In a sign that conservatives aren’t going quietly into a John McCain nomination, radio blowhard Rush Limbaugh said Wednesday that McCain’s rise was only made possible by a “fractured†party base.
“He is not the choice of conservatives, as opposed to the choice of the Republican establishment — and that distinction is key,†Limbaugh said. “The Republican establishment, which has long sought to rid the party of conservative influence since Reagan, is feeling a victory today as well as our friends in the media. But both are just far-fetched and wrong.â€
Hmmm. Isn’t Mitt Romney the choice of the GOP establishment?
Meanwhile, conservative rumbler Michelle Malkin says she wouldn’t vote for McCain even over Hillary Clinton. Whew.
You wonder if Limbaugh and Malkin speak for conservative voters, many of whom have been willing to vote for McCain in his primary wins. But clearly, McCain still has big challenges ahead in uniting the party before November.
It’s good to see the Kansas attorney general’s office in new and seemingly capable hands today. Former Douglas County District Judge Stephen Six was sworn in this morning, raising hopes that the office finally can have some relief from the unbecoming behavior and anti-abortion activism of the past two attorneys general. “As attorney general, I promise to serve with integrity and independence as I face the challenges ahead,†Six said. Kansans are counting on it.
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman argues that supporters of Barack Obama’s call to rise above partisanship should learn from the lessons of Bill Clinton, who made similar appeals when he first ran for president but then was savaged from day one by partisan Republicans.
“Those who don’t want to nominate Hillary Clinton because they don’t want to return to the nastiness of the 1990s — a sizable group, at least in the punditocracy — are deluding themselves,†Krugman wrote. “Any Democrat who makes it to the White House can expect the same treatment: an unending procession of wild charges and fake scandals.
“The point is that while there are valid reasons one might support Obama over Clinton, the desire to avoid unpleasantness isn’t one of them.â€
Granted, Attorney General Michael Mukasey has a tricky job, in that he must not only account for his actions in what remains of the Bush administration but also for those of two previous attorneys general. But it’s tragic that Mukasey remains unwilling to define and denounce waterboarding as torture. He ducked senators’ questions Wednesday: “Given that waterboarding is not part of the current program, and may never be added to the program, I do not think it would be appropriate for me to pass definitive judgment on the technique’s legality.â€
To his credit, GOP front-runner John McCain has no doubts about waterboarding: “It is torture,†he said during a fall debate. Why must the attorney general act as if it might not be?
Political commentators seem unsure about whether John Edwards’ departure benefits Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama more.
Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report argues that it could go either way: “While one can plausibly argue that Edwards’ withdrawal may unite the anti-Clinton vote, one can also argue that Edwards’ overwhelmingly white bloc of supporters . . . might behave much as other white Democrats have done in the contests after Iowa, not vote for Obama. I don’t know which of those arguments will prevail.â€
Kansans should steel themselves to watch Jon Stewart’s brutal bit on Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ Democratic response to President Bush’s State of the Union address, part of Tuesday’s “Daily Show†on Comedy Central. “Wow — flat and boring. What state is she governor of again?†he said of Sebelius’ opening lines, adding, “but her lack of humanness meshed perfectly with her message.†He mocked her “join us†refrain and her suggestion that the heartland has a corner on honoring and respecting military service. And to her concluding “God bless and sleep well,†he responded, “We’re way ahead of ya.†The only consolation? Stewart was harder on Bush’s speech.
The Republican field is finally shaking out after months of uncertainty about a front-runner. Rudy Giuliani is dropping out of the race after finishing a disappointing third in the Florida primary. His strategy to sit back and put all of his eggs in Florida proved disastrous.
And John McCain, who won Florida Tuesday, has emerged the big winner and the clear front-runner.
McCain reportedly will get Giuliani’s endorsement today, which should help him in big winner-take-all states such as New York and California where the former New York City mayor has significant support.
McCain is in the driver’s seat for the nomination, although he’s still anathema to many conservatives. Mitt Romney is still in the hunt and has money to burn, while Mike Huckabee is fading.
All this could cast a new light on the Democratic race: Who would be most competitive against McCain?
John Edwards plans to announce today that he’s leaving the Democratic presidential race. He never quite caught fire with voters — his passionate populism and fighter image at times seemed more senatorial than presidential — but he had some of the most forceful and effective critiques of Bush administration policy and its impact on working-class people. And he played a significant role in recent debates, helping keep the other candidates honest and calling for more Democratic “backbone†in standing up to President Bush.
He hasn’t endorsed yet, which still gives him a lot of political leverage in this race.
He has seemed to side more with Barack Obama, but who knows how this might unfold?
Big shake-ups on both sides before the big Feb. 5 showdown.
Barack Obama won the endorsement of the two biggest Kennedys of all, Ted and Caroline, but he cannot claim to have the whole clan in his pocket. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (in photo), Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kerry Kennedy — children of the late Robert Kennedy — endorsed Hillary Clinton in a forceful Los Angeles Times commentary as the “strongest candidate for our party and our country†and someone “battle-tested, resilient and sure-footed.â€
They went on: “Her measured rhetoric, political savvy and pragmatism shield the heart of our nation’s most determined and most democratic warrior.â€
As annoying as automated phone calls are during a political season, they at least have a point. The latest anti-Paul Morrison “robocalls†tormenting Kansans are worse, because they are pointless: Morrison is out as attorney general as of Thursday, having self-destructed in a sex scandal just a year into the job. The person responsible for the calls and their outrageous claims, a Californian named Conrad Braun, has an old grudge against Morrison, who successfully prosecuted him for trespassing and making a criminal threat. Last year Braun vowed to “keep hitting Kansas†with calls until Morrison resigned. Mission accomplished (though for reasons unrelated to Braun’s claims). Meanwhile, Braun’s abuse reminds us it’s too bad the state’s Do Not Call list only applies to products and services.
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius did a fine job in delivering the Democratic response to the State of the Union address, in our view. But she got some bad reviews in the political blogosphere, especially peeving liberals looking to kick President Bush when he was down and on his way out the door.
The 23/6 blog, which is affiliated with the Huffington Post news hub, called her response lackluster and worse: “Bush’s parting speech was a perfect chance for the Democrats to hit back and provide a harsh but necessary criticism of the past seven years. Instead, they sent out Stepford Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, who in the spirit of bipartisanship urged the president to ‘join us’ and ‘get to work.’ Unfortunately, by then the president was already in his jammies and sound asleep.â€
Some thought Gov. Kathleen Sebelius sounded like Barack Obama in last night’s Democratic response to President Bush’s final State of the Union address. Today she is removing all doubt about where she stands in the party primary race by endorsing Obama at his campaign appearance in El Dorado, his maternal grandfather’s hometown. “I think he brings the hope and optimism that we really need to restore our place in the world, as well as to bring this country together and really tackle the challenges that we have,†Sebelius said via Associated Press, in a line that could have fit nicely into last night’s speech.
There is some question about whether Sebelius’ endorsement means much, even to Kansans, but it’s great to see our neglected state playing a role in this exciting campaign season.
Congratulations to the Wichita school board for its historic unanimous decision Monday night to end busing for desegregation in the district by the next school year. Such forced busing was the rule for nearly four decades, during which some African-American children were bused across town for all 13 years of their schooling. But it has long struck many in the community, white and black, as unfair and unnecessary. The logistics of placing the 2,000 affected students in neighborhood and magnet schools won’t be easy, but “I believe in my heart we will make sure all of our kids will get an equitable education,†said board member Kevass Harding. That’s a promise the district now must do everything it can to keep.
Rush Limbaugh contends that if John McCain wins the GOP presidential nomination, it will destroy the Republican Party. But leading national polls indicate that McCain is the only GOP candidate who can defeat Democratic front-runners Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton in a head-to-head match. The other top GOP candidates would lose handily to Clinton and by double digits to Obama, according to the polls.
Meanwhile, McCain appears to be in a tight battle with Mitt Romney for today’s Florida primary, though the endorsement of McCain by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (in photo) should give McCain a boost.
Many a Kansas schoolchild knows that today is Kansas Day, the 147th anniversary of the Kansas’ entrance into the Union as a free state. The older folks among us tend to think of it as an excuse for Kansas Republicans to party (which they did over the weekend in Topeka). But Kansans of all ages could be better acquainted with their fascinating state, which is more than the sum of its “bleeding,†cattle-herding, wheat-growing, planemaking and ball-playing parts.
We’ll get a good gauge of what Kansans value most about the Sunflower State today, when Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and the Kansas Sampler Foundation announce the Eight Wonders of Kansas, as chosen by more than 24,000 people online.
The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto offers a “bye-ku†to each departing presidential candidate. Last week’s were for Dennis Kucinich and Fred Thompson, respectively:
Surely he is an
Unidentified object
But he does not fly
They called him “tortoiseâ€
But now the man with no hair
Has got out of ours
But Taranto has covered the entire campaign cycle so far.
For Duncan Hunter:
It seems we won’t see
A Hunter-Thompson ticket
Bedtime for Gonzo
For Bill Richardson:
What we need is change
I guess experience is
Kind of a leper
For Joe Biden and Chris Dodd:
Yes, they’ve really spent
68 years in Congress
It just seems longer
For Tom Tancredo:
Is it really true
The nativists are restless?
Not enough to vote
For Sam Brownback:
When he gave a speech
Attendees numbered less than
This line’s syllables
For Tommy Thompson:
“I’m too sexy for
This poll,†said Tommy? Oh, right
Said Fred, not Tommy
For Jim Gilmore:
Is he still alive?
We thought he was killed by a
Utah firing squad
The floor is open for WE Bloggers’ bye-kus.
For those who watched both the State of the Union address and the Democratic response, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius likely connected with more viewers than President Bush did. While Bush went through a list of issues he wants Congress to work on, several of which have no chance for progress before he leaves office, Sebelius appealed to a “new American majority†that is tired of leaders who ask nothing of us. Sebelius called for a focus on the common good and repeatedly urged everyone to “get to work.†Sebelius isn’t an exciting orator, but she did well this time.
Coming off his impressive South Carolina win, Sen. Barack Obama is keeping the momentum going by pulling in some headline-grabbing endorsements — most notably that of Sen. Ted Kennedy. The Democratic icon appeared with Obama today at a rally along with Caroline Kennedy, JFK’s daughter, who wrote a New York Times commentary over the weekend comparing Obama to her father.
Obama also got the endorsement of Nobel Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison, who famously coined the idea that Bill Clinton was the “first black president.†She called Obama “the man for this time.â€
Do endorsements matter? Usually not that much. But arguably they are important for Obama, because they help him reassure voters that experienced party elders such as Kennedy think he’s up to the job.
Speaking of endorsements, the timing of Barack Obama’s Tuesday visit to El Dorado seems ready-made for one by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, as some are speculating. By Tuesday, the day after her delivery of the Democrats’ response to President Bush’s State of the Union address, she no longer will be bound by the agreement she made with congressional Democratic leaders not to endorse anyone until after Jan. 28.
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius isn’t the only member of her family getting media attention; so is one of her sons — albeit in the “news of the weird†category. John Sebelius, 23, is selling “Don’t Drop the Soap,†a prison-themed board game he created as part of a class project at the Rhode Island School of Design, Associated Press reported. The description of the game on his Web site (which also lists the governor’s mansion in the contact address) says: “Escape prison riots in The Yard, slip glass into a mob boss’ lasagna in the Cafeteria, steal painkillers from the nurse’s desk in the Infirmary, avoid being cornered by the Aryans in the shower room, fight off Latin Kings in Gang War, and try not to smoke your entire stash in The Hole.â€
Nicole Corcoran, the governor’s spokeswoman, noted that the game — which sells for $34.99, plus packaging, shipping and handling — isn’t intended for children.
UPDATE: As of late Monday, John Sebelius’ Web site no longer listed the governor’s mansion as the contact address, using a Lawrence address instead.
After months of pandering to social conservatives, Mitt Romney is finally playing to his strength, emphasizing his business and chief executive experience. “I know how America works because I spent my life in the real economy,†Romney says in a new campaign commercial. Too bad the former Massachusetts governor and venture capitalist didn’t focus on the economy from the start; he wouldn’t be viewed as such a flip-flopper.
Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback has a bit part in a campaign ad for John McCain, promising that McCain “will appoint strict constructionists to the United States Supreme Court.†Strangely, the cameo endorsements (seemingly) include one by rival Mike Huckabee, who calls McCain a “genuine conservative.â€
In a sign that conservatives aren’t going quietly into a John McCain nomination, radio blowhard Rush Limbaugh said Wednesday that McCain’s rise was only made possible by a “fractured†party base.
