Romney And Ryan: The Economic Dream Team

Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney has announced his running mate for the November election, Congressman Paul Ryan, head of the House Budget Committee. Many pundits are calling this a "risky" selection, as the Ryan agenda to slash government spending has earned him the ire of many Democrats. Despite how Democrats and media people feel about the new VP candidate, he is the perfect selection. Romney has no choice but to fight the election on the economy and government spending. His own greatest strength is his business acumen, so it makes perfect sense to double down on the budgetary portfolio, a file that nobody knows better than Paul Ryan.

Frankly, I would argue that there is no such thing as a "safe pick". Romney is going to face a trial by fire during this election campaign, regardless of his VP selection. There was a significant risk to every possible candidate, so best to select the optimal choice to fight economic battle that Romney has to fight. Joe Biden is going to struggle mightily when he has to face Ryan in the VP debates. Romney was already facing an uphill battle with Obama ahead in the polls. Of the last 4 times an incumbent President has run for a second term, 3 of them have won re-election. Under Obama's watch, Bin Laden was killed and Gitmo is still operating. If you try to fight Obama on national security, he can counter with having issued the order to kill America's #1 enemy. The economy and the budget have to be center stage, and if it is, Romney/Ryan have a better chance of winning.

Andrew Breitbart, You Will Be Missed...

There is one pundit that I have enjoyed since the first time that I listened to him, and that is Andrew Breitbart He will be missed. It is not often that I shed a tear at the passing of a political pundit, but upon learning that Andrew Breitbart had passed at age 43, I couldn't help it. This was a man who was doing something that I respected tremendously, going head to head with the most vile forces on the American left, who even enjoyed doing so. My only hope is that Breitbart 2.0 is waiting in the wings and is ready to step forward. Is it someone at Big Hollywood? Is it someone that he inspired? I don't know, but let's hope that another one of him steps forward in the near future.

Of all his speeches, the one that you most need to watch was at the latest CPAC conference. We just lost a valuable ally in the fight against left wing media bias.



Will the next Andrew Breitbart please stand up?

Romney Wins Big In Florida

As the results pour in from the critically important Florida primary, it has become clear that Mitt Romney has won the state by a large margin. Newt Gingrich had all the momentum following a big win in South Carolina, securing endorsements from Sarah Palin and Herman Cain. Either those plugs benefited Romney more than Gingrich, or Newt's brilliant idea to colonize the moon did not go over as well as expected. Florida has by far the most delegates of any state thus far in the primaries, and is a big prize for the Mormon millionaire. As of right now with 81% of county's reporting, Romney has 47%, Newt 32%, Santorum 13%, and Paul 7%.

I have never been a fan of Mitt Romney, but believe he has the best chance of defeating Obama. Republicans need to attract people who voted for Obama in the last election. Romney is almost a carbon copy of John Kerry (minus the military service), where Gingrich is much more of a John McCain (again minus the military service). Besides, every time I hear the name Newt, I'm reminded of a centaur from a bad Hercules cartoon from the 60s. If we're lucky, Romney will pick up Newt's colonize the moon plan, allowing Gingrich to go quietly into the night instead of trying to help Obama win re-election.

I would like to run a poll question regarding Newt's biggest weakness and one for Mitt's biggest weakness. Your suggestions are welcome.

Newt To Colonize The Moon

Thus far in the campaign to select a Republican nominee to face Obama in a battle for the White House, I have been skeptical of Newt Gingrich. But today he officially won me over by promising to build a permanent base on the moon by the end of his 2nd term. Sign me up for Team Newt, and let's go to the moon! YEAH! Finally a Presidential nominee serious about space exploration that we can get excited about, capturing the imagination of Trekkies and nerds around the globe.

My sincere apologies if I was not fair in my initial opinion of the future Republican President, this totally makes up for it and I genuinely hope he wins. Now it doesn't seem so ridiculous to have put "golfing on the moon" on my bucket list...though at the time it seemed very unrealistic...

Ann Coulter Doesn't Like Newt Gingrich

Ann Coulter really doesn't like Newt Gingrich. She's endorsing Romney as the only candidate who can beat Obama, and is miffed that Newt managed to win the Carolina primary. See the video below for her full argument on why Gingrich is the wrong candidate for the Republicans in this election. Coulter, you may recall, once said she'd rather vote for Hillary Clinton than John McCain. That was at the beginning of the 2008 primary process. She said she would campaign for Hillary if McCain was the Republican candidate. McCain went on to lose the election.

Who Should Be The Republican Nominee For Vice President?

The race to lead the Republican Party in the next Presidential election is now down to a two horse race between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. Who should be the nominee for Vice President? Should it be whichever of the two main candidates finishes in second place, going with a Gingrich/Romney ticket? It would be difficult for either Mitt or Newt to name their rival as their running mate given the bitter attacks that have been flying back and forth since the campaign started. Rick Santorum is probably the most likely VP candidate out of the people still running for the top job. Ron Paul would make for an interesting running mate and I'd surely tune in to watch him debate Biden, but I doubt Paul will get the nod.

Should the VP nominee be a person who did not run in a 2012 primary? Herman Cain deserves some consideration, and he could attract votes from Stephen Colbert fans. There are a number of quality options; Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Mitch Daniels, Bobby Jindal, Tim Pawlenty, Rand Paul, Rudy Giuliani, even Sarah Palin. I'm not sure that Palin is interested in another run at VP or if she's got her eye on 2016. My preference would be either Rudy or Pawlenty.

This will be the subject of a webpoll in about an hour or two. Before I do, am I forgetting anybody?

The Next President Of The United States?

If you had to choose the President of the United States from the following list of candidates, who would it be; Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, or Barak Obama? I'm doing my own little straw poll going into the Carolina primaries. Thus far this Republican leadership race has seen the main candidates spend so much time attacking each other that they are damaging the brand. I ran a similar poll back in November (see below) when there were more candidates, and Herman Cain won the most of your votes. Now that the field is down to 4 Republicans, I may as well add Obama's name and ask you to choose a President.

WHO DO YOU THINK SHOULD WIN THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATION TO RUN AGAINST OBAMA IN 2012?

Herman Cain (30%)
Newt Gingrich (24%)
Mitt Romney (17%)
None of the above (7%)
Ron Paul (6%)
Undecided (5%)
Rick Perry (2%)
Michele Bachman (2%)
Rick Santorum (1%)
John Huntsman (1%)

This poll was taken in the immediate aftermath of Rick Perry's memory fart in a debate. Gingrich has been under attack for his infidelity, Romney under attack for being a successful businessman who likes to fire people, while Santorum and Paul have made the biggest gains over the past 3 months. Newt is hands down the best debater, and may have won Carolina for his spat with the CNN moderator last night. Romney looked unstoppable a week ago when Newt was attacking his success in business, but is starting to lose momentum, especially now that he has lost Iowa. Santorum is just a younger, less polished version of Mike Huckabee. Last night on Fox someone pointed out that 50% of Ron Paul supporters don't have a second choice.

Who would you vote for?

Will Mitt Romney Ever Be Elected President?

Today's poll question in the wake of the Iowa caucus; will Mitt Romney ever be elected President of the United States? The live results with 97% of Iowa primary precincts reporting has Santorum with a razor thin lead ahead of Mitt. Fox News is currently reporting a dead heat. While Santorum might be the candidate about which I have the fewest complaints (we don't yet know much about him), he's more of a poor man's Mike Huckabee. There's a lot that I like about Ron Paul, but he takes Libertarianism too far for my comfort. He'll never be President, his son maybe.

At this point I'm pretty much convinced Romney will win the eventual nomination. Santorum will ultimately underachieve what Huckabee did last time around. Gingrich might be the smartest politicial mind in the field, but I have some trouble taking him seriously as a legitimate candidate. Rick Perry should drop out of the race as soon as is possible.

My question for you right now, will Romney ever hold the Oval Office?

Who Should Be The Republican Nominee in 2012?

Today's poll question; who do you think should win the Republican nomination to run against Obama in 2012? Of the current candidates running in the race, Herman Cain is leading in the polls with 18%, followed by Romney and Gingrich with 15% a piece, the absent minded Rick Perry has 8%, Ron Paul has 5%, Michele Bachman has 4%, Santorum and Huntsman round out the field with 2% and 1% respectively. Undecided and none of the above are also options in the poll.

I'm not sure that I like any of the candidates currently in the field, and if this is the final list of choices I'll probably end up endorsing Newt. He's really the only one on that stage I trust, but age could become an issue. Romney might be the best business man among the group, but I'm not sure America is ready for a Mormon President. I don't understand the Herman Cain phenomenon. He came out of nowhere and suddenly was the favourite before anyone really knew all that much about him. He's certainly the most entertaining of the bunch. The brain fart pretty much eliminates Perry as a contender. Ron Paul is older than John McCain, and McCain was too old 3 years ago.

Is Obama Scorching The Earth?

Tonight I was watching the Charles Adler Show on Sun TV News (on the Internet since Telus still doesn't carry Sun News in my cable package), and the theory was proposed that the President of the United States "wants a train wreck" on this debt ceiling issue so that he can blame financial collapse on the Republicans in the next election. While this is a clever theory and sounds nice, I have trouble believing that Obama is that stupid. If there is an economic collapse because congress and Obama could not agree on a settlement, guaranteed it will hurt Obama's chance at re-election. Congress has a more recent mandate from the people as the Democrats were dealt a devastating blow from voters. Obama is the one demanding more money than the American government can afford to spend, so if talks collapse he absolutely will receive a substantial amount of blame for what happened.

The only thing that makes sense to me is that Obama believes he has substantial political capital to spend after killing Bin Laden and he knows that Obamacare can't survive without substantially increasing how much the USA can go into debt. I don't think he's trying to scuttle negotiations in order to blame it on the Republicans, I think he's desperate to move forward with his spending policies and is willing to spend what political capital he has from killing Osama to make sure he can pay for Obamacare. If he is indeed trying to scorch the earth in order to blame his opponents, then he's an idiot. If the economy collapses, the sitting President cannot avoid responsibility for the catastrophe.

When I watched the video below, I laughed so hard that I cried....

Farewell Governator

California's Arnold Schwartzenegger experiment has come to an end. Today's poll question; do you think the Arnold was a good Governor? I admit to being happy when the so called Republican was first elected, but his tenure was an unmitigated disaster. I never expected him to do a good job, there was just something strangely funny about the Governator winning such a Liberal state. He turned out not to be Conservative at all, and his fiscal policy was a complete failure. He was a better Governor than Jesse Ventura, but that ain't saying much. A chimpanzee would make a better Governor than "the body".

Republicans On Guard

It was nice to see a new Congress sworn in the United States yesterday, as the Republicans take control of the House from Democrats, breaking up their monopoly in the legislative and executive branches of government. Do I think that the Republicans are going to do anything substantive? Probably not because the Dems still have the Whitehouse and Senate. Any Meaningful reforms will be subject to a possible veto, so this victory is most significant for blocking Obama's funding. It forces the Democrats to shift their policy back to the center if they want to get it funded. This victory is more preventative than constructive, but I celebrate it none the less.

Alaska Rejects Sarah Palin's Advice

When Sarah Palin quit her job as Governor of Alaska before the completion of her first term to go on a lucrative speaking tour, many voices on the right said it was the wrong thing to do if she wanted a future in federal politics. I remember listening to the Laura Ingraham Show the next day and Laura, generally a big fan of Palin, recommended Sarah fire whoever advised her to quit. Fast forward to Republican primaries a year later where Palin bitterly opposed Lisa Murkowski bid to run for Alaska's senate seat. She endorsed Joe Miller who won the primary, so Murkowski decided to run as an independent. Who did Alaskans elect? Not who Palin told them they should.

Palin's inexperience may have also cost the Republicans a seat in Delaware where Palin went against the advice of Karl Rove and endorsed Christine "I am not a witch" O'Donnell, who again won the primary. In the election, the witch was crushed by 16%. Anyone seriously considering Sarah Palin for Presidential candidacy in 2012 needs to relax for some sober second thought. Sarah Palin gives Barak Obama the best shot at re-election.

Who Deserves Credit For Republican Victory?

Here is a great subject for tomorrow's poll question; which pundit deserves the most credit for the overwhelming Republican victory in the latest midterm elections? Was it Glenn Beck? Bill O'Reilly? Laura Ingraham, Dennis Miller? Which if any individual should take the most credit for what happened yesterday? Or does Obama himself deserve credit for the wave of populist opposition against his party? Obama's own former Senate seat was won by a Republican. If the people who first elected Obama to represent them in Washington have no abandoned the Democratic party, they have big problems.

Tuesday, November 2nd, the end of Nancy Pelosi as majority leader of Liberals in the American House of Representatives.

Republicans Crush Democrats

Tuesday's midterm elections in the United States saw the Democrats lose the most seats of any party in one election since 1948. The Congress is now overwhelmingly Republican, while the Senate came down to the wire and was retained by the Dems. The best news of the night is that Nancy Pelosi is no longer the Speaker of the House, the 3rd in line to be President. Christine O'Donnell (the dabbler in witchcraft) who won a hotly contested primary after a last minute endorsement by Sarah Palin (against the advice of Karl Rove) was crushed by 16% on a night when 60 Democrats lost their seats.

Barak Obama's former senate seat went Republican, along with a number of stunning upsets. CBC ran the headline "America Divided" for its election coverage that started before polls had been closed. Sure, when the Democrats have the momentum they are overjoyed by the "hope-A-dope", but when the pendulum swings back Republicans, the headline is "America Divided". Way to go CBC. California voted down the legalization of marijuana. The state level elections were an even larger sweep for Republicans, who now control a majority of the country's governorships.

America Votes!

As we speak the American people are voting for representatives to the Senate and Congress, and I would like to wish the Republican Party the best of luck. I don't like all of their candidates, but a Democrat monopoly on power is a very bad thing for Canada. They need checks and balances to Obama and Pelosi's vision of Utopian society. I am even cheering for Christine O'Donnel to win Delware, even if I don't believe she was the ideal candidate. Karl Rove knows his electionomics.

The Difference Between Liberals And Conservatives

I don't know who wrote this, but my father forwarded it to me yesterday. It is a fantastic comparison on the difference between Liberals and Conservatives.

If you ever wondered which side of the fence you sit on, this is a great test!

If a Conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one. 
If a Liberal doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.

If a Conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat.
If a Liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.

If a Conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.
If a Liberal is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.

If a Conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.
A Liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

If a Conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.
Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.

If a Conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.
A Liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced.

If a Conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it.
A Liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.

If a Conservative reads this, he'll forward it so his friends can have a good laugh.
A Liberal will delete it because he's "offended".

November Election

There will be an election in November, just not in Canada. Midterm elections are fast approaching south of the border, and this round will prove to be interesting. Can the Democrats hold on to control of all three executive branches? Will the Republicans be able to take back one or both of the Senate or Congress? That is today's poll question; what do you expect the outcome to be? If a Republican can win Massachusetts, then truly no Democratic seat is safe, except maybe Pelosi in San Fransisco. Can the new Republican wicca win Delaware?

I don't study American electoral math with the same detail as I do Canadian, but if I had to guess the most likely outcome is that the Republicans will take one of the Senate or Congress but not both. It is difficult to see them winning the Senate but not Congress where every seat is up for grab. If I had to assign a probability to each possible outcome, it would be as follows and bear in mind this is just an educated guess:

Republicans win only Congress 35%
Republicans win both 30%
Democrats win both 25%
Republicans win only the Senate 10%

When the power shifts too far to one side, it always swings back, it is all just a matter of when it starts.

Palin And Rove Disagree In Delaware

Anytime I hear mention of the state of Delaware I am reminded of the movie Wayne's World when Mike Myers delivered a very unenthusiastic "imagine being magically whisked away to...Delaware...Hi, I'm in Delaware". Last week however, Delaware was the source of some interesting developments in the final Republican primaries heading into the midterm elections. One candidate was endorsed by Sarah Palin, the other by Karl Rove. The Rovian endorsement of Mike Castle was based on a calculation that he was more electable and had fewer negatives. From what I could gather from Palin's speech, her endorsement was based more on momma grizzlies and "the establishment". O’Donnell won the primary thanks in part to Palin's endorsement and afterwards Rove had some harsh words for the winner, upsetting a number of Republicans.

Can she win the Senate seat? Her Democrat opponent is to the left of Obama and it is entirely possible that she could win the blue state. But here we are only days after her nomination, and we are starting to learn more of her negatives. Some social conservatives might like her past crusade against the "sin" of masturbation, but they can't like her past admission to dabbling in witchcraft. “We went to a movie and then had a midnight picnic on a satanic altar.” But who hasn't dabbled in witchcraft at some point, right? As it turns out, she has been an "activist" for some time and has an archive of television footage making potentially controversial statements, many of which have yet to be re-discovered. This could just be the beginning. Her "negatives" are going to become a lightning rod for attacks on the entire Republican Party in November.

Sarah Palin may have just come in at the last minute and flipped that Senate seat from Republican to Democrat, or so says Charles Krauthammer. Karl Rove should have been more gracious after she won the primary, but that doesn't mean that his initial opinion was wrong. Mike Castle had already been fully vetted and had won several statewide elections. Does that make him part of the "establishment"? Perhaps. How is it that we've come to a place where having no experience is an asset? It is fair have gripes with the governing class, but a replacement without adequate qualifications is not necessarily going to do a better job.

Cleaning Up Oil: Above Obama's Pay Grade

The latest oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico may have destroyed an entire ecosystem for a generation, but that's not Obama's problem. As Barak likes to say when deflecting tough questions, "that's above my pay grade". It is the oil company's responsibility to clean it up, not the American government. Or is it only the job of the Feds to save their soil from disasters if Republicans are in power? It is quite a common tactic of the Obama administration to blame other people for their problems. I'm sure they will even find a way to slam George Bush for their own response to the disaster.

I also thought it was a little rich to have Sarah Palin slam Obama's lack of response by accusing him of being too close to "big oil". As Governor of Alaska, Palin might have been closer to big oil than any Governor outside of Texas in the history of the country! I am not of the opinion that big oil is evil, and I would never have criticized Palin for doing so much business with big oil, I just find it to be a particularly opportunistic form hypocrisy. She is exploiting a disaster to score a few political points. It is not unlike Bob Rae protesting the Canadian government for proroguing Parliament, when as Premier Bobby prorogued nearly every year and for longer durations.

On the other hand, considering she quit her job after less than half of one single term, she didn't have enough time in office to fully exploit her own ties to big oil.