Happy Birthday to Fats Domino, 85.
Good stuff, good stuff:
1. That "clearing the field" idea is back; Ed Kilgore has a good take on it.
2. Jonathan Chait on Bob Woodward.
3. Michelle Cottle on what Rove's up to.
4. And the Academy Awards? Here's Shani O. Hilton; here's Alyssa Rosenberg; and one more here.
Kilgore doesn't even mention the GOP side of 2000, which seems like the inspiration for The Party Decides to me (at least, I know 2000 inspired the same thoughts in myself and in party scholars like Casey[hoping that's clearly worded enough to not be read to imply I'm a party scholar, 'cuz I'm not]).
ReplyDeleteNow, what does "cleared" mean? W faced, what, 11 other folks? (declared, at least) Doesn't sound cleared at all, right? Wrong. One of those 11 is rumored to have run only to HELP W win (Hatch). Other real candidates dropped out really early (like summer 1999). McCain was the only real candidate left by the time voters got into it, and the word had DEFINITELY gone out in party circles that anyone who gave to McCain wasn't going to have their phone calls answered for a while.
Now....is that Bush & Rove and their particular brand of loyalty? Or, was the party doing its damndest to clear the field, but ol' Johnny Mac wouldn't listen?
(We, of course, can ignore the 17 other dwarves in 2000, which really might have been one of the biggest collections of loser candidates ever, though the picture I have on my door of the 2012 field sure is tempting, I only count 5 losers there).
Shani link goes to "clearing the field"...
ReplyDeleteThanks; fixed.
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