Michele Bachmann

Tea Party-Republican Split To Be Aired As Response To Obama State Of The Union Address!

Ronald 10 Comments

Two days from now, President Barack Obama will deliver the State of the Union Address, detailing his priorities for his second term.

Immediately following Obama’s address, Florida Senator Marco Rubio will deliver the Republican Party response, and Time Magazine has called Rubio the “savior” of the GOP.

But now, to steal Rubio’s and the Republican Party’s thunder, the Tea Party Caucus in Congress is also to give a response to the State of the Union Address, which will highlight the growing split within the Republican Party.

And the man who will be challenging Marco Rubio is a person who is clearly planning to run for President in 2016, as much as Rubio seems likely to run. That is Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, the libertarian inheritor from his father, former Texas Congressman Ron Paul.

Rand Paul has his loony followers, but his movement represents a threat to any possibility of Republicans regaining the US Senate, keeping control of the US House of Representatives, and having any chance to regain the Presidency.

While Rubio “flirted” with the Tea Party Movement when he ran for the Senate in 2010, he has attempted to separate himself from the destructive image that group represents. But now, he will be in mortal combat with Paul and others who have no scruples in their desire to bring America back to the 19th century, a time of laissez faire economics, and to a pre World War II foreign policy of isolationism.

So the biggest news of Tuesday’s State of the Union Address may come not from Barack Obama, but instead from the competing ambitions of two new Senators who both see the other as one of his leading rivals.

Rubio not only faces the threat of Rand Paul, but also of Texas Senator Ted Cruz, as outlined in a previous entry on this blog a couple of days ago. And Cruz is also a committed member of the Tea Party Caucus.

Oh, and by the way, this is the third time that the Tea Party Caucus and Movement has had a response to the State of the Union Address, with the two earlier statements being by Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and by businessman Herman Cain, both embarrassing candidates for the GOP Presidential nomination in 2012. Enough said!

Age Vs Youth: Will The Republicans And Democrats Be Switching On Their Presidential Nominees In 2016?

Ronald 2 Comments

When one analyzes the two major political parties in the past forty years, it has been a general reality that the Republican Party has run Presidential candidates who tend to be much older than the Democratic Party nominees for President.

Witness Richard Nixon, nine years older than George McGovern in 1972; Gerald Ford eleven years older than Jimmy Carter in 1976; Ronald Reagan thirteen years older than Jimmy Carter in 1980; Reagan seventeen years older than Walter Mondale in 1984; George H. W. Bush eight years older than Michael Dukakis in 1988; Bush twenty two years older than Bill Clinton in 1992; Bob Dole twenty three years older than Clinton in 1996; John McCain twenty five years older than Barack Obama in 2008; and Mitt Romney fourteen years older than Obama in 2012. Only in 2000 and 2004 did we see George W. Bush older than Al Gore by only two years and in 2004 actually younger than John Kerry by three years.

This phenomenon is maybe just a coincidence, but it has often been said that the Democrats go for youth and the Republicans for experience in their Presidential nominees.

Well, if that is the case, it is about to be switched dramatically in 2016 if one assumes that either Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden are the likely front runners for the Democratic Presidential nomination, as Hillary will be 69 in 2016, and Joe will be 74 in 2016. Clinton would be the second oldest first time nominee, behind Ronald Reagan, and Biden would be the oldest first time nominee.

The Republicans are certain to nominate a candidate decades younger, such as Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Nikki Haley, Bobby Jindal, or Ted Cruz, all born in the early 1970s, being therefore mid 40s in 2016. If you consider Chris Christie, Scott Walker, or John Thune, they were born in the 1960s, so would be in the mid 50s. Jeb Bush, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann all were born in the 1950s, so would be in their late 50s or in the 60s. There is no candidate born in the 1940s seriously mentioned, unless one expects Newt Gingrich to try again for the Presidency, being just a year younger than Joe Biden and four years older than Hillary Clinton.

The Democrats have alternative possible candidates in Martin O’Malley and Amy Klobuchar born in the early 1960s, so either would be mid 50s in 2016, but Andrew Cuomo and Mark Warner, born in the mid 1950s would be nearing or at the age of 60 when running in 2016, and Elizabeth Warren, born in 1949, would be 67 in 2016, only about two years younger than Hillary Clinton.

So we are seeing a likely switch from an older to younger Republican nominee, and a younger to an older Democratic nominee, and the difference in years could be massive, as it was in the past forty years in most Presidential elections.

A final thought: In the nine elections between 1972 and 2012 when the GOP nominee was always older than the Democratic nominee, the Republicans won the election four times, and the Democrats five times, so basically, trying to determine whether age or youth are an advantage is clearly a pure guessing game!

The Republican Party And Debt Default And Government Shutdown: Constant “Hostage Taking” Tactics!

Ronald 1 Comment

Now that the “Fiscal Cliff” battle is over, and Barack Obama has won the battle on raising taxes on high incomes, a compromise at $450,000, instead of his original plan of $250,000, already the Republican Party, which lost the battle with only one third of them supporting it, but with Democratic backing and agreement to conduct a vote by Speaker John Boehner allowing it to pass, are creating a new crisis with reckless, irresponsible Republicans ready to fight on the issue of the raising of the debt limit, which must occur by the end of February. A new “Hostage Taking” situation is being created once again!

Among those Republicans who are arguing for a debt default and government shutdown are:

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
Senator John Cornyn of Texas
Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky
Senator Mike Lee of Utah
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota
Congressman Eric Cantor of Virginia, Majority Leader
Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, House Budget Commitee Chairman
Congressman Kevin McCarthy of California, House Majority Whip

Among those arguing against it, but not in public office are:

Former Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich
Just about any sane Republican who held office in the past and is holding his or her head in their hands in grief at what their party has become!

Speaker John Boehner has said that we cannot renege on the debt, and he knows that the government shutdown in 1995 by the House Republicans under Newt Gingrich during the Bill Clinton Administration was a disaster, and helped Clinton win a second term, and public opinion polls backed Clinton during the debacle.

But Boehner, having lost support of a dozen House Republicans in the Speakership vote on Wednesday, is weakened, and has a massive headache with Tea Party radicals and others who should know better than to play games with the fiscal health of the American economy!

Boehner has already said he will not speak privately with Obama, and has already insulted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid with foul language, which he has not apologized for.

This creates a very awkward situation as the deadline nears iin late February, and all it will do is boost the ratings of the Democrats and President Obama, and further degrade the Republican Party future. Obviously, their defeat in November has NOT changed the mindset of the GOP, and that spells tragedy for their political futures!

A thought that comes to mind is that Vice President Joe Biden might again have to be called upon to negotiate with Boehner and others, since Obama and Reid seem to have no possibility of private discussions with House leaders or Senate leaders. Biden may, again, save the day, for the umpteenth time!

The point is that the Republican Party is fighting a losing battle for public opinion, and if there are bad economic implications, they will be the ones to suffer for it in 2014 and 2016!

Forget It: Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Bob McDonnell, Bobby Jindal, Rick Santorum, John Kasich, Rand Paul, Scott Walker, Rick Perry, Ted Cruz, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee! The White House Is NOT Your Future!

Ronald Leave a comment

Many Republican officeholders are hinting that they may seek the Presidency, but for a whole bunch of them, the best advice is to simply FORGET IT! There is no chance in the world that any of the following will be the next President of the United States:

Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey
Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin
Governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia
Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana
Former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania
Governor John Kasich of Ohio
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky
Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin
Governor Rick Perry of Texas
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee

In reality, any Republican nominee will have a great deal of trouble being elected President in 2016.

However, the following have some chance to be the nominee and to compete for the Presidency:

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida
Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman
Senator John Thune of South Dakota

Good luck, Gentleman, but the Democrats have a tremendous demographic edge for the long term future in the Presidency!

Bobby Jindal Tells Republicans To Stop Being “Stupid” Party! But Is That Possible?

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Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has declared that the Republican Party has to stop acting “stupid”, and must stop backing no increase in taxes on the wealthy, and insulting the intelligence of voters by crazy statements and viewpoints.

This all sounds very good in theory, but is what Jindal suggests really possible?

The answer is NO, as the following evidence demonstrates:

1, The Republican Party insulted their own history by having loony, nutty, whacky candidates in the race for the Presidency, including Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, and Rick Santorum. And Santorum made it clear that the Republican Party would never get the backing of intelligent, educated, smart people, which is absolutely the case right now

2. The Republicans settled on Mitt Romney, who looked reasonable in 2011, but in order to win the nomination of his party, totally transformed himself into a mean, nasty, hard hearted candidate who was willing to lie, to deceive, to change his views daily, deny his whole political heritage, and came across ultimately as totally insincere and untrustworthy. Many people found Mitt Romney obnoxious, feeling privileged and entitled, extremely phony to the core, and just wanting the campaign to end so that they no longer had to see his face and hear his voice!

3. Mitt Romney proceeded to pick an absolutely horrible Vice Presidential running mate, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, who came across as totally ideological, and alienated senior citizens and others with his call for privatizing Medicare and Social Security, and his extreme right wing agenda to cut the budget ruthlessly, without ever raising any taxes on the wealthy, who have had a ten year break from reasonable taxation, because of the Bush tax cuts. Ryan helped Romney to lose the “battleground” states, and his appointment showed poor judgment by Romney.

4. The Republican Party declared “war” on women, Hispanics and Latinos, young people wanting to get an education, senior citizens concerned about Social Security and Medicare, the disabled concerned about Medicaid, those who cared about the environment and consumer rights, those who support labor rights, African Americans who saw racism in the GOP message, and many others who were totally turned off to the party message.

5. The conservative media are like poison to the Republican Party, as are the social conservatives who want to interfere with people’s private lives based on promoting theocracy in America, and the Grover Norquist promotion of never, under any circumstances, raising taxes—all of this makes the Republican Party totally toxic to most voters. And of course, the decision to repudiate science in favor of religion shows how backward the party has become.

6. To believe that the Republican Party will change under these circumstances is to be naive, and any change would seem to be phony and just looking for votes, not a sincere reform or conversion.

Good Chance That Most Despicable Republican House Members Will Lose Reelection On Tuesday

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With the election just three days away, it seems as if some House Republicans, of the Tea Party variety, might be kicked out of their seats in the House of Representatives.

These would include members that this author has written about in negative terms over time, including:

Michele Bachmann of Minnesota
Steve King of Iowa
Joe Walsh of Illinois
Allen West of Florida

The chance to defeat Paul Ryan in Wisconsin and Eric Cantor in Virginia, sadly, seems less likely, but at least Ryan is NOT going to be Vice President of the United States after Tuesday.

But the chance to have Jim Graves, Christie Vilsack, Tammy Duckworth, and Patrick Murphy in the House of Representatives as new Democratic members is something very satisfying!

And in the Florida Congressional district that Allen West represented during these past two years, the election of Lois Frankel over Republican nominee Adam Hasner also seems very likely, another great addition to the House of Representatives!

Positive Signs For The Obama Campaign And The Democrats

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With 23 days to go to the Presidential Election of 2012, the situation is improving for the Democrats and Barack Obama.

The evidence includes the following:

Joe Biden went on the offensive against Paul Ryan, and demonstrated the falsehoods and deceptions promoted by Ryan and his running mate, Mitt Romney.

Barack Obama is working more diligently at debate preparation, and the Town Hall format of the second Presidential debate at Hofstra University in New York on Tuesday favors his strengths, as compared to Romney.

Early voting statistics in Ohio indicate a massive lead for Obama, a very encouraging development. And no Republicans has ever won the Presidency without Ohio, and the Electoral College still favors the President in most scenarios, as he only needs to win two to three of nine states considered “swing” states, to secure 270 electoral votes.

The Democratic Congressional Committee raised twice the amount of the National Republican Congressional Committee in August.

The Obama campaign has gained a grand total of 4 million contributors to their effort, the most in history.

Many incumbent Republicans are facing tough reelection campaigns, including Michele Bachmann, Steve King, Joe Walsh, Eric Cantor, Allen West, and even Paul Ryan.

The odds of a continued Senate majority for the Democrats are increasing.

The chances of a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives are also increasing, with Democrats rating higher in public opinion polls about Congress, than the Republicans.

Of course, the situation will remain fluid, and there could be last minute changes, but right now, things look promising on all fronts!

Patrick Murphy, Tammy Duckworth, Jim Graves, Wayne Powell, Rob Zerban, Christie Vilsack—Congressional Candidates Challenging Six Targeted Republicans In House Of Representatives!

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The Democratic Party not only hopes to keep Barack Obama in the Presidency, but also to elect a House of Representatives majority in November, and keep control of the US Senate.

Six Republicans are particularly being targeted for defeat in the House of Representatives, and were they all to be “retired”, the nation would be far better off!

So we have Patrick Murphy of Florida, challenging Allen West, who has called the Democrats Communists and Socialists and attacked Debbie Wasserman Schultz as not worthy of being treated as a lady!

So we have Joe Walsh of Illinois, challenged by Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran who lost both legs and one arm, and yet, Walsh thinks she does not deserve respect for her heroism; and he is also a bad parent, as he owes back child support payments over $125,000 to his former wife; and also constantly insults constituents at his public gatherings.

So we have Jim Graves challenging Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who ran for President in 2012, and has been a total terror as a Tea Party activist, calling Democrats “UnAmerican” in their loyalty, and is constantly coming across as nutty and loony in all her public utterances in the past six years in Congress. She is now seen as in serious trouble, and Graves seems to have a good chance to defeat her and remove her from public life!

So we have Wayne Powell challenging House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in his Virginia district, and the opportunity to retire Cantor, who has worked to undermine Speaker John Boehner and has cooperated with the Tea Party Movement, and shown he has no principles other than his own ambitions, makes him an excellent target! His arrogance is a good reason to remove him from Congress,and end his chances of moving higher in House leadership!

So we have Rob Zerban, challenging Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s Vice Presidential running mate, and head of the House Budget Committee, in his Wisconsin district. The chance to defeat Ryan twice is just too good to pass up!

And we have Christie Vilsack, wife of the former Iowa Governor Tom VIlsack, who is now Secretary of Agriculture under President Obama, who is challenging long time Congressman Steve King, who has been one of the wackiest, craziest members of the Republican Congressional majority, serving for ten years in the House, and being one of the leaders of the Tea Party Movement over the past few years.

It would be a great day for sanity and reason if all, or some of these leading Republicans in the House of Representatives were kicked out of Congress! Giving campaign contributions to Murphy, Duckworth, Graves, Powell, Zerban, and Vilsack would be an excellent investment!

Five Major Targets Of Democrats In House Races: Allen West, Joe Walsh, Michele Bachmann, Steve King, And Paul Ryan!

Ronald 1 Comment

The battle for control of the next House of Representatives is in full swing, with the Democrats needing to win at least 25 seats to gain control, and therefore remove Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor from their positions of power.

Among the Republicans who are on the hit list of most important to remove, are:

Allen West of Florida
Joe Walsh of Illinois
Michele Bachmann of Minnesota
Steve King of Iowa
Paul Ryan of Wisconsin

These five, all Tea Party supporters, and extremist in their views and voting patterns, are facing strong opposition, and it would be a contribution if some, or all, were removed from the halls of Congress!

They have all “distinguished” themselves in their outrageous statements and actions, and have embarrassed themselves and the institution of Congress by their behavior!

And of course, Paul Ryan is trying to become Vice President under Mitt Romney, and it would be great if he could be defeated for both that office and his Congressional seat, since he has done nothing for his district in Wisconsin, and instead gained infamy and financial support from billionaires and millionaires for his plan to gut Medicare and Medicaid, while promoting more tax cuts for the wealthy!

This election year would be a great opportunity to clean up some of the damage done by the election of new House members West and Walsh, and rid the House of longer term members Bachmann, King, and Ryan!

Hardball, Knuckleball Political Campaigning: Part Of The American Tradition!

Ronald Leave a comment

Right or wrong, hardball and knuckleball political campaigning is part of the American tradition, and is nothing new in 2012.

We can go back to the origins of political parties in the 1790s, with the Federalists and Democratic Republicans at each other’s throats, beginning with John Adams and Thomas Jefferson nasty toward each other in 1796 and 1800.

Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams, and Jackson against Henry Clay, is another example widely reminiscent of hardball, knuckleball campaigning.

Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas went at each other, and after the Civil War, the Republicans looked at the Democrats as “traitors”!

When the progressives became prominent, conservatives went on the counterattack and have not stopped, under Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and now Barack Obama.

The no holds barred attack by the right wing, including McCarthyism in the 1950s and again now with Michele Bachmann and others, is finally getting a full measure of counterattack by the Democrats and liberals and progressives, as they have come to realize that being a civil campaigner does not work, and only emboldens the opposition.

Sadly, many people are turned off to this attack and counterattack, but it is not going to go away, and for anyone to decide not to vote because of this is the height of irresponsibility, as even with disgust with both sides and their tactics, it still does matter who wins and who controls power!

To sit on the sidelines is a horrible mistake at at time when the future is so uncertain, and requires all citizens to participate!