Well . . . now CNN has given Ryan a big sloppy kiss for his continuing "courageousness" in trying to rob the poor and the old to give money to the rich and the corporate. But my favorite piece has to be this bit:
Ryan was pushed again this summer to run for the Republican presidential nomination by assorted GOP luminaries. His answer: No, not yet.(emphasis added)
Okay . . . I'll be the first to admit that my political predictions don't always pan out -- but, seriously? I called Ryan running for president in 2016 -- very first thing I wrote down.
Of course, I hope he does run and gets crushed . . . but I really do hope he runs.
'Cause then I will look prescient and will get to do a Happy Dance for being so goddamned smart.
Oh this is so much better than me predicting Krugman columns. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm terrible - TERRIBLE - at predicting political stuff. Like between Romney and Perry, I still have no idea (I would say Romney, but my Dad made a good point, which is that crazy Christians hate Mormons - so, I find that kind of compelling, but then, Perry has just been terrible as of late).
By the way - the "courageous" Ryan plan, which it turned out was a total, total sham - the media's coverage of that is one of the reasons I started a blog and started trying to figure out economic issues. Because when it turned out the budget was complete BS, I realized the vast majority of the press had no idea - none at all - about economic matters. I mean they'd been touting a budget that's BS? So, in other words, they'd been touting a budget they didn't know how to read and they'd been doing it as if they did know how to read it.
Yeah . . . I think the smart money is on Romney, but it's definitely up in the air. If I had to guess right now I'd guess that Romney gets the nomination but - for precisely the reason your Dad makes - has a hard time ginning up support from the base, which then sits out the general election.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I don't think anyone can say definitively that Perry is out. Since we're not talking general election, but only the primary nod, it is quite possible that the crazy Republican base just gives it to Perry anyway. Sure, he once did something nice for the children of undocumented immigrants - and that's gotta hurt him - but did you see how babblingly incoherent he was in the debate? Now that's a level of pig-headed ignorance the modern Republican party can rally around!
I'm looking forward to the actual voting in the Republican primary contest, because I think it will provide insight into just how far down the rabbit hole the party has fallen. If Perry does in fact get the nod then that will pretty much confirm that the inmates are now running the asylum.
Hard to understand why Perry did so poorly in Florida, and Cain so well. Their totals make no sense at all. Ron Paul can't win it but he could be king maker, throwing his support to someone who bends a little toward his anti-war views. Can't see Romney or Perry doing this. Who is left? Draft Michael Bloomberg ?
ReplyDeleteThe conventional wisdom seems to be coalescing around the idea that Perry's failure to bash illegal immigrants with sufficient venom hurt him; I heard a report on NPR that highlighted one woman (a Perry supporter) who said she felt the need to reconsider her support after she was made aware during the last debate that Perry thinks having the children of undocumented workers get an education is just fine.
ReplyDeletePerry's failure to hate on brown people may be what turned off the committed Republican activists in the Florida straw poll. Or his dismal performance the debate (I've since watched some clips) may have convinced some of them that putting him up against Barack Obama in the general would not make for good viewing. My guess is that it probably resulted from some combination of these factors, but at this point I don't think anyone really knows.
As for Bloomberg . . . I just don't see him getting into the race. If he ran as an indpendent candidate - assuming he could even get the paperwork completed in all 50 states in time for the election - he would still almost certainly lose. And the idea that the GOP base will turn out en masse to vote for a short Jewish guy from New York who used to be a Democrat . . . well, let's just say I have my doubts.