Oh-eight (R): 'Irascible' and 'unfiltered'
Posted: Friday, October 05, 2007 9:23 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Republicans
Anyone else surprised that not ONE of the four leading candidates decided to break with President Bush on the SCHIP issue? "As for the children’s insurance veto, the candidates, in aligning with Mr. Bush, are mindful of the concerns of fiscal conservatives that expanding the program could result in huge future costs. Unlike with Iraq or Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Bush’s
capacity to be a drag on the candidates’ fortunes is smaller on the insurance veto, Republican analysts say, because the veto is not especially unpopular with Republican primary voters. They are the current target audience for the candidates, according to their campaign advisers, so the electoral gamble of supporting the veto -- if not Mr. Bush -- is relatively modest at this point."
By the way, be sure to read
David Brooks today about what's wrong with the conservative movement. It's a storyline that will be weaved in and out of this election cycle regularly since the GOP does seem to be in the midst of a major identity crisis.
GIULIANI: More hand-wringing from religious conservatives about Giuliani in today's Wash. Times. So what is the goal of Christian conservative leaders? Stop Giuliani in the primary? Get Giuliani to suck up to them by promising them major input on the running mate? Or defeating Giuliani in the general so that they win the 2009 ideological fight when the blame game begins if they lose the president? Is the big fear for these folks a Giuliani victory because it will ideologically change the power structure of the party for the future?
Are any of the above outcomes a
good thing for the party long term? Depends where you sit ideologically.
The interesting thing about Giuliani is that so much of what he's said over the years is available via audio or visual recordings. Nothing is simply a quote in print. The
New York Times goes through all of Giuliani's WABC radio show archives and finds some interesting quotes. "Giuliani the Presidential Candidate is a pasteurized fellow who favors smiles and reasoned talk and self-deprecating humor (not to mention unexpected cellphone calls from his wife). One can trail him for weeks without monitoring a temperamental eruption.
“But to listen to a Giuliani sampler -- 55 taped hours of his old radio program, which ran from 1994 to 2001 -- is to hear the uncensored and unbowed Mr. Giuliani, an irascible figure familiar to millions of New Yorkers. He grooved on his unfiltered roar."
HUCKABEE: On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Huckabee called in and was asked about his fund raising. He’s only raised about $1 million this quarter, according to estimates, far less than so-called top-tier Republicans and even Ron Paul. He said the question he asks is, “Do we have enough money to put our tires on the track? And the answer is yes.” But he acknowledged that his campaign will need to have enough money for advertising by December.
On whether or not he’d be interested in being someone’s VP choice, he gave a veiled Marion Jones analogy. “It’s like being an Olympic athlete,” Huckabee said, “even the ones that aren’t doped up, shoot for the gold. I never heard of someone who’s goal was to be a silver medalist.
MCCAIN: In the
National Review, McCain receives the ringing endorsement of George P. Shultz, Henry A. Kissinger, Alexander M. Haig Jr., Lawrence S. Eagleburger, James R. Schlesinger, John F. Lehman Jr., R. James Woolsey Jr. and Robert C. McFarlane.
“Never before has there been such a premium on experience and proven leadership. For that reason and in sober consideration of what in our judgment it takes to govern the United States: the ability to parse problems correctly, to bring sound analysis to bear, to define viable strategies, to integrate resources, engage allies, and move decisively to lead our country to viable lasting solutions, we have concluded that Senator John McCain is the most qualified candidate to become our next president. We strongly endorse the candidacy of Senator McCain and as a matter of deep personal conviction, call upon all Americans to join us in that judgment.”
McCain certainly hasn’t lost his sense of humor: From the
Boston Globe: “The Republican hopeful said that as president he would appoint Alan Greenspan to lead a review of the nation's tax code -- even if the former Federal Reserve chairman, now 81, was dead, the Associated Press reported.
“ ‘If he's alive or dead it doesn't matter. If he's dead, just prop him up and put some dark glasses on him like, like
'Weekend at Bernie's,’” McCain joked. “Let's get the best minds in America together and fix this tax code.”
ROMNEY: NBC/NJ’s Erin McPike reports Giuliani isn't the only Republican facing vocal opposition from a bloc within his party's own big tent in James Dobson; the Log Cabin Republicans have begun circulating a 30-second ad challenging Mitt Romney's claim to conservatism. Don’t miss that Romney's
stepping up his efforts to woo Dobson to his camp. According to the campaign, Dobson hasn't ruled out support Romney. But in the past, Dobson has said he thinks many folks in the Christian conservative community would have a hard time supporting a Mormon.
According to the group's release yesterday, Fox News will run the spot nationwide, and it will have "an additional concentration in Iowa." The ad touched off another back-and-forth for the Romney campaign on Thursday. After the campaign sparred with the Giuliani campaign on fiscal issues throughout the day, Romney spokesman Kevin Madden responded to the Log Cabin Republicans' attack twice -- the second time saying it "was launched and paid for by a group recognized as having Mayor Giuliani as their ‘favorite’ candidate," according to the
New York Times.
While the organization represents primarily the interests of gay and lesbian Republicans, that's not what the ad addresses. Rather, it calls Romney out as a flip-flopper, using footage from his 1994 Senate debate with Ted Kennedy to show his previous support for abortion rights. It features him denying a desire to "return to Reagan-Bush" and concludes with the tag line, "a record fighting the religious right …a pro-choice record… Massachusetts values…Mitt Romney."
THOMPSON: The
Nashville Tennessean looks at Thompson's relative lack of support over the years for some of the key issues Christian conservatives care about. But, "As long as Thompson lines up with enough of their issues and as long as he's still flying high in the polls, they're willing -- for the moment -- to overlook his lack of regular church attendance and his missteps on the campaign trail."
