tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post3341429588833517885..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: Catch of the DayJonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-35213637959976189302012-01-25T23:42:32.852-06:002012-01-25T23:42:32.852-06:00It seems--and I never thought I'd say this--bu...It seems--and I never thought I'd say this--but this country may owe Michelle Bachman a debt for eliminating Tim Pawlenty from the primaries so early. A working-class, sane adult conservative but with conservative credentials up the wazoo? None of Romney's Bain financial baggage--he worked as a stockboy, for Gods's sake-- and none of Gingrich's insanity. And a governor of a blue-ish state who served two terms, not one, and left still beloved by conservatives. <br /><br />Yeah, we'd be looking at Obama-Pawlenty right now if not for her, and it seems clear, in retrospect, that he'd be a far stronger candidate than Romney.<br /><br />Who knows. If Gingrich pounds away enough to do serious damage to Romney, we may owe him a debt as well.<br /><br />Thanks, Michelle!Greg Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12476688473774894464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-45293531449974186222012-01-23T19:15:26.110-06:002012-01-23T19:15:26.110-06:00@PF, Republicans could decide based on policy posi...@PF, Republicans could decide based on policy positions, which are more distinct among these candidates than between Clinton and Obama. <br /><br />Instead, GOP voters seem to being trying to balance purity, electability, and enthusiasm. The most recent debates have focused less on policy and more on bashing people. No wonder Newt won the SC debates. I hope the campaign doesn't stay on this nasty track.ModeratePolihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01721945380057992971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-87213479610338769882012-01-23T17:52:52.601-06:002012-01-23T17:52:52.601-06:00"Given the GOP's wild pivots on so many i..."Given the GOP's wild pivots on so many issues over the last decade, perhaps no one can,"<br /><br />At first glance, this seems like a key point, but Newt has some of the same difficulties that Romney has in having once held now verboten positions.<br /><br />I think that the 2012 Republican primary is more similar to the 2008 Democratic primary: party actors and primary voters seems to be having genuine struggles to determine whose personality/temperament, political/personal baggage, and symbolic/demographic qualities best satisfy their vision of the party's strengths and future. Obama and Clinton had really similar records and policy inclinations (relative moderates within the universe of their party's ideological tensions). In some notable ways, there's an analogous structure to the Gingrich-Romney battle. But the right-wing coalition versions of identity politics is ressentiment-talk-radio populist vs. business-class huckster.PFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00263515090451316188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-90313434071527079122012-01-23T16:21:07.175-06:002012-01-23T16:21:07.175-06:00Every time I see your "Catch of the Day"...Every time I see your "Catch of the Day" headline I think of this clip:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIigqVtMp_Y<br /><br />I'm not alone in this am I?Jasperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13937579484457553470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-20188838070768841592012-01-23T16:14:14.465-06:002012-01-23T16:14:14.465-06:00Rick Perry, Tim Pawlenty, and perhaps Fred Thompso...<i>Rick Perry, Tim Pawlenty, and perhaps Fred Thompson all came close, but none of them really achieved that.</i><br /><br />And Pawlenty's the only one of the three of capable of stringing together a sentence without becoming a national laughingstock or making the audience fall asleep.<br /><br />We may never know what kind of internal issues may have brought Pawlenty's campaign to a halt, but just looking from the outside.... doesn't it seem like Pawlenty made a bad decision in dropping out? It seems like he might have been the "anti-Romney" a lot of conservatives are wishing they had now.Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15913245096162048743noreply@blogger.com