Fox News Lowers Threshold for Debate

Fox News announced today that they have lowered the requirements for admission into the first GOP debate. This means candidates like Carly Fiorina, George Pataki, and Lindsay Graham will be able to participate.
This is fantastic news. Fiorina, Pataki, and Graham are all formidable and worthy candidates. They deserve to be heard and recognized.
As is usual at this point in the primary process, there is the showboat (Trump) and the extremists who are getting all of the attention. It makes sense that these are the candidates getting the attention right now, since only the truly passionate (extremist) voters are paying attention, and the media likes the showboats. So far this is a pretty predictable race. The more normal, stronger, less extremist candidates aren't interesting stories - yet. They are the candidates that the mainstream voters will want to learn more about in a few months. They just get overshadowed by the more flamboyant candidates in the early stages.
When all of the extremism starts to settle down, and more people start to pay attention, it will be the candidates like Fiorina, Walker, and Rubio that the general public will gravitate towards. But until then, people like The Donald, or Bernie Sanders, tend to steal the spotlight.
Fox News lowering the threshold is a win for the common man and mainstream America. 

Draft Romney to Rescue Detroit!

You know what is wrong with this-  Let's Draft Romney to Rescue Detroit (Fox News)

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. 

In fact, every single word of it makes sense!

"... Detroit is effectively bankrupt and the governor of Michigan is about to appoint a receiver to try to save the city..."

"I’m betting Romney will turn the Detroit economy around, just like he turned a failing, bankrupt Salt Lake City Olympics into one of the great successes in Olympic history. And we already have a precedent -- Ronald Reagan turned around Jimmy Carter's malaise, misery and 21.5% interest rates in record time. He turned an economic disaster into the greatest economic expansion in history (adding 20 million jobs)."

Governor Snyder, are you listening? 

Where's the petition? I want to sign!

Media Bias and What Happens Next

A look at this evening's "top of the fold" cover on the Huffington Post is a sad look at media bias in politics. From the "Hiel Hitler" pose to the "hostile takeover" headline, there is nothing but bias in this image. And since when was a five year bid a "hostile takeover?"

I stopped watching Fox News years ago because of the hatred and vile on the network. Sure, maybe it is conservative friendly (it isn't fair and balanced, that's for sure), but I don't care to hear hatred for any party. I only read the Huffington Post to get a true liberal slant on stories for something to compare my own beliefs against. I prefer CNN because I think they actually spend more time on looking pretty and sleek graphics and theme music than they do on bias. (And because they are the only American network I can rely on to give me human rights stories.)

But if there is one thing to be learned from this political cycle it is that Mitt Romney has not won over the media. The news stories today have all been about how Romney has failed to win all Republicans. Or how the base is not yet behind him. And if I hear one more story about how the GOP doesn't have a strong candidate and may have to go to a brokered convention, I may pull my hair out.

Let's look at the straight up facts.
Romney now has 429 delegates, compared with 169 for Rick Santorum, 118 for Newt Gingrich and 67 for Ron Paul. Add it up, kids. That is 429 delegates for Romney, 354 for the other three guys combined. That is a majority of Republicans behind Romney. The other three guys put together can't outdo him. Yes, I've seen the stories about not getting enough delegates and a potential brokered convention. And if that happens, so be it. There's no point in saying "Well, historically..." anymore. This campaign cycle hasn't followed any historic patterns, so we can stop pretending it will in the future.

The plain and simple truth is that Gingrich needs to step down. He has 118 delegates, which in theory is impressive. Except 53 of those came from his own home state last night. He only got 79 delegates total last night. He came in third or fourth place in every single state except for his home state! He's not winning. His money is drying up. And he will have no momentum to move forward. He has no chance of suddenly winning at a brokered convention, although I suspect that a brokered convention would be a daydream of his. He loves history. He probably relishes the idea of a shouting match on the convention floor and the thought of being carried on the shoulders of his men through the room to the stage. But the truth is, if he hadn't been absolutely vile to the competition up to this point, if he were to drop out now, he would make a good VP. But he shot himself in the foot when it comes to that.

No one is more surprised than I am that Rick Santorum is a strong contender. And the truth is, I don't actually think he is that strong on his own merits. I think what he is is the poster child for the anti-Romney vote. I don't believe people are behind Santorum as much as they are against Romney. I believe if anything were to happen at a brokered convention that it would be a dark horse who could usurp Santorum support. And if that person were charismatic and surprising enough, he/she could really compete against Romney.

(As for Ron Paul, do I think he should bow out? Yes. But I don't think it would make any difference. I don't think his supporters would then fall behind someone else. I think they would follow him out of the party. However, I do think in the tightest races like Ohio last night, it would make a difference if there had been one less "anti-Romney" option available.)

So really, it all comes down to Romney at this point. He either has to finally, convincingly win over more voters, or we're going to a brokered convention. He's a by the book kind of guy, so I don't think we'll see any surprise moves come out of him. But if it were me, and I wanted to shake things up, I'd buck convention completely at this point and do something crazy like start talking seriously about VP possibilities. If you can't get the voters to love you, get them to love your ticket. (For instance, a Romney- Nikki Haley ticket? Who could argue with that?)

Just a little interesting moment from Twitter last night. Judging by the surprising number of retweets, I'd say I'm not alone. 

Let's Talk Debates!

Fox News 2012 GOP Debate, Linked to Source: ABC News

I watch the debates so you don't have to!
Here's what you missed by watching "Bones" last night (Was it good? I haven't seen it yet! No spoilers!)
I could really tell this was hosted by Fox News. The candidates were hit from the right about their conservative positions. For instance, abortion and right to life were made an issue, as was gun control. These haven't been issues in this campaign at all, so it was surprising to hear how much time was spent on those subjects.

"MOM! He keeps interrupting me!" "Am not! "Are too!" (linked to source)

Apparently Michele Bachmann ate her Wheaties yesterday, and came out fighting. At several different points it felt like it was Bachmann v. Everyone Else. She reminded me of an angry Yorkshire Terrier, barking and nipping at Newt Gingrich's heels. She also had a very memorable heated exchange with Ron Paul on foreign policy. She flat out said she had "never heard a more dangerous answer" than Paul's positions on Iran. (Which is to say, he doesn't think they have a nuke.)

"My name is Ron Paul, and until we open free trade with Iran, I won't be able to find a suit that fits." (linked to source)

Ron Paul doesn't back down in a fight, which is amusing considering his pacifist position on other issues. He really spent sometime standing up for his positions on Iran. "Why are we flying a drone over Iran?" He apparently thinks Iran sings kumbaya at night and prays for our peace.
I can finally sum up how he feels about Iran and Israel. "Our neighbor have guns, so we don't need to worry that we'll get attacked." (My words, not his.) His most memorable quote of the night was, "I don't want to run the world. I don't want to police individual activities or people's lifestyle, and I don't want to run the economy." Strange talk for a man running for the most powerful position in the world. It doesn't matter if anyone thinks he won or lost, because his supporters will think it was all rigged anyway.
In other news, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ali Khamenei endorse Ron Paul. He finally gets some big name, national endorsements!

"My name is Mitt Romney, and I wear better ties than you!" (linked to source)

Mitt Romney was Mitt Romney last night. In many ways it was his night to lose, and I don't think he lost. But I don't think he "won" either. My favorite quote for him last night was, "Timidity and weakness invite aggression on the part of other people. This is a president, the spy drone being brought down, he says 'pretty please'? A foreign policy based on pretty please? You got to be kidding."
When attacked (by the moderators, and then Santorum) about his changing positions, his response essentially sounded like, "I used to favor flip-flopping, but now I'm against it."

Tim Tebow 'tebowing' (linked to source)

Rick Perry- what do I say there? I think he will gain a fan or two. It was definitely his best debate so far. But probably too little, too late. Calling himself the Tim Tebow of politics was pretty funny. Other than that, he wasn't all that notable or quotable. He did suggest that we should limit Supreme Court terms. That was sort of interesting.

Gingrich struggles with state deadlines, while Indiana's signatures come under scrutiny

I started this blog after some negative experiences with voters on a day I was out collecting signatures for Mitt Romney to get on the ballot in Virginia. I was accused of all sorts of things that day, but the most interesting fallacy lobbed at me was that no other candidates were out collecting signatures. Maybe those supposedly well-informed voters just haven't been paying enough attention, because the state-by-state requirement to collect signatures is a hot topic this week.
Newt Gingrich may be suddenly enjoying a skyrocketing rise in the polls, and we will assume in his war chest as well, but his tardy to the party style is actually hurting him where it matters most- getting on the ballots. Each state has different rules for getting a candidate on the ballot for the state caucuses or primaries. (In Virginia a candidate must collect 10,000 signatures state-wide by mid-December.) Gingrich has already missed the requirements for getting on the Missouri ballot. The Missouri primary will be held on Tuesday, February 7, 2012.* Candidates for the presidential primary from Missouri's "established political parties" (Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, and Constitution) had to have 5,000 collected signatures filed by 5 p.m. on November 22, 2011.
Gingrich now faces possibly missing the Ohio deadline as well. Ohio is a part of the first major "Super Tuesday" on March 6, 2012. The Gingrich campaign is scrambling to turn in the required 1,000 signatures today** by 4pm. (See below for a big asterisk on confusing, emerging information, that will likely lead to a court battle by unhappy candidates in the near future.)

Mitt Romney's political director Rich Beeson pointed out that the best time to collect signatures — during the previous general and primary elections — has passed. (Which is exactly what this writer was doing.) Of course, it goes to note that back on November 8 when other campaigns were out collecting signatures, Gingrich was still battling Rick Perry for third place.
Not surprisingly the Gingrich team is blaming the complicated system (that all of the other candidates managed to work with) rather than admit that he and his team messed up. The mark of a true politician!
Meanwhile, in Indiana, a voter fraud investigation is underway as it is suspected that at least 150 collected petition signatures for now-President Obama were forgeries. Obama only collected 534 signatures in St. Joseph County, where a minimum of 500 were needed. (The Clinton campaign collected 704.) Without the forgeries, Obama would not have made it on to the ballot. (Note: in the final election Obama beat McCain with 58% of the vote in St. Joseph's County.)

Source
Washington Times "Gingrich struggles with state deadlines for filing"
Talking Points Memo "Newt Catches a Break on the Ohio Filing Deadline"
Fox News "2008 Voter Fraud Investigation Heats Up in Indiana"


*(Point of confusing clarification from different sources: Missouri will hold its primary on February 7th, 2012, but this will not count for delegates toward the 2012 GOP convention. The Missouri Republican Party will hold a caucus on March 17th, 2012, which will determine the delegates sent to the 2012 GOP convention.)
**In Ohio, the deadline for filing to be on the primary ballot is 90 days before the primary on March 14, 2012 (in other words, today, December 7, 2011.) However, a new law has made its way through the state legislature moving the primary back to June, and effectively the state filing deadline. However, it gets a little tricky here because the new law won't be enacted until January 20, 2012. Making story even more complicated, according to Matt McClellan, spokesman for the Ohio Secretary of State, is that the candidates were advised by the Secretary’s office to adhere to the old December deadline just in case the legislature again changed the date of the primary (which it has done a few times in the last few months). So in other words, Gingrich et al better make that filing deadline today in order to be safer than sorry.