recent NBC Olympic special covered the Dutch Elfstedentocht, an outdoor speed skating race that has been called off in recent years due to warm weather. Of course NBC, as well as other media, are quick to blame this on global warming.

The "New" Obama Acts Confused, Mumbles "Bipartisanship."

While Reid, Baucus, Grassley and the Senate as a whole have hardly acted prudently in regards to the so called "jobs bill," it is the White House that comes across as the most absurdly out of touch.

The Reid bill is a gutted version of a nominally bipartisan compromise and the Adminstration wants us to believe that Republicans are only "playing politics" if they try to block it. Such blatant political showmanship might work on a truly big stage when even the uneducated masses are watching, but really only a certain level of policy wonk and up are paying much attention to the legislative path of the jobs bill. And among that crowd Obama and Co. just look silly if they act like Harry Reid's personal bill is somehow bipartisan.

When A Dull Bulb Meets A Bright One.

1. Notice letter from an average hack. We can't find what school he went to, but he fits the profile of a solo plaintiff's attorney.

2. Epic response. And he is a Georgetown grad with a nationwide practice. If you are going to "hang a shingle", this guy sets a good example.

Mr. Specter Tweets In Washington.

It is no secret that most politicians have staff update their Twitter accounts for them. In the case of Arlen Specter (who on a likely related note turns 80 this month), we have to wonder if he even reads his own tweets.

The moderate Republican turned Democrat's twitter account is primarily focused on union endorsements, parroting the White House's talking points, inner party politics, and helping the Democrats have a successful 2010 election cycle. And all of this party hackery is supposedly coming from a veteran Senator who just joined the Dems last Spring?

What really surprises us is that the big-team-D staffer who is actually writing all of this would want to work in a moderate party hopper's office.

The New Campus Dating Math Of The New York Times

A recent New York Times article covers what it describes as a changing social and dating structure on college campuses as females become the majority.

Besides being about 10 years late on the female-campus-majority meme, the article misses some other big points. Namely, it takes the dating anecdotes and stated preferences of young college students at face value. Wasn't it the NYT crowd that moaned "everyone lies about sex" during the Clinton impeachment?

Some of the student quotes are pure gold for unintentional, read-between-the-lines reasons, but one really sticks out as telling of the whole situation: A female student at UNC complained about the stacked odds (roughly sixety percent women) on her campus, but then without hesitation said that only about twenty percent of the males on campus were truly worthy of her consideration. There is nothing in the world wrong with this women's opinion, but the article truly hits new heights of naivety by suggesting that students such as her are simply forced into lonely girl's nights with "George Clooney" and "pizza."

Who To Root For In The Super Bowl.

A great article from National Review Online following Katrina.

The Big Corporations, They Sit In The Corporation Buildings, And They Act All...Corporationy.

We do not find ourselves linking to DailyKos often. However, Kos blogger "Adam B" has apparantly taken off his tin-foil. He recently posted a rational and well thought out analysis of the Citizens United decision.

In short, its really not going to change all that much:

• Before Citizens United:
  Corporations could make direct financial contributions to candidates in 27 states, but not in federal elections.
  In 26 states, corporations could run direct advertising for or against the election of a state/local candidate.
  In all 50 states and in federal elections, corporations could run "issue advertising" against candidates saying "Sen. [X] is wrong on this issue and is a bad person, so call him on the phone and say so," and as long as it didn't say "and you shouldn't vote for him" and wasn't too close to an election, it was legal.

• After Citizens United:
  Corporations can make direct financial contributions to candidates in 27 states, but not in federal elections.
  In all 50 states and in federal elections, corporations can run direct advertising for or against the election of a candidate.
  In all 50 states and in federal elections, corporations can run "issue advertising" against candidates saying "Sen. [X] is wrong on this issue and is a bad person" as well as "so don't vote for him."

Furthermore, Adam B doesn't even cover the tax incentives of only using "issue advertising." Issue ads are usually produced by a corporation's non-profit, tax exempt arm, while direct election ads can not be. Thus there is a large (say...around 35 percent) incentive to continue just utilizing issue ads that were legal and prevelant before Citizens.

Breaking: "Kelo in Space" Tops Oscar Nods, "The Hangover" Shut Out.

"Avatar" was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and a seven other Academy Award categories today. The film has been widely intepreted as a leftist allegory, but there is a pro-property rights, classical liberal angle to it also.

On another note, the producers of "The Hangover" were reported to have formally submitted the piano solo about tiger dreams for the best original song category. It did not make the cut.

Strange Orange Governor Makes Lots Of Friends, Realizes No One Actually Likes Him

Florida Governor Charlie Crist - who failed the bar twice - racked up friends among Florida's legal and political "elite" over the past few years.

(See: http://charliecrist.com/2009/08/florida-rnc-national-committeeman-paul-senft-endorses-charlie-crist-for-the-united-states-senate/

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2009/12/photos-governor-signs-landmark-rail-bill.html

http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2009/07/vern-buchanan-likes-crist-for-us-senate.html

http://campaigndiaries.com/2009/04/03/mack-bows-out/

http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2006/08/leonhardt_rober.html )

These "friends" of Crist even pressured Rubio to drop out last summer and started widely circulated rumors that Rubio's departure was imminent.

But throughout the past year, straw poll after straw poll and anecdote after anecdote from conservative circles in the sunshine state seemed to tell a different tale. Now the formal polls do too: A Rasmussen Poll released today has Rubio up by 12 and pulling away.

Beyond the positive implication for conservative Republicans, there is a big lesson to be learned about the changing nature of political influence.

The good people over at Berman and Company have a habit of pointing out that while twenty years ago back room politics were everything, influence on public opinion matters much more now. The most well-oiled, sophisticated public relations machines now seek mass based public support in addition to well placed connections.

Public support is undoubtedly less of a factor when it comes to appropriations or jargon-laden regulations or the finer points of legislative language (all very important and potentially very lucrative issues.) But when it comes to black and white decisions, for instance votes on major legislation (think ObamaCare) or elections, "king makers" in smoke filled rooms are losing their influence.

We predict that Marco Rubio will be the 2010 Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Florida and Charlie Crist may not even stay in the race until primary election day. The biggest lesson to be learned from this is about the dying influence of hometown bosses. Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have a bigger influence on local politics today than does the oldest partner at the local white shoe firm.

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