The Daily Flipper
Posted by Mike Gehrke on March 7, 2007 at 10:47 AM
Read what the Republicans Wish You Wouldn’t …
Get Out While You Can!
McCain Staffers Cut, Run...
John McCain's Obama-esque remarks about our "wasted" resources in Iraq weren't the only comments that landed him in hot water after a recent appearance on Late Night with David Letterman. Many of his staff were blindsided by his campaign announcement. And several aides were so outraged that they've quit, say Republican insiders."They're imploding—he had a game plan that had him announcing much later in the year," one top Republican aide tells Radar, adding that the campaign is "in serious trouble ... Romney's plan and Rudy's jump in the polls caused him to scrap his plans completely. When you do that, and you're not prepared for it, the staff goes crazy. Some of his coordinators in different states were pulling their hair out!"
D’Amato Bails on his ‘Endorsement’
Alfonse D'Amato lashed out at an aide with Sen. John McCain's campaign yesterday, saying it's untrue he's endorsing the Arizona maverick for president.D'Amato "has very high esteem for his dear friend, Sen. McCain, but has made absolutely no commitment to any candidate for the 2008 presidential election," the former senator's aides said in a statement.
When Bob Dole says Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will “have the age issue” dogging him throughout his presidential campaign, he speaks from experience.The oldest man to run for president when he unsuccessfully challenged President Bill Clinton in 1996, Dole, now 83, called McCain, along with former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani, the frontrunners for the 2008 GOP nomination.
Although he’s the “best known,” Dole said, the 70-year-old McCain will face constant questions about his fitness and ability to serve. Then again, “every candidate will have minuses,” he added.
Huckabee’s Longtime Aide Needs “A Break” from Short-time Campaign
A spokeswoman for former Governor Mike Huckabee says longtime Huckabee aide Brenda Turner is "taking a break" from the Republican's presidential campaign.Spokeswoman Alice Stewart says Turner told the campaign last week she would take time off from Huckabee's campaign in Little Rock. Huckabee left as governor in January and last month formed a presidential exploratory committee.
Mr. Giuliani—fresh from the 8 a.m. Acela—seemed tired, almost distracted. And his speech, heavy on qualifiers and careful distinctions, low on culture-war references, seemed to suck all the energy out of the room. He slipped in and out of the conference so fast that many attendees didn’t even realize he’d shown up until hours later. (Writer George Will, who introduced Mr. Giuliani, seemed dynamic by comparison.)
Three marriages is hardly the end of his political troubles. As Giuliani woos conservative Republicans in search of his party’s presidential nomination, he will have to deal with his pro-choice position on abortion, his cheerleading for gun control, his amenability to gay marriage and a soft stance on illegal immigration. And don’t forget Marilyn Monroe.Marilyn Monroe? Well, yes. Giuliani dressed up like Marilyn for a satire put on by journalists in 1997. You can bet that photos and maybe videos of the skit will be all over the Internet at some point - I found a couple of photos in about five minutes - and you can bet it will do him no good. Remember Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis being photographed wearing an Army helmet in 1988 - just a helmet, not a blond wig, lipstick, mascara and a dress - and what that did to his campaign?
Southern Baptist leader said Tuesday that evangelical voters might tolerate a divorced presidential candidate, but they have deep doubts about GOP hopeful Rudy Giuliani, who has been married three times.Richard Land, head of public policy for the Southern Baptist Convention, told The Associated Press that evangelicals believe the former New York City mayor showed a lack of character during his divorce from his second wife, television personality Donna Hanover.
"I mean, this is divorce on steroids," Land said. "To publicly humiliate your wife in that way, and your children. That's rough. I think that's going to be an awfully hard sell, even if he weren't pro-choice and pro-gun control."
Passed in Part because of John McCain
Restrictions on senators' intervening with federal agencies were adopted after the Keating Five investigation, in which five senators contacted regulators on behalf of banking executive Charles Keating.Senate offices should refrain from intervening in pending court actions "until the matter has reached a resolution in the courts," the Senate's ethics manual says. The House's version has similar warnings.
Two New Mexico Republicans, Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson, acknowledged they asked a U.S. attorney in their state about the status of a corruption investigation that would have hurt Democrats.
1) Pander, 2) Pander, 3) Pander
Given the French government's reputation for arrogance, one would think it would be smugly thumbing its nose, but it's not. Chirac has reaffirmed his support for the United States, and the leading candidate to succeed him as president is openly calling for better trans-Atlantic relations.But Romney's campaign still sees political gain in whipping up anger toward France. It's similar to Romney's decision last year to refuse State Police protection for Iran's moderate former president, who was speaking at Harvard, as a protest against Iran's current hard-line president. The common thread is that Romney seems to believe that presidential voters will respond only to the gesture, not the facts behind it.
It's not the French to whom Romney is condescending; he seems to think GOP primary voters have brie for brains.
(Not, This Time, by his Family)
This makes the Competence Primary very important in the Republican nomination contest, and Giuliani is the front-runner in it, although he has competition from Romney, a successful businessman with strong management skills. This doesn't mean that Giuliani will excel in the Temperament Primary. Some of the qualities that made him a successful mayor - the hunger for power, the jealousy of other centers of authority, the egocentric drive - don't make him the most pleasant person. And the Ideological Primary will be a major challenge.
I don’t know if David Horowitz knew Cpl. Matt Sanchez was once a gay porn star and male prostitute when he introduced him to me at last weekend’s CPAC. But he did know that Sanchez was an eager yes-man, and a supposed victim of the campus PC thuggery Horowitz has made a career out of decrying.As several gay blogs revealed late yesterday, Corporal Sanchez was known during his halcyon days as Rod Majors, a majorly well-endowed gay porn star. According to Tom Bacchus, Sanchez was also a $200-an-hour male prostitute who advertised himself as an “excellent top.”
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