Politics Blog

Note that the official GeorgeWBush.com campaign web site has virtually nothing to say about the president’s suicidal immigration “reform” proposal. Do they, perhaps, realize just how angry conservatives are about this suicidal “reform” plan?

Says NRO’s John Derbyshire:

My most disillusioned reader so far: “Derb—You can vote for GWB in November if you like, but I won’t. I’ll be writing in Vicente Fox for President. He’s obviously the smartest man in this hemisphere.”

“My phone was ringing off the hook [with people saying], ‘We don’t want to change the name on the US Capitol to the Mexican Department of Social Services.’ “

– Congressman Elton Gallegly (R-CA), describing the flood of outraged calls he was getting from constituents after Bush announced his suicidal immigration “reform” plan. Unless this suicidal “reform” dies in Congress, I will be forced to reconsider my support for the president.

The Iowa caucuses are going to see some high-tech strategery this year:

With candidates required to win at least 15 percent of the voters in each precinct to survive, strategists assume a number of candidates will fall short – freeing their caucus voters to support other campaigns.

Several campaigns are developing ways to swing support in some of the 1,990 precincts on caucus night – to benefit their own candidate or to hurt someone else.

At headquarters for Howard Dean, advisers are working on an automated system that would let precinct captains dial in early tallies. Knowing how Dean is faring statewide would allow the campaign to advise its supporters to throw Dean votes in some precincts to another candidate.

Where the supporters of the low-performing candidates wind up, and whether the leading candidates have spare delegates to throw to other campaigns, depends entirely on how the numbers break in the first round of voting.

Dean voters, for instance, could be directed to shift to Senator John F. Kerry as part of a strategy to knock Richard A. Gephardt out of contention and create a more competitive race in New Hampshire.

…

If the Dean campaign does put into effect an automated phone system, his strategists will be able to assess their standing much earlier than usual. They could then call supporters around the state and tell them how to influence who comes in second and third, potentially determining who has enough momentum to move on to the next contest.

The best scenario for Dean is for Kerry to have a second-place showing in Iowa, which would knock Gephardt down to third. Kerry, having exceeded expectations in Iowa, could sweep into New Hampshire with fresh buzz – enough to blunt the effectiveness of Clark, Dean aides hope, but not enough to come in first place on Jan. 27.

“[Bush’s] political gurus are obsessed with trading his most reliable friends for the prospect of winning minority voters. They want to clear out the big tent to make it available to those who don’t yet want a place in it.”

– Wesley Pruden, editor of the Washington Times, on the president’s suicidal immigration “reform” proposal.

Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, who’s influential in Iowa Democrat circles, has ended his agonizing and has decided to endorseHoward Dean! This couldn’t have come at a better time for Dean. Coming as it does a week before the caucuses, it’ll give him a final boost that could let him win Iowa and, thence, the nomination.

I’ve been predicting the possibility of a Dean nomination since Dean was a nobody back in February last year. Starting in June, I even urged my readers to donate to Dean so that President Bush could crush him in the general election. Now that a Dean nomination is so close, I’m having regrets.

Perhaps it would have been better to have a centrist Democrat nominee who would have forced President Bush to tend to his conservative base. Instead, the Democrats will probably choose Dean, who will leave the entire middle to Bush, letting him tack left and ignore conservatives by pushing policies like his suicidal immigration “reform” program.

But we conservatives will not roll over. When the president proposes policies that are insanely liberal and insanely unpopular, the very least we can do is draw a line in the sand and force the president to change his mind about crossing it. If this is a game of chicken we’re playing with the president, we will not be the first to blink.

Everything you always wanted to know about the Iowa Democrat caucuses and were afraid to ask is here.

Note that the official GeorgeWBush.com campaign web site has virtually nothing to say about the president’s suicidal immigration “reform” proposal. Do they, perhaps, realize just how angry conservatives are about this suicidal “reform” plan?

Says NRO’s John Derbyshire:

My most disillusioned reader so far: “Derb—You can vote for GWB in Novemberif you like, but I won’t. I’ll be writing in Vicente Fox for President. He’s obviously the smartest man in this hemisphere.”

“My phone was ringing off the hook [with people saying], ‘We don’t want to change the name on the US Capitol to the Mexican Department of Social Services.’ “

– Congressman Elton Gallegly (R-CA), describing the flood of outraged calls he was getting from constituents after Bush announced his suicidal immigration “reform” plan. Unless this suicidal “reform” dies in Congress, I will be forced to reconsider my support for the president.