FLORIDA STRAW POLL POSTGAME: I am now a Herman Cain fan.

Uh, no. Cain is in the race because he's able to voice ideas and try to get himself elected president. And more minor candidates -- which Cain is, since he's not Mitt Romney or Rick Perry -- can throw ideas out and see if they stick, almost as the trial-balloon candidates. If they don't stick but their ideas gain traction, they become adopted by the major candidates.

He's beloved by Rush Limbaugh and a lot of movement conservatives, and largely because of that, I've always thought of him as a pretty serious candidate (maybe it's because I just don't see Romney as the best the GOP can toss out, but more a younger, more articulate John McCain).

Cain is loved by a lot of the more fiscal conservative/Tea Party types because of his policies. This idea that Republicans are a bunch of closet racists is not really accurate. In fact, after the 2008 election, the chatter amongst movement conservatives was that they were not surprised that we had an African-American president, but they had expected the first one to be a Republican. J.C. Watts would've been heartily supported by a lot of the base had he decided not to leave politics. On the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas is beloved by movement and Tea Party conservatives.

9-9-9 is pretty popular (I love it -- although I prefer a straight FairTax and the elimination of all income taxes) and the guy's business experience plays well with a lot of folks -- much like Ross Perot did.

I know the Alinsky playbook says to find a target, isolate it, repeat it and divert attention to any mantra that's made up so people will fix that image in one's mind, but the idea of the GOP being a racist party and conservatism being a racist movement is ludicrous. It is not 1925. Conservatism is a movement of ideas, and we judge people largely on their ideas. The color of one's skin is completely irrelevant to the conversation.

 

Grover got out of his cage again.

 

Nein. Nein. Nein.

 

I cannot believe how quickly Bachmann fell off the face of the earth in this race. On "Morning Joe" today, they were showing the latest CNN poll, and she's down to 6 percent among GOP primary voters. What triggered such a precipitous fall? Just one gaffe after another? Seems like the HPV comment was the final straw, as people realized they couldn't trust anything that comes out of her mouth any more. But the support had to have began its decline well before that.

 

Bachmann lost the second Perry entered the race.

Perry was a much more desirable not-Mitt.

 

And with the same base as Bachmann.

Strictly for entertainment value, I wish she would have stayed relevant longer. People need to know what a disingenuous whack job she really is.

 

Politics is Chicago style arm breaking, back door deals and bribes.

 

Paul's brand of "common sense" makes no actual sense in the real world.

 

Our society would basically collapse under Ron Paul's idiotic philosophy. But at least he's consistent.

 

OK, I might have to join the draft Christie movement for this alone:

http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/26/news/economy/jersey_shore_tax_credit/index.htm?hpt=hp_c2

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie cut $420,000 in tax credits Monday that would have gone to 495 Productions, the company responsible for bringing the escapades of "Pauly D" and "The Situation" to the masses via MTV.

Christie has two concerns: He doesn't care for the tax credit program, and he really doesn't like how Jersey Shore depicts the state.

And that means no more "Snooki subsidy."

"I am duty-bound to ensure that taxpayers are not footing a $420,000 bill for a project which does nothing more than perpetuate misconceptions about the state and its citizens," Christie said in a statement.

 

Too much Koch money . . . 'WAY too much Koch money.

 

Agreed. I don't mind him being in the field because he'll cause some of the candidates to be uncomfortable. But the last thing anyone should want is for his ideas to actually be implemented.