Not that there’s anything wrong with it…
Cute new ad from the people at the No Labels Generation:
 |
|||
|
I grew up with a love of politics, and tended to worship political heroes over, say, sports or movie stars. My earliest political memory is of Jimmy Carter’s 1980 defeat to Ronald Reagan. I didn’t understand how such a good, decent and honest man could possibly lose, and wrote him a letter conveying my anguish. The President and Mrs. Carter responded with a nice letter and a booklet about his presidency. My first volunteer experience came with Adlai Stevenson III’s run for Governor in 1982. The Stevenson’s were from my hometown of Bloomington, IL—the same town where Abe Lincoln often practiced law just down the road from his hometown of Springfield. His father was so honest that he didn’t intervene when the local paper, which his family owned, actually endorsed Eisenhower when he challenged him for president. The 1982 Governor’s race was a nail biter, with Stevenson losing by the narrowest of margin My knight in shiny armor came in the likeness of a man who donned thick horned-rimmed glasses, big ears and a bowtie. Paul Simon was kind of a paradoxical figure, his nerdy likeness met by a commanding baritone voice; a leading thinker in the Senate who was also a college drop out. I read several books he authored, and probably attended a half dozen of his frequent town meetings conducted throughout the state. Senator Simon showed me that the “good guys” can prevail in the end. Moreover, he was a liberal Democrat who won a good deal of Republican votes, indicating to me that folks are capable of voting for someone they disagree with if they trust his integrity and motives. Read the rest of… There are two things Huntsman probably needs in order to claim the nomination: 1) Perry or another formidable candidate from the party’s right wing to get in. Romney has the money and national infrastructure to go the distance, and if there is only one candidate emerging from the right – Bachmann, Cain, Palin, whoever – that’s good for Romney, as it will frighten mainstream Republicans into coalescing around him. So, Huntsman needs at least two strong candidates from the party’s right wing, and Perry’s potential entrance can muddle things enough on the right that so that establishment types will be OK with two strong candidates from the “moderate” wing. 2) Since Romney also has personal money in addition to having spent five years criss-crossing the country meeting bundlers, Huntsman needs to figure out a way to tap his vast family fortune. I’m not sure about this, but I saw an estimate of Huntsman’s personal fortune at $15M. That’s about enough for New Hampshire – not for the nomination. His father is apparently a billionaire, according to estimates, but he needs to figure out the logistics of making that money available for campaign use. Does that mean his father gifts him $100M and then pays gift taxes on it? Maybe. Does it mean his father does a giant IE? Who knows. The optics aren’t good with either option. I suspect they’ve thought through this, but the logistics of it, and the subsequent perception, could have outsized influence on the way his candidacy is perceived – especially in a post-Bunny-money era. Cross posted, with permission of the author, from Politico’s Arena Today has proven to be one of the most trafficked days in The Recovering Politician‘s short history. The RP’s piece in The Huffington Post — “Choose Another People! Anti-Semitic Taunts Will Backfire in the Bible Belt” — has generated considerable attention both in Kentucky and nationally. Within the past hour, the National Jewish Democratic Council weighed in on the controversy:
Click here for the NJDC’s full statement. On a brighter note, we welcome all of our new readers, and encourage both new and old to continue to give us your feedback. Veteran political reporter Jack Brammer revealed in this morning’s Lexington Herald-Leader that Larry Forgy, the 1995 GOP nominee for Governor in Kentucky and a leading supporter of State Senate President David Williams’ 2011 bid for that same office, made the following statement:
The Williams campaign has not issued a comment on Forgy’s statement. I have. The Huffington Post published my response — as well as my analysis of the state of anti-Semitism in Bible Belt politics. Here’s an excerpt:
Click here to read the rest of my Huffington Post article.
So, I get my big break on radio, and my celebrity guest doesn’t show up. I won’t pull a Letterman, because John McCain had a good excuse — he had an unexpected vote — and he promises to join us in a few weeks. But we still had a great show, featuring economist Robert Shapiro and Jennifer Duffy of The Cook Report. Rob delivers one of the most cogent and simple explanations of the impact of a national credit default — it is worth the whole show. And if you listen until the end, you will witness my coughing attack. Live radio, eh? No Labels is a new grassroots movement of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who are united in the belief that we do not have to give up our labels, merely put them aside to do what’s best for America. No Labels Radio will offer a weekly dose of news and interviews with the policymakers who are working to find bipartisan answers to the otherwise intractable problems our country faces. Enjoy yesterday’s broadcast: RIGHT NOW contributing RP Lisa Borders and the RP are co-hosting the weekly episode of No Labels Radio. Their primary guest is U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), who will discuss the work being done to forge a bipartisan solution to the nation’s fiscal problems. Click here to tune into the broadcast. No Labels is a new grassroots movement of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who are united in the belief that we do not have to give up our labels, merely put them aside to do what’s best for America. No Labels Radio will offer a weekly dose of news and interviews with the policymakers who are working to find bipartisan answers to the otherwise intractable problems our country faces. Today at 2 PM EDT, contributing RP Lisa Borders and I are co-hosting the weekly episode of No Labels Radio. No Labels is a new grassroots movement of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who are united in the belief that we do not have to give up our labels, merely put them aside to do what’s best for America. No Labels Radio will offer a weekly dose of news and interviews with the policymakers who are working to find bipartisan answers to the otherwise intractable problems our country faces. Our primary guest is U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), who will discuss the work being done to forge a bipartisan solution to the nation’s fiscal problems. Click here to find out more about today’s broadcast. OK, RP Nation. Here’s your last chance to suggest a question for one of the most prominent politicians of the past decade. Make your suggestions in the comments section below. And then tune in at 2 PM EDT to see if I used it. Thanks for your help! Tomorrow at 2 PM EDT, contributing RP Lisa Borders and I are co-hosting the weekly episode of No Labels Radio. No Labels is a new grassroots movement of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who are united in the belief that we do not have to give up our labels, merely put them aside to do what’s best for America. No Labels Radio will offer a weekly dose of news and interviews with the policymakers who are working to find bipartisan answers to the otherwise intractable problems our country faces. Our primary guest is U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), who will discuss the work being done to forge a bipartisan solution to the nation’s fiscal problems. Click here to find out more about tomorrow’s broadcast. Here’s your big chance, RP Nation. Here’s your chance to suggest a question for one of the most prominent politicians of the past decade. Want me to ask him about the budget debate? The 2008 election? His service in Vietnam? His choice of Sarah Palin? His appearances on Saturday Night Live? Make your suggestions in the comments section below. And then tune in tomorrow to see if I used it. Thanks for your help! Words are a very powerful thing, especially in politics. The choice of sympathetic versus tough language alone can make the difference in how a political situation is perceived, especially in a situation as contentious as that in Palestine. Our very own contributing RP, Artur Davis, wrote an op-ed on the power of words for the Montgomery Advertiser:
|
| ||
| Copyright © 2026 The Recovering Politician - All Rights Reserved | |||
