Back to Basics

Even former Hillary Clinton staffers are calling this policy “absurd.” It just goes to show you how hard it is to campaign when you are constantly saying something in public that tries to hide how incredibly leftwing a person really is. Reason.comhas this:

Pool reporter David Nakamura of the Washington Post reported that at a $35,800 a head fundraiser at the home of Blackstone COO Hamilton “Tony” James in New York City Monday night, the 60 attendees were asked to place their phones in plastic bags by the door. An Obama aide called the move it “standard operating procedure,” but veterans of a range of other campaigns said they’d never heard of the practice, which is common in secure White House spaces where there are concerns of espionage, but unknown in contexts in which only political secrets are discussed. The new prevalence of sophisticated audio and recording capacities in mobile devices owned by virtually anyone wealthy enough to write a check to a political campaign, however, has put a new pressure on campaigns concerned with staying on a public message. Former aides to presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Rick Perry, and Jon Huntsman all expressed surprise at the practice, and they’ve never seen an instance where a campaign asked donors to surrender their cell phones. The former Clinton aide called the Obama policy “absurd,” suggesting that the Obama policy is almost certainly a response to the infamous 2008 fundraiser where Obama described voters in rural Pennsylvania as “bitter.”

Serendipity: A happy chance or accident. Precisely the opposite of what happened to Senator Dick Lugar last Tuesday in Indiana. At the risk of being redundant, I wrote at the time of the 2010 elections that it wasn’t over ’til it’s over, but that the American Tea Party Patriots had put a new face on American politics.

I said that the ‘Republicans-in-name-only’, the ones not voted out in the 2010 sweep of the US House of Representatives, were not the only ones who had to look to their seats in the upcoming 2012 primaries, House and Senate races. I’ve also commented on the not inconsiderable number of House and Senate members who, having seen the hand-writing on the wall, have announced that they would not seek re-election in the upcoming contests. Thus far, it looks like five Democrats, three Republicans and one ‘independent’ have stated they will not seek re-election. There are thirty two members of the House who are dropping out.

Don’t buy the ‘lame-at-best’ excuse that redistricting is responsible. I said that we were going on a RINO hunt after the election. There is ample evidence that this is just what has occurred. Conservative challengers have cropped up all over the nation, despite the overwhelming monetary and organizational advantages of both the DeMarxists and the Republican establishment, whose wrong-headed choices may be, in large part, responsible for the rise of the Tea Party itself.

It’s striking that we have to run against our own side while defeating the true enemy. But rise we have, with Patriot citizen candidates all over the country, from school boards to state capitols and beyond, challenging DeMarxists who, in even heavily leftist entrenched districts, are looking over their shoulders… even the thickest, most out of touch of them, sensing the darkening mood of the nation.

Look what happened in Wisconsin, for instance. The unions were so certain they’d take out Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, in the recall elections initiated by them, that they spent millions of dollars to destroy Walker… and none of it worked. Walker actually looks like he’s gained strength and momentum coming out of the Republican primary. The point is that these are Tea Party candidates who are making their presence felt at all levels of the political spectrum.

We could be witnessing the beginning of the death of liberalism as we know it. We may also be witnessing the beginning of a whole new Republican brand… The Patriot brand.

Happy retirement, Dick.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2012

The race to fill the seat of outgoing Dem Ben Nelson was narrowed down to two last night:

Nebraska state Senator Deb Fischer pulled off a surprise upset victory against Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning in the state’s Republican Senate primary Tuesday, marking the second contest in two weeks in which an establishment favorite was upended by a dark horse candidate in a Senate primary.

Fischer, a rural rancher from the state’s 43rd legislative district, eked out a 5-point victory over Bruning, winning 41 percent to the Attorney General’s 36 percent with nearly all the votes counted. State Treasurer Don Stenberg earned 19 percent.

As of just a few weeks ago, Bruning was widely considered the favorite in the race, and was expected to handily defeat Fischer and Stenberg to face off against Democratic candidate Bob Kerrey in November.

(Note from MM: Full coverage from last night at Twitchy here, here, and here.)

Sarah Palin, who had endorsed Fischer, offered congrats. In spite of that, the race is on to paint Fischer’s primary win as anything but another win for the Tea Party. So far I’ve read articles in both the WaPo and The Hill doing just that (the latter actually claims Fischer’s win “dealt a blow” to the Tea Party). RS McCain responds to that.

Fischer’s win certainly proves that the influence of Sarah Palin hasn’t waned. Sarah and Todd Palin endorsed Fischer less than a week before the primary, and that gave Fischer the momentum needed to push her over the top.

(Note from MM: An enormous amount of credit goes to ShePAC, which provided early and vocal support for Fischer.)

Big Apple Bob Kerrey won the Democrat primary, but a recent poll (PDF) shows that he faces an uphill battle.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney easily won the Nebraska and Oregon primaries.

Also, George W. Bush made an elevator pitch for Mitt Romney.

President Obama was on The View yesterday (word is that Joy Behar is still stuck to her chair) and The One was asked about the upcoming election being a tight race. Obama replied “When your name is Barack Obama, it’s always tight.”

Yes, because the reason he might be sent packing is his name. Please. In 2008, the candidate named Barack Hussein Obama got almost ten million more votes than a guy named John McCain.

He’s already lining up excuses for his November drubbing, and when that happens, the reason given won’t be an admission that he drove the country into the ground and people had enough of it. The reason Obama (and the media) will give is because we’re… say it with me… “racist!”

Related: Alarm grows among Dems about Obama’s chances

Maybe they should get him to change his name. Just don’t let him change it to “John McCain.”

Dr. Drew speaks on young Obama’s radical ideology at SOC912 meeting.

Here’s my May voters guide. I took most of my picks from the folks at Atlas Pac here in Orange County, CA. I want to ask you to please vote for me. I’m running for the Republican Central Committee in Orange County, CA. I’m on a slate with other constitutional conservatives whose names I’m including below.

All in all, I think Orly Taitz is a good choice for the U.S. Senate because she will take the fight to Obama and help build a stronger anti-Marxist anti-socialist Republican party. I like John Webb over John Campbell because of Campbell’s votes in favor of TARP and against DADT. Locally, I’m going with Deb Pauley over Todd Spitzer because I think Spitzer was too soft on public employee unions last time he was an OC Supervisor.

Regarding the folks running for the Orange County Republican Central Committee, I’m supporting my slate mates and my friend Mike Munzing.

I’m also lending my support to all the brave folks who denied Rep. Campbell the endorsement of the O.C. Republican Central Committee as well as a few of the folk who have been helpful and encouraging of Tea Party philosophy. In the new top two voting system in CA, I think the recommendations of the Orange County Republican Central Committee will have greater importance. I’m confident the folks I’m recommending will be brave defenders against moderate Republicans.

June Primary Voter Guide

National
Ted Cruz – U.S. Senate, TX
Jeff Flake – U.S. Senate, AZ
George Allen – U.S. Senate, VA
Josh Mandell – U.S. Senate, OH
Richard Mourdock – U.S. Senate, IN
Jason Chaffetz – US Congress, UT
Eric Cantor – US Congress, VA
Paul Ryan – US Congress, WI
Allen West – US Congress, FL
Michele Bachmann – US Congress, MN

California
Orly Taitz – U.S. Senate
Tom McClintock – U.S. Congress District 4
Tony Strickland – U.S. Congress District 26
Ed Royce – U.S. Congress District 39
John Webb – US Congress District 45
Jerry Hayden – US Congress District 46
Gary DeLong – US Congress District 47
Dana Rohrabacher – US Congress District 48
Darrell Issa – US Congress District 49
Duncan Hunter, Jr. – US Congress District 50
Bill Emerson – State Senate District 23
Bob Huff – State Senate District 29
Jeff Miller – State Senate District 31
Mimi Walters – State Senate District 37
Tim Donnelly – State Assembly District 33
Mike Morrell – State Assembly District 40
Curt Hagman – State Assembly District 55
Eric Linder – State Assembly District 60
Joe Ludwig – State Assembly District 61
Chris Norby – State Assembly District 65
Craig Huey – State Assembly District 66
Phil Paule – State Assembly District 67
Don Wagner – State Assembly District 68
Diane Harkey – State Assembly District 73
Allan Mansoor – State Assembly District 74
Rocky Chavez – State Assembly District 76
Carl DeMaio – San Diego Mayor
Proposition 28 – No
Proposition 29 – No

Orange County
Janet Nguyen – OC Supervisor, District 1
Deb Pauley – OC Supervisor, District 3
Robert Hammond- Orange County Board of Education, Area 1
Ken Williams- Orange County Board of Education, Area 3
Greg Sebourn – Fullerton City Council
Ethan Temianka – Mesa Water District

Orange County Republican Party Central Committee

55th AD - Dennis White.
65th AD – Greg Sebourn and Pat Shuff
68th AD – Deborah Pauley, Lynn Schott and Walter Myers III
69th AD – Tim Whitacre, Brett Franklin, Thomas Gordon, Charles Hart, Robert Hammond and Cuong Sinh Cao
72nd AD – Dean Grose and Zonya E.

Does the Obama campaign really want to go there?

Yes they do:

The Obama campaign has launched a new round of negative TV attack ads against Mitt Romney, casting him as a heartless “job destroyer” during his days at Bain Capital.

A two-minute spot, set to begin airing today in five battleground states, tells the story of a Kansas City steel company — GST Steel — which was purchased by Bain in 1993 and went bankrupt in 2001. More than 750 workers lost their jobs when the mill where they worked was closed.

“They made as much money off of it as they could. And they closed it down,” says Joe Soptic, a steelworker for 30 years.

Jack Cobb, who also worked in the industry for three decades, says, “It was like a vampire. They came in and sucked the life out of us.”

Team Obama accuses Romney of loading the company with debt and reaping “quick profits for himself and his investors” at the expense of middle class workers.

A couple of points are conveniently unmentioned in this vampirish ad that will apparently have a very limited engagement. The company in the ad collapsed in 2001. Mitt Romney left Bain in 1999. However, Team Obama’s still blaming Bush for the economy, so it should come as no surprise they feel justified in blaming Romney for the 2001 bankruptcy of GS Technologies even though he left Bain a couple years prior.

Also not mentioned in the Obama ad is Jonathan Lavine, who is a six-figure Obama bundler who was at Bain in 2001, and remains there.

Katrina Trinko at NRO relayed an anecdote about the union situation at GST, another possible contributing factor left on the cutting room floor:

Don’t feel bad for those guys, though — Obama later got them all jobs at Solyndra.

Jim Geraghty in regards to the scary “Romney Economics” website:

Update: The Romney campaign responds:

I’d forgotten Ron Paul was still even in the race:

Ron Paul won’t campaign in any more primaries, his campaign announced Monday afternoon.

A letter sent from Paul to supporters promised to continue the battle for delegates at state party conventions in order to try to influence the party’s platform, but said the campaign will no longer try to win delegates in new states — an uphill battle now that Mitt Romney is the presumed nominee and most states have gone to a winner-take-all system of delegate apportionment.

“We will no longer spend resources campaigning in primaries in states that have not yet voted,” Paul said in the letter. “Doing so with any hope of success would take many tens of millions of dollars we simply do not have.”

It’s okay — this way he’ll get a jump on everybody else for 2016. The real world can’t keep down a man who rocks internet-polls like this forever:

At least his campaign stayed around long enough to inspire this “bad lip reading” clip.

Turncoat former Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter is on the Tea Party-bashing book tour circuit. So, naturally he showed up on MSNBC this weekend to nurse his lingering electoral wounds and speak up for the nation’s endangered RINOS, squishes, and Beltway barnacles.

As I first noted on Twitter yesterday, Specter spoke — whined — to MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry as they bemoaned how voters are booting out entrenched moderate incumbents. Specter complained that “Cannibals are devouring senators. If you don’t follow orthodoxy, vote the party line right down the line, if you have a 93 percent conservative voting record like Bob Bennett in Utah — that is not conservative enough.” Specter then lamented (a la John Kerry) Indiana’s grass-roots victory of Richard Mourdock over three-decade-plus incumbent GOP Sen. Dick Lugar. Tellingly, Specter used Lugar’s defeat to plead to MSNBC’s audience (all three dozen of them or whatever) to keep endangered Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch in office.

“Orrin Hatch is in jeopardy in Utah,” Specter wheedled. “I hope that people in Utah — and I know you have a big listening audience, viewing audience there, Melissa — will read this book and come out and vote to make sure that Orrin Hatch is not cannibalized.”

Watch:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

As noted here on April 21, despite amassing a giant, $6 million campaign war chest and calling in every last chit with Republican friends and cronies, 77-year-old GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch faces upstart conservative entrepreneur and renowned state pension reformer Dan Liljenquist (with campaign coffers of about $200,000) in Utah’s June 26 primary.

Hatch is running scared and refusing to debate Liljenquist in any major venue. The Salt Lake Tribune called out the cowering Hatch this weekend:

Orrin Hatch is not the first entrenched politician to try to deny a challenger the spotlight and credibility that come with a chance to debate the incumbent. And he won’t be the last.

But the senior senator from Utah is being particularly cynical with his grudging agreement to a single joint appearance with his rival in the June 26 Republican primary — former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist. After weeks of claiming that pressing Senate business makes such a debate impossible, Hatch has deigned to a joint appearance with Liljenquist on KSL radio’s Doug Wright Show, sometime in late June.

Meaning no disrespect to the multitalented Mr. Wright, or to his popular radio broadcast, but this is not what the voters of Utah need and deserve. Even KSL, in cooperation with its corporate siblings at The Deseret News, had offered to host a prime-time radio and TV broadcast debate with the two candidates, with Deseret/KSL executives handling all the complicated details.

But Hatch refused.

A radio broadcast can allow for some extended discussion of complicated topics. And candidates and serious voters alike might prefer the focus to remain on those issues, rather than being shifted to such trivia as whether a candidate is looking at his watch (like losing candidate George H.W. Bush) or emitting a frustrated sigh (like losing candidate Al Gore).

But radio lacks the impact of the televised debates that voters have become accustomed to over the past 50 years.

Elizabeth Warren has this much credibility left…

Earlier this month, I told you about progressive heroine Elizabeth Warren’s shady claim to Native American heritage. The saga of Sacaja-whiner doesn’t end. Michael Patrick Leahy at Breitbart.com — who first reported Friday that Warren’s Cherokee claim is based on a family newsletter and not on a purported marriage license — follows up again:

On May 1, according to a Boston Herald article, the Warren Campaign offered two pieces of evidence they said supported Ms. Warren’s claim of Native American ancestry. The first, a statement by genealogist Chris Child of the New England Historic Genealogical Society has now been thoroughly debunked in an article that ran Friday here at Breitbart, and another article that same day at Legal Insurrection.

The second piece of evidence was equally suspect. The Warren Campaign offered reporters an undated article from the Muskogee Phoenix about the contributions of Elizabeth Warren’s first cousin, Mrs. James P. Rowsey, to the Five Civilized Tribes Museum in Muskogee, Oklahoma as proof of Ms. Warren’s Native American ancestry:

The campaign also hastily produced an undated newspaper clip last night from the Muskogee Sunday Phoenix detailing a “Mrs. James P. Rowsey” — who they said is Warren’s cousin — and her involvement with the Five Civilized Tribes Museum, which is dedicated to preserving Native American art.

“Mrs. James P. Rowsey was Elizabeth’s first cousin — shared the grandparents in question,” a campaign official said in the statement.

A little research confirmed that Mrs. James P. Rowsey – Janyne “Candy” Carnes Rowsey (1932-2002)—was indeed Ms. Warren’s first cousin. Both are grandchildren of Harry Gunn Reed and Bethanie Elvina Crawford. Further research showed that Mrs. Rowsey’s most well known contribution to the Five Civilized Tribes Museum involved editing and publishing a cookbook in 1984 — Pow Wow Chow: A Collection of Recipes from Families of the Five Civilized Tribes: Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek & Seminole.

Add half-baked oppression claims to the Warren family recipe book.

by BurtPrelutsky

In spite of what Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and the Obamas, claim, America welcomes people of all races and colors so long as they don’t insist that they have anything but the opportunity to succeed coming to them.

Native-born black Americans have been coddled like newborns for the past 50 years, which is two full generations, three in the urban community. They have been the recipients of trillions of tax dollars in federal and state programs, and what does the country have to show for it?

The fact is, blacks who have emigrated from Africa and the Caribbean have done so, like millions of other immigrants, in order to improve their lives and the lives of their children. They work hard and they are cheered on by a white society that, unlike black America, is, by and large, colorblind.

Frankly, if I were black, I would be embarrassed that the areas in which my people excelled, aside from music and sports, were crime, violence and rioting. It would shame me that in spite of Operation Head Start, Affirmative Action, welfare, food stamps and government set-asides, I was still playing the victim of bigotry, and blaming crime statistics, illiteracy and children raised without fathers, on Whitey.

What does it say about a society when a 16-year-old peddling drugs in the street is a poster boy for urban enterprise?

What does it say about a society when the president, the attorney general, the ambassador to the U.N. and two of the last three secretaries of state, have all been blacks, and we still have to listen to all the whining about how oppressed these people are?

When people such as Sharpton, Jackson and Charles Rangel, are hailed as civil rights leaders, and the likes of Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, Shelby Steele and Ward Connerly, are essentially ignored by their fellow blacks and the mass media, it reminds us that a great many white liberals are active participants in the vile conspiracy to keep black Americans dependent and malleable. After all, when decade after decade, nothing is demanded of millions of people except that they troop out every election to vote for Democrats, it’s no accident when they come to regard state and federal handouts as their due.

Treat any individual as an invalid long enough and it’s no big surprise that at some point he comes to accept that he can’t walk under his own power.

It’s worth noting that Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty, and $15 trillion later, this war is going just about as well as the one he waged in Vietnam. The main difference is that this one has lasted roughly five times as long, and with no end in sight. Talk about not having an exit strategy.

If I were working on Romney’s presidential campaign, I would suggest that we produce a TV spot in which Santorum and Gingrich are sitting on that same sofa that Gingrich once shared with Nancy Pelosi, and I would have them say that, even after all the insulting things they each said about Romney, they still have every intention of voting for him. So just imagine what they think of Obama!