Haley Barbour

The Crisis Within The Republican Party For 2012!

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The Republican Party, once a proud party, is in total disarray, as all the attention is grabbed by what many call the “joke” candidates who have no chance to win, and yet are promoting a terrible image for the party, so much so, that the American people are totally unimpressed!

And yet, there is growing discontent with President Obama, due to the budget crisis, the stubbornly high unemployment, and the soaring gasoline prices, but there is no valid alternative!

At this point, there could be a landslide effect toward Obama, similar to what was the situation when Lyndon Johnson walloped Senator Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election, and in fact, no candidate gains 20 percent support in the latest polls, similar to what Goldwater had 47 years ago!

The control of religious conservatives and Tea Party activists are entrapping all reasonable, rational thought, and holding hostage any realistic, mainstream candidates from emerging!

Face the facts! The following so called “candidates” are disasters in the making in any order: Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Herman Cain, Gary Johnson, Haley Barbour, and any others who come out of the woodwork to claim they wish to run!

The “birther” issue and the race issue and the gay issue have destroyed all of the above from serious consideration by anyone with intelligence!

The only “serious” candidates, but lacking excitement for now, are Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Jon Huntsman, and really stretching it, Mitch Daniels and Jeb Bush, who have evinced no interest in running, but would have to be seen as serious and viable were they to announce for President!

Any “bully” Governor, such as Chris Christie, Scott Walker, Rick Scott, Rick Snyder, or John Kasich, would be counterproductive, as all of them have caused great opposition and controversy!

It is time for Republican leaders to follow former George W. Bush advisor Karl Rove and do everything they can to derail all the loonies, and promote Romney, Pawlenty, Huntsman, Daniels or Bush as the ONLY viable candidates out of a sad group of people who betray the Republican heritage since 1854–the Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and yes, even Ronald Reagan!

Republican Loonies Start Emerging In The Presidential Race: Michele Bachmann, Donald Trump, And Rand Paul!

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The Republican Party of 2011 is on the road to total insanity, as we are about to enter the season of the loonies running for President, and making the Republican Party look both ridiculous and reckless!

As stated in other blog entries, if the GOP hopes to have a real shot at the Presidency, they need to nominate either Mitt Romney or Jon Huntsman, with the outside possibility of Tim Pawlenty.

But if they nominate Newt Gingrich, with all his skeletons in the closet and contradictions, they lose.

If they nominate Sarah Palin, with all her mindlessness and lack of knowledge and capabilities, they are destroyed.

If they nominate Haley Barbour, with his racial insensitivity and image as a promoter of the Old South and political wheeling dealing, they lose.

If they nominate Rick Santorum, with his emphasis on socially conservative issues, and his concern about man having sex with animals if gays have rights, they lose.

If they nominate Mike Huckabee, after his recent “birther” comments about President Obama and his promotion of himself as a preacher of morality, they lose.

But on top of all the above and their difficulties as candidates for the White House, it actually gets worse!

Those recently emerging as possible seekers of the Presidency include Michele Bachmann, Donald Trump, and Rand Paul–a move from the ridiculous to the loony and insane!

Michele Bachmann has been hinting she will run, because God wants her to run! This woman has proved herself to be absolutely ignorant, prejudiced, confrontational, accusatory in a way that reminds us of Joseph McCarthy at his worst, and just plain stupid, but also dangerous. She also sets up a potential rivalry with another candidate actually dumber than she is–Sarah Palin. If they both run, that should be something worth observing! Bachmann could also present a problem for Tim Pawlenty from the same state of Minnesota, as well, particularly in Iowa, the first state to vote in 2012 in their caucus, and a state where evangelical Christians play a major role, a fact that would make it impossible for Romney or Huntsman, both Mormons, to have a chance at competing!

Donald Trump has the virtue of being intelligent, but he is also arrogant, belligerent, and would be a danger in foreign policy because of his bellicose nature, and crazy belief that one can insult and denounce foreign governments, such as China, and that there will be no counterproductive developments. He could spend $600 million of his own money, but that in itself is obscene, as the last thing we need is for a President to, literally, “buy” the position! However, his involvement in debates should be some of the greatest entertainment ever seen in American politics!

And more unbelievable and loony than anyone would be the possible entrance of RAND PAUL, not Ron Paul, his dad, in the Presidential race. As bad as Ron Paul is in so many ways, Rand Paul is much more radical and dangerous and plain stupid in his assessment of how to deal with domestic and foreign policy! Libertarianism is NOT the future, and would be extremely destructive in the hands of someone who is not even certified as an optometrist by the traditional professional organization of his field, but rather by an organization formed by HIMSELF!

The Republican Party is going to provide a lot of entertainment, but unless, again, they nominate Romney, Huntsman, or Pawlenty, they are throwing away the Presidential Election of 2012 before it starts.

Oh, and by the way, some say, what about Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels. The answer is to forget that, as Daniels is having trouble in his state getting legislation accomplished, and his anti labor leadership is not going to work, as the Wisconsin debacle of Scott Walker is going to hurt the Republican Party massively in 2012, and if the GOP does not realize that, they are also doomed!

Interesting Conflicts Within Republican Presidential Field

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As one surveys the Republican Presidential race and potential opponents, there are several interesting conflicts that exist among the members of the field.

One is the battle between Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, both trying to appeal to the Tea Party favorites, and also being the potential only woman in the race, with Bachmann now seen as much more likely to run than Palin.

A second one is the battle for Southern support, among Newt Gingrich of Georgia, Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, and Haley Barbour of Mississippi, with all three having major problems, but Gingrich and Huckabee flirting directly with “Birthers” and pushing the idea that, somehow, Barack Obama is not a true American, an idea which marginalizes both of them, and giving Barbour the edge.

A third is the battle for the Midwest, with Michele Bachmann a potential problem for Tim Pawlenty for social conservative support and Tea Party backing, but with Pawlenty seeming more responsible and more acceptable to many, and with many observers seeing him as having the fewest shortcomings of all the potential GOP candidates.

A fourth conflict is between the two Mormons in the race, both of whom neutral observers see as having the best chance to beat Barack Obama–Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, both former Governors, in Massachusetts and Utah, respectively. Both are very ambitious, but also very qualified, and have been rivals in the past, but Romney has the Massachusetts Health Care Plan as his Achilles Heel, while Huntsman has the issue of having been the US Ambassador to China for the past two years under President Obama. Their competition could be the most substantial and interesting of all of these rivalries, and the issue of whether being Mormons will be the fatal blow to their chances for the nomination.

So it will be a fascinating struggle to find who will be the GOP nominee against Obama, with eleven months to the first vote in the Iowa caucuses

The Anti Obama “Birthers” And The Suicide Of Republican Legitimacy For The Presidency In 2012

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Here we are in the third year of the Obama Presidency, and the “Birther” conspiracy theory about Obama still survives, and has led to ridiculous assertions by potential GOP candidates about Obama and Kenya, which is having the effect of creating a shortened list of legitimate Presidential possibilities.

George Will, the conservative commentator, remarked this past weekend on this issue, and he said that comments and events have narrowed the legitimate field to just FIVE candidates–Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Mitch Daniels, Haley Barbour, and Jon Huntsman.

The author would say that he agrees with Will, except he would eliminate two of these five–Daniels because he is connected to the anti labor movement in Wisconsin and other states, and has already eliminated collective bargaining rights in Indiana years ago, plus he has strongly hinted he will not be running; and Barbour, because he has no sensitivity on the race problem in Mississippi in the 1960s and promotes Confederate propaganda as we come on the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

So it comes down to THREE candidates who are truly legitimate, all of whom the author has already said so in earlier entries, and are serious possibilities for the nomination–Romney, Pawlenty, and Huntsman!

Will was highly critical of Mike Huckabee and Newt Gingrich for promoting the Kenya connection to Obama, both saying that his dad and grandfather being anti British in the 1950s is somehow evil, although any reasonable person could understand the desire of Kenya and other African countries to be free of British or other nations’ “imperialism”, which certainly was reality. After all, was not the American Revolution based on British “imperialism” against the 13 colonies as we saw it?

So Huckabee and Gingrich have self destructed by their comments about Obama, and when you add the craziness of Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, and Rick Santorum, and the arrogance and egotism of Donald Trump, it really comes down to only THREE candidates that have any true validity for the GOP Presidential nomination!

If anyone else ends up as the nominee, the 2012 Presidential race will be an easy victory for Barack Obama!

Fox News Channel And Avoidance Of Conflict Of Interest In the Republican Presidential Contest

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Fox News Channel loves to say that it is “fair and balanced”, and yet it employs numerous GOP leaders who are considered possible Presidential candidates for 2012.

So, in order to keep their image of “neutrality”, Fox News Channel has suspended the contracts of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum for 60 days, since both are clearly moving toward open candidacy. On May 1, if they have not clearly stated that they are not running for the White House, their contracts as commentators for the station will be ended.

It is fascinating that former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee have not been also suspended from their million dollar contracts with Fox News Channel.

The rationale is that neither has taken obvious steps toward a Presidential candidacy, even though both are among the top three in polls, sharing that with former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts.

Palin seems obviously unwilling to give up her unique position of being able to gain attention, but yet not give up her opportunity to strike it rich as a personality and celebrity. It is clear that she is not about to give up her lucrative income for an uncertain and difficult trek toward the nomination.

Huckabee has made it clear that he does not know whether he could raise enough money to compete with the expected nearly billion dollar investment by the Obama campaign for 2012, and has stated that it will not be easy to defeat a sitting President. So now that he has accomplished making “real money” for the first time in his life, he is reluctant to give it up, and who can blame him or Palin?

So with two of the top three in the polls very likely to bow out of the race, who gains? It seems to the author that Mitt Romney, former Utah Governor and Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, and former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty are the beneficiaries of these developments.

Gingrich and Santorum seem unlikely to benefit, as both are controversial and polarixing and have problems appealing to the center of the political spectrum, which is essential in the fall campaign of 2012. Both are extremely outspoken and divisive characters.

At the same time, Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul and Haley Barbour will also have trouble for different reasons, so it seems likely that Romney, Huntsman, and Pawlenty are the candidates to watch, and none are connected to Fox News Channel.

The Republicans Are Starting To Implode Even Before The Presidential Competition Begins!

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Here it is March, and not one Republican has announced for President, and yet the party is starting to implode!

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour has made the observation that people on Medicaid in his state are coming to pharmacies in their BMWs and saying they cannot afford the copays for their medication! Oh really, Haley? In the poorest state of the Union, poor people have BMWs? Give me a break!

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee made a statement in a radio interview that Barack Obama grew up in Kenya, and because of that, he has a very different view of the British, who once controlled Kenya. Really, Mike, Obama grew up in Kenya? Of course, Huckabee says Obama was born in Hawaii, so he is not a “Birther”, but now we are told he was brought up in Kenya, the home of his father, who left his mother when Obama was two years old! When caught in a controversy over the remark, Huckabee now says, oh he meant to say Indonesia, where Obama did live for a few years with his mother when she had a second marriage with an Indonesian man. So Mike does not know the difference between Kenya and Indonesia, and one wonders if he can point them out on the map and knows anything about either nation.

Oh, and if Obama lived in Indonesia, then how does he understand the British differently, when it was the Dutch who controlled Indonesia until after World War II?

And also, since Kenya and Indonesia were both independent BEFORE Obama was born, how would he have a “different” view of either the British or the Dutch, Mike, heh?

Then, we have Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, the head of the Budget Committee, who tells us that he is not thrilled with “Romneycare”, anymore than he is with “Obamacare”, a real knock at Mitt Romney, the former Governor of Massachusetts, even before he enters the Presidential race!

And Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma tells us that Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House in the mid 1990s, is indeed a bright fellow, but is also divisive and confrontational, and does not bring out the better side of people, and how is he supposed to unite the nation and be effective as President? And by the way, back in 1996, Coburn was a House member and led a move to oust Gingrich as Speaker, which failed. And Coburn also makes clear that Gingrich’s morality, having three wives and cheating on the first two, is not a good character image for a President of the United States!

With so much bad mouthing going on, and so much inaccurate and damaging statements being made, one wonders how the GOP is going to unite around anyone to oppose President Obama, and remember, we are not even factoring in the influence of the large freshman class of Republicans in the House plus a few in the Senate, who are proud to call themselves Tea Party people!

So it will be fun to watch as events develop, and here it is ONLY March 2!

Tim Pawlenty Gets A Boost In The GOP Presidential Race

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Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has been seen as a insignificant factor in the Republican Presidential race, having far less voter recognition than his potential major opponents–Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Haley Barbour and Rick Santorum.

But several things have occurred which improve his chances of being a serious candidate:

Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana and Senator John Thune of South Dakota, both regional Midwestern potential candidates, decided not to run for President, giving him a boost in Iowa, the first measure of party support on February 6, 2012.

Rumors are flying that Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin may not run for President, due to the lucrative positions they have with Fox News Channel, plus other money making activities for Palin.

All of the other major Presidential possibilities, and even some of the minor ones, have “skeletons in the closet”, major negatives that can hurt them, such as:

Mitt Romney–He is seen as having promoted a health care plan in Massachusetts similar to what President Obama was able to achieve nationally in 2010. Also, he is seen by many as secretly a northeastern liberal in his background, and being a Mormon hurts him with evangelical Christians. Plus he had one go around already and lost to John McCain.

Mike Huckabee–He has had one go around already, is seen as a big spender during his years as Governor of Arkansas, and may not want to give up the lucrative income he has recently enjoyed for the first time in his life. Plus he seems concerned with the costs of running for President against President Obama, who will probably have a billion dollar campaign fund.

Sarah Palin–She has not developed a real set of plans to run, may not want to give up her lucrative income to run, and is actually not running well in many polls, since she is seen as shallow, and more of a cult figure than a serious Presidential possibility.

Newt Gingrich–He has a lot of personal life scandals in his past, has not been in public office for 14 years by 2012, and is very divisive in his rhetoric, making him less appealing to many who think of him as a “flame thrower”.

Haley Barbour–He has made major blunders with his lack of understanding and miscues about the civil rights movement in his home state of Mississippi in the 1960s, plus the question exists whether someone from the deep South can appeal to the nation at large.

Rick Santorum–He has the problem of a massive Senate defeat for reelection in 2006, and his being best remembered for his “man-dog” statement in opposing gay rights and gay marriage. He is not taken very seriously as a Presidential candidate by anyone in top leadership of the GOP.

Other candidates also have major problems if they decide to run.

Jon Huntsman–He has a background as a moderate in the party, which is not a plus. Plus he was Barack Obama’s Ambassador to China, which could be harmful, and being a Mormon, as Romney is, is probably a major minus as well.

Michele Bachmann–The Congresswoman from Minnesota may appeal to the Tea Party and could be a rival of fellow Minnesotan Pawlenty, but it is hard to imagine that her loose mouth and extremist image would give her a serious chance for the nomination. Plus being a Congresswoman is a difficult challenge for the Presidency, as only one Congressman (James Garfield) ever went directly to the Presidency, and he was dead by assassination six months into his term in 1881.

Ron Paul–He has his followers, and has won the CPAC straw poll twice in a row, but to imagine a libertarian in his late 70s who has tried before for the nomination, and been ridiculed by all others in the party who have run for President, to go on to the nomination is a tremendous long shot, hard to conceive.

Donald Trump–The billionaire businessman is pretty obnoxious and a publicity seeker, and were he to run, his anti Chinese rhetoric and basic belligerence on foreign policy issues would make him a dangerous choice for the Presidency, and since he is not a lovable character personally, it is hard to imagine him going all the way to the nomination.

The above analysis does not mean that none of them can be the nominee, but by comparison , Tim Pawlenty has a real chance to emerge, based on the following factors.

He is from the heartland of the Midwest, the battleground for 2012, and with Mike Pence and John Thune out of the race, that is a boost for Pawlenty.

He first gained notice with John McCain’s campaign for President in 2008, and was on the short list for Vice President, but with McCain’s defeat, it actually was better that he did not win the VP nomination.

Pawlenty is a strong evangelical Christian, and has gained a lot of support from social conservatives and the Tea Party as a result.

He has had real executive experience as Governor of Minnesota for two terms and a total of eight years.

He has been promoted as a candidate with fewer problems, issues, and “skeletons in the closet”, by conservative George Will and MSNBC talk show host Lawrence O’Donnell, giving him, therefore, a bit of a boomlet for the Presidency.

Pawlenty comes across well on television, as a photogenic personality and well spoken, and even at times having a good sense of humor, when he said at the CPAC convention that he had no doubts of Barack Obama’s citizenship, but thought what he believed in sometimes might make one think he was from “outer space!”

This is not an endorsement by this author of Pawlenty by any means, as he strongly prefers Barack Obama to win reelection, but simply a statement that Pawlenty may be the surprise of 2012, and should not be ignored.

Having said that, the author still feels that the best candidate that the GOP could run, overall, would be Mitt Romney or Jon Huntsman, but again, Tim Pawlenty will probably be an important part of the equation at the end!

Arizona Is At It Again, Adding To Its Image As The Mississippi Of The 1960s!

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Arizona, the state of the near assassination of Gabrielle Giffords due to its loose regulation of who can purchase guns; the state denying 96 citizens, who need transplants, of any assistance because of budget cuts, but giving tax breaks to corporations; the state of discriminatory legislation against Latinos and Hispanics that is now being contested in the federal courts; now is adding to its horrible image as the equivalent of Mississippi in the 1960s, despite Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour’s belief that his state was a paragon of virtue in its treatment of African Americans in that decade!

Governor Jan Brewer, a person who evades explanation and responsibility for her wretched administration of the state government, is expected to sign new discriminatory legislation against illegal immigrants within the state, which is being considered by the Arizona legislature.

Under the proposed and likely legislation, illegal immigrants would not be allowed to drive within state boundaries, enroll their children in schools or receive most public benefits. Additionally, their children would have special birth certificates that make it clear they are not considered to be Arizona citizens.

School officials would have to ask for proof of citizenship for students, and hospitals would have to ask for papers of citizenship for those receiving non emergency care.

Also, no licenses would be given to illegal immigrants, including marriage licenses. And if one person in a family was an illegal immigrant, then a family could be evicted from public housing units. Additionally, if caught driving a car in the state boundaries, an illegal immigrant would face 30 days in jail and lose ownership of the car.

These laws are obviously unconstitutional, but the promoters of them hope the Supreme Court, unduly influenced by conservative business interests including the Koch Brothers, might continue their practice of acting in a manner which makes one wonder as to their qualifications to sit on the Supreme Court due to conflict of interest.

These new proposed laws would challenge basic freedoms and rights, which Arizona fails to understand is guaranteed to all who live in the United States, not just citizens.

Arizona citizens, who are decent people and do not promote hatred and prejudice as government policy, are embarrassed and upset as what the Arizona legislature is about to do only adds to that state being seen as a pariah and a disgrace!

And, by the way, if all illegal immigrants were somehow forced out of the state, the effect economically on Arizona would be massive, and the public relations damage done to Arizona’s image already will not be overcome any time soon, if ever!

The Conflict Among Conservatives And Within The Conservative Movement

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Conservatives argue that they are for smaller government, lower taxes, less regulation, freedom and liberty.

They don’t like any type of economic regulation or redistribution of wealth.

And yet when push comes to shove, they are very willing to raise taxes on the average person and redistribute wealth to the top two percent, and destroy the middle class by their policies! 🙁

They are for freedom and liberty, and yet believe in a security state which can bug and wiretap everyone through the Patriot Act, and deny people privacy as to their library borrowing and bookstore purchases! 🙁

They are very willing to interfere in people’s social lives, including denying gays the basic freedom to serve in the military and marry the person they love; deny a woman the right to control her own body, even if a pregnancy is dangerous to her health; and impose religion on the population through promotion of a sectarian Christian prayer in public schools! 🙁

Even libertarian conservatives such as Rand Paul claim to want smaller government, and yet want to outlaw abortions from conception of the fetus, which is certainly government intrusion in private lives! 🙁

Conservatism claims to believe in individual rights, and yet constantly interferes with such rights in so many ways.

Conservatives wish to destroy the social safety net which has been with us since the New Deal of the 1930s, and this would create more poverty and deprivation and redistribute wealth further to the elite rich, and they have no conscience at all in doing this!

The Conservative Political Action Conference this Thursday to Saturday will showcase many of the potential GOP Presidential candidates, many of which conflict with each other about these different, competing and contradictory strands of the conservative movement.

With one year to go to the Iowa caucuses next February 6, most of the Republican aspirants for the White House shall appear and make speeches at CPAC, including Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, John Thune, Mitch Daniels, Haley Barbour and Ron Paul.

But because of supposed scheduling conflicts, Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin are not attending, which is very odd, as if they really wanted to attend this event in Washington, DC, they would find a way!

The competition among the attendees to win the straw poll vote and to appeal to the conflicting wings of the conservative movement should be very fascinating to watch this weekend! 🙂

The Hispanic Leadership Network Inaugural Conference And The Republican Presidential Field: A No Show Except For Tim Pawlenty!

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The inaugural conference of the Hispanic Leadership Network is taking place in Coral Gables, Florida, designed to promote a connection between the Hispanic community nationally and the Republican Party.

However, only ONE of the generally accepted list of potential GOP nominees is appearing before the group–former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who claims no interest in running, is hosting the conference, and his brother, the former President George W. Bush, sent a message of support as well. Additionally, Florida Governor Rick Scott and Texas Senator John Cornyn are speaking before the group, as is former Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman.

But the fact that Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Haley Barbour, Mike Pence, John Thune, Mitch Daniels, and Rick Santorum chose not to appear is a sign of the problem the GOP faces–that they are unwilling to face the reality of the growing power of the Hispanic and Latino community, and that is at their detriment in the electoral future!