What does the Iowa Straw Poll really mean as an indicator of who might actually be the chosen Candidate to bring about the "end of an error?" I really don't know, but it proves that the extremist barn dance is still the thing in Iowa. I'm referring of course to the the fact that, although the lineup (or the menagerie if you prefer) included all sorts of wild things, the Minnesota Gobbler herself came in first. Here's the list as published in the Huffington Post:
U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.): 4,823 votes
U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas): 4,671 votes
Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty: 2,293 votes
Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.): 1,657 votes
Former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain: 1,456 votes
Texas Governor Rick Perry: 718 votes
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney: 567 votes
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich: 385 votes
Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman: 69 votes
U.S. Rep Thad McCotter (R-Mich.): 35 votes
Neither Romney, Gingrich or Huntsman campaigned actively and Rick Perry had announced his candidacy only shortly after the barnyard gates were closed. All of them were thus at a disadvantage, but you'll notice that Ron Paul was only a half step and a do-si-do behind Bachmann. Perhaps Iowan Tea Tipplers think her 'holy roller two-step' dance gives her that ol' show-time religion shamanship the straight-talking Dr. Paul lacks.
Who knows? But it seems Rick Pawlenty is adding 'former candidate' to ' former governor' on his resume. He announced on ABC's This Week with Christiane Amanpour this morning that he was scraping the muck off his boots and going home.
Once again, I have no idea what all this means and who will be the great Republican Hope come next year. I do suspect that if he or she wins, the much wished for end of an error will be the beginning of a disaster.
Every one of those votes for Rick Perry were write-ins, too.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, I remember a time when Ron Paul was considered a kook. Now, he's looking like the sane one beside Bachmann.
(Hope you don't mind me hopping on board as your "sequel," btw - we both had the same idea for titles.)
No, not at all. Let a hundred flowers bloom, and all that. And a turkey she is. I read a statement from the Bachster today saying she doesn't judge gays and another saying we should re-instate DADT.
ReplyDeleteHer obsession with other people's sex lives by the way, is the reason I'm not buying the idea that asking her about her views on wifely submission was inappropriate. This is a candidate that very very much wants government intrusion into the most private parts of our lives. That makes her a liar and probably a pervert.
In his latest PAC ad, Stephen Colbert coined the phrase "Cornography" to characterize the Iowa Straw Poll. I admit, the term does capture a certain air of indecency about the contestants, but why is our media according this cornucopia of corn so much attention?
ReplyDeleteThese cornhusker voters are living relics. They embody a frontier mentality that should have passed into history long ago along with medicine shows and snake oil salesmen. These country bumpkins are a reason why we keep moving backwards instead of forward. Meanwhile, our MSM accords them a legitimacy two centuries out of date. Iowa Republicans are the undead.
Ah, the undead. Refresh my memory: does one use a wooden stake, a silver bullet or what?
ReplyDeleteAs you know, I'm an advocate for frontier mentality in many ways. I think we've lost a great deal in our plastic, safety padded, no risk and Disnefied environment and I lament that nobody seems to know how anything works or how to fix it when it doesn't - whether it's a government or a hog tight fence.
I don't think a real frontiersman like Meriweather lewis or even Sam Clemens would subscribe to this corn-dog idiocy any more than these suede shoe backwoodsmen could light a fire in the rain without matches or paddle a canoe in white water. These rhinestone cowboys are phonies: rich, nouveau-riche arrivalists greedy for more power, more money.
They preach self-reliance not as a virtue, but as an argument against obligation, responsibility, duty, moral strength and a host of other real virtues and they're happy to feed from the public trough while shooing away the hungry.
Captain,
ReplyDeleteIf memory serves, the Lone Ranger loaded his gun with silver bullets, and he was supposed to represent TRUTH, JUSTICE, AND THE AMERICAN WAY! By default, I think we are talking about wooden stakes here.
I think it was Superman of TJ & the AMWAY, but I like wooden stakes. You can pin them Fang Bangers to a board like big, ugly moths. If that ain't justice, it's still good theater.
ReplyDeletePass the spruce to me, Bruce!