EVEN THE LIBERAL MAG THE NEW YORKER

Is poking fun at Obama for his losing the first Presidential debate:

Sometimes, the truth will come out, no matter what!

LAST NIGHT'S DEBATE

From empty chair to empty podium.


Of course, Joe Biden thinks that Obama won the debate.

IS BAIN EVIL?

The Democratic Party is demonizing Bain Capital.

Certain facts about Bain Capital bear consideration (hat tip to Z!), and the GOP needs to bring out these facts.

Excerpt from the conclusion of "Look Who Parks Their Cash at Bain," an article dated August 31, 2012:

Is Bain really a gang of corporate buccaneers who plunder their ill-gotten gains by outsourcing, euthanizing feeble portfolio companies and giving cancer to the spouses of those whom they fired? If so, union bosses, government retirees, liberal foundations and elite universities thrive on the wages of Bain’s economic Darwinism.

If, however, these institutions relish the yields that Bain Capital generates by supporting start-ups and rescuing distressed companies, 80 percent of which have prospered, then this money is honest — and Team Obama isn’t.

Among the groups which have benefited from Bain Capital:

* Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund ($2.2 million)
* Indiana Public Retirement System ($39.3 million)
* Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System ($177.1 million)
* The Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension System ($19.5 million)
* Maryland State Retirement and Pension System ($117.5 million)
* Public Employees’ Retirement System of Nevada ($20.3 million)
* State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio ($767.3 million)
* Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System ($231.5 million)
* Employees’ Retirement System of Rhode Island ($25 million)
* San Diego County Employees Retirement Association ($23.5 million)
* Teacher Retirement System of Texas ($122.5 million)
* Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System ($15 million)

Read the entire article HERE.

GOP DELEGATE COUNT IS MISLEADING: MCCAIN'S ACTUAL NUMBERS ARE NOT SO STRONG OR NATIONAL; MITT'S ARE!

Huckabee is strictly a regional favorite - largely among evangelicals and conservatives skeptical of Mitt and of Mitt's Mormonism.

McCain isn't really doing much better. (All statistics in this post are based on this page at the NYTIMES.)

Sure, he has a high overall delegate count - but let's look at it more closely:

TO DATE, McCain has carried a MAJORITY ONLY in the NE -- where the Rockefeller-wing of the GOP and the left-wing dominated MSM still rule the day: ONLY CT; NY; NJ.

TOTAL: THREE STATES. ALL IN THE NE. ALL DEM STATES IN THE FALL.

McCain did even NOT carry a MAJORITY IN HIS OWN HOME STATE.

Nor did McCain carry a majority in any southern state.

Nor did McCain carry a PLURALITY of GOP or CONSERVATIVE voters in the states he did win by pluralites.

McCain has come out on top in most primaries NOT because he's the most popular candidate in the GOP, but because Democrats and Independents have voted for him.

ALSO: "Nine of the Republican contests were winner take all, and that was where McCain piled up his lead." If the delegates from these states had been proportionately allocated, then the overall delegate count would MORE ACCURATELY reflect McCain's weaknesses and Mitt's strengths. McCain was able to WIN ALL the delegates from a few states IN WHICH HE DID NOT EVEN WIN BY A MAJORITY

NOW LET'S LOOK AT MITT'S PRIMARY RECORD:

Mitt Romney has carried a MAJORITY in 6 (six) states - that's TWICE as many as McCain, and these states are all across the USA: Wyoming; Nevada, Maine; Utah; Massachusetts and Colorado.

And in states where Mitt finished second, he carried a PLURALITY of conservatives and a plurality of Republicans. And these states are ALL ACROSS THE USA: Michigan; Florida; NH, etc.

Additionally, Mitt came in second place in 11 states! (McCain came in second only 9 times.)

What makes McCain's majority-wins even less indicative of any electoral strength in the Fall, is the fact that McCain is strongest where the GOP is LEAST LIKELY to be able to win in the Fall: NJ, CT; NY; CA - these are Dem/lib strongholds.

IOW: McCain might do much better than Bush or Mitt in these states, but LOSE several KEY GOP states because the base won't come out and vote for him. Since we elect presidents with electoral votes and NOT a popular vote, McCain's strength in Dem strongholds DO NOT MAKE IT MORE LIKELY HE WILL WIN THE ELECTION.

McCain might win the GOP nomination, but it is a recipe for defeat in the Fall.

Of the candidates left, Mitt is best positioned to carry the base, keep the GOP states in our column, and even add a few.

As Mark Levin says: when a RINO runs against a Dem lib, the real Dem will win every time. Which is why Lincoln Chafee is a FORMER Senator - and now a registered Dem.

Nominating McCain guarantees a huge GOP loss.

Which would be GREAT for Dems, socialists, greenies and jihadists.

it would as if the GOP nominated the Dem Copperhead McClellan - in 1860!

We must fight to prevent McCain from winning the nomination.

DO WHATEVER IT TAKES.

I have faith we can pull it off.

By "we" I mean conservative and GOP voters - a MAJORITY of whom have NOT voted for McCain.

Despite what the delegate count now looks like. The delegate count is a result of arcane state GOP rules - some states are winner take all, others caucuses, etc.

If you look at the vote count of REPUBLICAN VOTERS, MITT IS IT!

IT AIN'T OVER TILL IT'S OVER - ESPECIALLY WITH SO MUCH AT STAKE

IT'S TIME WE HAD A ROMNEY SURGE!

GIANTS' SUPER BOWL WIN A GOOD OMEN FOR MITT

First, CONGRATZ TO THE GIANTS!

They're a good team who got better and better at the right time.


They nearly beat the Pats in the last game of the season, and one of the toughest things to do in sports is beat a good team twice in a row.

It's a good omen for Mitt because the Giants were underdogs and won.
Mitt is an underdog - he can win too!

ALSO: When Kerry ran against Bush the Red Sox faced the Cards - who play in Bus(c)h Stadium; (the Bush family has long ties to the city of St Louis, too). The Red Sox won, but Kerry did not. It's as if Boston got the BIG prize - World Series, but Bush got the consolation prize: the White House.

SO.... the NY GIANTS - from Hillary's "home" state played the NE PATRIOTS - from Mitt's home-state. The Giants won the BIG prize - the Super Bowl.

This means - in a race between Mitt and Hillary - Mitt will win the consolation prize: the White House!

Here's hoping, at least...

PATTERICO ENDORSES MITT

PATTERICO (VIA GATEWAY):

Q. What’s the difference between Hillary Clinton and John McCain?

A. One has a grating, disagreeable personality; has a history of financial scandal; has spoken of setting benchmarks for withdrawal from Iraq; has said the Bush tax cuts benefitted the wealthy at the expense of the middle class; has derided Sam Alito as too openly conservative; has supported amnesty for illegal immigrants (and then lied about it); has said that we shouldn’t drill in ANWR because it’s “pristine”; has misrepresented the positions of Republican candidates; wants to close Guantanamo; has spoken of sending “greedy people on Wall Street” to jail for their roles in giving subprime loans; has been endorsed by the New York Times; supports blatantly unconstitutional limits on free speech; and is hated by Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, and Michelle Malkin . . .

. . . and the other one’s a Democrat.

EFFIN BRILLIANT!

ROMNEY SURGING IN GEORGIA!

DETAILS AND LINKS HERE AT HUGH'S.

WE CAN WIN THIS THING - IF WE FIGHT AS HARD NOW AS WE DID TO DEFEAT SHAMNESTY!

ROMNEY AND INSTAPUNDIT: LISTEN TO MITT TALK TO HELEN AND GLENN REYNOLDS

USE THIS LINK AND LISTEN TO THE BEST CANDIDATE LEFT.

PLEASE JOIN TEAM MITT ROMNEY - NOW!

USE THIS LINK.

• SIGN UP.
• NOW.
• PLEASE.
• FOR OUR COUNTRY.
• FOR OUR FUTURE.

ROMNEY SURGING IN CALIFORNIA AND COLORADO

VIA HEWITT:

If the swing towards Romney in California continues [latest poll shows Romney leading by 3%!], he will emerge from Tuesday's contest in a solid second place with a new narrative and a renewed debate about the race --can Romney surpass McCain in Ohio and Texas in March? The rapidly fading Huck would simply disappear, as he is doing in many places where the obvious has already registered: A vote for Huckabee is a vote for McCain.

HERE'S A LINK TO A POLL SHOWING MITT 19% AHEAD IN COLORADO!

GO MITT GO!

WHY I'M VOTING FOR MITT ROMNEY ON SUPER TUESDAY

Let’s face it, none of the candidates are perfect. They never are. But McCain is the least perfect of the viable candidates. The only one left standing who can honestly be said to share most of our conservative principles is Mitt Romney.

I say this as someone who has not been an active Romney supporter. If conservatives don’t unite behind Romney at this stage, and become vocal in their support for him, then they will get McCain as their Republican nominee and probably a Democrat president. And in either case, we will have a deeply flawed president.--Mark Levin

I will be honest and admit (as most of you are aware) that Romney was not my first choice. Yet, as I look at what is at stake in this November's election I think it is crucial that we pick the most conservative candidate for our nominee. I am a pretty loyal Republican and I like, probably 80% of our guys. Why we are somehow stuck with several candidates that are a part of the 20% is very frustrating, to say the least.

Anyone who has read my blog for any length of time knows that I have had HUGE issues with McCain for many years. The fact that he is now the possible nominee for our party is just beyond dis-heartening. It is like driving a stake through the heart of Reagan Conservatism. I cannot sit by silently while what so many of us have worked for is dismantled by someone as liberal as McCain. Therefore, it is expedient to support the one conservative left in this race, Mitt Romney.

Here are some articles to take a look at that make the case:
--5 Good Reasons to Vote for Mitt Romney
--Rally for Romney by Mark Levin
--Governor Romney on the issues
--A Call to Conservative Action
--A very comprehensive post on Mitt Romney

Solid, Stellar Conservatives who are endorsing and/or are supporting Mitt Romney:
--Senator Rick Santorum
--Sean Hannity
--Talk Show Host Mark Levin
--Michael Reagan
--Reliapundit's post comparing Team Romney with Team McCain

Other sites on Romney worth checking out:
--Evangelicals for Mitt
--Denny's pro-Romney Blog
--Hugh Hewitt's blog

Also, it is worth noting that Mike Huckabee is no longer a viable candidate and the only purpose he serves is to take votes away from Romney. One wonders if he hasn't made some kind of deal with McCain because he refuses to bash McCain but goes after Romney with a vengeance. This post makes the case for Huckabee being a spoiler and I think its blatantly obvious that at this stage of the game a vote for Huckabee is really a vote for McCain.

MITT ROMNEY VIDEOS - WATCH THEM ALL AND VOTE FOR MITT

I JUST DONATED TO MITT - NOW IT'S YOUR TURN

I looked at my W2 and said I can't afford to do this.

Then, I looked in my soul and said I can't afford NOT to.

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN!

Use the handy-dandy button atop the sidebar.

AND USE IT NOW!

Donate whatever you can.

The money you give will send a very powerful message: conservatism is not dead; we've only just begun to fight!

NRO'S LOWRY: MITT ON FIRE; MCCAIN ACTING CLINTONIAN, (OUCH)

LOWRY: Romney seems to be shifting into high-gear in terms of his message. He firmly rebutted McCain’s charge on the surge, hit him for being in Washington for 25 years, and pounded away on the economic issue:

BLITZER: What is the biggest difference between you and John McCain when it comes to the economy? A lot of fear, right now, of recession, people are hurting. What is the biggest difference between your strategy and his?

ROMNEY: Well, the list is very long. The last time we had a recession in the Bush years, President Bush recognized the best thing you can do is lower taxes and put forward a tax bill. And John McCain was one of only two Republicans to vote against it, and said he would go back and vote against it again if he could. He does not understand the first lesson of Reaganomics, which is, you cut taxes to grow the economy. And then secondly, right now, one of the things I find extraordinary is he pushes this bill known as McCain-Lieberman. It is a — effectively a tax on all energy in this country. He would raise gasoline prices by about 50 cents a gallon, and that is according to the Energy Information Agency. He would raise electric rates by some 20 percent, put a huge burden on us. And it basically would slow down our economy without helping the environment at all, because major users of energy would take their production to countries like China that wouldn't sign the deal. It is basically saying, the cost of global warming would all be borne by American rate-payers and consumers. He just doesn't understand how the economy works...

MORE LOWRY: McCain's Dishonest Attack

As I've said before, McCain deserves a large part of the credit for the surge—he pushed to have it implemented both in his public advocacy and his behind-the-scenes lobbying of the Bush administration, and he has been its foremost defender. Romney wasn't as enthusiastic about it and in his body language, if nothing else seemed ready to distance himself from it if it failed. This is a perfectly legitimate issue for McCain to raise, and he has, by saying things like Romney was "looking at his shoes" while he was putting it all on the line for the surge.

But that doesn't justify the rank dishonesty of his attack on Romney over the weekend. It's so shamelessly unfair, it's the kind of thing you'd expect of Bill Clinton attacking Barack Obama.

OUCH.

• THIS ATTACK BY MCCAIN ON MITT WAS DONE IN DESPERATION.
• AND IT BACKFIRED.
• IT ALSO PROVES THAT HE HASNLT THE TEMPERAMENT TO BE POTUS.

MITT DOES.

FLORIDA'S GOVERNOR CRIST ENDORSES MCCAIN

• YIPES. BAD NEWS: GOVERNOR CRIST ENDORSES MCCAIN.
  
• MITT HAS GOT TO WORK TRIPLE OVERTIME TO WIN, NOW.
• MAYBE HE CAN GET JEB'S ENDORSEMENT?
• I'M PRAYING HE DOES. OTHERWISE IT LOOKS LIKE THE LIB MCCAIN WILL WIN.

BOTTOM-LINE: I HOPE AND PRAY THAT MITT STAYS IN THE RACE TO THE END - AS LONG AS MCCAIN DOESN'T WIN ENOUGH DELEGATES TO WIN THE NOMINATION ON THE FIRST BALLOT, THEN IT'S NOT REALLY OVER!

*******UPDATE: Two hours later and The Great One agrees:

Where Is Jeb? [Mark R. Levin]

I keep hearing that Jeb Bush quietly supports Romney. Now that Crist has made his last-minute endorsement of McCain, I wonder if Jeb will have the will to endorse Romney. Or maybe Jeb is worried that in a match-up with Crist, he might lose the endorsement game. I would hope he has more confidence than that.

01/26 10:03 PM

THE TRANSPARENCY DEFICIT

After counter-attacking global jihad, ending illegal immigration, and expanding energy supplies, I think fighting the lack of transparency is the most important basic issue in the USA today.

1 - It relates to a lot of wasteful pork-barrel spending: Americans hate earmarks as much for their secrecy as their wastefulness. (Most people rightly think that if they weren't wasteful that they wouldn't be secret.)

2 - It relates to the current real estate and banking crisis: if the repackaged sub-prime mortgages had more transparency then there would be NO CRISIS.

3 - In campaign financing, most people don't care how much someone gives to a candidate, AS LONG AS THEY KNOW WHO IS GIVING WHAT TO WHOM. IOW: it ain't how much it's WHO - and that's a TRANSPARENCY issue.

4 - Part of what pissed MOST Americans about the McCain-Kennedy Amnesty Bill was that it was cobbled together in secret, behind closed doors - without hearings. THERE WAS NO TRANSPARENCY IN HOW IT GOT MADE. people are more likely to accept a compromise of the bargaining is more public.

The candidate who most credibly promises to bring MORE TRANSPARENCY to DC will win.

Because he is not a life-long politician, I think Mitt is most likely candidate to make and keep this type of promise. As a successful businessman, his investments demanded transparency. As a manager and governor, he demanded transparent results. Mitt could bring transparency to DC.

That's why I think the choice is CLEAR. (Pun intended.) Mitt is it.

UPDATE: Coincidently, JAWA posts on an attempt by the Gay agenda folks down in Miami to sneak a new Gay Agenda referendum through by cloaking the Gay parts. This is a deliberate subterfuge, and part of the transparency deficit which pisses many people off. If you want a new law for Gays... FINE, but try to get the votes honestly and openly. Otherwise it's not really democratic.

NYTIMES SPINS ROMNEY'S VICTORY INTO A GOP IN DISARRAY

NYTIMES/NAGOURNEY:

Can anyone bring the Republicans together again?

The victory by Mitt Romney in the Michigan primary on Tuesday night means three very different states — with dissimilar electorates driven by distinctive sets of priorities — have embraced three separate candidates in search of someone who can lead the party into a tough election and beyond President Bush.

Mr. Romney won in Michigan, the state where he grew up, with a pointed focus on the slowing economy, which voters overwhelmingly identified as the top issue there. Senator John McCain of Arizona won New Hampshire last week with the backing of independent voters, who are so influential in that state. And Mike Huckabee of Arkansas won the Iowa caucuses powered by social conservatives who make up a substantial part of the population there.

On the most tangible level, the vote on Tuesday was proof from the ballot box of what polls have shown: this is a party that is adrift, unenthusiastic about any of its presidential candidates and unsure of how to counter an energized Democratic Party.

THIS IS PURE LEFTIST PROPAGANDA.

• ROMNEY HAS WON 2 OF 4 STATEWIDE CONTESTS.
• ROMNEY LEADS IN DELEGATES BY A HEALTHY MARGIN.
• ROMNEY LEADS BY 60,000 VOTES.
• ROMNEY RAN SECOND IN THE STATEWIDE RACES HE DIDN'T WIN.
• ROMNEY IS THE ONLY GOP CANDIDATE WHO HAS RUN IN ALL THE RACES AND PLEDGES TO RUN A NATIONAL CAMPAIGN.

ROMNEY IS THE FRONT-RUNNER.

AND THE DEMOCRAT PARTY IS HARDLY ENERGIZED:

• THE PERSONAL ATTACKS THE CANDIDATES HAVE HURLED AT EACH OTHER HAVE VERGED ON THE RACIST AND SEXIST.
• THEY'RE RUNNING ON CLASS WARFARE, RACE WARFARE AND GENDER WARFARE - DIVIDING THE ELECTORATE IN SHAMEFUL WAYS.
• AND THE DEMOCRAT CONGRESS HASN'T DONE BUPKUS.

I THINK THE GOP IS IN GOOD SHAPE.

AND IF IRAQ CONTINUES TO IMPROVE THE DEMS DON'T HAVE A CHANCE - UNLESS THEY AND THEIR COMRADES IN THE MSM - CAN CONVINCE THE ELECTORATE THAT RAISING TAXES WILL HELP THE ECONOMY AND AMELIORATE A DOWN-TURN.

MITT MIGHT BEAT MCCAIN BY A BIGGER MARGIN IN MICHIGAN THAN MCCAIN HAD IN NH

IF GERAGHTY'S NUMBERS ARE RIGHT, THEN MITT HAS SHOWN UP MCCAIN - IN A STATE WITH MORE ELECTORAL VOTES, TOO.

• RIGHT NOW MITT HAS 35% TO MCCAIN'S 29%
• IN NH, MCCAIN HAD 37% TO MITT'S 32%.
• OF COURSE - MCCAIN WOULD'VE LOST NH OUTRIGHT EXCEPT FOR THE INDEPENDENTS.
• MITT CARRIED THE GOP VOTE IN BOTH NH AND MICHIGAN.

THE DEATH KNELLS FOR THE REAGAN GOP ARE VERY PREMATURE.

IF MITT LOSES MICHIGAN, WHAT WOULD THAT SAY ABOUT MICHIGAN'S GOP CONSERVATIVES?

As Mark Levin succinctly said:

"It comes down to three choices in Michigan tomorrow: Romney, Huckabee, and McCain. And there’s just no question Romney is the conservative of the three – there’s just no question."

If Mitt loses it will be because Huckabee STOLE some of the conservatives, thereby SPLITTING the conservative vote and LETTING THE LIBERAL MCCAIN WIN.

I say STOLE because he will have taken these votes under false pretenses - as Levin says. Huckabee is PRETENDING to be a conservative.

Why might many GOP conservatives who KNOW that Huckabee is know conservative hold their noses vote for Huckabee anyway!?!?

Maybe because Huckabee is a Christian from a regular protestant sect, and Mitt is a Christian from a sect which Americans know very little about - and as a result they've become victims of Mormon-scaremongering.

I HAVE A REMINDER FOR GOP MICHAGANERS:

Mitt's father was a Mormon and a darn good Governor.

If the late George Romney's Mormonism wasn't a problem in the 1960's then Mitt's cannot be a problem in 2008!

STILL WORRIED!?!?

Don't be: if arch-liberal Harry Reidi and Mitt Romney can both be GOOD MORMONS, then OBVIOUSLY Mormonism is not so weird or so monolithic a creed as to "infect" the political policies of a Mormon elected to public office.

That's why Mitt's Mormonism should be of NO CONCERN FOR YOU.

You should IGNORE BOTH Huckabee's overt Christianity and Mitt's Mormonism.

VOTE THE ISSUES.

AND MITT IS RIGHT ON THE ISSUES.