Thursday, December 20, 2007 - Posts
-
sponsorship
Tom Tancredo didn't only end his own candidacy today. He killed Fred Thompson's as well.
Thompson had picked up a very, very slight comeback narrative in the past week, thanks to a strong showing at the Des Moines Register debate and a two-week bus tour through Iowa. But, predictably, just as Fred got going, he started stumbling. First came a schadenfreude-rich column from Roger Simon, and then came news that he doesn't have any money.
So, today's Tancredo withdrawal was a last chance that turned into a last gasp for Fred. It was expected that Tancredo would endorse another candidate—most likely Romney or Thompson. And after a close friend of Tancredo's, Iowa Rep. Steve King, endorsed Thompson, Thompson seemed to be in line to get the nod from Tommy the Tank. But that was not to be.
Tancredo endorsed Mr. Illegal-Immigrant-Groundskeepers instead. The endorsement will help Romney show undecideds that he's Tancredo-tough on immigrants, compared with the recently Tancredo-ized Huckabee.
But an endorsement for Thompson would have helped Fred more than the support helps Romney. Fred would have picked up a signature policy platform—something he currently lacks. Plus, Thompson has more to gain than Giuliani or McCain by finishing in third in Iowa. Tancredo would have helped him get there.
Now Thompson is once again left without any purpose. Tancredo had become the poster boy for immigration hawks everywhere. Thompson is still stuck on Law & Order pin-ups.
As we have a habit of paying tribute to fallen candidates, we thank Tancredo for his service. I know I wrote a post back in October that called on Tancredo to withdraw, but I had sort of warmed to his wily grin. Here's hoping that Tancredo's political death wishes are followed and his candidacy is buried under the border fence. On the U.S. side, of course.
-
sponsorship
The medal for best political anagram of the 2008 election is ripe for the picking. (That throne has has been empty since the abdication of H. Ross Perot -- aka "Short Poser" -- and, before him, Spiro Agnew -- or, "Grow A Penis.")
In keeping with the tradition begun by our colleague Timothy Noah (aka "Ho, a Tiny Moth!"), we ran the candidates' names through Wordsmith.org's Anagram Server and came up with these gems for each presidential hopeful (aka "Spiteful Headline Pro.") Where there were slim pickings, we cheated and added a middle initial.
Got a better anagram for one of the candidates? Email us.
-
sponsorship
If Mike Huckabee wins the Republican nomination, he may have 19-year-old twins from Oregon to thank. First, Brett and Alex Harris led Chuck Norris to endorse Mike Huckabee. Now, they're trying to raise him a million dollars.
The Harris brothers started hucksarmy.com in October after realizing Huckabee supporters didn't have a digital water cooler to congregate around. (Unclear if Jesus juice is the drink of choice.) In many ways, it was an attempt to build a community for Huckabee similar to Ron Paul's.
Taking another page out of Ron Paul's shadow campaign, the Harris brothers are now organizing a moneybomb for Dec. 27. The fund-raising goal is relatively modest: $1 million from 10,000 donors. That pales in comparison to the $10-plus million Paul brought in during his two moneybombs this quarter. Some Paul fans weren't pleased, even though Huck's effort wouldn't threaten Paul's record total.
So, as has happened before, some in the Ron Paul community dug through their digi-saboteur tool kit to unleash the deadliest weapon of all: spam. Brett Harris told me that in the first hour the site was live, people pledged $200,000--except they didn't. Ron Paul spammers did. Harris said the e-mail addresses attached to the pledges denigrated Huckabee, exalted Paul, and had plenty of naughty words. (UPDATE 5:19 p.m.: Yes, in the past it wasn't Ron Paul supporters who spammed. Harris thinks it was this time.)
The twins, in response, took action. They weeded out the fake pledges and posted two harshly worded letters on the moneybomb Web site that took aim at the "rotten apples" in Paul's base. In one letter Brett writes, "You [speaking to the spammers] may liken yourselves to American revolutionaries, but your behavior is more reminiscent of Nazi tactics -- sending in hooligans to break into and disrupt political rallies for their opposition." This, needless to say, did not make many Paul supporters happy.
Animosity for Huckabee has been brewing for quite some time amongst Paulies. In the Tale of Two Dark Horses, Huckabee has far surpassed Paul nationally. Moneywise, though, Paul's ad-hoc organization has drubbed Huckabee time and again. Now the two big story lines of this campaign cycle are at war with one another. In the battle of Huck's army versus the Paul technocrats, what does victory look like? Last time we checked it's judged by votes, not dollar bills.
As is our occasional custom with Ron Paul stories, here are some handy links: Talk back in our discussion board, The Fray, or drop by my inbox.
-
sponsorship
Bob Kerrey, the former Nebraska senator who recently referred to Barack Obama's middle name and Muslim background as potential advantages for a leader, has apologized for his comments. "I answered a question about your qualifications to be president in a way that has been interpreted as a backhanded insult of you," Kerrey wrote in a letter to Obama Wednesday. "I assure you I meant to do just the opposite."
His apology was so earnest, in fact, that he practically sounded like he was switching endorsements. From the AP's report:
He went on to say he considers Obama one of the most talented people he's met in politics and "exceptionally qualified by experience and judgment to be president of the United States."
Obama should use that in his next ad.
Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum
What did you think of this article?