GOV. BREWER PUTS ON A MINI-CLINIC

After she graduated, they canceled the GOP class in "Effective Communications," apparently.

Just watched Az. Gov. Jan Brewer on MTP--whatta refreshing lady. My fellow Repubs, here is the handbook, Gov. Brewer read it, why doesn't anyone else?!:

1) Made dramatic personal endorsement for the Az. primary, big smile, optimistic, said not one word about the ones she didn't endorse.

2) Made a few simple, REPEATED, clear points about how Obama is obtusely helping to destroy her state.

3) NAILED Cal. Gov. Jerry Brown when he had the gall to utter the phrase "guns are going from the US to Mexico," WRAPPED FAST & FURIOUS AROUND OBAMA'S NECK.

4) Politely but firmly NAILED that hatchet-faced hack David Gregory when he tried to change the subject on her, to help Brown and hurt her.

5) Closed emphasizing how happy she is with the candidate she endorsed (oh, it was Mitt), and how "we are going to work as hard as we can so he can win this week." [Are you listening, Newt? That is ALWAYS the right answer when someone asks you if you are going to win. Got it? ALWAYSALWAYSALWAYS!!!]

Let's review:

She stayed on message.

She projected a positive, cheerful character and demeanor.

She exploited an error by her opponent.

She didn't step on her dick.

She stayed on message.

She smelled out the slimy media trick, called him on it, and avoided it.

And did I mention that she stayed on message?

The whole thing was about 6 minutes, just beautiful, a clinic in GOP communications. And it's not rocket science...Is it?

If Newt had been able to do this, he'd have wrapped it up already. Or Santorum or Romney, too, for that matter.

Thank you, Gov. Brewer. I think I love you!

OBAMA TREASON WATCH, I.

[wherein we catalogue a perforce incomplete list of the various atrocities committed by President Barack Hussein Obama and his agents, which atrocities would never be committed unless he was an America-hating traitor to the core]:

1) Obama refuses to allow a Knesset member from Israel, Michael Ben Ari, a visitor's visa to the US because he considers da Jooooooo a "terrorist."

A FEW POSITIVE WORDS FOR ROMNEY

Well, now is as good a time as any to post a few positive words on behalf of my 3d favorite GOP candidate (he's just concluded his Florida victory speech). I was a strong supporter of Romney vs McLame in 2008, but I've been consistently skeptical of him in 2011-2012. But there is no point in being spiteful, so herewith a few lines of honest credit for Gov. Romney:

1) He avoids mistakes, or "beating himself." This has really been the heart of his success this go-round, as one GOP opponent after another has shot themselves in the foot, or both feet, and crippled their own campaigns. It is interesting to note that Gingrich's one big victory in South Carolina was achieved only after Mitt himself made a damaging tactical blunder, in dithering over his tax returns. If he had avoided that eminently predictable problem, it is conceivable that Mitt could have won in SC, too.

2) His campaign is flexible, in a good way. After South Carolina, Romney's team took a hard, fast look at their position, and adjusted with a series of new tactics and fast decisions that led to the thumping Florida victory. In the meantime, my man Newt has been mired in a sour dialectic divided between complaining about Romney's dishonesty and complaining about his big advertising spending. This was a winning approach?

3) Mitt Romney obviously is humble enough to prepare for his big moments. As Ace of Spades commented sometime ago, we've been imbued for decades with a kind of "Stripes" mythology, whereby some raw but talented people goof off for a semester, but pull an all-nighter before the big test and dramatically ace it. Well, as we all know there is no tooth fairy, and there is no substitute for (nor excuse for lack of) preparation. Quite apart from his smooth, almost error-free debate performances, Mr. Romney has spent the better part of 4 years PREPARING for these primaries by recruiting and convincing supporters, hiring reliable campaign staff, and cultivating right-leaning journalists in the legacy and internet media. Looking at the 2 Florida debates, it was apparent that Gov. Romney had prepared thoroughly, while Speaker Gingrich was winging it.

4) Related to #3, Mr. Romney is also humble enough to be disciplined. He is excellent at staying on-message, and he does not take the bait to get distracted into unproductive or damaging dialogues. Discipline is perhaps the pre-eminent quality for a successful campaign, and it has been Newt's biggest weakness thus far. Should Romney win the nomination, I foresee a scenario wherein a panicking Obama leaps from failing issue to failing issue, while a disciplined Romney presses his advantage, much as George Bush I whipped Dukakis.

5) Mr. Romney has surrounded himself with competent staff. How can it be that a serious presidential candidate should be blocked from a state ballot because he collected too few valid signatures? Are you kidding me? How can you buy ad time and then remove the ad because your opponent complains? As Casey Stengel asked, "Can't anybody here play this game?" Mr. Romney's people have got him onto all the ballots, produced effective ads and purchased the airtime to deploy them, got him to his appearances and appointments on time, and helped him to avoid any truly self-damaging statements. It's so simple and obvious, and easy to take for granted, but can we say the same for his rivals' staff?

6) Mr. Romney has remained, personally, a happy warrior, while his surrogates and PAC people have carried out the real dirty work of "negative campaigning," innuendo and brazen lying. (Yes, claiming Newt Gingrich was anything but a leading Reaganite of the highest order is obviously a brazen lie). Speaker Gingrich has complained about this, but guess what? That is classical political strategy, "Politics 202," and why the heck Newt was purportedly surprised by it (and failed to resort to it himself) is beyond me. Newt the Happy Warrior is such a superior campaigner to Newt the Complainer that he needs to cling to the positive personal approach for dear life...but let his surrogates napalm Mr. Romney to a crisp.

These are the larger strengths that Gov. Romney has shown. Add to them the gorgeous family, his own good looks and cheery demeanor, personal wealth, and golden fundraising touch, and campaigner Romney might just cruise to a victory over the liberal Democrat this year.

Just like George Bush I did in 1988. Let's just hope a President Romney has no desire to emulate that smug, clueless Presidency, though.

BACHMANN ENDORSES GINGRICH!!

Can't disagree with a word she says.



(H/T Legal Insurrection)

NEWT CRUSHES ROMNEY.

The same week Mitt Romney emphasizes his great respect for the Islamic faith and says he has never seen any evidence of American Muslims threatening our country, Newt Gingrich just wipes the floor with him on the issue of "Palestinian" legitimacy. Newt was absolutely 110% correct on the facts and the history, but Romney's patently weak, timid approach clearly demonstrated why he is NOT the man to lead our country. Here are Newt's key words, from 4:44 in the vid:

"This is a propaganda war, in which our side refuses to engage, and we refuse to tell the truth whiie the other side lies, and you’re not going to win in the long run if you’re afraid to stand firm and stand for the truth."

Maahh friends, a long time ago we elected a President whose enemies declared that he had a war-against-Russia agenda, and it was important that he not rock the boat and start a thermonuclear war. They said by merely questioning the legitimacy of the neo-Stalinist regime he was hurling us into the apocalypse. Now we know that, in private, when he was asked about his view of the Cold War, he said: "We win, they lose."

Go back and look at Newt's quote there. Did any other candidate jump up and agree that we are in a propaganda war in which our side refuses to engage? Can anyone deny it? But only Newt had the courage to stand for the truth, even Rick Santorum went all nervous-Nellie on us.

People, allow me to state the obvious: You cannot win a war if you don't realize you are in one. You cannot win a war by refusing to engage the enemy. And you cannot win a war if you're afraid to stand for the truth.

Period.

Well done, Mr. Speaker. And to think that some bloggers wrote you out of the race for that kissy-face with Al Sharpton and Arne Duncan!

THE NOBLE EXPERIMENT THAT FAILED-THE CAIN TRAIN DERAILS.

Herman Cain, in better times, at the top of his game--

CRUSHING David Gregory on Meet the Press.

Well, it's been an exciting and sad five weeks. I've been spending a lot of time over at the AceofSpades site, defending my man, Herman Cain, but in the end a subtle but important character flaw caught up with him. Here are a few posts I made, on 11/14, 11/17, and 11/28 at AoS, and another on TheOtherMcCain on 12/3, that illustrate what I think caused his campaign to fail:

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[1]

As a Cain supporter since May, this is disappointing to see. I knew the new guy was rough, but over six months, you need to smooth over those rough edges. But it seems he isn't doing it. It's like a great athlete coming to a sport late, you make allowances for him to work his athleticism into the sport, but at some point he either gets it or he doesn't. Michael Jordan ultimately never made it in baseball, did he?

After 29 years of being the 2d biggest Newt fan on earth (2d only to Newt himself), I gave up on the guy back in May due to his Ryan backstab. But is Cain now stabbing Gov. Walker? Uggghhhh.

Cain's campaign actually was a textbook unorthodox campaign, but they needed to develop/grow once they actually made it into the top tier (which was a huge and amazing accomplishment for them). It seems that the limiting factor on their development since then (mid-Sept.) has been...THE CANDIDATE HIMSELF, unfortunately.

And I really question Newt, too. Does he have any ground game? Does he inspire any loyalty from any person other than his [current] wife? Can he avoid torching himself just as he gains traction now? I just don't know. Ugggghhhhh.

One thing I'd strongly urge everyone. Support or oppose the candidates based on your own priorities--NOT based on what you imagine the lamestream media morons and the "independents" will do or not do. That is a fool's game, just ask the McLame supporters from 2008. The most "out of the mainstream" candidate we've ever run ended up patenting the over-the-aisle recruiting--remember those "Reagan Democrats?!" And first 44, then 49 states.

Actually, I've never been a bitter-clinger for Herman Cain. If he's way down, and a more conservative candidate has a shot, I'd of course support the other conservative vs. Romney. It's kind of a fancy formula: The Other Conservative must be at least 5 points above Cain, and within at least 5 points of Romney (or above him). Then I'll vote strategically. Of course.

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[2]

Herman Cain has confirmed a suspicion I've had since the sex allegations broke.

It's good to be confident. It's bad to be over-confident or...proud?

At the time of those sex allegations, the guy immediately charged out and answered the questions without any preparation. There is something admirable about this (esp. if you think he was innocent), but there was also something very questionable: even the smartest, most innocent, well-informed person can be confused by hostile and unfair questions, and therefore look...BAD. As he did, early that week.

He was TOO confident in his own abilities, and too naive that his own innocence wd speak for itself. That is a dangerous fault. I don't want to call it arrogance or pride, but maybe...overweening cockiness?

Anyway, that tendency was on even more gruesome display in the Milwaukee interview. He either needed to be prepared (incl. some rest) or DON'T DO THE EFFING INTERVIEW. This is NOT rocket science, in politics, business, sports, court, or any other field. Period.

He's been campaigning seriously for 6+ months. He's needed to improve his command of the issues over that time--but he has not, at least so's it's noticeable.

When you're a newcomer, you DO need to prove yourself vs. the establishment. He's had a golden opportunity the past 6 weeks, with the spotlight on him--but he has failed that test. You just can't repeatedly flub basic questions with dare I say stuttering answers, period. If we need to absorb so many gaffes, we might as well go with someone with executive experience and history fighting liberals while in office.

Short of repeated performances that rival Newt Gingrich in knowledge, then I don't see any reason for him to continue. And I don't see that happening.

It's a real shame, because he has many gifts, and such a beautiful family, but we can't duck reality. Oh, and I never doubted his commitment to conservative principles, even if he might have never written a NRO essay about them. And SURELY there's an easier, less humiliating way to sell a few books, right? Do you people seriously think THAT'S why he's gone thru this? A millionaire 65-year-old cancer survivor? To sell some books?

No, he WANTED to be President. He thought he had the tools. He actually ran an amazingly successful campaign, and got "to be a position to win," as the late great Jim Valvano put it. But in the end, it was the candidate himself, and his over-confidence, that were the limiting factors. It hurts like hell to admit it, but I have to, after being as fair and patient with Herman Cain as I'd be with any candidate that ran as a conservative.

He cd make a great Sec of Commerce, tho!

-------------------

[3]

The Milwaukee interview was the last straw for this Cainiac. All along (since May for me), I just wanted the guy to get a real shot at making his case, he actually had his shot, but he just hasn't developed as a new guy needs to develop. "Weighed in the balance and found wanting."

Since then, I'm split about 40/30/30, Perry/Newt/Bachmann. It just depends who's in the best position to beat Romney when the FL primary comes along.

But all along I presumed Cain was a decent man and husband. This latest claim shd be easy to prove, if it is true. 13 years without a photo/video or receipt is not possible. If it turns out to be just another Demo-smear, where will HC got to get his reputation back? (And will AoS apologize? /sarc off.)

----------------------------

[4]

I fear Herman Cain has a problematic lack of humility. It may be arrogance. He has never recognized his shortcomings as a candidate, and therefore refused to address them or minimize them. He is confident, and that is a great and necessary quality for success, but it is hard to avoid the conclusion that he has fallen prey to OVER-confidence, or a higher regard for his own abilities than was warranted.

There were two ways to handle this, each acceptable: one was to carefully control his exposure in public venues and interviews so as to minimize his opportunities for "gaffes," the other was to get him some steady but intensive issues-tutoring so he cd turn weakness into strength:"OMG, that was a fantastic answer to an obscure question, this guy is awesome!" (BTW, Ron Reagan was a sharp and knowledgeable guy, but even his campaign recognized his tendency to shoot from the lip, and always kept careful control over his exposure.)

But, my friends, he has done neither. And it has HURT him, and after ~7 months of hard campaigning, it doesn't look like he will EVER get that he needs (needed) to do this.

The single thread running through all his blowups the past month or so has been his refusal to recognize his own weaknesses or vulnerabilities at the moment, and prudently either address them or minimize them. I sense that, at the end of the day, his (rather noble) instinct is: "Hey, just give me the ball again, fellas, I'm gonna pull this game out of the fire yet again." But when the other side has stolen your playbook and knows exactly what you're gonna do, that just is NOT the best way to win.

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FINALLY, AN AFTERTHOUGHT:

It is an interesting reflection on the media stereotype of Republicans that, in the 2 weeks following serial allegations of sexual harassment by this black man against white women, that he enjoyed the best fund raising of his campaign. Those waaaascawy, wacist, Wepubwicans...

Oh, and one tiny, little bizarre tipoff that Herman Cain was not the man for this job. Remember the little one-on-one non-debate he had with Newt on November 5? Someone asked him what was his biggest surprise as a candidate. Cain responded: "The nit-pickiness of the news media!" Huh? Did he really expect them to be fair and reasonable to a conservative, esp. a black conservative?! At least Newt knows in his bones that the Enemy Media is, well...OUR ENEMY. Man, was THAT ever a study in naivete'.

HERMAN CAIN CHANNELS JOHN BOLTON

And you'll recall, only one GOP candidate

dared to join Glenn Beck in Jerusalem

Ya gotta love that dead-on crack about the "so-called Palestinians," heh. And I KNOW there is a Hebrew word for "choke," so I can only imagine his sly grin as he gave THAT answer. From his recent interview w/Israel Hayom:

What is your position on the Obama administration's Middle East policy?

I believe that his lack of a firm stand regarding Israel has emboldened Israel’s enemies, and America's enemies. When I was in Israel in August, I met with the deputy prime minister and he said that this was one of the biggest concerns that they had. Because he threw Israel under the bus with the statement about the 1967 borders. He just threw them under the bus. He threw Prime Minister Netanyahu under the bus prior to his visit to America. In a Cain administration there would be no question in the minds of the world and the American people that we would stand with Israel. No question. It wasn’t the president's right to suggest that they change those borders and I didn’t agree with that. For example, I think that the so-called Palestinian people have this urge for unilateral recognition because they see this president as weak. I haven’t seen all the facts but I think this whole assassination attempt [alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington] was another example of seeing this president as weak, in that regard. So, weakness invites attack and I think that he has projected a sense of weakness.

Would you transfer your embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem?

I would.

What do you think of the Obama administration's handling of Iran and what would you do differently, if anything?

I don’t know if this is going to translate well in your language: Choke. Choke them economically. Here’s what I mean by that and I know that that’s not politically correct to say but here’s the idea: It costs them $70 a barrel to break even on their oil. It costs Saudi Arabia $30. We’re going to develop an energy-independent strategy. We will move toward energy independence in the Cain administration. We’ve got the resources to do it, we need the will, the leadership and we get some of these unnecessary regulations out of the way. We will impact the world price of oil. We get the price of oil down to $70 or below, and the Iranians won’t have enough money to build a nuclear program. They’re going to have to worry about feeding their people instead.

Second thing that we would do is that I would invest in our fleet of aegis-ballistic missile defense systems. We have the biggest fleet with that capability in the world. We need to upgrade it such that the ballistic-missile defense systems' sea base would have the ability to detect threats for a longer period of time; strategically place some of those ships in that part of the world then let the Iranians know that we have that capability stationed there and let them know that if they wanted to attack our friends, attack Israel or the United States, that we won’t hesitate to retaliate.