What got the the juices flowing in the mostly Republican audience at last night's presidential debate? I gathered all the applause and laugh lines together to have a looksee. Some of what caught the audience's fancy struck me as predictable; some, less so. Some I found horrifying; some, just plain goofy.
I was probably most surprised by what I call the mid-debate social security melee, but I don't want to prejudice your perception of these highlights too much. Take a look for yourself and chime in with comments as you like.
ANNOUNCER: Live from the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, the Republican candidates debate. Here now are Brian Williams and John Harris.
(APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: If [Perry] tried to say that, well, it would be like Al Gore saying he invented the Internet.
(APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: Well, as a matter of fact, George Bush and his predecessor created jobs at a faster rate than you did, Governor.
(LAUGHTER)
As campaign season cranks into high-gear, heavy hitters are making their way down to Texas for a few marquee fundraisers in support of various Congressional candidates. Now, you can tell a lot about a candidate by whom they choose to draw in the high rollers. Seems to me that the Republicans down here in Texas are increasingly relying on the crazy fringe to bring out the checkbooks and media attention. Let's take a look at who's traveling down to Texas to raise the big bucks:
Candidate
Special Guest
John Carter, TX-31 -- Round Rock Republican, recently described health care bill as "Death for the Baby Boomers, Jail for the Middle Class, Free Healthcare for Illegal Aliens," on his own website, no less.
Michele Bachmann, MN-6 -- Fox News' favorite census conspiracy theorist and global-warming denier. Hosted fundraiser for Carter on October 17 in Cedar Park.
Michael McCaul, TX-10 -- Unremarkable Republican incumbent and heir-in-law to ClearChannel fortune. Misrepresents gerrymandered chunks of Austin, Harris County, and some of everything in between.
Rush Limbaugh -- Famous radio hate-monger, failed hypothetical NFL owner, McCaul's Daddy-in-Law's heavy hitter. Attended fundraiser for McCaul with Governor Rick Perry in May 2009 at undisclosed location.
Jack McDonald, TX-10 -- Self-made entrepreneur, chairman of Perficient. Leader in the Austin business and philanthropic community. Unstoppable fundraiser, drawing strong bipartisan support in R+11 district.
Dr. Madeleine Albright -- Secretary of State and Ambassador to the UN during Clinton Administration. Also, not a crazy hate-merchant dragging political discourse down into ever-deeper gutter. Special guest at fundraising brunch on October 30 for Jack McDonald at MPower Labs.
As if the Texas Republicans in Congress weren't inane enough, they need to import the likes of Limbaugh and Bachmann to do their fundraising for them? Limbaugh openly hopes for the Obama administration to fail and compares Obama to Hitler. Bachmann blames Obama for the swine flu outbreak and refuses to fill out her census form because she thinks it's an ACORN plot to steal her private information. (Seriously.)
Meanwhile, McCaul's challenger, the completely-not-insane Jack McDonald, is drawing serious support to his campaign from legitimate leaders such as Dr. Albright and talking about how the people of TX-10 can gain real representation in Congress on issues such as the economy, health care, and clean energy.
Currently, John Carter has no challenger to offer the people of Bell and Williamson County actual representation in Congress. But Central Texans can unite behind Jack McDonald, and make sure that the people of Texas' 10th District send a strong Representative to work on their behalf in D.C.
Meanwhile, the voters of TX-10 need to ask themselves: "Who better represents me and my views in Congress? ...
... Rush Limbaugh and Michael McCaul? Or Jack McDonald and Madeleine Albright?"
McDonald's campaign is still in exploratory mode. You can check him out on his website, www.JackForCongress.com, and make a donation or offer to volunteer. It's going to be a good race. Best of all, a McDonald victory may mean 100% less Rush Limbaugh in our backyard. And if that's not a reason to get involved, I don't know what is.
Lately we have been hearing a lot of squawking and screeching emanating from the conservative right wing about a revolution.
This is rather perplexing given that we recently had an election in which the elected President won rather substantially without the need for voter caging, voter suppression, election fraud, recounts, recount shut downs, lawsuits and the Supreme Court. Nor was it necessary to bring in the likes of a Swift Boat attack machine and a corrupted Secretary of State (R-OH) to deliver a win in a razor thin, close election.
And despite all of the problems we face in these dire and stressful times the President's approval ratings remain in the 60's. Today it is at 67%. Today an ABC/Washington Post poll also reveals 65% trust President Obama to handle relations with Muslim nations.
So, what is the problem? Why is a revolution necessary now?
