Politics Blog

John Hawkins asks six conservative women about dating.

— PoliPundit

Last week it was former Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly. Now it’s a NFL coach.

Sam Wyche, coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Cincinnati Bengals, who made it to the Super Bowl in 1989, has been drafted himself into politics by the GOP:

PICKENS COUNTY — Former NFL football coach Sam Wyche has joined the race for the District 3 seat on the Pickens County Council against Council Vice Chairman Ben Trotter.

Mr. Wyche joined the race Saturday morning, according to Pickens County Republican Party Chairman Phillip Bowers.

“He will be on the (primary) ballot in June,” Mr. Bowers said.

Mr. Wyche said a number of people approached him to consider running.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a couple of months now,” he said.

Mr. Wyche was the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals from 1984-1991 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1992-1995. He led the Bengals to the Super Bowl in 1989. He also is the owner of sporting goods retailer Sam Wyche Sports World.

While he has never been involved in politics before, he said he feels his business background and the experience he garnered while playing and coaching in the NFL will be an asset to him.

“I’ll bring a perspective of someone who has traveled and has been lucky enough to live in a lot of parts of the country,” Mr. Wyche said. “I feel like I can contribute.”

Mr. Trotter and Mr. Wyche were the only Republicans to have filed as candidates for the District 3 seat as of Saturday evening. The Pickens County Democratic Party could not immediately be reached for comment Saturday.

Based on how this article was written, it appears he is going to be a primary challenger to a incumbent Republican. It’s good to see these athletes get into politics, certainly, there day to day dealings with the press and mass amount of people is a step in the right direction in at least being a candidate with a pulse. Now, they need to work on their issues and platform.

– ‘The Commish’ A.J. Sparxx

The fight is not over yet for Ron Paul and his supporters. Even after failing in his run for the the presidential nomination, he continues to stand upfor what he believes in and for the Constitution.

His supporters have taken the battle to the County Convention level and will try to make sure that the Paul message is represented at various State Conventions when the Party’s agenda is discussed:

FORT WORTH – Ron Paul supporters fought with local Republican leaders Saturday over control of local conventions and may have won the right to push their agenda at the state GOP convention.

Supporters of Paul, a congressman from Surfside who got 4.5 percent of the votes in the presidential primary, tried to overwhelm the senate district-level conventions by sheer numbers. The party regulars, aware that Paul’s supporters won a similar campaign in Missouri, brought in extra troops of their own.

The two largest conventions in Tarrant County were still nominating their delegates at 9 p.m., and it may be days before the full effect is known.

“This is not unique to Dallas/Fort Worth; it’s happening all over the state,” said Stephanie Klick, Tarrant County Republican chairwoman.

Paul’s supporters oppose GOP presidential nominee John McCain and want to push the party toward Paul’s brand of conservatism, including reining in federal spending, ending the Iraq war and abolishing the Federal Reserve and other government agencies. Any delegates to the state convention will be required to support McCain, but they could still vote for changes in the state party platform.

After everything was said and done, Ron Paul’s message will be heard:

Convention Chairman Tom Quinones worked out a deal to give the Paul camp delegates based on their numbers.

Chad Bishop, a Paul delegate, gave a speech seconding Quinones’ nomination, saying the district’s “conservative heritage is not lost on us.”

Quinones said later, “I think the Ron Paul delegates will be well-represented on our state delegation list.”

And of course the establishment just doesn’t get it when it comes to Ron Paul and his supporters:

In Senate District 10, Paul supporter Jeremy Blosser challenged longtime Republican organizer Stuart Lane for chairmanship of the convention.

Blosser bristled at Lane’s characterization of Paul’s supporters as “outsiders bent on taking over the party.”

Blosser said: “We are Republicans. I don’t know how you take over something you’re already part of.”

Lane won the election by 2-to-1, but it took hours to count the votes, and the convention still bogged down with debate over the platform.

“Did we accomplish something today? We’re here, and we stood up for ourselves,” Blosser said.

I say good for them, good for Ron Paul, good for his message and good for the Constitution!

– ‘The Commish’ A.J. Sparxx

Apparently, that is the case. Democrat Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, who once threatened to punch President Bush, literally; is up for reelection this year and thanks to support from the GOP, will likely hold the seat:

After barely winning her initial Senate race in 1996 and surviving a serious challenge in 2002, Republican strategists targeted U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu as the most vulnerable Senate Democrat in this fall’s election. Unfortunately for Republicans defeating Landrieu will not be an easy task. Just look at what she has done in recent weeks in lining up endorsements from a most unusual group, Northshore Republicans.

Several months ago, GOP St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis surprised many political observers by endorsing Landrieu. Davis cited his close working relationship with Landrieu after Katrina. Landrieu’s efforts to assist the recovery after Katrina were also highlighted by a number of other Northshore Republican leaders who endorsed Landrieu last week. Joining Davis in crossing the party aisle were Hammond Mayor Mayson Foster, Covington Mayor Candace Watkins, and St. Tammany Parish Assessor Patricia Schwartz Core.

Even with this strange set of circumstances, it is not a slam dunk for Landrieu:

Despite her advantages, Landrieu does face some serious challenges which may make her vulnerable in the fall election. Most significantly, Louisiana has experienced an outward migration of approximately 250,000 people due to the hurricanes and the majority of the displaced voters were registered Democrats and likely Landrieu supporters. In 1996 and 2002, Landrieu had very slim margins of victory. To win this fall, she will have to convince some people who voted against her previously to cast a ballot for her this time.

Opposing Landrieu will be State Treasurer John Kennedy, a newly registered Republican, who has done a remarkable job of galvanizing GOP support. Kennedy has been very persistent in courting the GOP establishment both in Louisiana and in Washington D.C. At present he is the only Republican in the race, although Secretary of State Jay Dardenne has not ruled out the possibility of challenging Kennedy in the GOP primary. Dardenne could also count on significant party support if he entered the race.

This is very odd to say the least, of course, it is not that uncommon for someone from one party to jump over to the other side during a contest, but this many? The tragedy of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath certainly made for some strange alliances that carried these many years later.

– ‘The Commish’ A.J. Sparxx

Third parties are talked about a lot when having conversations about the lack of conservatism within the Republican party, many people looked at 10 years the Reform Party and the Buchanan Brigade during the Pat Buchanan era as a alternative party and candidate.

The Reform party is pretty much disbanded or at the least, on life-support with what is left it, one of the other known third parties is the Constitution Party, which strictly follows the US Constitution as it was written.

From what I can tell and have been told, the Constitution Party is pretty much the Christian Party and do not allow those of the Jewish faith to become members and follow, what they believe to be true, the Christian values as opposed the the Judeo-Christian values our Nation was founded on.

With elections coming up this year, the Constitution Party has gravitated to Ron Paul and the Ron Paul Revolution, even though he is a Republican and if he wasn’t, he would be in the Libertarian Party:

Benton is a member of the Constitution Party, a small but strident group who adhere to a literal interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. On Saturday, about 50 members of the party met in Sandy for their county convention.
“I don’t know everything about government yet. I’m still learning, but I do know the difference between right and wrong,” said Benton, who walked throughout her neighborhood inviting people to her caucus. Only one person showed.
The Constitution Party is small in numbers but there are signs of growth, its ranks swelling with disaffected voters who complain the Republican Party is just too liberal, too self-serving, too willing to abandon the Constitution. Too much like the Democrats.
“Almost everybody here has been a Republican, and we didn’t leave the party, they left us,” said Dave Perry, who ran for Congress last election and is running this year in state House District 45.
They are also benefitting from the Ron Paul Revolution, even though Paul, himself a strict constitutionalist, is still technically seeking the Republican nomination for president.
“He’s 100 percent in line with us. He’s 100 percent constitutionalist, and that’s a very exciting thing,” said county Party Chairman Leonard Olds.
State Party Chairman Frank Fluckiger expects as many as 80 percent of Paul’s supporters in Utah to find a home in the Constitution Party.

The Constitution Party’s core beliefs are shared by many Conservatives, but not followed for the most part in the Republican Party:

As the party reads it, rooting its beliefs in the Constitution leads to an anti-abortion stance; a hard-line position on immigration; support for gun rights; doing away with the federal income tax, the Federal Reserve and federal control of education and welfare.
Several on Saturday said the U.S. government is nearly as bad as that of Nazi Germany. The looming threat, in the party’s view, is the North American Union, a merging of the United States, Canada and Mexico, which hasn’t been formally proposed by any of the three governments, but is good fodder for conspiracy theorists.

On the NAU, while it hasn’t been “formally” proposed, there has been discussion within the Bush Administration on it, and the “SuperHighway” is being touted as the starting point of this supposed union.

I will actually have a post up in a few hours that talks about abortion as an issue and it may be losing its status as a top issue, especially in Virginia.

But without money, ballot access, the Constitution Party on paper, may be attractive, but the reality is, it can’t be competitive. Of course, the no Jews allowed stance is a big problem for me.

– ‘The Commish’ A.J. Sparxx

From President-in-waiting to deadbeat:

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s cash-strapped presidential campaign has been putting off paying hundreds of bills for months — freeing up cash for critical media buys but also earning the campaign a reputation as something of a deadbeat in some small-business circles.

A pair of Ohio companies owed more than $25,000 by Clinton for staging events for her campaign are warning others in the tight-knit event production community — and anyone else who will listen — to get their cash upfront when doing business with her. Her campaign, say representatives of the two companies, has stopped returning phone calls and e-mails seeking payment of outstanding invoices. One even got no response from a certified letter.

Maybe her campaign manager learned some tricks as director of a failed subprime lender.

— W.C. Varones

Angela Merkel is more of a man than George Bush ever will be.

Merkel says she will not attend opening of Beijing Olympics.

I’m sure that, like most German people, Angela Merkel has starred in scheisse porn videos in her youth, and that Chinese agents will try to blackmail her with the tapes. But she won’t buckle. That’s what kind of man she is.

— W.C. Varones

From the Wall Street Journal:

Now comes the euphoria, the liberation, the freedom of . . . Bosnian snipers! Suddenly, liberals all over are remembering that they never really liked the Clintons, even as they defended them in the 1990s. Suddenly, they can sidle into a discussion about Mrs. Clinton’s ethics, and all on a subject that (bonus!) is relevant to today’s race. Suddenly, they can break free of the Clintons, much as New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson did earlier this week, with a look of ecstasy, as he ran toward the daylight and endorsed Mr. Obama.

Which is why it is no surprise that this week also saw the beginning of a tide of Democrats, many of them one-time Clinton defenders, calling on her to abandon her bid, laying out the reasons for why she cannot win this race, and telling her to let go for the good of the party. Mrs. Clinton, being a Clinton, may well ignore them. But what is clear is that questions about her character and honesty are no longer verboten. If she does stay in, answering them will become the new reality of her campaign.

Ding-dong, the witch is dead. Liberal munchkins everywhere, rejoice!

Kind of reminds me of that great independent pro-Obama ad from the beginning of the campaign.

HT: Perfunction, whatever that is.

— W.C. Varones

During the debates over the various immigration amnesties that have been bandied about over the last few years, my reaction each time was one of anger, even rage. Everytime John McCain, Ted Kennedy, or one of their co-conspirators bandied about the latest “compromise” proposal, I reacted with anger.

Is anger a rational, reasonable reaction to a bad proposal? It turns out that it absolutely is! Go to about 3:28 into this video, and you’ll see what I mean.

— PoliPundit

Joining 5 other States, one of them being my home state of New Jersey, the Florida Legislature has issued a resolution officially apologizing for slavery:

TALLAHASSEE - In a watershed moment in Florida’s race relations, a solemn state Legislature on Wednesday apologized for the Florida’s long history of slavery, expressing “profound regret for the shameful chapter in this state’s history.”

Described as a bid for “reconciliation and healing,” the House this afternoon passed a resolution apologizing for state slavery laws dating back to 1822 – decades became Florida even became a state – that “perpetuated African slavery in one of its most brutal and dehumanizing forms.”

Earlier, the Senate passed the same resolution with Gov. Charlie Crist looking on.

Governor Charlie Crist, a possible candidate to run as McCain’s VP, offered to go one step further:

At the Capitol, Crist initially said that while the apology was important, the state should consider offering financial reparations to descendants of slaves. But he quickly backed away from that stance.

“Certainly it’s something you’d like to be able to do,” Crist said. “Obviously, in a difficult budgetary time, it’s a challenging thing. But I just want to focus on the good thing that has happened today…It’s a significant step.”

I don’t understand why these resolutions are necessary, no one denies the wrongful practice of slavery, but most Americans can not trace their ancestry back that far, and for those that could, may have been against slavery to begin with, so what do these resolutions do, other than setting up the right ammunition to one day challenge the Country for reparations, using these resolutions as accepting blame and offering apologies on behalf of people 150 years ago.

– ‘The Commish’ A.J. Sparxx