Mitt Romney is officially the GOP Presidential Nominee
While it has been a foregone conclusion that Mitt Romney secure the GOP nomination and go on to face President Obama in the general election this November, he wasn’t officially the nominee until today (or if you’re reading this later, Tuesday).
As I write this, delegates are still voting, but it was New Jersey that put Mr. Romney over the top. Congratulations to Mitt Romney. While I’m not a supporter of his, I can certainly appreciate how hard he and his staff worked (and how much was spent) to get to this point.
On a personal note, I encourage you all to go out and openly mock anyone who thought Ron Paul would get the nomination at the convention. It’s also worth noting that once Romney secured the nomination, convention organizers silenced Ron Paul supporters.
Romney officially clinches nomination at condensed GOP convention – CNN.com
Huntsman
Jon Huntsman was easily my favorite candidate in the 2012 GOP Primary. His realistic worldview and pragmatic solutions were a welcome contrast to the ideological buffoonery to which American politicians have made us all grow accustomed. As a candidate, Jon Huntsman’s ideas were all grounded in reality and informed by his ideological views. Looking at the other candidates, I saw ideologues desperately trying to clinging to their political dogma, distorting reality to pretend their tired, old ideas even applied to today’s world. When other candidates where sticking to talking points and pandering for applause, Huntsman was speaking truth to power, no matter how unpopular. The people I talked to, at least the ones that knew of him, agreed with me. What confused me most about Huntsman’s failure to gain traction with the Republican party was the face that he had already gained so much traction with independents and Democrats. If there was one guy who had a chance to take voters away from President Obama, it was Jon Huntsman. Even the hacky, liberal blogger that is me was thinking, “I hope I get a chance to vote for this guy.” It’s a sad day when the man with the best ideas not only loses but loses so badly that he doesn’t finish the race.
After joining the Ford Motor Company’s board of directors and fairly low profile (for a guy who just ran for president), Huntsman continued to support the GOP (he still does), but when they disinvited him from a Florida fundraiser, took a moment to remind us why he’s so awesome:
“This is what they do in China on party matters if you talk off script,”
“A guy named Michael Moore who went on television and said ‘That Huntsman guy. He’s a Republican I think I could support’ to be followed up by Jimmy Carter who said ‘This Huntsman guy: I think he’s somebody I could support’ to be followed up by Bill Clinton, who went on television and said ‘He seems pretty un-hidebound. He’s a Republican I think I could’ — we were so toast in Iowa by then.”
What got him disinvited? He said it would be good if a third party candidate entered the race.
Republicans, you had the chance to save your party and nominate a man that seems to be the second coming of Eisenhower. Instead, you chose Mitt Romney.
Santorum dropped out, somebody get a towel
"This is my sad day sweater vest."
That might be the last Santorum joke I get to make. Sad.
Former Senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum has suspended his campaign to win the Republican nomination for president after a weekend of “prayer and thought.” Glad to see he’s mixing something new in to the routine. While Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich are still technically in the race, this clears the way for Mitt Romney to become his party’s nominee.
If you’re keeping score at home, all three candidates who claimed that God told them to run for president have now dropped out of the race.
Nothing to See Here, Folks
3 of 4 G.O.P. candidates would grow the national debt more than current projections
A recent study conducted by the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget examined the four main GOP candidates’ budget plans. It concluded that Romney’s, Santorum’s and Gingrich’s plans all would drive up the national debt. In fact, the plans proposed by Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum actually increase the debt more than current projections based on Obama administration policies and assuming the Bush tax cuts are extended. The problem stems form the fact that the tax cuts in their plans far outweigh the savings from their proposed reductions in spending. Only Ron Paul’s plan showed a reduction in the national debt, but let’s face it: Ron Paul will never be president.
Like Stephen Colbert says: reality has a well-known liberal bias, and in reality we have a spending problem and a revenue problem.
Citizen Feingold
GQ has a great interview up with former Senator Russ Feingold. Feingold served 18 years in Congress and is known for the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (aka McCain-Feingold) and for being the one vote against the PATRIOT Act. Until he was ousted in 2010′s Tea Party wave, he was, arguably, the most important progressive voice in Congress.
Recently, GQ’s Mark Byrne sat down for an interview with Mr. Feingold. Here is an excerpt:
A week after Obama is sworn in I’ve got people coming to town meetings with, like, little tea bags and I’m saying, “Well, what’s your complaint? That he didn’t wear the right suit at the inaugural? What is the deal? He hasn’t done anything.” Most of my town hall meetings had always been love fests, and some of my guys used to complain: “I’d like for somebody to yell at you a bit.” Sure enough, all of a sudden that’s all it was. And my supporters that were in the room were becoming scared. First, they become intimidated to the point where they don’t speak. Then they don’t show up. So I’m possibly one of the only Americans who was in the room, maybe 150 times, with these Tea Party people, who was not a part of them. I was there. This was clearly a corporate-generated myth and these Tea Party people, many of whom were completely genuine, were taken for a ride. They were completely co-opted by the Republican party, totally bamboozled. Occupy Wall Street is a real movement. The Tea Party ended up being a shill for corporate America.
Russ Feingold Interview on the Presidential Election 2012: Politics: GQ
How Unemployment is Counted
If you’re like me, you woke up a few days ago and heard that unemployment was at 8.3%. By the time you got home and turned on the TV, Romney, Santorum and Gingrich were talking about how in reality 10 or 15% were unemployed. No one was really lying, but you were purposefully being misled. You see, there are several classifications of unemployment, but when we’re talking about unemployment, we are talking about one specific category. Men who served in positions like governor, Speaker of the House and senator know this, but they’re counting on the fact that ordinary people like you and me don’t. That way they can quote a completely different number when it’s politically convenient.
Here is how the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies unemployment: Read More…
Robert Reich on Entitlements and the GOP Primary
I listen to Marketplace just about every day, but a commentary by Robert Reich stayed with me today. It seemed worth sharing, so the link below will take you to the segment. There is audio and a transcript.
The GOP candidates largely agree on what ails the country | Marketplace from American Public Media
Santorum Wins Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri
Captain Sweater Vest won big last night, taking all three of the day’s primaries. While this is embarrassing for America, the Obama campaign is almost certainly celebrating behind closed doors. After all, running against a candidate as ludicrous as Santorum frees up a whole lot of time for golf.
Santorum jolts GOP presidential race with 3-state sweep – CNN.com
…And We’re Back
Here are a few things I wanted to post all day:
David Beckham signed a new two-year deal with the LA Galaxy, reportedly turning down offers from all over the world.
People kind of lost their shit over not being able to access Wikipedia for day. Those of us who are techie enough to understand SOPA and PIPA just loaded Google’s cached pages.
L.L. Bean built a boot car that gives the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile a run for its money.
Paula Dean has had diabetes for three years and is still trying to sell you the recipes that are killing her. Anthony Bourdain put it in perspective for us on Twitter.
We knew the Captain of the Costa Concordia was a coward, but now it looks like he’s a ridiculous liar too.
And if hell freezes over and Newt Gingrich becomes POTUS, he’ll need an I’m With Stupid T-shirt.
Flickr Photos
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