By exurbanDoug on
1/17/2012 8:18 AM
NPR's favorite Republican candidate is no longer in the hunt for the nomination.
Think about that one for a moment...
Ace blogged about it the other day and concludes that Huntsman made two fundamental mistakes. One was not emphasising his conservative record as Utah's Governor and the executive experience that came with it. The GOP tends to have better success with governors (Reagan, GWB, and probably Romney) than Senators (Goldwater, Dole, and McCain) as Presidential candidates. He had a record that would appeal to voters interested in fiscal restraint.
Another area where Huntsman went wrong was actively insulting/attacking the Republican electorate. This was odd since he was running for the GOP nomination. Captain Ed opines that his campaign advisors told him to take that approach...and the results showed this was not effective. C'mon, appearing in Vogue and appealing to the NPR demographic is not the way to win over Republican voters, especially in the primaries.
His withdrawl leaves a smaller field but it looks like Governor Romney has the momentum that will carry him through to the nomination. I'd be surprised if any of the remaining candidates can sustain their campaigns and garner enough support to take the nomination.
Governor Huntsman may have been a good candidate...circa 2008. As we have seen over the last few years, the political mood of the country has changed considerably. Much of this is due to the progressive/liberal overreach that took place after Obama won the Presidency. Some of it can also be attributed to the cyclical nature of American politics that is trending conservative/traditional. Huntsman failed to understand both the times he lived in as well as the mood of the Republican electorate he was courting. In the end, his campaign failed to resonate outside of a very small niche and became a historical footnote.
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By Exurban Kevin on
1/17/2012 6:14 AM
Alternate headline: Washington Post (and others) pull their collective heads out of ... the sand and catch up with reality.
For decades, the prevailing wisdom in education was that high self-esteem would lead to high achievement. The theory led to an avalanche of daily affirmations, awards ceremonies and attendance certificates — but few, if any, academic gains.
Now, an increasing number of teachers are weaning themselves from what some call empty praise. Drawing on psychology and brain research, these educators aim to articulate a more precise, and scientific, vocabulary for praise that will push children to work through mistakes and take on more challenging assignments.
It's as if millions thousands hundreds a few dozen trust-fund babies cried out in terror, and then suddenly became completely irrelevant.
(via A Rock In A Sea Of Chaos)
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By Exurban Kevin on
1/16/2012 5:46 PM
... we're back. Call your doctor if symptoms persist for more than four hours.
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By Exurban Kevin on
1/5/2012 9:48 AM
We gotta take a short break to move things around a bit. See you in a week.
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By Exurban Kevin on
12/29/2011 4:31 PM
Just when you thought the hard left couldn't separate themselves any further from reality, something like this happens.
Arizona, which Messina says was only off the table in 2008 because the Republican nominee, John McCain, was the state’s senior Senator, is the main target in an Obama path to 270 that expands on his 2008 tally of states. Arizona Democrats certainly say the state’s nasty fight over SB 1070 has led to a fired up base that could flip the state into Obama’s column next year, especially with a GOP nominee running with Romney’s baggage when it comes to the Hispanic vote. (Someone like Newt Gingrich may have less of a problem with that slice of the electorate.)
Let's see. SB1070 "fired up the base" so much the Dems were able to replace SB1070's champion, State Senator Russell Pearce, with...
... another Republican.
The Democratic Party can't afford many more wins like that one.
If the Dems think that SB1070 has "fired up their base", let's take a look at what Obama has done to fire up the Republican base in Arizona.
That's just the direct actions he's taken against the Copper State. We'll leave his complete and utter failure to manage the economy and the housing crisis for another day.
And if the Democratic base is so "fired up", why did the head of the Progressive Caucus have a tough battle last election cycle against a political newcomer?
And if that wasn't enough (and it is) the Dems have to deal with history. (source)
Yeah, that screams "Dem Pickup!" to me....
The Obama campaign can talk about winning Arizona all they want, but their dreams stand little chance of becoming reality. But then again, dealing with reality hasn't been their strength for a long, long time.
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By Exurban Kevin on
12/21/2011 11:35 AM
Jack Cafferty is not a fan of Eric Holder.
And he's not a fan of George Bush, either, lest anyone think he's being a partisan stooge for the right wing.
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By exurbanDoug on
12/21/2011 8:47 AM
Who ranks himself as the Forth Best President of all Time?
Like you had to guess.
In the full interview, Barack Hussein Obama said:
The issue here is not going be a list of accomplishments. As you said yourself, Steve, you know, I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president — with the possible exceptions of Johnson, F.D.R., and Lincoln — just in terms of what we’ve gotten done in modern history. But, you know, but when it comes to the economy, we’ve got a lot more work to do.
Of course, that part was cut from the interview (I'm shocked, shocked...) because the media doesn't want this laughable quote from Hussein the Wise getting out to Middle America. Gotta keep up appearances of being competent and serious, past performances notwithstanding.
Well, at least he thinks highly of himself...
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By exurbanDoug on
12/20/2011 10:15 AM
There is more to the Occupy __________ "movement" than garbage, rape, drugs, robbery, public defecation, arson, inane slogans, Guy Fawkes masks, and general incoherence.
As the cleanup (funded by taxpayers) continues, so does the analysis. NRO has a very interesting post on this subject, starting with in-depth analysis of the movement of Frontier Labs. Distilled down to its essence, that most occupoopers are socially isolated people who want to be a part of something larger than themselves.
What did Frontier Lab discover? First, that many of the rank-and-file occupiers feel isolated in their lives, and appear to lack basic community ties such as are provided by participation in clubs, churches, and strong families.
Despite social media tools, the internet, pervasive media, and ubiquitous data connectivity; these kiddos lack real social interaction with others. This isolation from reality shows itself in how these protesters were easily manipulated by the organizers and leaders of this "spontaneous" movement. Go back in the archives or visit YouTube for examples of how clueless these children are.
They have have education, technology, electronic connectivity, media, and capital (shhh, keep that on the down low!) but are not grounded in the reality the actual 99% of us live in.
It goes to show that Astroturf® campaigns like this lack the soul and conviction that genuine mass political movements have. That's why Occupy __________ will be remembered as a dirty farce rather than a serious force.
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By exurbanDoug on
12/19/2011 11:48 AM
George F. Will does a takedown of Robert Reich on ABC News, watch for yourself.
The key point that Will brings to light is that government is using the tax code to transfer wealth from largely young and productive people to largely old and retired/non-working people. The power of the state is being used in this endeavor and its crushing economic growth. This is similar to what is going on in Western Europe and Japan, the result is anemic economic growth.
Those on the Left will argue that government needs to get more involved in people's lives to address the "inequality" and "unfairness" that currently exists. However, the current situation we find our country in is largely because government at all levels is excessively involved in people's affairs. As George Will points out, those who have the money (the old and wealthy) will use their economic power to perpetuate their position. They vote and they don't want the gravy train to stop.
We find ourselves indebted and stuck in economic neutral because all the interference and solutions of the Progressive Era make problems worse. More government involvement leads to higher barriers to innovation and competition in the marketplace, where resources can be most efficiently allocated. The solutions and thinking that Robert Reich offers have been the default behavior of the last eighty years, look at where it has taken us.
The good news is that the message being sent by Will is resonating with more people as these truths become evident. Big Government is a problem and its limits are being reached. This will result in a lot of pain and a great deal of anguish amongst liberal pundits as their ideas are shown to be as bankrupt as the economy. The opportunity to recalibrate the relationship between government and the citizens is coming and I for one look forward to it.
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By Exurban Kevin on
12/19/2011 11:27 AM
All we need to eat is a bucket and the will to go outside.
Jerry Pornelle's "A Step Farther Out " shaped a lot of my worldview growing up. Not only did he nail what a world with DARPANET/Internet would look like, but he elquonetly and definitely laid out the case that the future of the human race lies in outer space.
(He also takes apart the neoMalthusians of the modern environmental movement, but that's a topic for another post).
And now it looks like the aerospace industry is coming around to the idea that mankind's future in space isn't tied to the government of man, but our innate desire to boldy go.
(Ph.d and former Shuttle Missions Director Mary Lynne) Dittmar writes that she was initially “disinterested” in the idea: The space community had “moved on” from the Shuttle program and commercial shuttle program efforts were nothing new and generally financially unsustainable. Dittmar outlined four prerequisites for a viable commercial space shuttle project:
1) No government money for development or operations
2) A real business without NASA as a customer
3) An ability to reimburse the government for any infrastructure costs involved
4) She would only support a serious effort and a team she trusted.
According to a lengthy report on NASA Spacelight.com, Dittmar not only became a revival supporter and a key liaison in the Shuttle revival plan, but also saw real benefits in the switch to commercial operations.
"One of the advantages of our purely commercial approach is that it allowed our engineers to consider alternative suppliers and advances in manufacturing, materials, processing, and production across the globe and across several industries," Dittmar told nasaspaceflight.com.
The stars, our destination.
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