Grading The GOP Presidential Wannabes

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Campaign Outsider

Time to grade the presidential candidates, so once around the park, James, and don’t spare the horses:

MITT PLEASURE

They say when your opponent is self-destructing, just stay out of his way. In the GOP presidential primaries, Mitt Romney (R-Anderson? Anderson?) is giving the rest of the field a very wide berth indeed. Romney refuses to go on the Sunday squawk shows and – apart from a few H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks moments in debates and on the campaign trail – he’s remained above the fray. So far, Romney is winning by staying out of the game.

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PERRY & THRUST

After Rick Perry (R-Am I Still Laughing?) was done hugging his bottle of maple syrup in his Granite State gigglefest, he seemed to get back to normal, which is slightly north of 10% in the polls. But he’s spending some serious money on TV spots in Iowa and New Hampshire, and his Super PAC Make Up Great Again is on the air in Iowa and South Carolina. Give the ads a couple of weeks and see if Perry can buy his way back into the race.

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CAIN & DISABLE

Tough week in the news media for Herman Cain (R-The Harmanator) as he fought sexual harassment allegations by rolling out more stories than Richard North Patterson. But things weren’t as tough in the polling or fundraising departments. In a South Carolina survey taken after the controversy broke, Cain beat Romney 33% to 23%. And he took in $250,00 in donations the day after the story hit the news, $300,000 the day after. Theory #1: This campaign has been straight out of Bizarro World all along – why would it change now? Theory #2: This could go sideways so fast we’ll wind up calling him The Crabanator.

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STRAW PAUL

Here’s a guy who wins all the small-time bakeoffs (Iowa straw poll last weekend, Values Voter Summit, Florida, and Ohio – by a blowout – last month). But Ron Paul (R-Can You Hear Me Now?) can’t buy media coverage. Which is why he’s buying millions of dollars worth of airtime in Iowa and New Hampshire to at least register on the public radar screen. And he’s scraping along (with Perry and Gingrich) at around 10% in the Real Clear Politics composite poll. Call it the 10% Dissolution.

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OY OF NEWT

Even though this is the retail politics phase of the presidential primaries, Newt Gingrich (R-Anyone Seen Callista?) so far has only shopped the specials: the debates and the squawk shows. He’s been moderately effective in both venues, alternating between Big Media Basher and Big Ideas Touter. The rest of the time he has seemed more concerned with selling his books and documentaries. But his fundraising and poll numbers are up lately, so maybe he’ll punch in after all.

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BACK O’ THE PACK

Rick Santorum, Jon Huntsman, Michele Bachmann – wake us when one of them gets hit by lightning.

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Key:

checkmark-fat-100-boxedcheckmark-fat-100-boxedcheckmark-fat-100-boxedcheckmark-fat-100-boxed= Excellent

checkmark-fat-100-boxedcheckmark-fat-100-boxedcheckmark-fat-100-boxed= Good

checkmark-fat-100-boxedcheckmark-fat-100-boxed= Fair

checkmark-fat-100-boxed= Poor

Originally posted on Boston University Professor Voices

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Department Of Duh! (Boston Globe Social Media Edition)

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Campaign Outsider

From Thursday’s Boston Globe:

Social media offer new outlet for customer complaints

Consumers get action as corporations tune in

Really?

Who woulda thunk?

File under: Last Year’s News, Yesterday.

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Dead Blogging ‘Romeo & Juliet’ At The Boston Ballet

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Campaign Outsider

Well the Missus and I trundled down to the Opera House to catch the Boston Ballet premiere of Romeo & Juliet and boy, it was swell.

Preview:

 

Some other observations:

• Apparently all they did back in 1400 was dance. No working. No cooking. No nothing. Just dance.

• The production’s costumes were fabulous, the sets eye-catching, and the music (by Sergei Prokofiev) riveting.

• And the dancers were terrific. Misa Kuranaga’s Juliet and Nelson Madrigal’s Romeo performed beautifully together, and the rest of the cast was uniformly appealing.

• All told – no offense – a cut above the average Boston Ballet production.

Then again, I don’t know anything about ballet.

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Let The $4 Billion Rumpus Begin! (Koch Bros. Whack Obama Edition)

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Campaign Outsider

From our Hitting On All Solyndra’s desk:

The Obama administration’s half-billion-dollar loan to solar company Solyndra is not only the subject of an independent federal review, it’s also the subject of a new $2.4 million ad campaign.

From MSNBC’s First Read:

Here come the TV ads hitting President Obama on Solyndra.

Americans for Prosperity — the political organization that has received financial assistance from conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch — says it’s beginning a $2.4 million TV advertising blitz with a spot highlighting the failed clean-energy company that received a loan guarantee from the Obama administration.

The ad will air in Virgina, Florida, New Mexico, and Michigan.

(Note: Koch Industries is heavily involved in the petroleum business, and thus is hardly a champion of clean-energy companies.)

Said ad:

 

Among the myriad charges leveled by the ad, nowhere is it mentioned that Solyndra was cleared for the federal loan program by the Bush (The Younger) administration, as ThinkProgress asserts. (And Fox News refutes.)

Not to get technical about it.

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Correction o’ the Day (Jersey Shore Edition)

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Campaign Outsider

From Thursday’s New York Times:

THE ARTS

A critic’s notebook article on Monday about an academic conference at the University of Chicago on the television show “Jersey Shore” referred imprecisely to a comment made by Candace Moore, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan who spoke about the friendship between Vinny and Pauly D. She linked the quest for “stranger sex” by men on the show to “some queer and kink cultures,” not specifically to gay male sexual culture.

Well.

GLAAD they straightened that out.

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Let The $4 Billion Rumpus Begin! (FCC Full Disclosure Edition)

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Campaign Outsider

The opaque organizations behind a whole bunch of political advertising these days may soon have to drop the veil if the Federal Communications Commission has its way.

From Advertising Age:

FCC’s New Political Ad Disclosure Plan Has Broadcasters Concerned

Planned Website would List Who’s Behind an Ad, How Much They Paid for It

Just as a banner season for political advertising is starting, the Obama administration has thrown broadcasters a curveball — and broadcasters are hustling to figure out what it might mean in terms of costs and implications.

The Federal Communications Commission has proposed requiring television stations to post online information about their political advertisers.

That information, currently kept in paper files at the stations, includes the names of candidates or groups requesting to run an ad, the reason for broadcasting the ad, the time and placement of the ad and its cost.

Yikes! The voting public might soon know who’s saying what to them? And how much they’ve paid to say it?

Say it ain’t so.

The National Association of Broadcasters, not surprisingly, has some reservations.

“The political file must be very frequently updated, particularly during the periods close to local, state and federal elections,” said a recent letter by a NAB attorney to the FCC. “Developing a system of uploading, organizing, and ensuring timely online access to the political file presents a significant challenge.”

Not as much of a challenge, though, as figuring out who the hell is running all those ads.

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The Daily Caller Does Herman Cain’s Dirty Work

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Campaign Outsider

Conservative Net-work The Daily Caller has pimped out its email list to the Herman Cainiacs so they could send decent folk like the hardworking staff this:

Patriot,

Multiple polls have confirmed that Herman Cain is winning the Republican race for President. In addition, last week a poll has him leading Barack Obama.

So the left wing media has decided to destroy him. Like they did to Clarence Thomas, they are engaging in a “high tech” lynching by smearing his reputation and attacking his character.

Herman Cain won’t play their DC games and they MUST destroy him.

As the leading pro-Cain committee, we intend to fight back with every resource we can put to bear. Will you join us?

The left wing have told Conservatives they have to pick Mitt Romney, despite his flip-flops on abortion, immigration, gun control. They’ve told us he’s more electable, ignoring the fact he’s lagging behind in the polls after 6 years of campaigning.

Let’s send a clear message to those who would like to tell us what to do. Let’s stand up against those who would like to take down any black man who stands up for Conservative values. Join “Americans for Herman Cain” today and support our efforts to fight back.

We have a real choice this time: Herman Cain. Will you help him today?

It’s days like this that reminds us why we launched “Americans for Herman Cain,” a project of 9-9-9 Fund.

Herman Cain has grassroots support. He has the poll numbers. He is a conservative. He can beat Barack Obama. Now it’s our job to propel him to victory in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, Florida, Michigan, and Arizona.

We’re going to do everything from TV ads, voter mail, advocacy phones identifying Herman’s supporters, to get out the vote programs. But we can’t do it without your help. We’re fiscal conservatives like you, and we won’t waste a dollar.

Will you help us? Will you help us elect a true conservative outsider in the mold of Ronald Reagan to the White House?

Together, we will take our country back.

For America,

Jordan Gehrke
Campaign Director
AmericansforHermanCain.com

 

That’s low, even by Daily Caller standards.

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Let The $4 Billion Rumpus Begin! (Obama Bashing Romney Edition)

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Campaign Outsider

While Republican presidential wannabes Herman Cain (R-More Stories Than Richard North Patterson) and Rick Perry (R-Laughing Gas) stumble around the political landscape, the Obamanaut super PAC Priorities USA Action is dropping 100 grand on web videos attacking Mitt Romney (R-Anderson? Anderson?),  who’s looking more and more like the GOP nominee-by-default.

From Wednesday’s Politico Playbook:

PRIORITIES USA ACTION, the Burton-Sweeney superPAC, makes a $100,000 buy in social media (Facebook, YouTube, Google, plus some traditional media sites) for a new video, “Mitt Romney’s America” (1:35), which starts with news clips (glimpse of John F. Harris at the Reagan debate; speaking parts for Bill Hemmer, Karl Rove, Bret Baier, Jon Scott, Brian Williams, Chris Wallace and Romney), and climaxes with the visuals: “MEDICARE DISMANTLED … PLANNED PARENTHOOD DEFUNDED … GLOBAL WARMING IGNORED … COLLEGE AID SLASHED … HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM REPEALED … MITT ROMNEY’S AMERICA IS NOT OUR AMERICA.” YouTube http://bit.ly/rPsqjC

 

Apparently it’s not just Romney looking past the GOP presidential primaries.

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Screen Shot o’ the Day (pat. pending)

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Campaign Outsider

 

That’s pretty much it in a nutshell, yes?

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Let The $4 Billion* Rumpus Begin! ( Make Us Great Again Edition)

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Campaign Outsider

(* The amount that will likely be spent on political ads this election cycle.)

GOP presidential wannabe Rick Perry (R-Have I Stopped Laughing Yet?) is now being propped up by a $382,000 ad campaign just launched in Iowa and South Carolina by the Perry-loving Super PAC Make Us Great Again.

The South Carolina ad:

 

The Iowa ad:

 

The transcripts (via Politico Playbook):

–S.C. version, “Leadership”: “His dad was a tenant farmer. His wife, a nurse. Rick Perry served in the Air Force, then came home to farm cotton. A solid conservative, Perry made his state the leader in manufacturing exports, passed major lawsuit reform, cut burdensome regulations. The result: 1 million new jobs. Rick Perry: conservative leadership that works. Make Us Great Again is responsible for the content of this ad.” 

–Iowa version, “Conservative”: “His dad was a tenant farmer. His wife, a nurse. Rick Perry served in the Air Force, then came home to farm cotton. A solid conservative, Perry’s balanced every budget, passed major lawsuit reform, cut 15 BILLION in spending. The result: 1 million new jobs. Rick Perry: conservative leadership that works. Make Us Great Again is responsible for the content of this ad.”

That works quite nicely with Perry’s own Iowa ad, but it’s merely a coincidence according to MSNBC’s First Read:

The two [Make Us Great Again] ads (here and here) are similar, and they dovetail with the Perry campaign’s own positive ads in Iowa. *** CLARIFICATION *** First Read is no way implying Make Us Great Again is coordinating with the Perry campaign; we were just noting the coincidence of the timing and the states involved.

Uh-huh.

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