Empowered Democracy or Why I Support President Obama

Today is election day.  It's also the 8th day that my New Jersey town is without power.  In the midst of some pretty bleak conditions, we were able to vote, thanks to a FEMA-provided generator used to power our fire station and our electronic voting booths.

In another universe, I intended to write a post today about why I am hoping for a Barack Obama victory in this election.  I had a long list of Obama successes to highlight.  But in light of the current state of life in New Jersey, I think just one example will do.  That example is the work of FEMA in our state, including the generator it provided to power democracy for my small town today.  Mitt Romney has called for privatization of disaster relief, an idea that is so hopelessly ignorant and out of touch that I can hardly fathom what he must be thinking.  

President Obama understands that we all flourish when we support one another.   He knows that ours is a government by and for the people; that it is the institution that can make all of our lives better.  He has done right by this nation for the past four years and we need him for the next four.  I voted for a little more hope and change today.  I hope that you will consider doing the same.

11:11 pm
Networks are starting to call this race for President Obama and we came home to a house with electricity.  Amazing election day and one hell of a birthday. This is a November 6 I will never forget.

Live Blog, Round III

Everything I know tells me that foreign policy positions is not going to determine votes in this election. For one thing, American are woefully ignorant about foreign policy.  For another (and perhaps as explanation for the first), they don't care about foreign policy.  But I do care and later tonight I will offer up some live-blogging of the nonsense.

10:31 pm 
Near as I can tell, only parts of the world are Middle East and China.  Latin America, Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, remainder of Asia......now off the map.

10:25 pm
GM, again?  really.

10:15 pm
And now the China bashing portion of our evening. Sigh.

Romney: I will label China a "currency manipulator." Tough name calling, Governor.

10:12 pm
Looked like we might get to talk drones but then, no, Romney rejects Middle Eastern extremism. Hmmm, I had no idea we had trouble in the Middle East.

Obama will avoid the drones, too.

10:05 pm
Afghanistan......Romney says troops home by 2014.  Still have relations with Pakistan, though.  Because they have nucs and terrorists.  He's mostly right that Pakistan is the real issue.  But Americans have no freakin' clue what you're talking about pal.  Also, Obama is about to take credit for Afghanistan in 2014.

And he did.

Frankly, this whole situation deserves way more lip service than it's getting.  Sigh.

10:01 pm
Debate is now all over the place.  Obama just invoked bin Laden......nothing Mitt can do here.  President does get to take a victory lap on this one.

9:57 pm
Trips overseas.  Mittens says that Obama took an apology tour.  Obama now kicking some serious ass on this issue.  Also, I think he's kinda mad at you now Mittens.  And like it or not, he's the guy with nucs these days.  Just sayin'.

9:55 pm
Mittens has the most peculiar blinking pattern.  Kinda creeps me out.

9:53 pm
Iran.  No nucs for you, crazy Iranian mullahs.

Next?

Wait, did Romney just say that Iran has 10,000 centrifuges?  Really?  How does he know?

9:49 pm
Now they both have to swear fealty to Israel. Yawn.

9:44 pm
"Governor, this isn't Battleship." We have less naval ships than 1917.....and also, less horses and bayonets. Bring it, Mr. President.

9:38 pm
Now on the budget.  Bob? BOB? B-O-B?

Obama: Points out that Romney wants to spend 2 trillion on the military that the military isn't asking for.  Cha-ching.

9:34 pm
Hey, fellas, this is a foreign policy debate.

Bob, are you gonna redirect?

9:28 pm
Bob asks what is America's role on the world?

Mittens is all over.  Obama is more focused, with specifics.  Obama is schooling Romney.

9:27 pm
Romney connects economic weakness to national security after a throw-away "peace through strength" line. He's all over the place.

9:16 pm
Syria.  Which is, pun fully intended, a minefield.

Obama: Syrians must determine their own fate.  Situation is tricky.

Romney: Humanitarian disaster.  It's an opportunity for us because of the role Syria plays for Iran.  Seeing Syria remove Assad is a high priority, but we don't want to get drawn in to a military conflict.  Must arm our allies but not let those arms hurt us down the road. WTF?  Seriously, WTF?  He is scary on this question.

Hey Governor: Syria and Iran don't share a border and Syria isn't Iran's route to the sea.

What does Romney mean by "responsible party in charge"?

9:04 pm
Bob Schiefer is our host and this makes me cautiously optimistic.  I don't much like TV news, but I tolerate him, which is the highest praise I pay to TV news.  He goes straight to a question about Libya and the state of circumstances in the Middle East.

Romney goes first.  He's disorganized for his two minutes but by golly he knows the map of the Middle East.  And he opposes extremism in Iran. Blech.

Obama is more ordered.  Out of Afghanistan, kept Americas safe.  Clear timeline on Libya. Challenging Romney's knowledge and command of the issues; says he want foreign policy of 1980s. Going for the jugular here. Go-bama!

Romney: Attacking me is not an agenda.  Pretty good line.

Live Blogging the Debate

Okay, with the caveat that I don't think Obama blew the last debate so much as Romney wasn't a complete incompetent, I'm up for another round of live-blogging this nonsense.  And, yes, it is nonsense because a room filled with undecided voters is a room awash in nonsense.  For the love of God, who could possibly be undecided at this late date?

The misery fun starts in 5 minutes.

The worst part of any debate is that time when I must select which of the mainstream media to watch.  I'm going with MSNBC, but I will be pounding the mute button when Chris Matthews opens his gaping, unpleasant yaw.

In other news, this is funny.  Well played, DNC.  Well played.

10:00 pm
Obama is articulate, factual, engaging, competent.  Romney was defensive and deceptive on his tax plan, his view of birth control; demeaning about women in the workforce.  I'm satisfied.  What will the media think?

9:55 pm
Both men did well on the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately question.

9:45 pm
Romney has to identify his biggest difference from George W. Bush and say how he is different.  Energy independence.  Trade crack down on China.  Trade with Latin America.  Balanced budget. Champion small business.  Romney is rambling.

This is all malarkey.......Obama should explain that the recession meant government spending and that is why the debt is high.

9:43 pm
Obama says that birth control is a health issue and an economic issue for women.  Mittens?  He gets to dodge birth control completely then comes back to it and claims that he supports birth control access for women.  To which I say what Candy won't: you're a fucking liar.

9:38 pm
Finally a question about workplace income inequality for women.  And Obama mentions Lillie Ledbetter; first bill he signed into law. Bingo.

Governor?  Says he had some qualified women in his Cabinet in Massachusetts (he got 'em from a "binder full of women"...that's an unfortunate choice of words).  He favors flexible hours for mom.  Employers in the new economy will do this, he says.  When we have a strong economy, women will get good work.

Really, Candy, you'd better kick some ass on this one.

9:32 pm
Romney on the split-screen blinking furiously while Obama schools him on taxes.  Satisfying.

9:27 pm
Obama talks about the specific cuts he's made for small businesses and middle class folks.   Says 98% of Americans get no tax increase to deal with debt, but taxes go up for the top 2%, folks who make above 250K....he wants Clinton-era tax rates for those folks.

9:25 pm
A specific question about middle class tax credits......will Romney talk specifics about his plan? Not so far.

Romney: I will bring rates down for everyone.  I will eliminate credits and deductions for folks at the high end.  Says he may limit deductions to a total of $25,000 for big income.  He won't tax investments for people who make less than $200,000/ year.  Ahem, that ain't the middle class, Governor.

9:18 pm
The two are facing off and calling one another's liars.  This is a bit rocky; very combative.  Romney is implying he can lower the price of gas and that is a risky claim, as he must certainly well know.  Gas prices are determined by world markets and pumping oil here is a private business venture in the US; government can't tell them where to sell it.

Romney just said that Long Island had gas at less than $2 a gallon when Obama took office.  I live in this area, NJ has the lowest prices in the region, and I haven't paid under $3 for gas in the past 4 years.

9:11 pm
Stupid question about gas princes.  But Obama is explaining about how to create energy independence and lowering oil imports.  Romney is meandering though he says will get us energy independent.....more drilling, more permits and licenses, pipeline from Canada.

Candy asks if gas prices are at the new normal.  It's a good question.

9:06 pm
Obama wants to create good-paying jobs; build on the 5 million already created.  And he's got specifics: build manufacturing, tax incentives for those who create jobs here, help small businesses to export, build the best education system in the world, student loans, community colleges for re-training, control our own energy (solar, wind, bio-fuels), balanced reduction of deficits.

Obama home run.  Candy pushes back and asks for specifics.  Romney answers with, "I'll create 12 million jobs."  And then wonders all over the place talking about Detroit bankruptcy.   Obama hammers Romney for everything he's said thus far.  Does it in a folksy style but is still basically calling out, "liar, liar, pants on fire."

9:05 pm
Romney is going to make it easier for students to afford college.  He likes loans and Pell Grants.  And he wants kids to be able to get jobs.  But how, Governor?  HOW?

9:01 pm
What the fuck happened to Candy Crowley's hair?  I like Candy as much as I like any TV reporter.  But, seriously,  WTF?

Joe Biden Understands

I have long had a soft spot for Joe Biden.  It dates back to his days in the Senate and to the sympathies he always has for blue collar workers, for single moms, for folks just trying to get by and make life a little better for themselves and their children.  He seems to me a guy who loves his family, who knows that bad luck befalls us all, who believes that the best we can do when that happens is to pick up the pieces and move forward, however incrementally, no matter how hard that is.  He knows that we can - and should - help one another.

He comes by this knowledge the hard way, as a man who lost his first wife and a daughter in a car accident and found himself trying to be the only parent to his two young sons, while serving as Delaware's Senator and managing his own grief.  A few months ago, TPM writer David Kurtz wrote thoughtfully about that very event.  

So I watched last night's debate with a pretty strong bias, knowing that Joe Biden may sometimes be a little emotional, may sometimes be a bit of loose cannon, and sometimes the attack dog half of the Obama-Biden team.  Oh, Joe, we might say.  But folks, let's not lose sight of the reality on the table this November.  One of these men is going to be the Vice President; the person who takes over and leads this nation if the unthinkable happens.  For that reason alone, there is no question in my mind that Joe Biden should serve another four years as President Obama's Vice President.  Because Joe Biden is a man who truly knows what it means to do right.

Debate 1: The Expectations Game

Though it's painful to acknowledge, Mitt did just fine in last night's debate.  I don't think he hit it out of the ballpark, mind you, but he was competent.  The mainstream media conclusion is of the dramatic, "this changes everything" pronouncement, which I just didn't see.  However, President Obama was not at his finest.  He certainly should have gone on the attack more boldly and I have no idea why the president didn't push the 47% accusation.

The format was a flippin' mess.  Without a forceful moderator, both candidates could pull a dodge and weave.  In his conclusions, Romney bobbed up and down while making his points.  It was peculiar.  I don't think that Romney's facial expressions when Obama spoke did him any favors.  He continued to show his ability to rhetorically wander, though Obama wasn't able to take advantage of that.  I am also at a loss to understand why Obama didn't go after the Republican do-nothings in Congress, especially the House.  When Romney blathered on about his ability to compromise and work deals with the other party, why didn't Obama point out that GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell bragged that he wouldn't work with the president?  The president wasn't that inspirational and I think that he's got some serious prep work ahead if he wants to take command of the next debate.

We may see the race tighten from here.  The Obama folks certainly need to re-group and take care, especially as Crossroads GPS and other GOP Super Pacs gin up their efforts.  I don't think that the fundamentals have changed but this race isn't quite in the bag.  Yet.

Live Blogging the Debate

I've no idea how long I will be willing to live blog the debate since I expect most of this exchange to cause my head to spin and blow up.  For your added pleasure, I highly recommend that you organize the supplies to play Presidential Debate Bingo, provided for your edification over at Mother Jones.

Live Blogging starts when the debate begins.  I'd say may the best debater win, but frankly, I don't give a damn how good Mitt Romney sounds, I'm with Barack Obama. So let's be clear: may Barack Obama wipe the arena floor with Mittens.

10:10 pm
Time limits for presentations are gone, clearly.  And now Mittens is invoking Reagan. Platitudes and nonsense, that.  Mittens is all over the place.  I'm taking this operation upstairs and I'll drift off to sleep watching the disorganized mess that is debate number 1.  I'd better not have nightmares, you two.

10:06 pm
Would someone please ask Willard how he will pay for pre-existing coverage healthcare requirements? Or covering kids until they are 25?  And here comes the President to skewer Mitt on this question.

10:02 pm
Note to Mittens: No Republicans support healthcare reform, which is why none of them voted for it.

9:58 pm
Healthcare.  Willard just invoked the Massachusetts healthcare plan.....Tea Partiers are gonna be cranky.  And now Obama is citing the Obamacare advantages. Nicely done.

9:56 pm
In the smile contest, Obama kills it.  Mittens has a thin, mean smile.

9:50 pm
Will Willard get specific about what regulation is excessive?  Yes...Dodd Frank. Seriously, Dodd Frank didn't do nearly enough to regulate, pal.

9:48 pm
Romney's getting in the weeds on healthcare.  And that silly smile after he speaks doesn't help his cause.  Obama was a bit weak at the outset, but he seems to have hit his pace.

9:25 pm
Jim Lehrer has lost control. That ain't good.

9:17 pm
Mittens is getting worked up about whether or not he will reduce taxes for the rich.  He says that he won't.....and he will lower taxes for the middle class. I don't buy it.

9:15 pm
That split screen ain't helping Mittens.

9:04 pm
Shouldn't Jim Lehrer ask Congress if they will do anything to create jobs? Because that's who needs to do something.  I guess that tonight we can pretend otherwise, but that ain't gonna light a fire under Congress.  Obama did fine with his usual list of specifics.  Mittens is also offering specifics, which is a change.....started off strong but lost the trail of thought at the end.

9:00 pm
Look here, Mittens, let's get this started on time.  It's not like I don't have some laundry to fold.

Obama 2012!

I hope that y'all watched President Clinton's Wednesday night speech at the Democratic National Convention.  It was a reminder of the primary virtue Democrats offer to our nation: working together, for the good of us all.  Tonight, President Obama will accept the Democratic nomination for the presidency.  I am proud to have him as my nation's president and I enthusiastically support his re-election.  Full stop.

In the event that you want more details about why I  support President Obama's re-election, I've got a list of first term accomplishments that I am most proud of.  It is not lost on me that these accomplishments came in spite of whole-hearted Republican opposition at every juncture.  Think about what we could have accomplished if the GOP had been willing to work with the Democrats instead of against us.

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

The 2009 Stimulus

Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan on the Supreme Court

Iraqi War Draw Down

Auto Industry Bailout

Obamacare!

Student Loan reforms that put 600 million dollars back in the hands of college students instead of banks

Ending DADT

Expansion of Food Safety regulation system; we need more, but this is a start

The President's support of marriage equality

Enacting some DREAM Act style reforms for illegal residents brought to the U.S. as children

Is there more to do to get this nation on firm economic and social footing?  Yes, emphatically yes.  And President Obama is the man to help us get that done.  Get yourself registered to vote, folks.  Do it because your fellow citizens are counting on you.  Together, we can't fail.

On Compassion and Community

The Democratic National Convention starts tomorrow.  That's a good thing because I suspect that the words of my fellow Democrats are just the antidote I need after a week spent watching the Republican spectacle of cold-hearted privilege in Tampa.

A number of the speeches last week really ticked me off.  I found Ann Romney's appeal to the sisterhood of women both disingenuous and dishonest.  It's terribly hard for me to believe that stay-at-home mom with access to multiple homes, household help, and millions of dollars has any idea what life is like for working moms like me, let alone the families in this nation whose income has been shrinking thanks to 1 percenters like the Romneys.  

Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan's speech was a long list of deliberate deceptions.  You can read about all of them here.  I found all of that troubling, of course. But I didn't find it surprising, given Ryan's fondness for the self-serving, bankrupt philosophies of Ayn Rand, whose string of cold-hearted and half-developed truisms forms the core of his beliefs.  

And then there was the nominee himself.  Mitt Romney's speech told me that he loved his parents and that he loves his kids and his wife.  Beyond that, he explained that the economy hasn't rebounded like we all had hoped in 2008.  Well, duh.  He blamed President Obama for that disappointment without once acknowledging that Congressional Republicans have blocked action at every juncture.  Newsflash, sir: Our nation continues to struggle because of the Republican party, not despite it.

But the most chilling moment of all came at the end of Mitt Romney's speech on Thursday night.  Winding up for his big conclusion, Governor Romney  identified the United States of America he wants our nation to be.  He said, "That America, that united America, will uphold the constellation of rights that were endowed by our Creator, and codified in our Constitution.  That united America will care for the poor and the sick, will honor and respect the elderly, and will give a helping hand to those in need.  That America is the best within each of us. That America we want for our children."

After nearly 45 minutes of cheers for virtually everything that Romney said, the hall fell silent at that moment.  This wasn't a room of compassionate conservatives, not by a long shot.

That moment is the cold, hard truth of the modern Republican party: they care not a whit for their fellow citizens.  They reject the idea that we sink or swim together.  Community responsibility means virtually nothing to them.  They've had success in this nation of ours and by-golly, they will hold on to it with both fists, denying others a hand when it is needed most.

No thank you, Governor Romney.  The Democrats aren't perfect, not by any means.  But I know that they care about their fellow citizens.  They understand that the core of our national success is the obligations we have to one another.  I will gladly place my faith in a man and a party who believes we must help the most vulnerable, who understands that the good luck of a child's birth shouldn't dictate that child's fortunes in life.  

Real Life Conversations with T: GOP Convention edition

The backstory: When I read that New Jersey's loud and belligerent governor, Chris Christie, had been selected to give the keynote address at the Republican National Convention, I was eager to share the news with T.

Me:  Chris Christie is going to be the….

T:  Head jackass?

Me:  Yes, that's exactly what they call the keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention.  He's going to talk about the New Jersey economic miracle…..rising unemployment and the highest property taxes in the nation.

T: Oh, to be a rich bastard in New Jersey.  The living is easy.

Newt Bashing

In the last few days, the mainstream GOP has basically gone on the offensive in opposition to Newt Gingrich, detailing the many ways he isn't qualified to lead anything, let alone the nation.  Today, 1996 Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole got in on the fun.

To quote Newt's '90s nemesis Bill Clinton, I don't have a dog in this hunt.  I'm an Obama supporter, after all.  I should find the Newt-bashing a kind of cheap entertainment. But I don't.  Instead, I find myself wondering where all these people were in 1994, when Newt unleashed his Contract with America invective on the nation.  I wonder where they were when Newt went after the Clintons with his ridiculous accusations.  Where were they in the last few years, when the mainstream media started treating Gingrich as a legitimate GOP-idea man?   The answer: None of them stood up to Newt and his nonsense.  None of them opposed his spiteful brand of politics.  When it worked for them, why they were all for it.

Now they are reaping what they've sown.  I hope that the nation doesn't suffer a similar fate.

Envy

The release of Mitt Romney's tax returns and the consequent discussions of how much tax he pays on his millions has me thinking fondly of Huey Long and his Share the Wealth campaign.

Romney would no doubt accuse Senator Long of "envy" and "class warfare." And for his part, Long wouldn't bother to deny it, which is why I still have a soft spot for his populist proposals.

I've got no similar soft spot for Romney's nonsense…every time he opens his audio-animatronic mouth I am reminded why I am not a Republican.

Primarily Nuts

One of the things I find tiresome about presidential primaries is the degree to which the early voting states smugly assert their qualifications to be the first arbiters of who is qualified to govern the rest of us.  I'm alternately bemused and annoyed at the degree to which these states order us to trust their judgment; the not-so-subtle subtext being that they know better than us, residents of inferior states, who should run the government.  This year's GOP primary has brought us special evidence of the peculiarity of this arrangement.

First up was Iowa, a state asserting it's midwestern heartland qualifications.  I could go on and on about how ridiculous this claim is, but I shall confine myself to a few criticisms.   First up, your state is losing population to the rest of the nation.  If the Hawkeye state is so damned awesome, why are your people fleeing?  Second, the butter cow.  I could endorse a cow carved with butter if you then served up the butter cow with some fresh-baked bread.  But you save the butter and carve next year's cow from the same rancid butter year-after-year, Iowa.  If that's not a metaphor for something tarnished about your state, I don't know what is.  Finally, I offer up the evidence that you can't even count your own ballots.  Sorry, Iowa, but I just can't trust your (cornfed) judgment.

Maybe there is hope to be found in New Hampshire?  I will freely admit that I've never been to the Granite State and I don't know any native New Hampshirites.  But New Hampshire's primary claim to presidential power is that they've always gone first and that they are moderates.  Claiming shotgun on the primary process is not a qualification, New Hampshire.  It's an annoyance.  As for your so-called moderation, those "live free or die" license plates imply a rather immoderate solution, don't you think?

On the other hand, at least New Hampshire isn't the nullifying crazytown also known as South Carolina, a state once characterized as "too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum."  That idea was first offered up by South Carolinian James Petigru more than 150 years ago but remains just as accurate today. As if that wasn't enough, may I point out that South Carolina's  GOP voters just endorsed the candidacy of an ethically-challenged, megalomaniac presidential candidate named Newt?  Seriously, WTF, South Carolina? 

On the other hand, at least the Palmetto State isn't Florida, a state whose voters recently elected a felonious governor.  Sure, the weather is nice.  But other than that and the orange juice, you bring nothing to the table, Florida.  In 2000, your ridiculousness landed us 8 years of George W. Bush in the White House, which should have caused the rest of us to kick you out of the union or take away your voting rights.  Or both.  Florida, your state is where crazy goes to retire.  The last thing I want from you is advice on whom we should elect president. 

It's true that I live in New Jersey, a state that is the butt of any number of jokes.  Not to mention Governor Jersey Shore Christie.  But I'm not asking for the Garden State to vote first.  I'm merely noting that the system we currently employ is ridiculously stupid.   The time has come for organized regional primaries.  Let's get a plan, America.  If not, we deserve the nonsense that is coming our way.

Not Like Us

I didn't have much to say about the Iowa Caucus and had less to say about last week's primary in New Hampshire. Quite frankly, these contests weren't really contests.  I'm wondering if South Carolina, scheduled for this Saturday, will offer up much in terms of an actual contest.  Which is to say I remain convinced that Mitt Romney, who has been running for president for the last 6 years, will this time score his party's nomination. 

Of course, Romney's likely nomination does not really reflect a great deal of actual enthusiasm among his fellow Republicans.  In fact, I've found it rather surprisingly how very little Republicans of all stripes don't like Romney.  It could be his alleged flip-flop status (and the examples here are legion), it may be his tenure as the head of a Bain Capital, a company that made money off of people's misery.  But I suspect that it's his naked ambition that damages his chances. Romney wants to be president so badly that his obvious longing for the post gets in the way of his humanity.  People are creeped out. 

We want exceptional leaders to serve as our president, but we also want someone to whom we can relate; someone who makes us proud of who we are and who we can be.  Romney is not that person.   With Huntsman's withdrawal, he's gotten one step closer to the nomination.  But Mitt Romney is as far away as ever from being able to relate well with middle America.  And that doesn't bode well.

2/18 update: If Romney releases his tax records and he really does only pay at the 15% rate, he will have made my point for me.  Thanks, pal!

An Open Letter to Rick Santorum

JT has two moms.  He's always had two moms and though we've not been raising him as a couple since he was six, that doesn't change the essential fact that his is a non-traditional family.  Add in his mom's girlfriends and close family friends, and JT is a boy surrounded by lesbians.

He knows plenty of women who aren't gay, of course, and he treats the two moms element of his world as the perfectly normal fact of life that it is.  He knows that many families are different from his but that doesn't matter to him.  What matters to him is that he is a well-loved boy; one whose arrival in the world nearly 12 years ago was much-anticipated and much-sought.  With the exception of one incident when he was in the 4th grade, he's never encountered a moment where the value of his family has been in doubt.  Even then, he wasn't entirely sure that it was his family that had been insulted.  That's not how JT perceives the world.

Last Friday morning, JT and I were going about our usual getting-ready-for-school routine.  We stood in the hallway upstairs, listening to the news as he combed his unruly hair.  The story on NPR was about you, Mr. Santorum, an outgrowth of the massive amount of media attention you've enjoyed since your second place finish in the Iowa Caucus.  The story outlined a number of your political views and we heard your voice speaking about gays and their families.  And before I could turn off the radio, in one moment, Mr. Santorum, you condemned me, my family, and my 11 year old son.  There was a pause after your ridiculous invective and in that moment, JT looked at me and said, "Doesn't he know that I'm just a normal boy?"

Of course, you don't understand that.  It's one of the main reasons you are not the least bit qualified to serve in elective office.  I could endure your opposition to gay rights, your ridiculous belief that family breakdown has caused our current economic difficulties, even your opposition to a woman's right to birth control.  But I will not sit idly by while you condemn people's children; my child.

For the record, Mr. Santorum, my son likes baseball and Harry Potter.  He loves his grandparents and likes to talk to them on the phone.  He's a fan of college sports, and he likes ride his bike, draw pictures, and play outside.  He likes to play games on his iPad and listen to music on his iPod.   He's kind-hearted to animals.  He helps his mama around the house and his favorite food is pizza.  He's in the 6th grade and (mostly) he completes his schoolwork on time.  He plans to go to college and dreams of being a baseball player when he grows up.  He's just a normal boy.

He's the face of our nation's future and even though he's only 11 years old, I've got a lot more confidence in JT and his generation than I have in you.  Even so, I'll thank you to be careful about your words, sir.  My son is listening.  And he's just a boy.

Unsolicited Advice for Republican Primary Candidates Not Named Romney

If every one of you just skipped New Hampshire, then Romney's victory there, which looks like a sure bet in the light of current trends, would be hollow.  Instead you could all go to South Carolina, where the weather is much nicer.  The crazy among you (read: every single candidate save Huntsman) could then duke it out among the crazy faithful in the Palmetto state while Romney trudged through the snow and ice.  He'd win the Granite State, of course, but he was going to do so anyway.  As consolation, he'd be hampered in South Carolina (or be forced to spend his money there to be on the airwaves two weeks earlier).

Just a thought.

Update, for those of you who haven't heard about Rick Santorum's anal sex problem.

Obligatory Iowa Caucus Post

In case you just crawled out of your cave, the GOP Iowa Caucus is tonight.  This is the night when Iowans meet with their neighbors, swap jello salads, and cast a vote for the candidate who was the most successful panderer to their desire to feel important.

The media will assure you that it's likely to be a good night for Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul.  The remaining Republican candidates are unlikely to fare as well in the process.  I don't have much to add to this crowd-sourced wisdom except to note what seems to me to be the elephant in the room: no matter what happens tonight (and likely for every other primary election to follow in the days and months ahead), Mitt Romney is going to be the GOP nominee.

If Rick Santorum is crowned Iowa Prom King tonight (and he may very well be),  it will be his moment in the sun.  But he is unlikely to metastasize that victory into greater electoral success (see: Mike Huckabee in 2008).

So.  Mitt it is.  Blech.

GOP Crazy Town

Over at Nate Silver's blog is a handy chart of up-to-date polling data on the upcoming GOP contests.  You can find it here.  Spoiler alert: the Iowa caucus and early Republican primaries are still a cluster of crazy.......though there are some faint signs that Republican voters are beginning to realize that candidate Newt Gingrich is off-the-charts nuts.

I must note that I'm slightly relieved: the mere whisper of the words President Gingrich scares the hell out of me.  Which is not to say that I find the notion of a President Romney comforting........just that my "worst case scenario" plans are slightly different were he to be elected (e.g., more time to get to Canada).

I still maintain that President Obama will do just fine against either of these chuckleheads, especially if the House Republicans keep handing him such obvious opportunities to point out that they can't won't govern.  Still, I expect an anxious 2012.

What's the Matter with Mitt?

A few weeks ago, Nate Silver wrote an unsettling article that looked at the electoral numbers and then predicted that President Barack Obama would surely lose his re-election bid to GOP candidate Mitt Romney.  The foundation of Silver's prediction was his conclusion that an incumbent president with moderate approval ratings and slow (or non-existent) economic growth was electorally vulnerable if his opponent was a moderate.  Fair enough, as far as it goes.  It's certainly reasonable to conclude that an incumbent president confronted by economic difficulties is in a tough spot.  But Silver's argument depends on his understanding that of course Republican primary voters will suit up and do what they always do: choose the most electable candidate.

Enter Mitt Romney.  He's tan, rested, and ready.  And Silver surmised what many other observers on both the left and right have concluded…..surely, the GOP nomination will go to Romney. 

Surely.

At the time the Silver article was published, Texas Governor Rick Perry was coming to the end of his tour as the Republican chosen one.  Since then, Herman Cain has done a few laps as the GOP leader.  In the last few weeks, Newt Gingrich is ascendant.  Mitt Romney has yet to do his star turn.  I'm wondering if he ever will.

There is a combination of peculiar factors at work here.  First, is the degree of dissatisfaction among Republican primary voters.  They agree that they don't like Obama, but after that there doesn't seem to be a consistent narrative about what they'd like instead.  The Tea Party Republican voters seem to prefer new, inexperienced candidates.  Fiscal conservative Republicans (a la former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson) haven't been at home in the party for years; they're not really active players in the primary process.  Social conservatives are as coherent as ever, but they viscerally reject any degree of seeming moderation on their favored trifecta of anti-abortion, anti-gay, overtly religious positions. 

Though the fiscal conservatives might could muster a half-hearted cheer on behalf of Romney, the other groups of GOP primary voters just aren't enthusiastic.  So Mitt Romney is not yet able to seal the deal.  As of this writing, Herman Cain has suspended his campaign, largely due to questions about sexual impropriety and the attendant fund-raising difficulties he's experiencing.  But the candidate benefitting from Cain's collapse isn't family-man Romney.  Nope, it's the thrice-married, perennially unfaithful, scandal-ridden former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

Huh?

I suppose that Romney and his folks will patiently wait this mess out, hopeful that a solid showing in the Iowa Caucus, followed by a victory in the New Hampshire primary, will give his campaign the boost it desperately needs.  But I'm not inclined to agree.  I look at Romney's opposition for the GOP nomination and can only conclude that if Mitt hasn't yet managed to dispatch Perry, Cain, or Gingrich because of his own obvious skill and strength as a candidate, then I'm not inclined to believe that he ever will.

Outsourcing

I've been of a mind to write up a post about the GOP field of presidential contenders and what seems to be the split personality tone of GOP supporters.  Then Kevin Drum summed it all up quite nicely.  Read this and then you don't have to put up with my nonsense.