Look who's back

Clarence Thomas would sit there with a confused look on his face, answer no questions, ask no questions and then have a clerk write an assenting opinion on your conversation.

 

The cynic in me thinks the hardline GOP base that despises Palin wants her to run and eventually force the Tea Party to split and form its own far-right wingnut party.

Doing this would then give the GOP the chance to keep its own base intact and possibly appeal to more conservative Dems who are turned off by the Shiite wing of the current GOP occupied by Palin's crowd and may not particularly care for the far left of their own party.

 

I know he doesn't ask questions from the bench. But he certainly has a very consistent Constitutional theory. Basically, he thinks precedent is worthless. Scalia won't even go that far. I'd be curious to know how Thomas thinks his decisions would play out in the real world.

 

I just can't help but wonder what impact things would have on next year's election if gas prices are pushing $5 a gallon or higher and the economy stays crappy or God forbid, gets worse.

As it stands now, Obama will win. I'm not willing to say he'll win in a rout, but I think he'll win. If things are still really bad next year, I still think he'll win, but it will be closer than people think. That's why I don't want Palin on the other side. I don't want a situation where if things get worse and there's a big anti-Obama backlash that the only other option is Palin.

If it's Pawlenty or Romney, then I'm fine with that.

Since I don't really expect that to happen, I'm ready to focus on 2016 unless there's a late entry to this election.

 

Sounds great on paper, but no way in hell it happens. The Tea Party's strength, if you will, with its base is never compromising. Bachmann can kiss her Tea Party ass goodbye if she runs as a second banana with a guy who used to work for Obama. And Huntsman's presumed status as an intellectual is counterbalanced by having a screaming yahoo one heartbeat away from the presidency. It's the worst of both worlds, really.

 

That's an interesting theory. I know I'd take a long look at a GOP that didn't have the Tea Party influence.

 

That makes way too much sense to work.

 

Michele the Money Bomb!

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, who said Thursday she is planning a presidential campaign announcement in Iowa next month, raised more than $250,000 over the past two days in an online fundraising "money bomb."

I find this very interesting. The base is there for her. She connects with them:

Of the $1.7 million she raised in the first three months of the year for her congressional committee, $1.2 million came from small-dollar donations. Nearly 80 percent of her itemized contributions came from outside Minnesota.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/122700024.html

 

Didn't Mittens get $10 mil in a day?

 

Nice to see you read the link.

You are missing the point.

 

There are a number of GOP candidates that could defeat Obama in 2012. Palin and Bachman are not among them. There comes a point when a candidate should realize he/she is hurting their side...Bachman and Palin will realize this eventually. I just hope it happens sooner, rather than later, so we can see a legit candidate. Obama cannot run on a pipe dream of hope and change anymore...he has an actual record he will be forced to defend. And this will be his undoing.

Of course, the "Love Obama regardless of what he does or what mistakes he has made" crowd will vote for him anyway, but they will be cancelled out by the "I will not vote for a black man" crowd. Unless Herman Cain somehow ends up with the nomination...then all bets are off.

 

Not necessarily. Many parts of the ACA are quite popular. The hanging question we've discussed here - whether the mandate penalties are large enough to have an impact - will not be answered until after 2014. He was redeemed on foreign policy with the Bin Laden killing (obviously that will be a distant memory by Election Day).

It will come down to the state of the economy a year from now. It really will.