Politics Blog

Several hours ago now, I pointed out that Michael Steele is a rising star. I believe we have a man who can take the Senate seat now held by Paul Sarbanes when it likely opens in two years.

Speaking of Senate seats, Mel Martinez won an easy victory tonight, and the media doesn’t like it. I have never seen an article this biased, and remember, I’m close to the liberal bastion of Philadelphia. Mel Martinez needs to talk to Dick Cheney and get some pointers, if you know what I mean, before calling the Miami Herald. Martinez will be favored to win, an immigrant who embodies the spirit of America.

And now that we’re on the topic of immigrants, let me say that for me, this is a personal issue too. I am a second-generation American whose grandparents nearly died in a genocide and great-grandparents did. For me, America is, and will remain, one nation, united by liberty, dedicated to freedom. Arnold Schwarzenegger embodied this spirit. Last night I said that it would be hard to surpass last night’s speakers, but he did it. He made everyone watching proud to be a Republican.

And invoking Richard Nixon’s name? I turned to the person watching the convention with me and started laughing. I knew, and others have since confirmed this, that Richard Nixon has not been mentioned at a Republican Convention, in depth and in a positive light, since 1972. Thank you Arnold…Richard Nixon gave America many gifts, but if hemade you a Republican, then it was the greatest gift of all. And I really didn’t think he’d do it, but he did. “Economic Girlie-Men!” (I’m glad I was so persuasive for Martinez…maybe I should start pushing a constitutional amendment to make the Governor eligible to run for President…)

On numerous Republican forums, the Bush girls are receiving a storm of criticism and rebuke for their speech. Okay, I’m going to tell you a little about myself. I’m roughly the same age as the Bush girls. I know what my generation is like. I know their strengths, and I know their weaknesses. Tonight, the girls embodied both.

Laura Bush was, as expected, excellent. She gave a powerful, persuasive speech which demonstrates again why she is so popular. The first lady will be a powerful asset in the fall, and although she has no competition on the other side since her “opponent” has been muzzled, her effectiveness in moderate suburban areas cannot be overstated.

Judging by the e-mail reactions, recent, and not-so-recent, immigrants will appreciate my post below on Arnold’s speech.

What a lovely speech. The speech hit briefly on many major themes before settling in on the fight against terrorism. Especially moving to me was the firsthand account of her observations of the struggle President Bush went through making the decision to invade Iraq and the comparison of her father’s experience liberating concentration camps in World War II.

UPDATE: What a jerk Tom Brokaw is. Following Laura’s speech, he felt compelled to let the viewers know that things are not going well in the world, as the speakers would have you believe. He said several other infuriating things, but I will have to find a transcript to know what they were because each thing he said just made me forget the one before it, and he only spoke for a few minutes. The old media has sealed their own doom. Why would anyone sit through the partisanship from supposed “journalists” when there are now alternatives?

UPDATE: Crush Kerry has a great review of Tuesday night’s speeches.

The Contest: GOP primary for the opportunity to run for the U.S. Senate seat, in Florida, being vacated by the retiring Bob Graham.

The Contestants: Former HUD official Mel Martinez and former Congressman Bill McCollum.

The Poll

Date: August 27, 2004
Source: Resarch 2000/Florida Times-Union/South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Poll: McCollum leads Martinez, 35-31. The race is deemed a “statistical dead heat.”

The Actual Result

Date: August 31, 2004
Source: Voters
Result: Martinez beats McCollum . . . by 14 percentage points.

Hmm.

They swung and missed the way a rookie just up from the minors typically fared against Nolan Ryan or Roger Clemens.

Now, to be fair, Florida’ s liberal media did note, as did Mason-Dixon (which had the race pegged at 33-27 for Martinez, with 18 percent undecided), that Martinez had momentum on his side. So, one possibility is that vast swaths of Florida GOP voters came into the Martinez camp in the past few days and weeks.

On the other hand, perhaps the liberal media tried to shape public opinion with slanted polls (hint: as previously stated on this blog, Martinez, by far, is the better general election candidate for the GOP, and obviously will help George Bush tremendously), but when it became obvious that their attempt to knock Martinez out of the race would not succeed, they had no choice but to adjust their “poll,” to reflect the reality on the ground. After all, it is a touch embarrassing, is it not, when a polling agency misses the results of a GOP primary by, oh, say, 23 percentage points?

We report, you decide.

I’m listening to Arnold Schwarzenegger speak and it’s so very personal for me.

Like Arnold, I’m a legal immigrant. Like Arnold, I dreamed of leaving my socialist homeland behind for the Land of the Free. Like Arnold, my political awakening came because of a televised presidential debate - his because of Humphrey-Nixon, mine because of Gore-Bush.

I’ve waited in endless lines in a socialist country for mundane services - electricity, telephones. No more!

I’m a conservative Republican because of the same reasons Arnold is - because conservative Republicans believe in rewarding work and enterpreneurship. Because conservative Republicans want to combat socialism in every form. And that’s more important to me than anything else.

I just got home in time for the show. I didn’t miss Liddy Dole did I? Okay, speak up in the comments section – how many think Arnold will say “girly men” tonight? I think he will, but wouldn’t put money on it.

UPDATE: Now I do want to put money on it. (I just saw a reporter say the phrase will be in his speech.)

15 minutes into the speech: I didn’t think anyone could match Rudy’s performance last night, but Arnold is doing it. Nothing in Boston came anywhere close to last night or tonight’s speeches. I’ll bet there will be a lot of young people registering as Republicans tomorrow. The way the crowd reacted to Rudy and now to Arnold, I can’t imagine Bush being able to get through his speech Thursday night for all the cheering.

UPDATE: Since there was no televised Nixon-Humphrey debate, and it appears that Arnold has told this story many times before and that has been pointed out before, I wonder if he was speaking about a formal, single debate or rather the general debate taking place in the course of the campaign. I feel sure this will all be sorted out by tomorrow morning. The Hillary “truth squad” is probably on it at this very moment.

UPDATE ON DEBATE REFERENCE: Although many pundits on t.v. tonight have referred to Arnold’s reference to the Nixon-Humphrey debate (which did not take place), the actual transcript of the speech refers to the Nixon - Humphrey “race".

UPDATE: Crush Kerry has a great review of Tuesday night’s speeches. I can’t wait to see the first CA state poll taken after Arnold’s speech. I’ve always hoped Bush had a chance there – maybe he actually does.

Thank you all Floridian readers…you have chosen the right man for the Senate. I will discuss this more later, but take a look at the turnout…Democrats are really energized. (italics means sarcasm)

And Maryland, you have a real star, not a media star. Michael Steele is bound for greatness. His speech could have been the keynote - it was that good.

The Swiftees are sending an open letter to John Kerry. Reporters have a duty to ask Kerry about at least points 2, 3 and 4. If Kerry emerges from hiding, that is. He last answered questions from a real reporter on August 1.

Looks like Michael Moore is going to be “AWOL” from the convention. He’s “deserting” his post because of all the boos he got last night.

UPDATE: For those who missed it, the Daily Recycler has video of the Moore-booing.

I hear General Tommy Franks has endorsed President Bush and will make a speech at the convention on Thursday night.

UPDATE: The invaluable Power Line bloggers are at the convention and have a video of Franks endorsing Bush.