February 26, 2009

Rush to Jindal Critics: I Don’t Want to Hear From You Again

Rush Limbaugh said on his radio show yesterday:

So, where are we? We as conservatives are in the wilderness, and many of you are hopeless. So we have a guy, Bobby Jindal, 37 years old, first time on the national stage, shows up last night to make a response to The Messiah. All he did was articulate what we believe. All he did was articulate opposition to what Obama is doing, with the obligatory when he’s right, we’ll work with him, just like we worked with Clinton on NAFTA, just like we worked with Clinton on welfare reform after we brought him in. These things happen. It doesn’t mean that we lose our distrust. All Bobby Jindal did was tell us what conservatism is; he used his own life story to do it; he talked about the American people making the country work. He had it all. Now, he may not have done it in the same stylistic way as Obama. I can understand the Democrats trashing the man, just as they trashed Sarah Palin. They are mean-spirited, heartless, horrible winners. But the people on our side are really making a mistake if they go after Bobby Jindal on the basis of style.
Because if you think people on our side, I’m talking to you, those of you who think Jindal was horrible, in fact, I don’t want to hear from you ever again if you think that what Bobby Jindal said was bad or what he said was wrong or not said well, because, folks, style is not going to take our country back. Solid conservatism articulated in a way that’s inspiring and understanding is what’s going to take the country back. Bobby Jindal’s 37 years old. I’ve spoken to him numerous times. He’s brilliant. He’s the real deal. I’m not coming here to defend him, he doesn’t need that. We’re going to have to figure out what we want. Do we want to have somebody in our party who can sound as smart as Obama regardless what he says and convince people to vote for us, or do we believe in a set of principles that defined this country’s founding and will return it to greatness again?

Allahpundit doesn’t get what Rush’s big problem was:

Answer:  Jindal will shake this off but the fact remains that he blew an opportunity to turn himself into a breakout star a la Obama at the 2004 convention. He’s touted as a sort of boy genius, but a boy genius should have been able to figure out a way not to be actively bad, even if it meant being merely boring. He couldn’t, so his image took a hit. What’s the problem with admitting that? If he was doomed to fail because of the setting — and he surely wasn’t doomed to fail as badly as he did — he should have adapted by changing it and doing the speech in front of a small audience (or a big one). He’s supposed to be the solutions guy, right?

I think the problem with AP’s thinking is that Jindal finds solutions to the problems of government, not necessarily solutions to make himself look better. There is a difference.

And I think Rush’s problem is that Republicans fire their best volleys at their own. Many are tearing down a solid, young conservative Governor who delivered a speech to the non-State of the Union that was stylistically off. Of course, other than political geeks, no one will even remember the speech in a couple weeks. How many State of the Union responses do you remember? I remember quite a few and this doesn’t approach the poor delivery of Bob Dole’s 1996 State of the Union Response, nor the cheesy responses put together by Tom Daschle and Dick Gephardt.

From the speech, we see that Bobby Jindal isn’t as charismatic as Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin, but that’s okay, we’ll find something different to destroy them over, because we’re on a mission to tear down potential leaders rather than build for our party’s future. We want to end up with the worst possible leadership so we can say that we didn’t support the good, but not quite Reagan leaders for our movement.

By the way, Jindal can give a better speech than he did on State of the Union as he illustrated at the NRA:

YouTube Preview Image

Still not great, but he’s a good man and he’ll have a good future. I don’t think he runs for President for 2012, but any nominee of the party that doesn’t at least consider him for VP isn’t worth their salt.

by @ 8:40 am. Filed under Bobby Jindal
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69 Responses to “Rush to Jindal Critics: I Don’t Want to Hear From You Again”

  1. MarkG Says:

    You’re a glutton for punishment, aren’t you? Mentioning Palin and Huckabee here is akin to yelling “Fire!” in a crowded theater: Panic ensues, lives are lost, etc.

    But at least you didn’t say anything about Mitt Romney. :-)

  2. Tommy Boy Says:

    Rush seems torn between Palin and Jindal, hahaha. Imagine if the two ran on the same team, the press would have a field day and say they were handpicked by Rush Limbaugh. I’m expecting “Sarah Palin” and “Bobby Jindal” to be on SNL sometime soon.

  3. redd Says:

    i think he runs to set up a future run at the minimum

  4. Chris L. Says:

    “Rush to Jindal Critics: I Don’t Want to Hear From You Again”

    Thus speaketh the Lord of the GOP (or at least half of it).

  5. MatthewK Says:

    Jindal’s a good guy, and I know he can do better, and he’s got a good future ahead of him – VP in 2012, perhaps, or the nominee in eight or twelve years.

    But the people who are against any criticism of Jindal are, in many ways, the same people who called anyone who voiced concerns about Palin liberal trolls who were working for Obama – and look where that got us. If the reality about Palin had come out early, McCain might not have picked her, and he would almost certainly have done better in the general.

    Like I said, most likely, Jindal will shake this off – but its not like he hasn’t earned the criticism.

  6. Adam Graham Says:

    #5:

    The reality about Palin? Come on. Palin didn’t cost McCain the election and I don’t think one state can be identified that McCain lost but would have won if Palin hadn’t been on the ticket.

  7. MatthewK Says:

    Adam, Palin made a fool out of herself. The initial excitement was gone in two weeks, and replaced by the SNL lines that – using her own statements – made her into a walking joke.

    I don’t know if Palin cost McCain any state – though I’m fairly certain she turned off far more moderates than other candidates, even other conservative candidates, would have.

    But Palin’s biggest problem was what she didn’t add, not what she did. McCain was never going to win this election on his own, and his choice of a VP candidate who was neither experienced nor particularly competent when it came to policy was a disaster.

    I can’t help but think that what got me banned from this site was my criticism of Palin, on, believe it or not, experience and policy knowledge – the same two things that doomed her candidacy.

  8. Martha Says:

    Adam, Huck and Palin will destroy themselves politically, no matter how charismatic you seem to think they are. Being folksy only takes you so far, and it leaves you open to ridicule from the left.

    Jindal may have given a sub-par speech, but he’s actually got substance and none of the baggage of Huck or Palin. I’m not worried about him at all.

    And, BTW – last time I checked, you’re still on the mission to destroy the best potential leader we have right now.

  9. Martha Says:

    Adam, Palin was a controversy practically from day one. Every day it was a new flub or red flag. We weren’t talking issues, but cringing at her encounters with the press, and discussing her personal family matters. It’s pretty clear she turned off a lot of voters who might have considered McCain. No one has been able to say difinitively whether Palin was a drag on the ticket, but I’ve seen evidence both ways.

  10. MarkG Says:

    Ah, the MittWitt fringe of the Rombots have arrived!

    Many of these are convinced that Romney would have won the election for McCain, and to prove their point, they voted for Obama to protest Mac’s jilting Mitt for Sarah.

    The MittWitts are still in a state of inconsolable denial.

  11. Tommy Boy Says:

    Matthew, Martha, there’s this thing called an exit poll that indicated 60% of the respondents considered Palin to be a factor in their vote and 56% of these respondents voted for McCain.

    I’m a data guy for the most part and the numbers seem to be pretty solid in Palin’s favor…data and numbers are always superior to opinions.

  12. MatthewK Says:

    “I’m a data guy for the most part and the numbers seem to be pretty solid in Palin’s favor”

    What was her approval rating among independents on election day?

  13. Dan Says:

    Tommy Boy, I was ready to vote for Paul out of disgust with McCain, but then McCain announced Palin as his VP and she gave a great speech at the convention. I got excited enough about the ticket that I donated to McCain. I kept hoping for great things from Palin, but was seriously disappointed as time went on. I kept giving her second chance after second chance right up to the election when I pulled the lever for McCain mostly because Palin was on the ticket. She has just proven herself as a loser and I am convinced that she will be a loser in the 2012 general too. I will admit that she was tied to an even bigger loser; McCain’s floundering during the economic meltdown was undoubtedly a bigger reason that the ticket lost than Palin’s poor interviews and recycled speech that she gave at nearly every event.

    Adam, Martha was dead right, “And, BTW – last time I checked, you’re still on the mission to destroy the best potential leader we have right now.”

  14. MatthewK Says:

    “Matthew, Martha, there’s this thing called an exit poll that indicated 60% of the respondents considered Palin to be a factor in their vote and 56% of these respondents voted for McCain.”

    Thats nice, except that it means that more than 1/4 of the electorate considered Palin, and ended up voting against the ticket.

    Now, if those people are mostly Democrats, there isn’t an issue. But if those people are most independents, then she very well may have lost McCain the election.

    Also, yeah, I think Romney as VP could very well have won the election for the GOP. You know why? Because for all his faults, the media would not have been able to attack him on experience or competence, and Obama was in no position to make flip-flop claims. But the number one reason is that he would have given the economic issue to the GOP.

  15. Tommy Boy Says:

    Matthew, you assume that the 56% of those respondents who considered Palin a factor in their vote and voted for McCain would have voted for McCain anyway. I’m guessing that these are “moderate” evangelical Christians that may have stayed home and not voted at all if you take into account that McCain did worse among conservatives than Bush in 2004 but won more evangelical votes than Bush in 2004. I wish the exit poll had dived further into the question of Palin but it didn’t….

    Palin is polling pretty well among indies if you go by Rasmussen in the limited data that we have had on her post-election. Obviously, she polled extremely well with indies after her convention speech but didn’t poll well after that. However, based on the limited information that we have, she seems to have recovered among indies unless you have post-election data that shows otherwise.

  16. Knickers in a twist Says:

    Sometimes critisem is good. Jindal is far better than some that are wannaruns. He is well educated, often well spoken and is a conservative with true family values. Not fake ones that is dragged out in photo ops. However, Jindal needs a lot more weathering before he is ready to run this country. It’s time to get a grasp on reality. Were trying the young maverick type president now. It’s not working for us. Why would the GOP run to the same thing now? Oh yea. He’s not Romney, whom some here despise for his true conservative creds. (and, I might add, jelous of his family and his well earned fortune.) I stopped listening to Rush when he glombed onto Palin. Pity all he can tell us about her is how purdy she is. And how much he overlooks. Just shows even more that some thought with little brain, and not big brain.

  17. MatthewK Says:

    Palin, Romney, whatever – its getting us off topic.

    What I want to know is why Jindal should be exempt from criticism.

  18. Knickers in a twist Says:

    Mark
    I did not vote for Obama to ‘jilt’ Palin. I voted for him becaue our GOP has gone off the deep end, and it was being led to the deep waters by the nutcase far, far religious right. Sorry, but that’s how I and many others saw it.

    Howard Dean, last Feb, said in an interview that the DNC was breathing a huge sigh of relief that Romney had suspended his campaign. Howard Dean, leader of the DNC said that Romney was the ONLY one they felt they could not beat. Romney was talking econ’s during his campaign, and when stumping for Mac and cheeswiz. Palin was talking about her forthcomming grandson and how wonderful it was that daughter has made ‘right’ choices in her life and will soon be married to the baby daddy (which was flunted in front of us at the convention). The biggest issue I heard out of Palin was that Obama had ‘questionable’ buddies he hung with. Meanwhile, back at the Ranch, Toddy was hanging with those that want AK to be a new country- not state, COUNTRY. Palin even addressed their convention not too many years back. Frankly, I don’t see the difference there. I had concerns over BOTH. But ain’t she purdy. Must put blinders on and take stupid pill so we don’t take a good look at what is really behind the curtain.
    Yupeers, I’m a Romney supporter. Dang proud of it too. He’s the total package, not one made up to look good. He takes his lumps and makes no excuses. He’s worked hard, got an education, supported his family, served his chruch and his God and has lived a pretty good life. His wife Anne, has that quiet ‘class’ that you can’t buy at Sak’s with OPM. His kids would never give an embarrassing interview, as there is nothing in the son’s lives to be embarrassed about. Romney bought his won homes, without question of how the contractors got bids for other projects in town, his wife is not CC’d on other than personal e-mails, and he has EARNED his own way on WHO he is, WHAT he can do, and not what he ‘looks’ like.

  19. GetReal Says:

    17 – ask Rush. Anyway, I don’t think there’s all that much to criticize. He’s certainly got a little work to do, just like every candidate. I think there’s plenty of time to run him later, after we give Romney his crack at turning this country around. However, if Mitt doesn’t pull off the nomination and Jindal does, I’ll still be happy with our choice. Much happier than I was in 2008.

  20. OHIO JOE Says:

    I think Mr. Limbaugh just does not want Mr. Jindal trashed which is fair. While I like Mr. Jindal’s policies, I am frankly a little disappointed in his lack of charm and so forth.

    Matthew K, with respect, I think you are dreaming if you think any Republican could have done a whole better than Mrs. Palin after 9/15. Could another VP candidate gotten a few more EC points? Perhaps, but which ones?

  21. GetReal Says:

    20 – Palin was GREAT for fundraising (as Romney would have been) and getting more media coverage (which Romney wouldn’t have helped with, but probably would have been better in interviews) but I don’t think she was so great at convincing people who were unsure whom to vote for that they should vote for John McCain. I think she was good at making people who didn’t like the idea of voting for McCain (but were going to anyway) feel better about their choice, but I don’t know if that really made much difference in the election.

  22. Martha Says:

    OHIO – Mac’s numbers starting tanking the morning after the Couric interview with Palin – 5 days before the meltdown. And, Palin did NOTHING to help shore up McCain on the economy, indeed the opposite. According to Palin, the bailout was about healthcare. (snicker)

    There just isn’t any way you can claim Romney wouldn’t have been a better choice at that point.

  23. Knickers in a twist Says:

    Get real,
    I was a tepid supporter of McCain. When he choose Palin, he lost mine and my husbands vote. Along with those of my 6 sister in laws and my 2 sisters. My adult step daughters are liberal democrates, so Mc never had them anyway. Face it. She did lose a lot of votes for McCain. Here in Utah, McCain won. But, for the first time in HISTORY, the Democrat got above 30 percent. Unheard of in Utah, and certainly caused a lot of head scratchin’. Turns out, that many were turned off with Palin. Now, I knew my little vote here in the outlands of Utah would not make Obama president. BUT, it has sent a message to the GOP’s in THIS state that we are not happy with the direction of the GOP. Message may have been received. Personally, I would rather suffer with Obama – the devil we know, than with Palin, the devil we don’t.

  24. OHIO JOE Says:

    No, Mr. McCain’s numbers did not tank after the interview, they slipped slightly and then tanked after the financial crises.

  25. MarkG Says:

    18: I might have voted Libertarian if Mac had chosen Mitt. I was already considering jumping ship once Mac kept banging the drum for the economy-wrecking cap-and-trade nonsense. Having Mac pick Mitt after hearing so many Romney supporters run extreme opposition to Mac would have clearly been a sign that Mac was more cynical than I had ever wanted to imagine.

    Either way, I might wind up supporting Mitt in ‘12 if he throws his hat in. If he’s as offensive as such an overtly cynical, shamelessly pandering politician again, I’ll support someone else. I can’t say yet. But if I back him, it won’t be because I have to hate everyone else more than him.

    I was definitely swayed by the input of the autonomous Rombots. Their negative sales pitch told me that I should support Mitt because he was less objectionably revolting than anyone else. That’s no reason to vote for someone.

  26. Tommy Oliver Says:

    Adam,
    The Gephardt/Daschle one was the worst that I have ever seen. It was so bad.

  27. MarkG Says:

    Having lost sight of the main post so far, Tommy O reminds me of the topic at hand. And I have to admit, even as a political junkie, I can’t really remember any rebuttal speeches at all.

    The task of rebutting the sitting president is not very memorable, at least in my experience. And that should ultimately work to Jindal’s advantage.

  28. Martha Says:

    MarkG – you’re kidding. Choosing Romney would have been the least cynical thing Mac could have done and would have shown everyone his honest committment to “Country First”. As it was, The Palin pick was the most cynical thing possible.

    Also, Mark – try choosing your candidate based on merit rather than your contempt for his supporters.

  29. FredsFighter Says:

    FredsFighter to Rush: I Don’t Want to Hear From You Again

    Seriously guys, until we can get better public personas for the GOP than windbags like Rush and Hannity, we’re screwed. I know the Democrats didn’t exactly have many, but now they have Obama. We need someone competent and easy to listen to.

  30. Mac Says:

    If Jindal wants to play with the big boys. He has to be able to preform on a world stage.

  31. MarkG Says:

    Martha, unlike some around here, I’m keeping an open mind.

  32. Mike "Gamecock" Devine Says:

    Brilliant column Adam. I agree 100%.

  33. Martha Says:

    But MarkG – you didn’t answer why you allow supporters to sway you rather than simply voting based on the merit of the candidate.

    Personally, I wouldn’t let anything a supporter says deter me from voting for who I believe is the best candidate.

  34. Martha Says:

    Brilliant? not sure about that. :-)

    Just stating the obvious.

  35. MarkG Says:

    But MarkG – you didn’t answer why you allow supporters to sway you rather than simply voting based on the merit of the candidate.

    I feel like that has been explained a thousand times in as many different ways. But I’ll sum it up again myself.

    The negativity of some in the Romney camp reflected a campaign that clearly relied on trashing all of Romney’s opponents one by one. The scorched-earth tactics were rather obviously encouraged, having never once been repudiated or contradicted. The Romney campaign wanted to have it both ways while at the same time shrieking foul hypocritically at every turn.

    None of the other campaigns could stand the Romney campaign by the time he conceded — that’s how vile his campaign’s attitude was.

    Another related point is that the high-dollar campaign to trash his rivals made it look desperate: There was nothing else positive to sell in favor of Romney, so they had to make all the alternatives as toxic as possible.

    Of course, I predict you’ll reject this and gripe about it. If so, I encourage you to continue on your obviously winning trajectory, ensuring a solid second-term win for the jackass party.

  36. FredsFighter Says:

    MarkG, oh please! Even the most anti-Mitt hack out there could admit he had many strong attributes. And I never saw any of the implicitly approved underhanded tactics by campaign “surrogates” that you are indicating.

  37. Martha Says:

    Mark – that’s la-la land stuff. Just didn’t happen. Romney went after records, and never got personal.

    Nothing positive to sell in favor of Romney? – give me a break.

  38. Aron Goldman Says:

    I’m talking to you, those of you who think Jindal was horrible, in fact, I don’t want to hear from you ever again if you think that what Bobby Jindal said was bad or what he said was wrong or not said well

    This asinine comment elicited from me the same visceral reaction as when Romney’s personal fluffer, Hugh Hewitt, sought to squelch and disqualify dissent.

    Mitt Romney’s “Faith in America” speech was simply magnificent, and anyone who denies it is not to be trusted as an analyst.

    Rush, if you don’t want to hear from me ever again, you’ll first have to rip that cochlear implant out of your ear, you deaf, corpulent f*ck!

  39. GetReal Says:

    I think its clear to MarkG that the other candidates didn’t gang up on Romney because he had the most money and possibly the strongest shot at winning the nomination, it was because he had the gall to claim McCain supported McCain/Kennedy and Huckabee raised taxes in Arkansas!

  40. bob Says:

    #7: You want to to know the definition of distortion: claiming that Sarah made a fool of herself.

    Tell that to the millions who watched Sarah’s debate with Biden when she basically took him apart a Senator with 35 years in the Senate and a specialist in foreign affairs.

    Tell that to the tens of thousaands who watched and listened to her condemn the Messiah ‘for palling around with an unrepentent domestic terrorist, who wanted to ’spread the wealth, destroy the coal industry and implement a socialist agenda.

    While the original maverick could only legitimize the Messiah by saying ‘that America had nothing to worry about if Obama became President’ Sarah was the only one fighting to defend America and the Constitution.

    If Sarah made a fool of herself I and I believe millions of American patriots also intend to make fools of themselves. Let us resolve make such fools of ourselves that we end up making a fool of the Messiah and his socialist agenda.

  41. GetReal Says:

    38 – What was so bad about Mitt’s speech? The one big complaint I heard was he didn’t include athiests, but come on. It was a speech about faith, not lack of faith. I wouldn’t expect Hitchens to write a column about how wonderful it is to be a Christian.

  42. MarkG Says:

    other candidates didn’t gang up on Romney

    Romney started out of the gate as the candidate willing to do and say anything to win, and nurturing a back-door rumor-mill campaign was only a small part of it. Astroturfing was also part of the effort, on a grand scale. And that’s just all peachy.

    But don’t come crying to me when everyone else decides you’re the lowest common denominator, worth the concerted effort to be taken out. You wanted “anything goes” and got it.

    So grumble all you want. I’m just glad that justice was served to Mitt and his minions in ‘08.

  43. FredsFighter Says:

    bob, with all due respect, you are not the slightest bit objective when it comes to Palin or Obama. Wow.

  44. Knickers in a twist Says:

    Sarah took Biden apart? Did we watch the same debates? Sarah did not answer the questions. she went off in her own direction, and did not ‘debate’, but wink, blew kissies and tried to charm her way without answering any with any substance. Drill baby Drill? Yea, that’s sweet. It’s about all she said worth two plugs. She tanked. She knew it. We knew it. Only the most blind supporters thought she took biden apart. I’m no fan of Biden, but at least in HIS personal life, he walks the talk.

  45. Governor Rick Perry Says:

    MarkG’s distortion of facts, historical revisionism, and sanctimony are growing intolerable. The other candidates, the media, and many posters on this board unfairly targeted Mitt and falsely characterized his positions and campaign tactics. Unfortunately he was not able to break away from that characterization. In four years that will be ancient history. By the same token, so will Jindal’s botched speech, perhaps even Palin’s botched interviews and subsequent tailspin will be sufficiently buffered by 4 years. At this point ALMOST anyone has a decent shot; though Mitt likely has a leg up on the rest (a short leg). The only candidate that I can’t seem to imagine any circumstances that would allow him to get nominated is Huckabee. The GOP reached a new low when they fleetingly considered his candidacy. He has simply nothing to offer–no redeeming qualities (at least any that are unique to him).

  46. Aron Goldman Says:

    GetReal,

    I wasn’t commenting on the content of Romney’s speech in #38. What was atrocious, in my estimation, was Hewitt’s absurd assertion that any political analyst who denied Romney’s speech was simply magnificent is untrustworthy.

  47. FredsFighter Says:

    Lol, I’m no Knickers or Martha, but the only saving grace of Palin’s debate performance was that it wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be.

  48. MarkG Says:

    I wasn’t commenting on the content of Romney’s speech

    Then allow me. My favorite line:

    I saw my father march with Martin Luther King.

  49. OHIO JOE Says:

    I guess we did not watch the same debate, Knickers.

    As for Mr. Limbaugh not wanting to hear from anti-Jindal people ever again, I think it was a poor choice of word and it should not men that we should stoop to his level and not want to hear from him.

    MarkG: To be sure, there were those in the Romney camp that did not play nice, but that should not necessarily reflect poorly on Mr. Romney himself. Although, they still have a few loose cannons, among other things, I actually give credit to the Romney camp for toning down the rhetoric against other Republicans.

  50. FredsFighter Says:

    Ohio Joe

    Limbaugh, Hannity, et al, are all about “poor choice of wording”. They are shock jocks, intentionally provocative, inflammatory, and shrill. Their audience loves it. Everyone else sees right through it.

  51. OHIO JOE Says:

    I do not think that for the most part they are provocative. They rubbed me the wrong way by meddling in the primary process, but they do have a lot of wisdom and are sincere. Yes, sometimes they go over the top to make a point and thus portray a certain persona among other things, but I think that at the end of the day they are sincere and they are trying to promote many (perhaps not all) of the values that most Republicans stand for.

  52. Governor Rick Perry Says:

    48–
    MarkG–see 45.

    Also, wasn’t there an entire post dedicated to the ridiculous semantic austerity demanded by the Anti-Romney camp? Your distortions are unbecoming.

  53. Governor Rick Perry Says:

    oops–referring to the MLK quote

  54. FredsFighter Says:

    Ohio Joe, I do agree that they’re trying to promote their own Republican values, but I think that, to them, the ends justify the means. If they
    find a needle in a haystack piece of evidence that supports their view, they’ll scream about it from the tops of the mountains as if it trumped the haystack of evidence to the contrary. They’re not afraid to distort, misinterpret, or spout off on topics about which they are completely and obviously ignorant. Oh, and they have massive egos. Just my opinion…

  55. John Mark Says:

    Do we want to have somebody in our party who can sound as smart as Obama regardless what he says and convince people to vote for us, or do we believe in a set of principles that defined this country’s founding and will return it to greatness again?”
    Why can’t we have both? Rush seems to think being a bad communicator is necessary to being a good conservative. I’m definitely willing to overlook Jindal’s performance, but if its indicative of his overall speaking skill than we’ve got to find somebody else.

  56. Chris L. Says:

    #35 – MarkG

    You are correct in your assessment. Note that much of Mitt’s strategy/tactics was drawn from the Rove Playbook for 2000. Not surprising since many of the staff/consultants were the same. I believe that this was Mitt’s single biggest mistake, for the Rove Playbook was a concoction unique to two men (Bush and Rove) at a particular point in time and was thus outdated and unsuitable.

  57. OHIO JOE Says:

    “If they
    find a needle in a haystack piece of evidence that supports their view, they’ll scream about it from the tops of the mountains as if it trumped the haystack of evidence to the contrary.” I agree that this is sometimes true. However, it is certainly also true of the MSM at times.

  58. MatthewK Says:

    “They rubbed me the wrong way by meddling in the primary process”

    Can’t say I agree. In my view, we ended up with McCain because talk radio didn’t have the parts to pick one Conservative over another.

  59. OHIO JOE Says:

    It is not their job to pick one Conservative over another.

  60. Martha Says:

    If Jindal runs, Palin is history. Rush and Co will drop her like a hot potatoe.

    Jindal is the only one who seriously competes with Romney.

  61. Martha Says:

    Did I spell potato wrong???

  62. MellowFellow Says:

    “In my view, we ended up with McCain because talk radio didn’t have the parts to pick one Conservative over another.”

    If Republicans are truly just waiting for an anointing by talk radio to make decisions with regards to an election, they really don’t deserve to participate in democracy, because that’d be a sham.

    Sean Hannity does not have one iota more clairvoyance into conservative principles than I do. And he’s more of a jerk.

  63. Aron Goldman Says:

    The Cal Ripken President
    by Ann Coulter

    As Obama prepared to deliver his address to Congress on Tuesday, the Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner, Fox News’ Bret Baier and Charles Krauthammer all gushed that history was being made as the first African-American president appeared before Congress.

    Even Gov. Bobby Jindal, whom I suppose I should note was the first Indian-American to give the Republican response to a president’s speech, began with an encomium to the first black president. (Wasn’t Bobby great in “Slumdog Millionaire”?)

    Are we going to have to hear about this for the next four years? Obama is becoming the Cal Ripken Jr. of presidents, making history every time he suits up for a game. Recently, Obama also became the first African-American president to order a ham sandwich late at night from the White House kitchen! That’s going to get old pretty quick.

    But as long as the nation is obsessed with historic milestones, is no one going to remark on what a great country it is where a mentally retarded woman can become speaker of the house?

  64. FredsFighter Says:

    Well stated, MellowFellow.

  65. Martha Says:

    Daniel Henninger of the WSJ thinks republicans better get their act together to combat Obama’s “Radical Presidency”.

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123561433557778201.html

    He says Jindal didn’t go far enough in his response, and that we’re facing an enormous alteration in the way the government and the economy interact – bigger than anyone could have imagined a few months ago.

    It’s a good article, someone should post on it today.

  66. JayPe Says:

    Rush should just get over it. Some great politicians started well (Obama in 2004), and some did badly (Clinton in 1988). I don’t think Bill Clinton supporters would bash someone who said that Bill’s speech in 1988 was bad.

    But then Rush is hardly a beacon of tolerance is he?

  67. Aron Goldman Says:

    Rasmussen Reports: 51% Say Tax Hike On Those Earning Over $250,000 Is A Good Move

    Fifty-one percent (51%) of U.S. voters say President Obama’s plan to raise taxes on those who earn more than $250,000 a year would be good for the economy, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

    Thirty-one percent (31%) say raising taxes on the wealthy would be a bad economic move, while 12% say it would have no impact. Five percent (5%) are not sure.

    At the same time, a majority of voters continue to believe tax increases in general are bad for the economy and tax cuts are better.

    Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Democrats think the proposed tax hike is good for the economy, but 55% of Republicans disagree. Voters not affiliated with either party are evenly divided over the economic wisdom of the move.

    Investors are slightly less excited about the idea. Forty-six percent (46%) think a tax hike on those earning over $250,000 would be good for the economy, compared to 60% of non-investors. Thirty-eight percent (38%) of investors and 21% of non-investors don’t agree.

    The Rasmussen Investor Index, after three days of record lows, rallied slightly on Thursday.

    Thirty percent (30%) of voters now expect their personal taxes to go up under the Obama Administration. Just 18% think their taxes will be cut, while 38% say they will remain the same. The number expecting a tax cut is down three points from a month ago.

    Fifty-six percent (56%) say tax cuts help the economy, while 16% say they hurt and 18% say they have no impact. Ten percent (10%) are undecided.

    Conversely, 47% think tax increases hurt the economy, but 24% say they help. Sixteen percent (16%) say they have no economic impact, and 13% are not sure.

    In the budget he releases today, Obama is expected to propose letting Bush Administration tax cuts expire next year, thereby raising taxes on those earning over $250,000 annually, and also to limit deductions that wealthier Americans can take. Republicans generally have opposed raising taxes including those on the wealthy, the ones they say who invest, create businesses and create jobs.

    Forty-nine percent (49%) of Republicans and 32% of unaffiliated voters expect a tax hike under Obama versus 14% of Democrats. Thirty-one percent (31%) of Democratic voters think their taxes will be cut, compared to 10% of unaffiliateds and nine percent (9%) of Republicans.

    Thirty-eight percent (38%) of investors say their taxes will increase, compared to 18% of non-investors. Thirteen percent (13%) of investors and 26% of non-investors say they will get a tax cut.

    In October of last year, 47% of voters said candidate Obama’s plan to raise taxes on those who earn over $250,000 a year was good for the economy, but 51% still believed that lower taxes were the best way to spur economic growth. Obama also campaigned on giving tax cuts to 95% of Americans, and voters in survey after survey have said tax cuts are better for the economy than more government spending.

    Again, voters send a mixed message since 40% say they would vote for a candidate who promised to oppose all tax increases, but 44% say they’d favor a candidate who raised taxes only on the rich.

    Fifty-three percent (53%) of voters favor a policy that helps the economy grow, while 38% prefer a policy that makes everyone pay their fair share. A majority of Republicans, Democrats and unaffiliated voters concur.

    However, while 69% of Republicans and 59% of unaffiliated voters say tax cuts help the economy, only 43% of Democrats agree.

    Seventy percent (70%) of GOP voters and 54% of unaffiliateds say tax increases hurt the economy, a view shared by only 22% of Democrats. The plurality of Democrats (40%) say tax increases are good for the economy.

    A majority of investors favor tax cuts and oppose tax increases.

    Forty-eight percent (48%) of voters say they pay more than their fair share in taxes. Twenty-nine percent (29%) disagree, and 23% aren’t sure.

    Americans also tend to believe they pay a higher share of their income in taxes than people in other income brackets. But 33% have already filed their taxes for this year even though they’re not due until April 15.

    The majority of Americans don’t think most members of Congress pay all the taxes they owe, though.

  68. Aron Goldman Says:

    Gallup: Obama Speech Bolsters Confidence for Many Americans
    Of those who watched, 57% are now more confident about his plans to fix the economy

    Gallup: Americans Reject Sequel to Auto Bailout
    More than 7 in 10 say Congress should not approve more loans

  69. Flip Dixon Says:

    I like Jindal, but he destroyed his 2012 chances with that rebuttal.

    Wait until 2016, Bobby, and get some grey hairs first.

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