2008 GOP presidential nominee John McCain, who spurned Charlie Crist in his vice presidential selection process, has endorsed the Florida governor in Crist’s bid for the U.S. Senate in 2010. The Florida Capital Bureau reports:
Maybe the best part of the story about Republican state committeewoman Carol Carter’s suspension for sending around a racist joke via email: the comment in her follow-up mea culpa about the eight folks to whom she sent the email, at least one of whom had the temerity to forward it:
“I am also sorry to learn,” Carter opines, “that some of these persons are not real team players.”
Carter’s timing was especially unfortunate, as Janet Zink’s story in the Times points out: She sent the email on Friday, “the day the Republican party announced the selection of its first African-American chairman, Michael Steele.”
The Carter flap follows in the wake of two previous instances of GOP racist email dunderheadedness, thanks to jokesters Al Austin (former state party finance chair) and David Storck (former county chair). Read the full text of the latest witticism (which is based on the assumption that Hurricane Katrina is a surefire laugh-getter) after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
The Republicans are one Senate seat away from complete irrelevance in Washington, D.C. One.
Mel Martinez has decided not to run for re-election, and former Republican Gov. Jeb Bush has taken a pass. What’s a Grand Old Party to do?
Former Rep. Dick Armey was scolded after losing his cool during an appearance on Hardball last night, where he told Salon editor in chief Joan Walsh he’s “so damn glad” she isn’t his wife.
Walsh and Armey were in a heated debate about the relevance of Rush Limbaugh in the GOP.
“I am so damn glad that you could never be my wife, ’cause I surely wouldn’t have to listen to that prattle from you every day,” Armey said.
“Well, that makes two of us,” Walsh shot back.
New York Times columnist Bob Herbert, waiting off camera for an appearance, later said on-air: “Dick Armey was so far out of line in the last segment with his sexist comments, and he owes Joan Walsh and your viewers an apology.”
Matthews later apologized on behalf of the former House Majority Leader, and said the comments were “overboard.”
Video below: Read the rest of this entry »
Throughout modern political history, just about every time there has been an epic dirty trick played, Roger Stone was nearby. Who tipped the cops about Eliot Spitzer frequenting hookers? Stone. Who got a hand in Nixon’s dirty tricks? Stone. Close to Lee Atwater? Stone. The Michelle Obama “whitey” tape rumors? Stone. Bumrushing the Miami-Dade County 2000 presidential recount, halting it and catapulting George W. Bush to the White House? Stone. The alleged Charlie Crist sex tape? Stone again.
Here’s my favorite all-time description of Stone, from Jeffrey Toobin in The New Yorker earlier this year:
While the Republican Party usually claims Ronald Reagan as its inspiration, Stone represents the less discussed but still vigorous legacy of Richard Nixon, whose politics reflected a curious admixture of anti-Communism, social moderation, and tactical thuggery. Stone believes that Nixonian hardball, more than sunny Reaganism, is John McCain’s only hope for the Presidency.
Now, The Daily Beast’s Bejamin Sarlin has an interview with Stone in which the GOP operative says he is sorry for his role in pushing FLA over to the W column:
“There have been many times I’ve regretted it,” Stone told me over pizza at Grand Central Station. “When I look at those double-page New York Times spreads of all the individual pictures of people who have been killed [in Iraq], I got to think, ‘Maybe there wouldn’t have been a war if I hadn’t gone to Miami-Dade. Maybe there hadn’t have been, in my view, an unjustified war if Bush hadn’t become president.’ It’s very disturbing to me.”
Stone voted for Bush in 2004 as well (“John Kerry was an elitist buffoon”) but he pulled no punches in his assessment of the last eight years. Stone’s own political philosophy is libertarian, and he says it conflicts with Bush’s penchant for expanded executive power.
“I think across the board he’s led the party to its current position, which means losing both houses of congress and now the White House,” Stone said. “How can you be conservative and justify wiretapping people without a warrant? We’re supposed to be the party of personal freedom and civil liberties. Big brother listening in on your phone calls—I got a problem with that.”
Ya think, Roger?
In case you missed it over the weekend …
More lowlights from the GOP Presidential Debate:
Moderator: Governor Thompson, same theme. If a private employer finds homosexuality immoral, should he be allowed to fire a gay worker?
Thompson: I think that is left up to the individual business. I really sincerely believe that that is an issue that business people have got to make their own determination as to whether or not they should be.
Moderator: OK. So the answer’s yes.
Thompson: Yes.
The former Bush cabinet member was the only candidate to be given a chance to respond to the question, or else, no doubt, he would not have been alone.
For those who weren’t glued to their cable-enabled televisions for what one wag has termed a 10-man simultaneous press conference (more commonly known as the GOP President Debates from California on MSNBC), there is this gem about evolution.
John McCain was asked about his views on the scientific fact that is natural selection and evolution:
Moderator: Senator McCain, this comes from a Politico.com reader and was among the top vote getters in our early rounds. They want a yes or a no. Do you believe in evolution?
McCain: Yes.
Moderator: I’m curious, is there anybody on the stage that does not agree, believe in evolution?
At this point, three proud Christian conservatives raised their hands: Tom Tancredo, Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee.
Such is the power and lure of Christian voters in the Republican presidential primary that these three brainiacs are willing to turn aside all of their education and hundreds of years of evidence to please those who want to throw Darwin into the trash heap.
Even McCain felt compelled to soften his correct answer a bit to kowtow to the Christian Right:
McCain: May I just add to that?
Moderator: Sure.
McCain: I believe in evolution. But I also believe, when I hike the Grand Canyon and see it at sunset, that the hand of God is there also.
