"Highly placed aides" to Chris Christie say he is considering White House run

By Pablo Fanque, Election 2012 Editor
illustration by Jack Brummet

After saying over and over and over that he would not make a run for the White House, sources close to Jersey Gov. Chris Christie say he is reconsidering his decision to stay out of the 2012 contest.

Staffers say that he is expected to decide soon. He has no choice; if he is running, he needs to start organizing the field for upcoming primaries and caucuses. There are filing deadlines coming up soon in the early primary states.

You may remember he has denied wanting to run all along. Just a year ago he said that "short of suicide" he wasn't sure what he could say to convince people that he's not running. With half the Republican party begging him to run, it has to be very hard to walk away from what is surely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

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Sarah Palin: Quote of the Day

By Mona Goldwater, Tea Party Editor

Quote of the day:


"I knew that we'd be buddies when I met her when she said, 'Drill here, drill now.' And then I replied, 'Drill, baby, drill' and then we both said, 'You betcha!'"

- Sarah Palin, quoted by theWall Street Journal, recalling a previous meeting with Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN).

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Teabagging For Jesus

thanks to jeff clinton...

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If Only...No. 2: The Wallop

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Rick Perry For President: Business über alles!

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Bumper sticker: Keeping millions out of work to put one man out of a job

Thanks to Jeff Clinton...

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"Who likes white people?" - Michele Bachmann preaches to the converted; the white pride site Stormfront approves

By Jack Brummet, Tea Party Editor

It is hard to see how a speech like this (if this is what she actually said) won't immediately end Representative Michele Bachmann's twisted campaign to become President of the United States.  Not the religion; after all, every President I remember has come out in public and said with varying degrees of vehemence (and truthfulness) that not only do they believe in God, but believe Jesus Christ is their saviour. 

Interestingly enough, this video is on various blogs and websites right now, most notably on the the Stormfront.org site, the white pride/Nazi website. 

"Who likes white people?  I'm Michele Bachmann and I'm a member of Congress and I'm running for the Presidency of the United States.  I'm here to talk tonight about the Creator of the universe our lord and savior Jesus Christ.  I was born here in Iowa, I was born in Waterloo and Cedar Falls we were a church going family in Waterloo and Cedar Falls and I'm so grateful for my parents and my grandparents going back to seven generations of Iowans who were all people of faith.  I didn't have a relationship with Jesus Chris, they were right, until I was going to a prayer meeting before school at our high school."

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Rick Perry's Report Card from Texas A & M (not so good)

By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Editor with research by Jack Brummet, Editor in Chief

Governor, and Presidential hopeful, Rick Perry did not exactly reach for the stars during his college years at Texas A & M University.  Later in his career there, he did become a student leader.  But he could only do that after he emerged from academic probation.  If you check out the transcript below, you will note that he almost never earned a grade higher than a C in his courses -- a C in U.S. History, D in Shakespeare, and a D in economics. One semester, he even got a C in P.E. 

click transcript to enlarge

The Governor also got shelled in classes in his animal science major.  In fall 1970, he received a D in veterinary anatomy, and flunked a second course on organic chemistry, and took a C in animal breeding. He did receive an A in world military systems and a class called the“Improv. of Learning," which were his only two A's in college. 

"A&M wasn't exactly Harvard on the Brazos River," recalled a Perry classmate in an interview with The Huffington Post. "This was not the brightest guy around. We always kind of laughed. He was always kind of a joke."

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Sarah Palin and Donald Trump Love Fest At Pizza Joint/Trump doesn't close the door on running himself

By Pablo Fanque
National Affairs Editor

Gawkers snap photos outside the now legendary political summit

between two strategic masterminds

Ex-Governor Palin and Apprentice-master Trump met for lunch yesterday at a midtown pizza chain.  The New York Daily News probably had the best quote on the tête à tête  These two have to be making the Republicans crazy.  All we can say is: Keep it up Donald and Sarah!

 

"We do like each other and I will tell you more than anything else, she loves this country," Trump told Fox News.

He also told them, apropos running for President, "If I'm not happy with what I see, I could very easily change my mind. ... I'm not happy with what I see," Trump said. "In 11 months, I'm totally free to do whatever I want to do."

ABC News quoted Trump on the Ex-Governor, "I’ll tell you she's a great woman, a terrific woman, and a great friend," and finally, he said, "I'd love her to run."

Palin praised Trump's "independence" and "willingness to speak his mind."  She told reporters the two are "on the same page" when it comes to GOP candidates and issues.

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Dennis Kucinich, about to be gerrymandered out of a job, considers carpetbagging to Washington State

By Pablo Fanque, Congressional Affairs Correspondent

Dennis Kucinich, about to be gerrymandered out of a job, is considering  carpetbagging in Washington State.  Representative Kucinich's 10th District seat in Ohio may well be eliminated next year as Ohio loses two seats in the House due to population declines.  Washington State will add a congressional seat next year.

In the fine carpetbagging tradition of Bobby Kennedy and Hillary Clinton, Kucinich is pondering relocating (at least legally, if not physically) to Western Washington.  Jay Inslee's seat may be vacant if he decides to run for governor.  Maybe Jim McDermott will throw in the towel.  He is always returned to Washington by huge majorities. . .even if he is a back-bencher, because our district is unrepentantly Democratic.

The Seattle Times pointed out an interesting Washington-Kucinich connection.  The Congressman says he saw a UFO south of Seattle, when he was staying at Shirley McLaine's house.

Kucinich's press secretary, Nathan White, claims that Kucinich has been urged by people in 20 states to move to their district and run for office.  Right.  White went on to say "As he has repeatedly said, he fully intends to remain in Congress; he just doesn't know in what district he will run."

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America, you've been Trumped -- Donald Trump surges ahead in the polls

By Pablo Fanque
ATIT National Affairs Correspondent

We now know that Donald Trump has the same sort appeal to the knuckleheads as Sarah Palin once did, and as, say, Ross Perot did when he was running strong.

In a stunning poll released yesterday by the Wall Street Journal/NBC polling organization, Ex-Governor Mitt Romney was running in first place, but real estate "tycoon" Donald Trump surged into a surprise tie with Ex-Governor Mike Huckabee for second place.

In the poll of likely Republican primary voters, Romney snagged 21% of the vote in the field of nine candidates.  Trump was tied for second with Huckabee, with both drawing 17%.  Ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich polled 11% and just nosed out Ex-Governor Sarah Palin at 10%.  Ex-Governor Tim Pawlenty-- a favorite with the milktoast crowd-- that most pundits think will come on strong (even as he continues to languish in obscurity) pulled only 6%.  Congressperson Michele Bachmann of Minnesota had 5%, Ex-Senator Rick Santorum Drew 3%, and Mississippi Gov. Haley "KKK" Barbour drew an awesomely pathetic and wonderful 1%,

The pollsters say a big factor in Trump's numbers was his 96% recognition.  We also think it is because the public perceives him as a truth-teller (despite his execrable recent conversion to raising the flag for the "birther" "movement).  He's the guy who yells "You're fired!"  And the American public loves people who make money, especially when they've done it more or less honestly.  Nevermind that he started out with all his dad's money and property and has racked up one failed venture after another.  He has said publicly that he'd be willing--if he decided to make a run--to spent $600 million of his cash cache on the campaign. 

Then again, you have to consider his looks.  As we wrote here many years ago, no matter how charming Steve Forbes was (he wasn't), or how smart his flat tax proposal was (it was, sorta), he could never be a serious candidate for President if only because of his looks.  Alas, The Donald falls into that same category.  Not that there aren't at least fifty other reasons why Donald Trump should not be President. . .

Donald Trump is enjoying all this and is not seriously considering a run for the White House.  We also suspect his fame and this popularity bubble will be even more fleeting than, say, the ones Mike Huckabee or Howard Dean experienced.  In what's sure to be a turbulent political season, it will be, at the least, fun to watch.

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Ex-Governor Palin believes she can take down President Barack Obama in 2012

By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Editor

We probably need to take this all with a few grains of salt, since we do know Palin's new book has just been released, and she is on the talk-show circuit, hoping to score one more multi-million payday before it all goes up in smoke.  Sarah Palin just claimed to Barbara Walters that she believes she could whip BHO's ass in 2012.

"I'm looking at the lay of the land now, and ... trying to figure that out, if it's a good thing for the country, for the discourse, for my family, if it's a good thing," Palin said in an interview scheduled to air in full Dec. 9 on ABC as part of Walters' "10 Most Fascinating People" of 2010.

Barbara Walters asked: "If you ran for president, could you beat Barack Obama?"

"I believe so," Palin said.

Ex-Governor Palin: "This Is Our Morning In America...and it may take some renegades going rogue to get us there!"

By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Editor

From Sarah Palin's Facebook page:  "Congratulations, America! And thank you, voters!"

The ex-Governor sends her thanks to The Voters.  If the leaks are kosher, and what I've been hearing is true, the process of the GOP distancing themselves from her begins.  Right. Now.  

They Republicans, besides repealing the health care bill, axing spending (aside from the military), and lowering taxes, now have 2012 to focus on.  The race for POTUS really does begin this January.  Now, the big question is whether or not Sarah's fervent supporters can be so easily shunted aside. . .I'm hoping not.  Keep them in the mix, GOP!

Ms. Palin, in her Facebook post, also included a link to this inspirational YouTube video her staff put together:


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Sarah Palin for President

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Clown Wars: Pablo Fanque reports on the factionalism, disarray, depression, hopelessness, and continuing losing prospects of The Republican Party

Click the Governor to enlarge

By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Editor

[Pablo Fanque's work appears in numerous journals, blogs, books, and at times, on the sides of buses and even scrawled in bathroom stalls and phone booths. After working as a community organizer for two years in southeast King County, near Seattle, he began his college education. After his expulsion from Harvard University in 1977, Fanque continued (and even completed) college while working in the publishing business, in San Francisco, New York City, and in the Pacific Northwest. Pablo's artistic output includes hundreds of paintings and drawings, including his monumental "Heads," consisting of 150 canvases, each with 16 or 96 portraits. He has completed, and is now revising his next book, "The King Begins To Falter." Fanque met Jack Brummet in 2004 at a rock show in Austin, Texas, and they have been friends, and collaborators, ever since.]

How can we analyze or understand the dissension, disarray, division, and decimation visited upon the Republican Party in the last year or two? When Pat Buchanan and Newt Gingrich emerge as the charming and likable voices of moderation and reason, you know the party has come off the rails. A simple enumeration of the [unelected] voices of the party tells the sad story:

Sean Hannity
Michael Steele (who surely will be shuffled out the door sooner rather than later)
Jon Voight
Rush "Oxy" Limbaugh
Liz Cheney

There are even a few elected Republican voices:

Sarah Palin
Haley Barbour (he's been visiting New Hampshire and Iowa already)
John Boehner
Tim Pawlenty
Mitch McConnell
Bobby Jindal (but let's face it, his pathetic performance in his state of the union rebuttal pushed him back into the wings)
John McCain

And then there are one-time elected Republicans, some of who hope to leap back into the fray, or even make the leap into The Oval Office:

Mitt Romney
Newt Gingrich
Dick Cheney
Mike Huckabee (who feels like the front runner, along with Gingrich, and Governor Palin).
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Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin appeared at a Republican congressional fundraiser Monday night, ending a long and drawn out will-she-or-won't-she mystery that, in the end, probably overshadowed the event and left the GOP even more frustrated and in greater disarray than before.

Palin -- the party's disastrous 2008 VP nominee--was originally scheduled to headline the annual Senate-House dinner. She was shunted aside in favor of former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. After that, Governor Palin left the organizers hanging in the wind...even as late as Monday afternoon. [This is not the first time Palin has thrown a public tantrum over not being allowed to speak. Remember Election Night? Palin expected to give a speech, but soon learned that no losing VP candidate gives a speech on election night, particularly when they violated the VP Hippocratic oath--Do No Harm.] Let's face it. . .the GOP slapped a muzzle on the pitbull with lipstick. Last week, when it started to look like a real event, Palin's advisers told the RNCC she would be near Washington and would like to come. Uh-oh.

Republican officials involved in the discussions (who spoke on condition of anonymity--natch, because of the sensitivity of the matter), said Palin was invited to sit at a head table but would not be given the chance to speak. The GOP was worried that she might swamp, or out-maverick, Newt Gingrich. Granted, Newt isn't exactly a dynamo on the rostrum, but if you're sweating Governor Palin overshadowing you at a Republican dinner, well, friendo, your Presidential dreams are ashes.

Palin didn't like this turn of affairs one bit, and did not make clear whether she would refuse to attend, officials say. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, made a personal appeal over the weekend for her to attend and invited her and her husband, Todd Palin, to sit at the big boys' table.

Late Monday afternoon, Palin's aides informed the organizers that she and her husband would attend, although a spokeswoman for the governor's political committee would not confirm that.

Palin has her eyes on the White House in 2012. In March, the National Republican Congressional Committee, put out a news release saying that Palin would be the keynote speaker at the dinner--one of the party's largest fundraisers. Palin's representatives then weaseled, saying the governor wanted to make sure the event did not interfere with state business. Right.

It can't have helped Palin's cause that she is being accused of plagiarizing Dick Cheney's speeches (or that she is embroiled in a very public pissing match with David Letterman.) I don't know about that one. I've just always kind of assumed, when there is any content in her speeches and edicts, it was lifted from elsewhere. She is accused of snagging a substantial portion of a speech from Newt Gingrich--the man she will eventually run against in the primaries.
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And the race is on: The 2012 Presidential campaign has begun. . .The first hat in the ring? Sarah Palin's.

By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Editor

All This Is That's coverage of the 2012 Presidential race begins now. The election campaign kicked off quietly today, when Governor Palin of Alaska launched her website and PAC. What does The Governor's political action committee intend to do? They are. . .



"Dedicated to building America's future, supporting fresh ideas and candidates who share our vision for reform and innovation. SarahPAC believes America's best days are ahead. Our country, founded on conservative principles and the fight for freedom, must confront the challenges of the 21st century with integrity, innovation, and determination.

"SarahPAC believes energy independence is a cornerstone of the economic security and progress that every American family wants and deserves.

"SarahPAC believes the Republican Party is at the threshold of an historic renaissance that will build a better future for all. Health care, education, and reform of government are among our key goals. Join us today!"

It is clear as an unmuddied stream...Sarah Palin is running for President. She will do it by swinging to the far right, or, really, shucking the patina of moderation the McCain Presidential campaign required of its would-be Veep.

Sarah Palin will remind us that she warned us about just what Obama would unleash once the fetters were off. She will use BHO's middle name frequently. She will call him a Marxist, pinko, commie dupe, and naive. If she studies hard over the next couple of years, and if Obama seriously fumbles the ball, she may just have a shot in the primaries.

It will be most interesting to see what her PAC cooks up, and who in the G.O.P. will be on her side. One old pro I don't think we'll see sign up is Senator John McCain. I would have to guess they spoke the last words they spoke to each other were through gritted teeth the night of the election, when McCain put the kibosh on the concession speech she thought she could strongarm him into letting her deliver.

We are on her mailing list and will bring you updates as her PAC swings into action and begins accumulating cash for her Oval Office bid.
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