Verbatim

Women sometimes need a little more handholding, or they need their friends to help them make a decision. And by our going in and talking to them and recruiting and educating and training them to either get involved in a campaign or become acandidate, we’re giving them the tools so that they can do that on their own.

— RNC Co-Chair Jan Larimer, quoted by The Hotline, on the Republican party’s strategy to recruit more female candidates — and demonstrating that RNC Chair Michael Steele is not the only quotable bonehead at the head of the Republican Party.

100 Percent of Republicans are Always Wrong

Not really, but still mostly, according to a new poll by Daily Kos/Research 2000 that asked some pretty pointed questions of a couple thousand Republicans.

For instance, when queried about who they would vote for in a presidential primary held today, 16 percent said Sarah Palin, 11 percent went for Mitt Romney, an alarming 10 percent said Dick Cheney and Newt Gingrich brought a distant fourth at 7 percent.

To the question of whether Barack Obama should be impeached (no reason given) 39 percent were in favor, 32 percent were against, and almost as many — 29 percent were not sure.

Demonstrating that there is still a birther current streaming around in the Repugs’ Big Tent, with 36 percent saying Obama wasn’t born here, 42 percent saying he was and 22 percent having no clue.

By 63 to 21 percent, Republicans think Obama is a socialist. When asked whether they think Obama wants the terrorists to win, 24 percent said yes, 43 percent said no and a disquieting 33 percent said they didn’t know.

Asked whether ACORN stole the 2008 election, 21 percent said yes, 24 percent said no and more than half were not sure. But 53 percent believe Sarah Palin is more qualified to be president than Obama, and only 33 percent are not sure.

Fortunately, 58 percent said they didn’t think their state should secede from the union, but that leaves 42 percent who either favor secession or are not sure.

Homophobia still reigns supreme in Mr. Lincoln’s party, with 55 percent saying openly gay people should not be allowed to serve in the military, 77 percent coming out against gay marriage, 68 percent saying gays should not have any state or federal benefits (no Social Security or Medicaid for you, queers!), and 73 percent avowing that openly gay people should not be allowed to be teachers.

The rest of the poll is pretty predictable on abortion rights, the death penalty, creationism and whether the only way to get to heaven is through Jesus Christ (it is).

On whether the Republican Party can be rightly described as the “Party of No,” my research (I counted which questions had a plurality of yes or no votes, regardless of the question posed) and found that indeed they do deserve that moniker with 13 no votes to eight yes votes.

Verbatim

Always the thought of my wife standing over me having unloaded a 15-round clip into me and asking, ‘Does somebody have more ammo?’

— Mike Huckabee, in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, on what goes through his mind when women try to get his attention.

Verbatim

Oh, you betcha I’m going to be there. I’m going to speak there because there are people traveling from many miles away to hear what that tea party movement is all about and what that message is that should be received by our politicians in Washington. I’m honored to get to be there.

— Sarah Palin, giving a preview of the kind of convoluted syntax we can expect from her address to the upcoming Tea Bag Party convention.

Verbatim

When you feel all this power, and this much fun, and the Internet in your hands, you’ll never want to go back. …. If there’s going to be a third category of device, it’s going to have to be better at these kinds of tasks than a laptop or a smartphone. Otherwise it has no reason for being.

— Apple CEO Steve Jobs, touting the newly released iPad device, which he implies has a reason for being — to make money for Steve Jobs.

Haitian Americans Approve of U.S. Response

A New America Media/Bendixen & Amandi poll surveyed Haitians living in South Florida and across the country, and found that 63 percent disapprove of how Haitian President René Préval’s government has responded to the earthquake. However, approval of the U.S. government’s response was at 96 percent — slightly higher than approval of the U.N. response, 88 percent.

Indeed, a majority of Haitian Americans would support the United Nations and the international community taking over Haiti’s day-to-day operations until the country recovers from the catastrophe.

Three-fifths of respondents said at least some of their loved ones died as a result of the Jan. 12 earthquake. Two-thirds of Haitian Americans polled said they would be willing to move back to Haiti temporarily to assist in the reconstruction.

More than 90 percent of Haitian Americans say they are monitoring events regularly, often through English-language cable news. Seventy-eight percent have sent a financial contribution to help earthquake victims, and nearly two-thirds said they are willing to adopt or provide foster care for a child orphaned by the disaster.

Verbatim

Ever since I started covering politics, the Democratic ruling class has been driven by one fantasy: that voters will get so furious at people with M.B.A.’s that they will hand power to people with Ph.D.’s. The Republican ruling class has been driven by the fantasy that voters will get so furious at people with Ph.D.’s that they will hand power to people with M.B.A.’s. Members of the ruling class love populism because they think it will help their section of the elite gain power.

— Columnist David Brooks, writing in the New York Times, on the perceived political power of populism.