Tag: Campaign 2012

The (Tea) Party’s Over: Top Republicans Shunning Florida Tea Party

Trish
ScottTeaSign
So last year.

When you think of the Florida tea party, the names Gov. Rick Scott and Sen. Marco Rubio come to mind but neither man came to their state’s tea party convention this weekend.* A new trend of ignoring the once ascendant Koch-funded effort seems to be under way.

It’s hard not to think there’s a connection between the decline in the popularity of the tea party and the generally more favorable ratings for the Occupy movement. Nowhere was the so-last-year quality of support for tea partiers more evident than at their own Florida convention.

Of the major presidential candidates, only Rick Santorum confirmed to the Tampa Tribune this week that he’s attending. Ron Paul’s campaign couldn’t be reached for comment; the event isn’t on his campaign web site schedule, although event organizers said he’ll be there. Spokesmen for Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney all said they won’t make it…

“It’s like they’re throwing a party and the guests of honor aren’t going to show up,” said retired University of South Florida political scientist Darryl Paulson, a Republican.

[…]

Matt Taibbi on Rick Perry’s Peculiar Anti-Government Crony Corporate Socialism

Jon Ponder
Anti-government billionaire Harold Simmons who has made millions under Gov. Perry's crony socialism in Texas -- and the nuke dump he has built in West Texas
Anti-government billionaire Harold Simmons who has made millions under Gov. Perry's crony corporate socialism in Texas -- and the nuke dump he has built in West Texas

If you haven’t read Matt Taibbi’s take down of Rick Perry in Rolling Stone, “The Best Little Whore in Texas,” do it now.

“His hand was so cold, like ice. And he was sweating. He didn’t seem well, like he was in pain or he was sick or something. I don’t know what it was, but something was definitely wrong.”

For one thing, there’s this bit about how Perry, who is supposedly a genius at retail politics, actually comes across in person:

Liliana Ros, a [Republican] party committeewoman in Florida, shook Perry’s hand during a commercial break at the Orlando debate and promptly finked on him to reporters, offering a pervy description that was missing only the open raincoat and the raging boner. “He grabbed my hand and held on to it,” Ros said. “His hand was so cold, like ice. And he was sweating. He didn’t seem well, like he was in pain or he was sick or something. I don’t know what it was, but something was definitely wrong.”

But mainly, there’s this on Perry’s peculiar brand of anti-government corporate crony socialism:

[…]

Perry’s Texas, Hunstman’s Family Company Taking Taxpayer Millions

Trish

hypocriteIf there’s anything Republicans enjoy, it’s deriding the Affordable Health Care Act, or as they sneer, “Obamacare.” So who do you think was first in line to scarf AHCA funds that help early retirees?

That would be Gov. Rick Perry’s own Texans, followed by employees of Huntsman International, owned by the family of Jon Huntsman. Both men, of course, are running for president against Obama.

If you’ve ever wondered how wealth travels upward from the 99% to the top, here’s a vivid illustration.

“Some people have described this program as ‘Cash for Clunkers,’ in the sense that if you want it, you have to get in line first,” said Paul Fronstin, an economist with [nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute]. “There was a lot of advice given to be first in line.”

…Texas, it seems, heeded the advice. So did Huntsman International.

[…]

Jeb Bush: Who Republicans Evoke When They Can’t Beat Democrats

Trish

With the people in the field right now, I think it will be difficult to beat Bill Nelson. I still think Jeb Bush might don the cape and get in.

Florida State Senate Pres. Mike Haridopolos (R-Merritt Island), discussing the U.S. Senate race for the seat currently held by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.). Haridopolos dropped out of the contest this year, leaving challengers that Vice Pres. Joe Biden referred to at the recent Florida Democratic Convention as, “the seven dwarfs.”

A Toast to Running on Empty

Trish

I’ll be blunt with all you Perry supporters, it’s time to butter your guy because he’s toast…Not only is Rick Perry utterly incapable of running for president, he can’t run his state, and in fact can’t meet the basic requirement for any politician — he can’t even run his mouth.

— James Carville, Democratic strategist and husband to rightwing pundit Mary Matalin