Ads ‘n’ ends from the Palmetto State bakeoff:
• Pity the poor Republicans. They have two presidential candidates everyone says can’t possibly be the nominee, and one candidate 75% say they don’t want as the nominee. Brokered convention, anyone?
• Newt Gingrich (R-Can You Hear Me Now?) Super PAC strategy: Mitt Romney = Barack Obama:
• Mitt Romney (R-Did Anyone Get the Number of That Truck?) concession speech strategy: Newt Gingrich = Barack Obama:
• Did South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson (R-You Lie!) really call NPR’s Audie Cornish “Natalie” for his entire interview with her? (The hardworking staff says: Yes he did.)
• Former Obama hack and current Priorities USA can’t-hack-it Bill Burton tells NPR: “For starters, Mitt Romney is a disaster.” Takes one to know one, eh Bill?
• Rick Santorum (R-The Caboose) spent the night struggling mightily to keep his head above water in the press pool.
• MSNBC’s primary coverage included an endless barrage of advertising from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce supporting the Stop Online Piracy Act:
• Sarah Palin on Fox News: Going forward, we should listen carefully to the candidates without that filter of the mainstream media or that filter of the Super PACs that are so negative.
Okay, then. So, in that good spirit Sarah always spreads . . .
• Newt Unfiltered:
Number of times he said “Callista and I”: 4.
(And how does this roll off the tongue: “First Lady Callista Gingrich.” Is it just us, or does she look like something out of a Tim Burton film when she turns to her right?)
Smart move: Praising his rivals by name. Made it seem like he already had the nomination.
Good: American exceptionalism, Federalist Papers, best paycheck president in American history.
Bad: Washington and New York elites, Saul Alinsky (think he got many hits on Google last night?), most effective food stamp president in American history.
Final verdict: A measured, smart, generous victory speech . . . until it wasn’t.
Campaign Outsider 
Brokered convention: ain’t never gonna happen in today’s pre-fab political landscape. Too bad, because a brokered convention would make for absolutely fabulous entertainment that you couldn’t take your eyes off. The convention would actually make news, rather than being garbage that the networks feel compelled to report.
What, Callista = Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas?
P.S. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce got ambushed this past week. Rather than spend all this money on ads, why don’t they use clawback clauses to get back all those lobbyist fees?
…see: Sally
If you only watch hockey and “Pawn Stars,” you don’t actually see any of this stuff.
In all honesty, it’s a much healthier lifestyle.
“Is it just us, or does she look like something out of a Tim Burton film when she turns to her right?”
That’s so mean!™
But seriously, isn’t this a bit beyond the bounds of propriety?
I dunno, Stephen – one man’s mean is another man’s poison? (That doesn’t really work, does it?)
Thanks so much for the Tim Burton reference! I was thinking that, googled it, and was so happy someone else saw it.
Happy to oblige, Ned.
Fun fact revealed by Keith Olbermann during Current TV’s primary coverage: while Newt was delivering his victory speech, over at Turner Classic Movies, they were showing “A Letter To Three Wives”>