Day: August 15, 2007

Carville: The Precipitous Drop in GOP Young Voters Is Rove’s Fault

Jon Ponder

Writing in Financial Times today, James Carville says that while Karl Rove’s strategy of coddling the GOP’s Christian nationalist base paid off for George Bush, it has alienated young voters, a factor that could cripple the Republican Party in the long term:

Pew Poll: 50 per cent of Americans identify as Democrats while only 35 per cent say they are Republican.

A late July poll for Democracy Corps, a non-profit polling company, shows that a generic Democratic presidential candidate now wins voters under 30 years old by 32 percentage points.The Republican lead among younger white non-college-educated men, who supported President George W. Bush by a margin of 19 percentage points three years ago, has shrunk to 2 percentage points. Ideological divisions between the Republican party and young voters are growing. Young voters generally favour larger government providing more services, 68 per cent to 28 per cent. On every issue, from the budget to national security, young voters responded overwhelmingly that Democrats would do a better job in government.

It is not just Democracy Corps that has found this. A host of new polls and surveys over the course of the past few months has served as a harbinger of a rocky 2008 election for Republicans.

The March poll from the Pew Research Center showed that 50 per cent of Americans identify as Democrats while only 35 per cent say they are Republican. The June NBC-Wall Street Journal poll showed 52 per cent of Americans would prefer a Democratic president while only 31 per cent would support a Republican, the largest gap in the 20-year history of the survey.

Powell Backing McCain

Trish

No one ever accused Gen. Colin Powell, head of the joint chiefs under Bush 41 and secretary of state under Bush 43, of picking the right horse. So why start now? Houston Chronicle:

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has time for any presidential candidate who wants to chat about foreign policy. He has money, though, only for John McCain.

Powell has shared his expertise in meetings with Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Rudy Giuliani, his spokeswoman, Peggy Cifrino, said Tuesday. But when it comes to sharing his money, Powell chose McCain, the Republican senator from Arizona. Powell’s $2,300 contribution last week gave a bit of needed cachet to McCain’s struggling campaign.

McCain and Powell share several bonds, not the least of which is they both actually fought on the front lines for their country, making them anomalies among the chickenhawks of their party. They also have both been willing, far too often, to serve as apologists for the Iraq invasion and occupation.

Republican Florida Lawmaker Bob “Blow Job” Allen Being Squeezed Out by GOP

Trish

For Florida State Rep. Bob Allen (R-Merritt Island), denial is not just a river in Egypt. Allen is out on bail on charges that he offered a male undercover officer $20 for oral sex. He has spent this time offering explanations for his behavior as varied as “just checking the bathroom three times because I helped secure funding for the park” to “I was afraid of the guy because he’s black and everyone knows black people are dangerous.”

Well, poor Bob has come up with another totally ridiculous explanation, this one for why he is being stripped of all his committee assignments in the upcoming legislative session.

…because [House Speaker Marco] Rubio wants to give younger lawmakers the chance at leadership positions.

Allen…said he was told that House leaders “wouldn’t do anything to hurt my defense.” “I know the Speaker has talked about giving other younger legislators a chance,” Allen said. “It’s tough to gain experience in the eight years before term limits, and some senior members might serve in another position.”

Riiiight. But others in the Republican wing of the Florida State House wish Allen would not only show up missing from committees, but go away altogether.

Meanwhile, [GOP Chairman Jim] Greer told reporters Tuesday that Allen should consider the best interests of the GOP, as well as his family and constituents, in deciding whether to resign.

“I’m not going to say what’s in the best interest of the party or ask him to step down or resign,” Greer said. “I’m just asking him, as of today, to consider the best interest of the party.”

So far Allen hasn’t considered the best interests of anyone but himself in obtaining homosexual sex, so why would the GOP expect him to consider the best interests of his party? Not only is Allen not leaving quietly, he’s attempting to call in a few political IOUs. After all, one thing all Republicans have on another in abundance is dirt.

When told of Greer’s comments, Allen said he stood by Greer during the “innuendos and nasty politics” hurled during Greer’s campaign for the party chairmanship. “I know Jim appreciated that and I hope he hasn’t lost that memory,” Allen said…

“I intend to show up at the session as a man who is free of this charge and all of this ridiculous politics and be able to get back to what they want me doing during the session,” Allen said. “I don’t think I’ll be bogged down with this during the session.”

We presume that none of those Nile River crocodiles will be shedding any of their famous tears if it doesn’t work out quite that way.

‘Brain’-Less White House Falls for Clinton Trap, Over-Reacts to Ad, Gives Her Campaign Millions in Free Media Exposure

Jon Ponder

Hillary Clinton lambasted Pres. George W. Bush in her first Iowa campaign ad, saying he didn’t care about working class Americans or even returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. The White House walked right into the trap, calling it “outrageous,” “absurd” and “unconscionable” — and thus giving the story legs in the corporate media, which has led to hundreds of free airings of the spot and its exposure to millions of voters outside its paid run in Iowa.

Americans from all walks of life across our country may be invisible to this President, but they’re not invisible to me and they won’t be invisible to the next President of the United States

It also gave Clinton an opening to keep the story alive into another news cycle:

“Apparently I’ve struck a nerve,” Clinton said in response to the White House attack. “I will keep saying it because I believe it.”

At TPM Cafe, M.J. Rosenberg recalls a similar cicrumstance from 40 years ago in which the Lyndon Johnson White House similarly helped boost the campaign of Richard Nixon — whose career appeared to be over after he lost a bid for California governor on the heels of losing the presidency to Kennedy in 1960:

[The] unpopular president from Texas, LBJ, did Nixon a favor. After Nixon criticized Johnson’s war strategy, Johnson, during a televised press conference, lost it.

He blasted Nixon, calling him a “chronic campaigner, whose only concern was picking up a few votes.

The Nixon camp could not believe their luck. They had succeeded in getting under LBJ’s skin. By responding to Nixon’s attack as he did, LBJ elevated Nixon to the Presidential level, right where Nixon needed to be. He was, of course, elected in 1968.

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