ROAD TO HELL: THE VIDEO COMPANION
Beautiful
I was legitimately terrified that I was going to be in this video.
President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob. There are good, decent men and women who go out and work hard everyday and put their skills to test that aren’t taught by some liberal college professor that [tries] to indoctrinate them.
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Republican presidential candidate RICK SANTORUM, on Sunday’s Meet The Press. No seriously. This guy is a fucking dick. The thing is, Santorum actually believes this. But in his defense, I can understand his self interest in ensuring fewer people go to college and become educated; he does have a voter base he needs to cultivate, after all. (via wilwheaton) Rick “We don’t need no education” Santorum (via liquidzoot) |
I can’t help but wonder if the party moderates are just letting this parade of mental patients and unelectable criminals simply happen, so that they can detoxify the party after the inevitable firestorm of failure.
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Warren Ellis on the 2012 GOP Primary http://motherboard.vice.com/2012/1/27/deathmatch-on-mars-an-interview-with-warren-ellis-on-newt-gingrich-space-realism-and-future-america (via xsweetjpx) |
Forecasting model with perfect record predicts Obama reelection
In 1981, a professor at American University developed a forecasting model for presidential elections. Based on thirteen different metrics, or “keys,” the model has never been wrong. In 1992, it spotted George H.W. Bush’s vulnerability when everybody assumed he was invincible; that prediction was instrumental in convincing Bill Clinton to enter the race. Which is to say, were it not for Allan Lichtman and his “Thirteen Keys,” we may have never had a President Clinton. Now, Lichtman has applied his model to 2012. Here’s how Obama stacks up:
- Reelection Working in the president’s favor are his significant domestic policy accomplishments, a lack of scandals, a weak Republican field, generally successful foreign policy, no significant third party candidates, no primary challenger and a lack of sustained social unrest.
- Defeat So why might Obama have reason to worry? Well, the long-term economy, a lack of personal charisma, the results of the last House election and, if it comes to fruition, an upcoming recession could all spell trouble for his reelection campaign.
» Conclusion: “Even if I am being conservative, I don’t see how Obama can lose,” Lichtman says. The President wins 9 out of the 13 keys, two more than needed. Now, there’s lots of room for debate here—for example, is it really true that Obama lacks personal charisma? Lichtman’s rationale here is that the president has “lost his ability to connect since the 2008 election,” but that’s debatable. And do we know for certain that Rick Perry won’t prove to be a dazzling candidate, charming voters across the nation? Furthermore, a lot can happen between now and 2012: a surprise rebound of the economy, an unforeseen international crisis, or some other black swan event. But as it stands, this metric is some of the best reelection news Obama’s had in months. (Photo: Reuters/Jim Young). source
I should be happy about this and in some ways I am. I don’t want a conservatism devoted to soothing the culture war base with government aid and support. But a reasonable small government conservative? Someone who does not actually despise government? Someone who can see the fruits of compromise for the body politic as a whole? Tumbleweeds, no? Even Huntsman joined the hands up moment - perhaps the most important single moment in recent GOP politics - when all the candidates declared they would walk away from a debt deal that was 10 - 1 spending cuts to revenue increases. That was when they told us they were an ideological and religious movement, not a party fit for actual government.
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| — | Andrew Sullivan, on Tim Pawlenty’s drop and the modern GOP. (via pantslessprogressive) |
