Let's assume you're a Republican governor who wants to be president. You realize that, for all the bluster and bullshit of the last couple of years, that Obama is the odds-on favorite to get a second term. What would you do to position yourself for 2016?
Well, first, you wouldn't run this time around. You realize you'll have to appear reasonable to win in 2016, and you don't need six months of Neanderthal debate responses on your record four years from now. You'd hope the weakest of the weak sisters running would win the nomination, but since that didn't happen, you need to put a torpedo into Romney. He's a real threat, for a couple of reasons. First, you aren't part of the Mormon/Bain/NeoCon mafia that would ascend be in charge during his administration, and, second, there's no other political office that would keep you in the limelight until 2020, which is a political eternity away.
So, you give the weakest possible convention speech in support of Romney. Then, you attend church every week, hitting your knees and praying that you get another opportunity to smother Romney with a pillow. Lo and behold, the Blessed Virgin Mary answers your prayers by sending a gigantic storm straight through your state. And you do the opposite of what a good Romney surrogate would do: you appear on every morning show singing the praises of President Obama. That gives every Beltway Centrist instant wood, fucks Romney, and helps you by setting you up to be credible when you turn around and blame Obama when everything isn't perfectly cleaned up a few days, weeks or months after the storm (you'll pick the time that's best for you.)
This is just a long-winded way of saying that, whatever else he is, apparently including "likeable", Chris Christie is a very shrewd politician who is ruthless in his pursuit of the Presidency, and unless you see every goddam thing he does in that context, you're missing an essential truth about the man.
(BTW, just to be clear – I don't think Christie prayed for a storm, just an opportunity. God works in mysterious ways, and provided him with the perfect storm and the perfect opportunity.)
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You've probably never heard of a 'Charitable Remainder Unitrust', an exotic tax-dodging device. Mitt Romney has, and it's one of the reasons he's rich and you're not.
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Romney Releases Another False Ad, Revives Claim That Obama 'Gutted' Welfare Reform
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Electoral-Vote.com: OBAMA 280 - Romney 235
FiveThirtyEight: OBAMA 294.6 - Romney 243.4
DeSart and Holbrook: OBAMA 281 - Romney 257
Princeton Election Consortium: OBAMA 303 - Romney 235
Votamatic: OBAMA 332 - Romney 206
UnskewedPolls.com: ROMNEY: 321 - Obama: 217
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This is weird: "Shashank Tripathi, a hedge-fund analyst and the campaign manager of Christopher R. Wight, this year's Republican candidate for the U.S. House from New York's 12th congressional district," spent last night tweeting wildly inaccurate news stories about Hurricane Sandy. The most plausible explanation? He has "asshole tendencies." Sounds like a typical Republican troll. BONUS FUN: he's a fundraising contact for the Romney campaign.
Speaking of Republican assholes, the Cleveland Plain Dealer rips into Mitt Romney for lying about Chrysler-Jeep moving Ohio jobs to China. "Ohio voters know who stepped up when the auto industry was at the abyss," write the paper's editorial board, "and it wasn't Romney."
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Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Tuesday claimed that he had stopped campaigning due to Hurricane Sandy and instead was holding so-called "storm relief events" where campaign advertisements were played for attendees.
Romney, along with his wife, Ann, and vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, stopped by campaign offices and attended events in the swing state of Ohio just a day after the hurricane devastated much of the east coast.
"Campaign video playing at 'storm relief event' – there is an area roped off for supplies," USA Today's Jackie Kucinich tweeted along with a photo.
New York Times political reporter Michael Barbaro noted that a sign at the Trent Arena in Kettering called the event a "Republican Campaign Rally."
NPR White House Correspondent Ari Shapiro tweeted a photo of press badge, which referred to the "storm relief event" in Dayton as a "victory rally."
Don't say I didn't tell you so. How predictable is this? Mitt Romney is so shameless that there's literally nothing he won't lie about.
The question is how long it'll take the media to catch up to reality. So far, they're all sticking with the "both campaigns have suspended electioneering" bullshit.
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Al Gore: Statement on Hurricane Sandy
This week, our nation has anxiously watched as Hurricane Sandy lashed the East Coast and caused widespread damage--affecting millions. Now more than ever, our neighbors need our help. Please consider donating or volunteering for your local aid organizations.
The images of Sandy's flooding brought back memories of a similar--albeit smaller scale-- event in Nashville just two years ago. There, unprecedented rainfall caused widespread flooding, wreaking havoc and submerging sections of my hometown. For me, the Nashville flood was a milestone. For many, Hurricane Sandy may prove to be a similar event: a time when the climate crisis—which is often sequestered to the far reaches of our everyday awareness became a reality.
While the storm that drenched Nashville was not a tropical cyclone like Hurricane Sandy, both storms were strengthened by the climate crisis. Scientists tell us that by continually dumping 90 million tons of global warming pollution into the atmosphere every single day, we are altering the environment in which all storms develop. As the oceans and atmosphere continue to warm, storms are becoming more energetic and powerful. Hurricane Sandy, and the Nashville flood, were reminders of just that. Other climate-related catastrophes around the world have carried the same message to hundreds of millions.
Sandy was also affected by other symptoms of the climate crisis. As the hurricane approached the East Coast, it gathered strength from abnormally warm coastal waters. At the same time, Sandy's storm surge was worsened by a century of sea level rise. Scientists tell us that if we do not reduce our emissions, these problems will only grow worse.
Hurricane Sandy is a disturbing sign of things to come. We must heed this warning and act quickly to solve the climate crisis. Dirty energy makes dirty weather.
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Mitt Romney: helping with flood relief ... in Ohio
This is an actual quote from Romney:
"We're counting on Ohio," Romney continued. "I know the people of the Atlantic Coast are counting on Ohio and the rest of our states, but I also think the people of the entire nation are counting on Ohio because my guess is, my guess is if Ohio votes me in as President, I'll be the next president of the United States."
Also, Ohio! And Ohio! Did I mention Ohio has 18 electoral votes? Ohio, that is.
How selfless and non-political of him during a natural disaster.
Yep. Another awkward, weirdo response to a crisis from Awkward Weirdo Mitt.
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More disconcerting than the thought of a Romney administration, is the knowledge that at least 40 percent of those casting a vote on November 6 are grossly apathetic.
In a recent YouGov poll, I asked participants about their views on abortion policy and what position they thought Obama, Romney, the Democratic Party, and the Republican Party took on abortion. Only about 60% of respondents knew that Obama and the Democrats supported more pro-choice policies than Romney and Republicans. Given that the parties have had clear and long-standing positions on this issue, it's astonishing that 40% of Americans don't know this basic fact (other surveys find even higher levels of ignorance).
Amazing. If such a large number of Americans are this clueless about a basic issue like abortion, what the hell are they basing their their vote on? How knowledgeable can they possibly be on issues like the economy, health care, immigration and foreign policy?
Unfortunately, the more ignorant the electorate remains on the basic issues that define the two political parties, the easier it is for Rovian politics to do its dirty work. There is definitely method to Romney's flip-flopping madness.
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Market Watch: Obama spending binge never happened - Government outlays rising at slowest pace since 1950s
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