By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Feb 6, 2012 at 10:30 AM ET The RP: Rebuttal #4
[Krystal Ball’s Provocation; Artur Davis’ Rebuttal #1; Jeff Smith’s Rebuttal #2; Ron Granieri’s Rebuttal #3]
First of all, a hearty Mazel Tov to Ron Granieri for being the first person ever at the Internet tubes to use both the terms Schadenfreude and QFT in a post.
(I had to look the latter up at the Urban Dictionary and assume he is using definition #1, not #2)
I know that Ron’s childhood hero, William F. Buckley would be proud.
(No, seriously, RP Nation. When the rest of us were reading comic books and the backs of baseball cards, Ron was queuing Firing Line repeats, poring through back issues of the National Review, and dog-earing his prized first edition of God and Man at Yale.)
I have to take issue, however, with the Reagan analogy which has been über-abused by the TV screaming heads who tend to fill up air time with clichéd analyses. Gingrich (or Paul…or Santorum…or Bachmann…yadda, yadda, yadda) is no Reagan in any sense of the word, particularly when it comes to electability. Certainly both of our liberal fathers misjudged Reagan’s general election appeal (My Dad…ugh…voted for Bonzo’s BFF in fact because he eerily predicted Carter’s antipathy toward Israel), as did much of America.
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The RPs Debate the GOP Mudfest: The RP Rebuts
By Jeff Smith, on Thu Feb 2, 2012 at 4:30 PM ET  It does bring him closer to the nomination, due in no small part to his uncanny good fortune. Let’s review.
The woman who rose meteorically to take the Iowa straw poll collapsed upon the entrance of a governor who offered the veneer of tea party rhetoric as strident as hers, but had the backing of mega-donors from the state with more Republican money than any other outside California.
That governor, who was thought to be his leading conservative opponent, turned out to have spent about as much time preparing for the campaign as my students spend preparing for pop quizzes.
When the governor’s lack of preparation became obvious, he was replaced briefly as the national frontrunner by a former pizza executive who made the governor look like Thomas Jefferson.
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Jeff Smith: Is Romney the GOP Nominee?
By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Jan 27, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET  Know thyself.
Brutal self-honesty and continuous self-reflection are integral staples of a well-lived life in which we can be “True to ourselves.”
Last Friday I went by a trophy store in town and started asking myself some hard questions. It’s been a long time since I’ve received a trophy for anything. Or a plaque for that matter. And I really like receiving both and felt like it was about time to get something again that I could put on my shelf or wall and be affirmed by –and hope others notice and are impressed.
So I started thinking to myself, “Who says you can’t buy yourself a trophy or plaque?” I mean, maybe it’s an oversight that I (we) haven’t received any kind of award in a long time…and by giving ourselves a trophy all we are really doing is correcting the oversight.
More or less.
Anyway, I felt comfortable with my logic and got to wondering what on Earth would I get myself a personal trophy for. And I wanted to be brutally honest about what I should and shouldn’t give myself for a personally purchased award. Because without self honesty, all the awards are just meaningless decorations.
(I started by mulling an NBA MVP—but will back date it 12 or 15 years to be more believable. But I think I’m going to go with something that really could happen. “Best Intentioned Consultant on the Second Floor Bank Building off Ann St.” It’s not only believable ….it’s a really long title which always seems more impressive than short titles. Guess next I need to start working on an acceptance speech. ; )
By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Jan 27, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET A friend, Don Marcum, asked about the possibility of a National Primary, and wondered if I had any thoughts on the matter.
As luck would have it, I have quite a few ready-made thoughts from a column I wrote 15 years ago when people cared about what I had to say about such things.
It was my first few months as KY’s newly elected secretary of state and a group of us were being interviewed on C-SPAN about the presidential primary system. Without much thought I proposed consideration of a National Primary….which went over like a lead balloon (aimed to land on my detractors!). Some of those who spoke up were professional election administrators and analysts who were well versed in the virtues of our current system not the least bit interested in considering new alternatives. And they made some good points.
But on the way home the more I thought about it the more I felt there was something to this idea…..And, I’ll admit, I was a little irked and challenged by the swift and impassioned rebuke I received and wanted to make a sensible case for a National Primary and prove it wasn’t “a crazy idea” as one commentator suggested.
I have dug up the article and post it below:
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John Y. Brown, III: A National Primary?
By Grant Smith, RP Staff, on Thu Jan 26, 2012 at 1:30 PM ET
Did Newt Gingrich insult President Reagan in the 80’s? [The National Review]
Fact-checking the 2012 State of the Union Address. [The Washington Post]
Egyptians gather on the 1st anniversary of the revolt. [The New York Times]
By Patrick Derocher, on Thu Jan 26, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET
Fulfilling something of a dream of mine, I had the opportunity to spend the week leading up to this year’s New Hampshire presidential primary on the ground in New Hampshire and as such, The RP asked me to do a write-up of what the election looked like from the Granite State (though that may have also had something to do with the fact that I missed several blog entries whilst traipsing about New Hampshire).
In the interest of full disclosure, and to more fully explain where I’m coming from here, I spent my time working for former Utah governor Jon Huntsman’s campaign, in a position that is best described as full time volunteer, and so this piece will include some observations specific to that campaign. Given my position (I wasn’t even considered staff), the extent to which I can comment on Jon 2012 is rather limited, as is the extent to which I feel it is my place to comment on specifics. That said, there are a few questions I have been asked on multiple occasions that I will start off by talking about.
– Why did Huntsman never really catch on with voters? The simple fact of the matter is that most voters did not view Governor Huntsman as a conservative. This is, of course, more than a bit absurd (you can start and finish with his implementation of a flat tax, but there’s so much more). Perhaps it was the often fawning media coverage, or his moderate temperament and willingness to work across party lines, but the basic problem remains the same: The “moderate” label was affixed, and there was no changing many voters’ minds. As for why Huntsman appeared to have limited support among independents, that is more pertinent to the body of this piece and will be discussed shortly.
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Patrick Derocher: The Ephemera of Politics — On Polling and Primaries
By Zac Byer, on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET Thank you very much for all of your responses to my first update from New Hampshire. I will eat crow and admit I was too quick to anoint Romney the GOP nominee, but then again, most did. Now, with no clear front runner, we’ve finally got some real excitement on our hands. Sitting on a train to Washington, DC from where I’ll leave for Florida tomorrow, I wanted to send out a few thoughts post-South Carolina and pre-Sunshine State.
-Everything changed in Myrtle Beach last Monday night. Sitting in the debate hall that night felt like being at the Palestra for a Penn-Villanova basketball game back when both teams consistently won games. The seating arrangement made for an interesting dynamic — the back risers were like the bleachers at Yankee Stadium, and the front seats were like the corporate boxes. You heard golf claps from the front, and booing, jeering, and hissing from the back. But when Newt Gingrich hit back at moderator Juan Williams’ race-baiting, suggesting young people get a job to learn the value of a hard-earned dollar, both sections erupted. Until that night in South Carolina, there had not been a standing ovation at a debate since 1980. And that standing ovation, well-deserved or not, lit the fire under Gingrich that he hasn’t felt since December. Something I found fascinating that wasn’t shown on TV was the candidates’ interactions during the commercial breaks. Santorum, Gingrich, Paul, and Perry (still a candidate at the time) would hurry down into the audience to glad-hand, take pictures, and chat with supporters. Mitt Romney didn’t follow suit. Instead, he walked off the stage and stopped at the bottom of the steps, where his wife Ann quickly met him. Romney spoke to nobody but her during the break, effectively cordoning himself off from anybody who wanted to shake his hand and say “Go get ’em.” His seclusion during those five minute breaks was a microcosm of his interactions with the voters during this election cycle — disinterested, unengaged, and lacking energy.
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Zac Byer: On to Florida!
By Jason Grill, on Tue Jan 24, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET 
There is no doubt Republican presidential candidate Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) has a great following. He has thousands of motivated volunteers, a bunch of money, and a message that is resonating with many including the 18-25 demographic. He never panders to any audience or anyone. He has enormous crowds chanting “President Paul! President Paul! President Paul!” He has been a success in the early primary and caucus states and has a strong organization going forward. He has a seat at the reserved table of Republican presidential politics.
So what is the problem? When asked by ABC reporter Terry Moran if he sees himself in the Oval Office, Paul answered “Not Really.” Do you think Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, or Newt Gingrich think this? Ron Paul and his campaign team believe they can go all the way to the Republican convention and garner enough delegates to either win or play a major role. At this point, Paul has not really attacked frontrunner Mitt Romney choosing rather to go after other rivals in hopes to make it a mano e mano race with Mitt. Most observers and pundits view a Ron Paul nomination as an impossibility at this point, but see the Paul candidacy and movement as something that could alter the Republican convention and platform moving forward.
 So is Ron Paul a prophet or can he really become President of the United States? In my opinion, if he “really” wanted to take up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in January of 2013, he would run as a third-party candidate. His foreign policy message gives the hawkish Republican establishment hives. His social values and civil rights message excites some Democrats. His libertarian philosophy makes the young voters of this country do cartwheels.
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Jason Grill: If Ron Paul Wants to Be President, He Should Run with Third Party
By Grant Smith, RP Staff, on Thu Jan 19, 2012 at 1:30 PM ET
New Gingrich’s college records show a young professor hatching big plans. [The Wall Street Journal]
Did Obama send a secret negotiation letter to Iran? [ABC News]
Will Twinkies live on now that the Hostess Company has filed for bankruptcy? [The New York Times]
U.S. lawmakers begin to back-away from supporting SOPA and PIPA. [The Hill]
By Jeff Smith, on Fri Jan 13, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET Given the tenuousness of Democratic control of the U.S. Senate, I imagine more than a few people in Washington are hoping former Sen. Bob Kerrey will run for the seat vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson. As both local andnational sources are reporting, Kerrey is seriously exploring the bid – and Republicans are taking his possible entrance just as seriously. Operatives of both parties seem to agree that he may be the only Democrat who could hold the seat. I hope that he makes the race. But I don’t think he will.
First, some politicos call Kerrey a serial floater. They refer to his frequent Hamlet routine, in which he contemplates but ultimately declines to run for various offices: in 2000 for president, in 2005 for New York City mayor, and in2008 for the last open U.S. Senate seat in Nebraska.
 Second, after a decade in the private sector, I doubt Kerrey is excited by the prospect of a year of retail campaigning. He was famously aloof in his 1992 presidential campaign, which reinforced the regrettable nickname “Cosmic Bob.” As a former aide to ex-presidential candidate Sen. Bill Bradley, D-N.J., I traveled with Kerrey briefly in western Iowa in late 1999 as he helped campaign for Bradley before the caucuses. During a break between events, an advance man suggested that Kerrey shake hands in a small-town square; Kerrey suggested bowling instead. While I appreciated his quirky charisma, obvious intelligence, and willingness to speak hard truths, I found him miscast for the practice of politics. Accounts of his time in the Senate suggest a similar distaste for schmoozing.
Third, he could lose. Nebraska has reddened quite a bit since his last race in 1994. Back then, Nebraska had a Democratic governor and two Democratic U.S. senators; now, Nelson is the last elected Democratic statewide officeholder (and likely would’ve lost in ’12, which was why he bowed out). And surely, his having spent his last decade heading one of the nation’s most liberal universities — located in the lefty bastion of Greenwich Village — would take a little explaining to culturally conservative Nebraska voters. Attempting a comeback in such a risky race, after an unblemished career record of wins, may seem unappealing.
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Jeff Smith: Democrats Can’t Count on Kerry
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