It's nice to see the lighter side of candidates, as Rudy is doing in these two holiday-themed campaign ads.
"Holiday Wishes"
"Same Gift"
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Fred Thompson on "Hannity and Colmes", Campaigns in Iowa
Talk about renewed confidence...
Alan Colmes: "I want to give you a chance to do a hand show, are you in the mood for that today, or not?"
Fred Thompson: "Alan, I'm not raising my hand until Chief Justice John Roberts swears me in."
That's what I want to hear. Here's some more stuff on Fred...
Fred as quoted in The Des Moines Register: "I'm not sure where some of these other guys are. When I read that Mr. Huckabee believes that if we played nice with other people they'd like us, (that) causes me to consider whether he understands the world that we live in."
From CNN: "His red meat speeches are redder. His arguments for why he should be president are sharper."
As I said, almost makes you think this whole situation with Thompson was planned a long time ago, as to keep Fred from being targeted as the frontrunner the way Giuliani, Romney, and now Huckabee have been bullseyed. If that's the case, that's smart campaign strategy. This quote from a separate Des Moines Register article speaks volumes about the endorsement from Rep. Steve King.
"On Monday, he picked up the surprise endorsement of Congressman Steve King. Of all the endorsements flying around these days, that one could move the most numbers. It sends a powerful signal from one of Iowa's most conservative leaders to others on the right around the state: We've now got a horse we can ride..."
Thompson's emerging surge should change up the Iowa caucus quite a bit.
Alan Colmes: "I want to give you a chance to do a hand show, are you in the mood for that today, or not?"
Fred Thompson: "Alan, I'm not raising my hand until Chief Justice John Roberts swears me in."
That's what I want to hear. Here's some more stuff on Fred...
Fred as quoted in The Des Moines Register: "I'm not sure where some of these other guys are. When I read that Mr. Huckabee believes that if we played nice with other people they'd like us, (that) causes me to consider whether he understands the world that we live in."
From CNN: "His red meat speeches are redder. His arguments for why he should be president are sharper."
As I said, almost makes you think this whole situation with Thompson was planned a long time ago, as to keep Fred from being targeted as the frontrunner the way Giuliani, Romney, and now Huckabee have been bullseyed. If that's the case, that's smart campaign strategy. This quote from a separate Des Moines Register article speaks volumes about the endorsement from Rep. Steve King.
"On Monday, he picked up the surprise endorsement of Congressman Steve King. Of all the endorsements flying around these days, that one could move the most numbers. It sends a powerful signal from one of Iowa's most conservative leaders to others on the right around the state: We've now got a horse we can ride..."
Thompson's emerging surge should change up the Iowa caucus quite a bit.
TIME's "Person Of The Year" is...Vladimir Putin
Actually, I found this to be a bit of a surprise. I expected Putin to be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Runner-up...but the actual "Person Of The Year", quite a surprise. The Russian President is, however, a very noteworthy individual on the world stage, even though he does butt heads with the American government on several issues.
TIME did explain their reasoning for choosing Putin rather well, especially in these two paragraphs.
When this intense and brooding KGB agent took over as President of Russia in 2000, he found a country on the verge of becoming a failed state. With dauntless persistence, a sharp vision of what Russia should become and a sense that he embodied the spirit of Mother Russia, Putin has put his country back on the map. And he intends to redraw it himself. Though he will step down as Russia's President in March, he will continue to lead his country as its Prime Minister and attempt to transform it into a new kind of nation, beholden to neither East nor West.
TIME's Person of the Year is not and never has been an honor. It is not an endorsement. It is not a popularity contest. At its best, it is a clear-eyed recognition of the world as it is and of the most powerful individuals and forces shaping that world—for better or for worse. It is ultimately about leadership—bold, earth-changing leadership. Putin is not a boy scout. He is not a democrat in any way that the West would define it. He is not a paragon of free speech. He stands, above all, for stability—stability before freedom, stability before choice, stability in a country that has hardly seen it for a hundred years. Whether he becomes more like the man for whom his grandfather prepared blinis—who himself was twice TIME's Person of the Year—or like Peter the Great, the historical figure he most admires; whether he proves to be a reformer or an autocrat who takes Russia back to an era of repression—this we will know only over the next decade. At significant cost to the principles and ideas that free nations prize, he has performed an extraordinary feat of leadership in imposing stability on a nation that has rarely known it and brought Russia back to the table of world power. For that reason, Vladimir Putin is TIME's 2007 Person of the Year.
The runner-ups were interesting, if not slightly predictable.
1st Runner-Up - An Inconvenient Former VP, Al Gore (if anyone saw this as a surprise, they should be smacked for false ignorance, I'm just glad he didn't win).
2nd Runner-Up - Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, whose fame is pretty much up now that the Potter series is over and done with.
3rd Runner-Up - Chinese President Hu Jintao
4th Runner-Up - General David Petraeus, who should honestly be flipped with Gore, because Petraeus managed to forge success when the new Congressional majority (Democrats) tried to give him every conceivable path to failure.
UPDATE: Henry Ryto brings up an EXCELLENT point in the comments below...where is Nicolas Sarkozy on this list??? That man may single-handedly change European-American relations, and actually has been a catalyst for the rapid improvement of Franco-American relations. Good call, Henry.
TIME did explain their reasoning for choosing Putin rather well, especially in these two paragraphs.
When this intense and brooding KGB agent took over as President of Russia in 2000, he found a country on the verge of becoming a failed state. With dauntless persistence, a sharp vision of what Russia should become and a sense that he embodied the spirit of Mother Russia, Putin has put his country back on the map. And he intends to redraw it himself. Though he will step down as Russia's President in March, he will continue to lead his country as its Prime Minister and attempt to transform it into a new kind of nation, beholden to neither East nor West.
TIME's Person of the Year is not and never has been an honor. It is not an endorsement. It is not a popularity contest. At its best, it is a clear-eyed recognition of the world as it is and of the most powerful individuals and forces shaping that world—for better or for worse. It is ultimately about leadership—bold, earth-changing leadership. Putin is not a boy scout. He is not a democrat in any way that the West would define it. He is not a paragon of free speech. He stands, above all, for stability—stability before freedom, stability before choice, stability in a country that has hardly seen it for a hundred years. Whether he becomes more like the man for whom his grandfather prepared blinis—who himself was twice TIME's Person of the Year—or like Peter the Great, the historical figure he most admires; whether he proves to be a reformer or an autocrat who takes Russia back to an era of repression—this we will know only over the next decade. At significant cost to the principles and ideas that free nations prize, he has performed an extraordinary feat of leadership in imposing stability on a nation that has rarely known it and brought Russia back to the table of world power. For that reason, Vladimir Putin is TIME's 2007 Person of the Year.
The runner-ups were interesting, if not slightly predictable.
1st Runner-Up - An Inconvenient Former VP, Al Gore (if anyone saw this as a surprise, they should be smacked for false ignorance, I'm just glad he didn't win).
2nd Runner-Up - Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, whose fame is pretty much up now that the Potter series is over and done with.
3rd Runner-Up - Chinese President Hu Jintao
4th Runner-Up - General David Petraeus, who should honestly be flipped with Gore, because Petraeus managed to forge success when the new Congressional majority (Democrats) tried to give him every conceivable path to failure.
UPDATE: Henry Ryto brings up an EXCELLENT point in the comments below...where is Nicolas Sarkozy on this list??? That man may single-handedly change European-American relations, and actually has been a catalyst for the rapid improvement of Franco-American relations. Good call, Henry.
Two-Alarm Fire at Eisenhower Executive Building
Actually, it was in Dick Cheney's suite of offices.
Quick response from the DC Fire Department (the world's finest) limited this fire to smoke and water damage in Cheney's offices, and kept the fire from spreading to other offices. The only injury was to a U.S. Marine stationed at the offices, who had to break a window on the 5th floor of the building to escape and cut his hand in the process. He was rescued from the building's ledge.
The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.
Quick response from the DC Fire Department (the world's finest) limited this fire to smoke and water damage in Cheney's offices, and kept the fire from spreading to other offices. The only injury was to a U.S. Marine stationed at the offices, who had to break a window on the 5th floor of the building to escape and cut his hand in the process. He was rescued from the building's ledge.
The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.
Dems Abandon SCHIP
Now, they're going along with the GOP's plan and will keep SCHIP as it is until March 2009, when the new form of SCHIP that will be debated in the beginning of the 2009 Congressional session will take effect.
That actually dampens the ability of Dems to use SCHIP as a campaign issue, as well as keeps SCHIP expansion from being used as the "knife to the throat" of military funding for operations in Iraq.
Haven't I said multiple times before that Congressional Republicans have traditionally done well when they don't have full majorities in Congress?
That actually dampens the ability of Dems to use SCHIP as a campaign issue, as well as keeps SCHIP expansion from being used as the "knife to the throat" of military funding for operations in Iraq.
Haven't I said multiple times before that Congressional Republicans have traditionally done well when they don't have full majorities in Congress?
Presidential Endorsements From VA Political Figures
Let's see who's supporting who, here.
- Gov. Tim Kaine - Barack Obama
- Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling - Mitt Romney
- A.G. Bob McDonnell - Fred Thompson
- Rep. Bobby Scott - Barack Obama
- Sen. John Warner - John McCain
- Fmr. Sen./Gov. George Allen - Fred Thompson
- Fmr. A.G. Jerry Kilgore - Rudy Giuliani
- Pat Robertson, founder of Regent University/Christian Coalition - Rudy Giuliani
- Del. Bill Howell, Speaker of the House of Delegates - Mike Huckabee
- Del. Chris Saxman - John McCain
Can anyone add to these updates?
UPDATES:
12/20 - Added Bobby Scott and Bill Howell endorsements.
- Gov. Tim Kaine - Barack Obama
- Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling - Mitt Romney
- A.G. Bob McDonnell - Fred Thompson
- Rep. Bobby Scott - Barack Obama
- Sen. John Warner - John McCain
- Fmr. Sen./Gov. George Allen - Fred Thompson
- Fmr. A.G. Jerry Kilgore - Rudy Giuliani
- Pat Robertson, founder of Regent University/Christian Coalition - Rudy Giuliani
- Del. Bill Howell, Speaker of the House of Delegates - Mike Huckabee
- Del. Chris Saxman - John McCain
Can anyone add to these updates?
UPDATES:
12/20 - Added Bobby Scott and Bill Howell endorsements.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Watch Ron Paul Lose Any Hope of Winning the GOP Nomination
In 3...2...1...
"When facism comes it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross..."
First of all, how many Democrats have said this? And secondly, while Ron Paul is entitled to his opinion and I'm fine with the fact that he doesn't want to pander to the evangelical vote...that's still a very stupid statement to make when you're running for the Republican Party nomination.
I'm convinced that he's pretty much giving up on a GOP nomination and looking at a Libertarian Party bid.
"When facism comes it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross..."
First of all, how many Democrats have said this? And secondly, while Ron Paul is entitled to his opinion and I'm fine with the fact that he doesn't want to pander to the evangelical vote...that's still a very stupid statement to make when you're running for the Republican Party nomination.
I'm convinced that he's pretty much giving up on a GOP nomination and looking at a Libertarian Party bid.
Pro Bowl Announced, Sean Taylor Makes Team Posthumously
Taylor actually was the top vote-getter at free safety for the NFC, and had been the top vote-getter even before his death. Still, it is a tribute to both his hard work on the field and his untimely death.
Teams with the most Pro Bowlers - Dallas with 11, New England and San Diego with 8 each, Minnesota with 6 each, Seattle and Indianapolis with 5 each, Green Bay, Chicago, and Pittsburgh with 4 each
The Washington Redskins will send a total of 3 players to the Pro Bowl, the aforementioned Taylor, as well as LT Chris Samuels and TE Chris Cooley.
The Jacksonville Jaguars, who have a 10-4 record after this past weekend, sent nobody to the Pro Bowl. This came as a surprise to some. However, one must keep in mind that Pro Bowl voting is done by the fans...which partially explains why the 12-2 Dallas Cowboys (with their large fanbase) are sending 11 players to the Pro Bowl, but the undefeated Patriots are only sending 8 and the 12-2 Green Bay Packers are only sending 4.
Teams with the most Pro Bowlers - Dallas with 11, New England and San Diego with 8 each, Minnesota with 6 each, Seattle and Indianapolis with 5 each, Green Bay, Chicago, and Pittsburgh with 4 each
The Washington Redskins will send a total of 3 players to the Pro Bowl, the aforementioned Taylor, as well as LT Chris Samuels and TE Chris Cooley.
The Jacksonville Jaguars, who have a 10-4 record after this past weekend, sent nobody to the Pro Bowl. This came as a surprise to some. However, one must keep in mind that Pro Bowl voting is done by the fans...which partially explains why the 12-2 Dallas Cowboys (with their large fanbase) are sending 11 players to the Pro Bowl, but the undefeated Patriots are only sending 8 and the 12-2 Green Bay Packers are only sending 4.
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