Archive for May, 2011
Arizona Ground Report
(Moderator’s Note: Thank you to Hillbuzz reader Kimberlie for this! Please use the “Contact Us” in the navigation menu above to send in your Ground Reports. We would especially love to get reports from campaign events.)
Dear Hillbuzz,
I went to a political focus group last weekend moderated by Dr. Frank Luntz (the
pollster often featured on Fox News). I was in the Conservative/Republican group
(they wisely kept each political group separate), and it was very interesting.
About 10% of these people were overly aggressive, even to Dr. Luntz. Unless you
were a “purist” (or Ron Paul supporter) they didn’t want to listen to a thing you
had to say. They were the types who are pushing for a 3rd party candidate just so
they can “send a message” to the GOP. I argued the fact that this would only assure
a liberal/Dem win, and they honestly did not care! They wanted candidates to be
EXACTLY how they wanted them to be or they would “throw them out”.
Dr. Luntz told these people that he just interviewed a group of swing voters, and
they felt exactly the opposite, and that an unwillingness to listen or take other’s
views into account was alienating swing, moderate and independent voters. He told
them all the shouting and name calling was not helping their cause, and if they
wanted people to consider their argument, they needed to bring the volume down and
actually LISTEN to other points of view. He told several of them that they were
scary and they were prime examples of why the Tea Party has been getting higher
“unfavorable” ratings lately in national polls.
Things got really heated when he told them that the research he’s done indicates
that R’s will win the House and Senate, but Obama will win the WH again. When
someone challenged him about this, he replied “Dude, this is what I DO! I’ve been
to Ohio 6 times this year, how many times have you been there? I’ve been to Florida
8 times. I’ve talked to people on the ground in every battle state, and they are
extremely worried about the R’s Medicare plan.”
We asked what we could do to counter the Dems misinformation, and he said to get
organized and get out to the seniors in retirement homes, active living communities,
etc and educate them. For the most part, they only watch the MSM and are unaware
that the media has a political agenda. They truly believe what the Dems are
peddling about Republicans pushing grandma off a cliff.
After he said that, the meeting started wrapping up and some of the people were
clearly depressed about the thought of Obama winning a 2nd term. I got into my
Hillbuzz mode and chastised them for being Eeyores. I told them to get out and DO
what Dr. Luntz said and take action, not sit around whining about how “all is lost”.
Anyway, just wanted to let you know what Dr. Luntz said. He is a very conservative
guy who is very politically astute, and I think we should consider his advice and
start to mobilize and take action. I looked through the descriptions of HB Action
Items, and I’m not sure which color this action item would fall under…maybe we need
another color for “Community Organizing”. I suggest using pink, as a poke in the
eye to Code Pink!
If you have any questions about what I experienced at the focus group last week,
please let me know.
Kimberlie
National Tweet Your Weiner Day
HT/ Newsrealblog.com
To show solidarity and support for poor Democrat representative Anthony Weiner, whose Twitter account was mysteriously “hacked” last week, we’re asking Hillbuzz readers with Twitter accounts to tweet a photo of your Weiner on Wednesday, June 1st, 2011.
National Tweet Your Weiner Day is that day that we should all take a moment to update our social media passwords so that we may avoid getting caught with our pants down.
We’ve attached a Weiner pic to this post to get you started. (We think the folks at Newsrealblog must be psychic, because they posted this back on March 17th.)
We would like to create broad awareness of National Tweet Your Weiner Day, so please be sure to “Like” this post on Facebook and share it with your friends on Twitter.
Herman Cain vs Mitt Romney: Who’s Qualified To Be President?
The LSM is determined to convince you that you are unhappy about your choices for the GOP nomination because of the “Weak GOP Field.”
My contention is that this is the most exciting year for the GOP, conservatives and libertarians in decades. We don’t have a GOP frontrunner yet, because there’s no GOP incumbent, and fewer and fewer people rely on the LSM to tell them what they think. People like you, the readers of Hillbuzz, are taking ownership of the nomination and vetting process.
I found this post on Free Republic over the weekend: Mitt Romney, Herman Cain and Presidential Qualifications.
What makes this analysis interesting is the fact that it was published back on December 29, 2010, before Herman Cain’s exhilarating performance in the South Carolina debate.
The author’s conclusion?
Of course, if after examining the evidence you still don’t believe Herman Cain is qualified to be president, then you would have to also conclude that Mitt Romney is not qualified to be president. The only significant difference in their resumes is Romney’s four year stint as governor of Massachusetts—a governorship that was, from a conservative perspective, an absolute disaster. Mitt Romney was not a success as governor, and it would be pure spin to say otherwise.
Take a look at the article on Free Republic. Would it be useful to have this kind of head-to-head comparison of all the GOP candidates? Should we make this a project for the Blue Team?
Hillbuzz Open Thread: May 31, 2011
Watch this video before consuming any political reporting.
So, how many family members have you shared WeinerGate with today? My folks were visiting yesterday, and I asked, “So, what do you think about WeinerGate?” Neither had heard of it. But my mom immediately said, “I bet it’s about a Democrat.” Gotta love my mom. 
“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” – Shakespeare
“There is no shortage of lawyers in Washington, DC. In fact, there may be more lawyers than people.”
— Sandra Day O’Connor
It makes sense that there would be a lot of lawyers operating the Judicial branch. But are we dealing with an Attorney Overpopulation Problem in our legislative and executive branches of the federal government?
Anti-attorney sentiment is not new:
“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.”
— (Henry VI, Act IV, Scene II, by William Shakespeare).
The 112 Congress, seated in 2011, includes 202 attorneys out of 535 members in the House. That’s about 37% of the body. Slightly more than 1/3 of the House of Representatives is a lawyer. One out of every three. (Is it any wonder these people love to write 3,000-page laws? Is it any wonder that normal people can’t read them or understand what’s in them?)
And that’s not actually very “representative.” Lawyers make up 0.36% of the U.S. population at large. About one third of one percent. One out of every 300.
That makes me wonder. Which of these presidential candidates (or presumed candidates) are lawyers?
Barack Hussein Obama – Lawyer (but not a Muslim)
Herman Cain – Not A Lawyer (CEO, talk radio host)
Newt Gingrich – Not A Lawyer (historian/professor)
Gary Johnson – Not A Lawyer (entrepreneur)
Sarah Palin – Not A Lawyer (TV commentator/commercial fisher)
Ron Paul – Not A Lawyer (OB/GYN, author)
Tim Pawlenty – Lawyer
Mittens Romney – Lawyer
Hmmm. Anyone besides me seeing a pattern here?
Does it matter that lawyers are 100 times more prevalent in the House of Representatives than in the population they are supposed to represent?
What’s your take on this?
Sarah Palin & LTC Allen West at Rolling Thunder
By now you’ve probably guessed that I’m a libertarian, and I have a “policy crush” on Ron Paul. I love, love, love him. Unfortunately, he’s a better candidate on paper– in the many, many books he’s written on the economy, foreign policy and sound money–than he is in the age of TV and the 24-hour news cycle. He’s whip smart, and has enormous integrity. But slick, he is not.
So while Ron Paul will always be my first choice in terms of policy, when it comes to charisma and crowd appeal (and the ability to make Lefty heads explode), I’m a huge Sarah Palin fan. And an even bigger Allen West fan.
Here is a photo that literally gave me goosebumps. It’s from SarahPac.com, shared by a couple of Alert Readers.
The Next Two Presidents of the U.S.
I honestly think we’re looking at an unbeatable GOP ticket here. And though I don’t agree with Sarah Palin 100% on the issues, I would nonetheless sleep soundly at night during the Sarah Palin presidency, knowing that the person in the Oval Office truly and deeply loves America, always has, and always will.
What a thrilling image!
Can you imagine the contortions the Left and Lamestream Media (redundant) will have to go through to criticize this pair–the first woman presidential nominee and the first black vice-president nominee of a major party?
Monday Open Thread: May 30, 2011
If this performance of The Star Spangled Banner doesn’t make you cry, you are dead. Or your soul is dead, like The Grinch (pre-Cindy Lou Who) or Ebeneezer Scrooge (pre-Tiny Tim) or Michelle Obama (pre-your husband, who is not a Muslim, getting elected president.)
I hate the phrase, “it’s for The Children.” Too often, it’s used to justify hideous government excesses and violations of freedom. But in this case, what we’re doing really is for the children of America. Just remember that when you watch these girls perform. You’re working underground, as a member of the American Resistance, for them, for your own kids, for your nieces, nephews, grandchildren, for the kids at your church or synagogue, the kids down your street…for all the kids who have come after you and deserve to grow up in the greatest country on the face of the Earth, like you did.*
As Kevin DuJan said back on Memorial Day of 2009,
Today we think the focus should be on the men and women in uniform, past and present, who kept this nation safe and protected our freedoms…Whatever you are doing today, whether it’s a barbeque or a party or whatever, try to work the national anthem in there for a moment, and pause briefly to remember this is indeed not just “a pretend holiday”, but something that matters a great deal.
What did you do today to honor a Veteran?
*Unless you’re Barack Hussein Obama, who is not a Muslim, but coincidentally grew up in the largest Muslim country in the world, Indonesia. (Mr. President, you’ll just have to take our word for the fact that the United States of America is the greatest country that ever was.)
