Republican “Debate” Bleg
Posted by Dan from Madison on June 14th, 2011 (All posts by Dan from Madison)
Did anyone see the “debate” last night? I didn’t. I am in particular wondering how Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain did.
|
|
Books by Celia Hayes | ![]() | ![]() |
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | ![]() |
Posted by Dan from Madison on June 14th, 2011 (All posts by Dan from Madison)
Did anyone see the “debate” last night? I didn’t. I am in particular wondering how Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain did.
June 14th, 2011 at 8:17 am
Michael Barone saw it. I didn’t. My response to his column was this modest proposal:
Ha. Fat chance. Barack will run unopposed for a year+.
June 14th, 2011 at 9:20 am
Obama is increasingly running against his own record. Any reasonable Republican candidate may have a fighting chance to win for this reason alone.
June 14th, 2011 at 9:39 am
Obama is rock solid at 60 in Intrade.
His record is well known, yet there it is.
The GOP has a lot of discontent on its side, but Obama has the motivated rent-gatherers.
Odds are Obama wins.
June 14th, 2011 at 10:20 am
I liked the Michael Barone assessment, having endured the full debate. Mr Barone makes the point that it is not yet over. He said some nice things about Michele Bachmann, including, at one point, comparing her to the late William Buckley.
Given that it is President Obama’s to lose, this is likely a suicide mission. Given that, perhaps the Republicans should nominate Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann, to make a strong statement as to who we are not. And, last night they both did fine and either would be a step up for the nation.
Regards — Cliff
June 14th, 2011 at 11:02 am
18 months is a long time. I don’t think a 10% edge on Intrade means much at this point. To win, Obama needs to form a majority from three main groups: committed leftists, rent seekers, and people who don’t pay close attention to public affairs. He’s got the first group and much of the second. The third group is probably decisive. A lot can happen to turn them against Obama in 18 months, in particular a continued weak economy. It is thus too early to declare Obama the favorite. His own behavior reveals that he takes the Republican threat seriously, since he is already campaigning hard (including by raising large amounts of money and moderating his stated policies). I agree with Limbaugh that he is easily beatable by the right candidate. He might even be beatable by a mediocre candidate if he continues to respond poorly to events.
June 14th, 2011 at 11:14 am
Obama is beatable, but certainly not easily beatable.
A 10% edge today is meaningful. It is a realistic assessment. It is not hopeless for the GOP, but it is a steep hill.
June 14th, 2011 at 12:35 pm
The 18 months are long enough for the middle east to blow up and I think that is a real possibility. Michael Totten’s piece today is very important. Lee Smith believes that Obama blew up forty years of US foreign policy.
MJT: How will this affect the US?
Lee Smith: There is little that the Obama administration, or anyone, can do at this point. Washington was effectively out of the picture the minute Obama called for Mubarak to step down. People say there was nothing Obama could’ve done to save Mubarak, so he just accepted reality. But Obama didn’t accept reality when he went to Cairo to make a speech in June 2009, did he? The reality is that American diplomacy, policy and strategy is ordered in terms of states, not amorphous blocs of people according to how they define their religious beliefs. But Obama spoke about the “Muslim world” and effectively undermined an American ally in his own capital: Mubarak was a bystander in Cairo that June morning and not the leader of an influential Arab state allied with Washington, because in Obama’s reckoning there were no states as such, only the Muslim world
And so it goes.
June 14th, 2011 at 5:33 pm
OT but the Wisconsin Supreme Court just bit*h slapped Judge Sumi and completely vindicated Walker and the Republican budget law.
June 14th, 2011 at 7:16 pm
Yes I saw that!
June 15th, 2011 at 6:26 am
Michelle Bachmann did very well. Hermann Cain not so much. I DVR’d the entire thing. Send me an E-mail if you want me to mail you a copy. –John