Republican National Convention

Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, Secret Service Protection, And American Taxpayers

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Ron Paul is still, technically, in the race for the Republican Presidential nomination, but has refused Secret Service protection, not wishing to bilk taxpayers for the cost of protection.

Newt Gingrich, technically, is still a candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination, but like Paul, has absolutely no chance to be the nominee of the party.

But Gingrich insists on keeping Secret Service protection at taxpayers’ expense until the Tampa Republican National Convention in late August.

This protection costs the taxpayers close to $40,000 a day, the equivalent of the average American’s annual salary. So if Gingrich does indeed continue to have Secret Service protection for another four months, it will cost taxpayers almost $5 million, at a time when his party complains about any expense of the federal government.

Why is Gingrich insisting on protection? It is clear that it is because Newt Gingrich is an arrogant egotistical maniac, a person loves to talk about how brilliant and important he is, and has no concern about saving the government money.

Maybe also it is because Gingrich knows he has made enemies with his rhetoric and divisive behavior over the years. Well, that is HIS problem, because he refuses to ride into the “sunset”!

Also, maybe he feels a need to have Secret Service protection to prevent against another penguin assault on his finger! LOL

Seriously, there is NO reason for Gingrich to be protected anymore, and he should be denied security coverage! Let him hire his own protection, as President Richard Nixon did in his later years.

And this is a moment to applaud and hail Ron Paul for his totally different perspective, wishing to save the taxpayers money. Thanks so much, Ron Paul!

Mitt Romney Is Now The GOP Nominee, Or Is He? And If So, Is It Worth Being the GOP Nominee?

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Every indication is that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney will be the GOP Presidential nominee to run against President Barack Obama in November, but is that really true?

Romney has been endorsed by just about everyone imaginable, including, most recently, former President George H. W. Bush and Florida Senator Marco Rubio these past two days.

Romney has a major lead in delegates over former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, and it seems clear that if Santorum cannot win Wisconsin this coming Tuesday and his home state of Pennsylvania on April 24 (a start which defeated him for re-election for the Senate by 18 percentage points in 2006), he is done, although social conservatives adore him.

Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker, has only won South Carolina and Georgia, and has now cut back his campaign in a massive way, and is raising money by charging ordinary citizens for signed pictures, a quite despicable, egotistical, and uncouth event, which only adds to his image as an obnoxious individual, who no one really wants to be President, because he simply loves himself too much and comes across as reckless and unstable. But he could present an annoyance at the Tampa Convention of the Republican Party in late August.

So Romney seems safe, even though he is unlikely to gain enough delegates before the convention opens, and is not well liked or trusted by many Republicans..He comes across as awkward, distant, plastic, not genuine nor sincere, and far from lovable!

And Romney tends to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, as every time he wins, he or his staff manages to botch the result by what they say in the next 24 hours! He talks too much about his money and assets, shows no concern for the average American who is struggling in this economy, acts like a boss instead of one of us, tries to tell jokes and is not one bit funny, and even when he tries to sing, to match Barack Obama singing like Al Green, he is totally flat and,. frankly, shows he cannot carry a tune, so comes across as ridiculous and embarrassing to himself and others. And also, deciding to build a tremendous mansion in La Jolla, California, tremendously large because of Romney’s five children and numerous grandchildren, and having an elevator for cars, really undermines the concept that Romney can claim to be one of us! Do all families with five or more children and numerous grandchildren need to have so much space, or life is difficult? And why flaunt your wealth when you are facing election, instead of waiting to next year when he is either in or out of the White House, and it would not be a controversial issue, as it is in the election year? Why does Romney not understand this? It is as if he is from outer space, rather than our every day lives.

And another problem, being a Mormon, he has made clear, and we have no reason to doubt him, that he does not smoke, does not drink alcohol, does not drink coffee, does not use illegal drugs, and does not swear.

These “puritanical” characteristics are certainly admirable, but also quite unbelievable! It is one thing not to smoke or use illegal drugs, but to say Romney NEVER has had an alcoholic drink, NEVER has drank coffee, and has NEVER, when angry or banged his toes, sworn or cursed, is beyond human understanding!

How is that possible, no matter what the tenets of the religion of Mormonism are? It makes Romney seem even more distant, more unreal, than if he actually admitted, “OK, I have at times drank liquor, like an occasional coffee, and being human, of course, I have, regrettably, cursed or sworn at times!”

Do we want a perfect President? So what if Barack Obama has smoked, George W. Bush has drank too much in the past, Bill Clinton tried marijuna; all Presidents probably have drank coffee, and probably every President has sworn or cursed?

Presidents are human, and trying to claim perfection, makes Mitt Romney seem ever more impossible to relate to, or believe. And imagine if later we find that Mitt Romney is lying to us!

These are the problems that Mitt Romney faces, as he becomes the nominee, but is behind Barack Obama in EVERY public opinion poll in “swing states”! What is going to convince the American people to vote Mitt Romney in as our 45th President?

Mitt Romney’s Endorsement By Jeb Bush And What It May Mean

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Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has had a good 24 hour cycle, with the major win in Illinois, support from a wide band of voting groups, and the endorsement by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

Bush is one of the heavyweights in the GOP, and his endorsement, held off to now, is a prized one.

It would seem that former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, ending up 12 points behind, will have less opportunity to move ahead, although he might win Louisiana this weekend. But he would have to win WIsconsin on April 3, and his home state of Pennsylvania on April 24, to remain alive, and nothing in this regard is certain.

Meanwhile, with Newt Gingrich ending up last, behind Ron Paul, in Illinois, it would seem that it is time for the former House Speaker to leave the race, but his ego, and the fact money is still rolling in, means he will wish the publicity to continue running, even though he has only won South Carolina and Georgia.

Ron Paul has won nowhere except the US VIrgin Islands, but he is not about to withdraw either.

The goal of the three stragglers is to prevent 1,144 delegate votes for Mitt Romney on the first ballot at the Republican National Convention in Tampa in August, and the promotion of the first contested convention since Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford fought it out on the convention floor in 1976.

Bush’s backing of Romney is certainly a sign that the “Establishment” Republicans want unity, seeing it as essential now to organize against President Barack Obama.

And there is now speculation that Jeb Bush might accept the Vice Presidential nomination with Romney, but that seems highly unlikely. Bush certainly would help with Hispanic and Latino voters, and mainline conservatives, but Bush does not seem like the type to be number two on anyone’s ticket.

Sarah Palin Challenges Barack Obama To A Debate, Claiming Obama Was Not Vetted In 2008!

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Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who quit the Governorship in midterm in mid 2009, and was NEVER vetted before being chosen as Vice Presidential running mate by John McCain in the Presidential Election of 2008, is obviously feeling that she is not getting enough attention lately.

So she is now claiming that Barack Obama was not properly vetted when he ran for President in 2008, even though he most CERTAINLY was, while she was not investigated before being made the VP nominee, well depicted in the HBO movie GAME CHANGE, which debuted this past weekend.

Palin has made it clear that she is “not closing any door” in the future, and it is clear that she is hoping that the Republican National Convention in Tampa in late August will be deadlocked, and that some miracle will occur, and that she will be drafted to be the Republican Presidential nominee, without having had to work at all, as the nine GOP candidates had to do, including 20 debates for those who stayed in the race.

This is the perfect scenario for a lazy, ignorant, totally dumb person such as Sarah Palin, who should be ashamed of herself for her lack of basic knowledge, but is too stupid and arrogant to recognize her own limitations!

The nerve of this woman to even consider that she is qualified to lead the strongest nation on earth!

So her proposal to debate Barack Obama is laughable, in that, under no circumstances, will the President dignify this moron by giving her the time of day!

But just imagine IF she were the GOP Presidential nominee!

She would make a total fool of herself, embarrass every Republican, and would lose the election by such a one sided vote, that it might be worse than Barry Goldwater’s 38.9 percent of the vote in a two person race against Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, and to put her in the same sentence as Barry Goldwater would be a slight to his memory!

Barry Goldwater may have been radical and reckiess in many ways, but he was not a stupid, ignorant man with the gall to think, as she does, that a “quitter” governor who was a disaster for the Republican ticket in 2008, would even THINK of challenging the President of the United States, and claim she is qualified to be on the same stage as him!

This author and blogger has said many times in the past, and will repeat now: SARAH, BE GONE. GOOD RIDDANCE!

An African American Vs. A Mormon: The Quandary For The “Old Confederate” South

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Mitt Romney was dealt a walloping defeat last night in both Alabama and Mississippi, gaining only about 30 percent of the vote against his two competitors–winner Rick Santorum and runner up Newt Gingrich.

With all that, Romney still has twice the delegates of Santorum and three times the delegates of Gingrich, and is still seen as the likely nominee, although it may end up as a battle at the August Tampa Republican National Convention.

The problem is that Romney is perceived, particularly in the South, as not conservative enough, and overwhelming numbers of conservatives, Tea Party activists, and Evangelical Christians do not like, and were unwilling to support him. Romney has lost not just Alabama and Mississippi and Tennessee to Santorum, but also South Carolina and Georgia to Gingrich. The only “Old Confederate” Southern states he has won are Florida, which is unique in many respects, and Virginia, where he had only the competition of Ron Paul. Romney is not expected to win North Carolina, Arkansas, Louisiana, or Texas, when those states vote in their primaries.

So the question arises: Can Mitt Romney, if he is the Republican nominee for President, carry the “Old Confederate” South? Will the conservatives, Tea Party, and Evangelical Christians get out there and organize and vote for him over Barack Obama?

Truthfully, low voter turnout, due to lack of enthusiasm, COULD cost Romney the election, if African Americans and Hispanics and Latinos come out in large numbers to vote, and are not prevented from voting by new voter ID laws.

These Republican groups will also have on their mind the reality that Mitt Romney is a Mormon, seen as a cult and non Christian by many Bible Belt types.

Is that worse than being an African American? In this unusual circumstance, an African American vs. a Mormon, an extremely unusual circumstance, who can honestly say what would happen?

The suspicion is that Obama could hold on in the states he won last time–Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida, but also would have a shot at winning Georgia and even Texas, if there is a low GOP voter turnout, and if Hispanics and Latinos, growing numbers in both states, vote in high percentages for Obama, again without prevention by Voter ID laws designed to cut their vote, as well as that of African Americans.

No matter how much other Southern states may feel that the Mormon Church is unacceptable, to believe that Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas would vote for an African American, would require one to hallucinate!

The good thing is that the five states Obama could win have 111 electoral votes, while the other six states certain to vote Republican have only 49 electoral votes!

Were Obama to win more than two thirds of the electoral votes of the “Old Confederate” South, that would be an amazing development and would insure, all by itself, that Obama would win an overwhelming electoral vote victory in November 2012!

Romney Candidacy In Crisis In Midwest And South

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Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is facing a crisis in the next two weeks that he may not be able to overcome, and may doom his Presidential candidacy.

On February 28, he faces the challenge of former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum in Michigan, Romney’s home state, and right now, Santorum is leading in the state of the auto industry which Romney promoted to go bankrupt, and is instead having a major renaissance.

On March 7, he faces challenge from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in Georgia, Gingrich’s home state, and Tennessee and Oklahoma, as well as in Ohio, where Santorum is surging.

If Romney cannot win Michigan and Ohio, leading Midwestern states, and Georgia, Tennessee, and Oklahoma, major southern and border states, then his candidacy is in its last throes.

As it is, the battle for a majority of delegates at the Republican National Convention in Tampa in August is certain now to drag on into the late spring or early summer, not exactly what Mitt Romney believed would happen when he entered the race for the Presidency!

Can Mitt Romney Survive A Loss In Michigan Primary? His “Competition” With George Romney’s Image And History!

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The biggest crisis in Mitt Romney’s privileged life is coming in Michigan, the state of his birth, the state which elected his father George Romney Governor for three terms in the 1960s, the state which he fundamentally abandoned when he called for the ordered bankruptcy of the auto industry, the state in which there has been a major turn around and drop in unemployment due to the intervention of the federal government to help General Motors and Chrysler survive. General Motors has seen its best growth in 25 years, and Michigan and the Midwest, as bad as they are in economic terms, are far better off because of what Barack Obama did, as opposed to what Romney wished to do for the area–NOTHING!

Romney is about to be paid back in spades, as the odds are now heavy that he will lose his “home state” to Rick Santorum, who can relate to blue collar workers on a fundamental basis, as compared to the filthy rich Romney who has no clue as to the struggles of auto workers or anyone else, and lives off investments but can joke about being “unemployed”!

If Romney loses the Michigan Primary, he is doomed, and will not be able to survive and win the nomination. And even if, by some intervention by “establishment” forces on Wall Street, he gets the nomination, he will have a flaw that will be enough to cause his defeat in November. He is simply too plastic, to stiff, too elitist, for the average American, and by catering to the extreme right in his rhetoric, he is causing the loss of major groups of voters–women, Hispanics and Latinos, African Americans, labor, the struggling middle class, independents, conservative Democrats, gays, etc. Does anyone NOT get the point?

Mitt Romney is NOT electable; he may have the lifelong desire to be what his father failed to be–President of the United States! But in a way, he is competing with a ghost, as George Romney was a much more genuine candidate, a man who knew what it was like to be poor, a man who really built up the auto industry, rather than live off buying up companies and firing workers, and making money on the resale of those companies.

George Romney was genuine, compassionate, principled, and honest to a set of values! Mitt Romney is none of these attributes of his father!

In a way, this reminds us of the struggle between father and son of George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, another case of son trying to overcome the achievements of the father, but never matching up in any way, shape or form.

The difference is THIS time, it is not going to work out that this country has to deal with the psychological effects of the father-son battle for supremacy, as Mitt Romney is NOT going to be President of the United States, and is highly unlikely, as things stand now, to be the GOP nominee chosen at the Tampa Republican National Convention in August.

It is actually humiliating and embarrassing to see Romney trying to pander to Michigan now, talking about his old high school, the height of the trees, loving the lakes of the state, loving cars and Detroit! Such phoniness and catering to voters who know better than to be suckered by a rich guy who does not care about the “very poor”, the middle class, but only the rich, despite his protestations to the contrary!

The Worst Possible News For Mitt Romney: A Donald Trump Endorsement!

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Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, still reeling from criticism for his remark yesterday about the “very poor”, getting it from all sides including conservative commentators who are furious that Romney “let the cat out of the bag” that they and Republicans don’t give a damn about the poor, now has what can be regarded as the worst possible news imaginable: an endorsement from builder Donald Trump, the total egotist, narcissist, and overall obnoxious businessman, who always is looking for a camera and says things that most normal people would be embarrassed to say publicly!

A wealthy man being endorsed by a much wealthier man, who Romney probably envies, because of his overly materialistic nature and envy of those wealthier than himself, is a total nightmare that will haunt Romney and the Republican Party!

Romney would be better off to repudiate support from Trump, but must fear that Trump might run as an independent if such an event occurred. But the truth about how Romney feels about Trump is that he was the one GOP candidate visiting Trump last year who sneaked in and out of the session, avoiding journalists and cameras completely.

It is not clear why Trump is endorsing Romney, since Trump seemed to have a closer friendship or association with Newt Gingrich, a fellow egotist, narcissist, and overall obnoxious, embarrassing public presence similar to Trump!

Will Trump help Romney in any way by endorsing him? NO, and it will boomerang on Romney, Republicans and conservatives, and maybe finally, intelligent voters will realize that the GOP and conservative talk show hosts, all are very selfish, self centered, greedy, uncaring about anything but their MONEY. As said in an earlier post, the Republicans and conservatives only care about PROPERTY, while Democrats and progressives and liberals care about PEOPLE!

Coming off his Florida victory, Mitt Romney has now has the two WORST days of his quest for the Presidency, and it is NOT going to get better. His candidacy is DOOMED and cannot be recovered, but the GOP has no better alternative unless they become so divided that the Republican National Convention in Tampa in late August chooses to nominate someone who did not compete in the caucuses and primaries, a highly doubtful scenario!

The Choice Of Charlotte, North Carolina As Host Of The 2012 Democratic National Convention

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The announcement this week that the Democratic National Convention of 2012 will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, may have surprised some observers, including this blogger, who really thought that St. Louis, Missouri would be chosen from among others including Columbus, Ohio, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

After having been correct on the choice of Tampa, Florida by the Republican Party for its 2012 convention, the author was somewhat disappointed that his prediction failed to come to fruition!

It is clear that President Barack Obama made the final choice, and it shows that he intends to make a fight to keep the Southern states that he won in 2008–North Carolina, Virginia and Florida, none of which will be easy to accomplish.

In the mind of the author, keeping the Midwest–Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota–will be more urgent, as the “heartland” of the nation seems the even more significant battleground!

While Obama did not win Missouri in 2008, John McCain only won by a few thousand votes, and that was only the second time since 1900 (the other time being 1956) that the loser of Missouri won the White House. So it is crucial that Missouri be won by Obama if he is to win a second term, the reasoning that made the author think he would choose St. Louis.

However, Charlotte is part of the emerging modern South, and North Carolina, along with Virginia and Florida, will also be crucial in the 2012 election campaign.

Hopefully, the President’s decision to choose the South over the Midwest for the national convention will play out in a resulting win for him in 2012!

The Battle Over The Democratic National Convention Site For 2012

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Very soon, there will be an announcement as to where the Democratic National Convention will be held in September 2012.

The author has written about this earlier, and correctly predicted that the Republican National Convention would be held in late August 2012 in Tampa, Florida.

As stated earlier, the author predicts the convention will be held in St. Louis, Missouri, winning over the cities of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Cleveland, Ohio; and Charlotte, North Carolina.

St. Louis has hosted the Democratic National Convention before, with Woodrow Wilson nominated for his second term in that Mississippi River city in 1916.

St. Louis has the Gateway Arch, an iconic symbol of the nation, and is the major city in a state that is a very clear predictor of the presidential election results, as since 1900, only twice–1956 and 2008–did the Presidential winner lose Missouri. And in both losing cases, Adlai Stevenson and John McCain just barely defeated Dwight D. Eisenhower and Barack Obama.

Missouri will be difficult to win for the Democrats, but it is a crucial state, and holding the convention there would be a boost to the chances of winning the state.

However, having said that, the records show that the Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party has won the state in which the national convention was held a total of 23 times, and lost it 22 times!

So there is obviously no guarantee of what will happen in the Presidential election, whether the convention is held in Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, or Minnesota. All three of the other states were won by the Democrats in 2008, but all three, along with Missouri, are in play for 2012 at this stage of the campaign, nearly two years out.

Still, it seems to the author that Missouri and St. Louis are the most likely choice, and it will be interesting to see if he is correct on the Democratic convention location, as he was on the Republican convention location. 🙂