The SoapBoxers

President Obama has his reelection strategy underway.  His campaign slogan “Forward” has been unveiled.  Obama is currently leading Romney in the polls and the money is pouring in to his campaign fund.  The question that a lot of people are wondering though is who will be the running mates to Obama and Romney?

Will Obama Keep Biden?

Is Hillary Clinton in line for a promotion?

Obama has experience with Biden and we all know exactly what Biden’s slip ups provide us; humor.  Really, of all the individuals that Obama could have chosen for his 2008 campaign, he has the horse’s ass of the Democratic Party.  Biden has more slip ups that someone with a severe case of Tourette’s Syndrome.  It makes me wonder if whoever did the vetting of Biden was awake or asleep.

Obama could choose Hillary Clinton who is a hard worker, has well established relations (no, not those type of relations) on Capitol Hill and is arguably much more of a “moderate” than Obama or Biden.  Clinton could help secure the female vote that has been alienated by Hilary Rosen’s comments about Ann Romney never working a day in her life.

Romney’s Options

Christie

Romney has a few more suitors to consider for his running mate.  Chris Christie would win the hearts and minds of many with his true conservatism. He’s the current New Jersey governor and has not ruled out a run with Romney.

Romney and Santorum butted heads a lot in the primaries and there is little doubt that Romney is left with bruises and Santorum is likely still frustrated.  Santorum would bring the vote of evangelical Christian hard-core, traditional conservatives. The question is. “Can each of them get past the heated tiffs from the last 6 months?”

Rubio

Marco Rubio, the Senator from Florida is a high energy up and coming politician.  He is loved in his home state and would certainly help bring on board some of the Hispanic vote.  The tea party loves him and I believe he’d help bring back some of the hard core conservatives that don’t like a lot of Romney’s past.  His lack of experience though is a big deficit. (He’s more experienced that Obama was in 2008, but that isn’t saying much)

Condoleezza Rice is not a new name in politics and is has a great deal of experience with the White House.  Condoleezza was the Secretary of State under President George W Bush and probably has some negative feelings associated with her because some do not view the GW Bush years as favorable.  Condi though is a mainstream conservative with her head on straight.  She’d strengthen the female vote and certainly give some feelings of comfort to those of us that aren’t sure Romney is very conservative.  On top of all that, Condi is hot.

The Endgame Nears

Both candidates have plenty of short comings that they need their VP’s to help overcome.

Obama now has a 3 year record to run on and not much to show.  The recent politicizing of the Usama Bin Laden killing was the only major victory of his term and now that has led to harsh criticism.  Obama is a wealthy man, a lawyer and a member of the 1% that the OWS crowd protests.  He needs this same group to get him elected.

Romney has weaknesses as well.  He governed as more of a liberal than a conservative as the Massachusetts Governor.  His religion (Mormonism) has also upset many traditional conservatives.  He’s independently wealthy making him also a target of the 99% OWS group.  If wealth is evil, Romney is more evil than Obama when you compare his $240 Million to Obama’s $10 Million.  I’m sure Romney’s camp will use this as an advantage in dealing with America’s failed economy and recovery.

One thing is for certain. Obama stepped in it with the SEALs when he politicized their killing of Bin Laden.  I’m also wondering how the Right will use the dishonorable discharge of Marine Sergeant Gary Stein over his Facebook posting concerning Obama. In Sergeant Stein’s situation, there needs to be one more exception placed on the First Amendment for off duty military personnel on social media sites.  Obviously this is not considered protected speech and most certainly has been proven to have serious consequences.

We have some exciting campaigning and debates headed our way over the next few months.  Of course, we also have a lot of annoying phone calls and TV ads.  Hopefully after all that grief we have a conservative president with an intelligent and ready to lead vice president.

Squeaky…

Only one GOP candidate will reach the finish line.

Well folks if it was already pretty much clear after Rick Santorum decided his cause was not worth it after all and called it quits, the results from Tuesday’s primaries made it resoundingly clear that the General Election has arrived. Yippie! Well not really, for me at least. I am now kind of burnt out and disappointed in the whole thing. Without anyone that matter campaigning against him Romney swept the primaries on Tuesday and made it clear that he will get to that magical number of delegates at some point to claim the nomination officially – something that would have been more difficult had Santorum stayed in the race. Sure he still would have had the most delegates and Santorum was never going to get to that point before the convention either, but that is what made it so entertaining. The convention was going to be actually worth paying attention to, now it will just be the standard rubber stamped coronation of the nominee.

So now its time to move on to the next thing to talk about. Who will Romney choose to be his running mate? It is really to early to tell and tons of names get thrown around on a daily basis, but one thing is abundantly clear is that it will be someone well to the right of Romney. Whoever it is I just want it to get announced soon so we have all the players in the General Election revealed and I can start caring about following things again.

And now for the Bad Nuts of the Month, in no particular order…

Rep. Allen West

Does Allen West want a McCarthy-era witch hunt?

Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party? Florida Congressman Allen West seems to think many members of the Democratic party in Congress are. Earlier this month at a town hall meeting, West asserted that he has heard that at 78-81 Democrats in Congress are members of the Communist party. 81! Now why does that number sound familiar to me. Oh yeah it’s the same number that the guy he is trying to copy with this insanity, Joseph McCarthy said were loyalty risks in the State Department in 1950. Welcome to the return of McCarthyism! Next thing you know we are going to hear that the master of pointless Congressional hearings, Darrell Issa is going to do a remake of the House Un-American Activities Committee.

It’s the age old tactic of the Republican Party, fear, brought back in its vintage Cold War wrapping. The assertion is quite absurd, but then again so is the Republican Party. Calling anyone who is progressive a Communist is like calling members of the Tea Party a Nazi, a hard core conservative a Fascist or saying that all evangelical Christians wanting to bring about a theocracy. Did West give any names, or say who he heard this from? Of course not. Like most Republicans these days, West doesn’t worry about those troublesome things called facts.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant

This week on a radio interview discussion on the TRAP (Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers) bill he said the following referring to everyone on the left. “Their one mission in life is to abort children, is to kill children in the womb.” Actually if I did have a mission in life it would be to not have vile pieces of trash like you in political office. As far as abortion goes I just support CHOICE. It’s not my choice, but it’s also not my position to put my own choice upon others.

Brian Fischer

The American Family Association’s Bryan Fischer is going berserk over Mitt Romney choosing an openly gay man as his foreign policy and national security spokesman. Stating that “Gay men have hundreds, if not thousands, of random, frequent, and anonymous sexual encounters and that becomes a significant issue when we’re talking about appointing somebody to a post as sensitive as a spokesman for national security and foreign policy” and then going on to correlate this selection with the Secret Service prostitution fiasco and calling for him to fire his spokesman to “contain the collateral damage from this spectacularly misbegotten decision”

What a week for political news! First, Senator Santorum drops from the Presidential Race, citing the illness of his little Bella (she has Trisomy 18) and has been very sick lately. This is the most honorable reason, that I can think of, for someone to drop out of a political race.

As a comparison, most candidates drop out due to lack of funds, a scandal or inability to compete. I think that Santorum bowing out now, for this reason, should be respected. Anyone who supported Senator Santorum should be proud. He brought many issues to light that may not have seen discussion if it had not been for Santorum. However, Santorum supporters must recognize it is time to move on. I’ve seen/read quite a few bitter Santorum supporters who are not reviewing the remainder of the field to support the GOP. Folks, I know it’s only been a few days, but we’ve got to move on. When T-Paw dropped out after the Iowa Straw Poll, it took me MONTHS to decide on another candidate. But I did. There’s no point in holding a flame for a candidate who is no longer in the race. If we want to defeat Obama this year, we’ve got to suck it up and move on. It’s how politics works.

Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen

And speaking how politics works, I would like to encourage the left to keep talking. Last night, Hilary Rosen (a Democratic strategist) stated that Ann Romney “hasn’t worked a day in her life.” Really? Really. Ann Romney, a stay at home mother of 5 boys, who has MS and fought Cancer, “hasn’t worked a day in her life.” As a work at home mom of 3 boys (and one boy on the way), I think the only appropriate punishment for Rosen is to have to clean every ball pit in the world. Then maybe she’d understand just how hard mothers work.

It seems the Democrats are attempting some damage control. Michelle Obama (herself) tweeted “Every mother works hard, and every woman deserves to be respected.” The best thing the Left could do is put as much space between themselves and Rosen right now. But if they distanced themselves from every member of the Liberal Left that said something stupid, we’d stop hearing from Biden, Maher etc. I suppose that wouldn’t be a bad thing.

It seems the real war on women has been exposed. I thought the whole women’s lib movement was for women to be able to make their own choices. Yes, I have a 4 year degree, but I CHOOSE to work from home (gasp). And yes, I do work.

Thank you, Hilary Rosen. Thank you for bringing the GOP together. I encourage all of the working women (those who have children and those who have not been blessed with children yet) to back the GOP. Let’s show the left just how hard we do work.

Romney is the inevitable GOP nominee

As we get into April and many primaries become winner take all, it’s going to be easier for Mitt Romney to put distance between himself and Rick Santorum.  The carrot for Santorum is the fact that the month of May could hold some big wins for him – including Texas – but he might be in too big of a hole by them.  Currently, Romney leads 655 to 278.  He’s expected to win decisively in Connecticut, Delaware, New York, and Rhode Island. 

There’s also the key battle in the Keystone State on the 24th.  If Romney wins Santorum’s home state of Pennsylvania, it’s going to be hard to hold out much hope for Santorum.  Honestly, at this point, it’s a question of whether Romney can get to 1144 delegates.  Santorum doesn’t really have a shot at 1144, but if Romney can’t reach the number, a brokered convention could decide the nomination – incentive for Romney to keep the pedal to the metal.

Is Santorum focusing more on 2016 than 2012 at this point?  That’s a definite possibility.  His harsh anti-Romney rhetoric scores points with his own fans, but comments such as the one comparing Romney to Obama can only serve to hurt Romney in the general election.  A candidate in a primary really has two goals.  The first goal is to ensure that their party wins in the general election.  The second goal – a lesser goal, in my mind – is to get themselves elected to be the standard bearer for the party.  Is Rick Santorum handing votes to Barack Obama every day that he stays in the Republican race?  Probably.

The other candidates in the GOP field have really fallen to the side and at this point are really just serving as a spoiler for Santorum.

Billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who has funneled millions of dollars into the Gingrich campaign through Gingrich’s SuperPAC, is putting his checkbook back in his pocket.  At some point, you stop throwing good money after bad.  With his campaign in the red, Gingrich has begun charging $50 per pose for photo ops with supporters.  Yes, $50 for a photo with a guy who finished third in the 2012 Republican primary.  I think Gingrich has the whole concept of “buying votes” a bit backward. 

Is Ron Paul being cheated?

And then there’s Ron Paul.  Paul’s campaign really sheds light on the fact that there are two dimensions to a candidate’s popularity.  The first is the size of the following, and the second is the intensity of their support for the candidate.  Paul is off the charts in terms of average intensity.  The only problem is that all votes count the same – a fervent supporter’s vote doesn’t count any more than a tepid supporters.  A vote is a vote.

Rumors of a third party run are swirling again, but I really don’t see how this is a viable option.  How, exactly, would Paul get enough votes to be viable in the general election?  He’s running fourth in the Republican field, and it’s not likely that he would peel off many liberal votes from the Obama camp.

I’ve also seen some folks in the tinfoil hat brigade allege vote fixing in the primary, pointing to “huge” Ron Paul crowds and saying this with such huge crowds, his vote counts should be higher than the official tallies – so someone must be fixing the numbers.

Recent “evidence” of this is a recent Paul rally in Los Angeles.  His supporters show images of a packed house and allege that there were 10,000 in attendance.  Well, the facility in question (UCLA’s tennis center) has a max capacity of 6,000.  Even if the 10,000 number is accurate, look at this number in context.  The LA metro area has about 12.8 million people.  That would mean that one out of every 1280 people in the LA metro showed up to the event.

Fervent supporters, Paul has.  He just doesn’t have enough of the “grunt” variety who quietly cast votes.

Who Killed Breitbart?  His Heart.

It’s been a week since conservative leader Andrew Breitbart died.  At the time, I asked a friend of mine how long it would be before conspiracy theories started circulating about his death.  It took only a few days before people were saying that the Obama administration had Breitbart whacked.  While it’s fun to spin the theories, sometimes 43 year old men simply die.  My brother was only a bit older when he died due to heart issues.  It happens.

Now, if Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly both turn up dead in the next week, then I’ll agree that we should be taking a long hard look at this.  But until that happens, I’d suggest that Breitbart’s fans celebrate his life rather than trying to indict the president for murder.

The Billionaires Club

Mitt Romney picked up six wins on Super Tuesday, Rick Santorum picked up three, and Newt Gingrich won Georgia (the state he represented in congress).  It’s interesting to note that Santorum and Gingrich each have their own person billionaire funneling tons of money to them via SuperPACs.  This is completely legal.  However, the existence of the SuperPACs means that both can stay in the race even if they aren’t receiving decent fundraising support from anyone else.  In previous years, lack of funding likely would have pushed one of them out of the race by now, leaving the other to go head to head with Mitt Romney.  Head to head with Romney, either of them would have a chance.  But as it stands, they are splitting the non-Romney vote and are coming up short.  Romney can get a plurality in a three candidate race, but would likely have problems gaining a majority in a two candidate race.

Peyton Manning

After 14 years in Indianapolis, the Colts cut Peyton Manning.  The Colts are catching a lot of flak for this move, with many saying that they haven’t been loyal to the player who had built the franchise.

It’s true that Peyton Manning took over a team that sucked and turned it into a great team – largely due to the fact that he’s a stud quarterback.

But bear in mind that the Colts paid Peyton $26.4 million last year – when he didn’t play a down.  He was due to get a $28 million roster bonus if he wasn’t cut.  This isn’t some sort of pro-rated amount that would allow the Colts to wait around a month or two to see how Manning was doing – it was $28 million all at once.  If Manning didn’t play in 2012, this would have meant the Colts has paid $54.4 million for absolutely no on-field production.  Even if money wasn’t an issue, NFL teams are bound by a salary cap, and that sort of a cap hit would make it very hard to maintain a successful team.

If I were Irsay, I’d try to sign Manning to a one year deal with a low base salary and hefty incentives.  If he plays, he makes decent money.  If he doesn’t, then the cost is minimal.

Are the Colts right to go after Andrew Luck in the draft?  Certainly.  Even if Manning were to play this year, at some point soon he’ll be at the end of his career.  There’s no guarantee that the Colts will be able to get a player of Luck’s caliber in a later draft (in fact, it’s very unlikely, as a healthy Manning means a better team and a worse draft pick).  You need to take the bird in the hand.  I also tend to be a fan of having a young QB carry a clipboard for a year or two,  While a handful of recent QB have had success being thrown into the fire, historically, this has burned a lot of teams.

I liked Santorum before it was cool. Well, I still don’t know if it’s cool…but I am thankful that I researched my candidates and decided on Santorum while it was still possible to talk to him without having to wait an hour (or two). I met him in December in Carroll, Iowa. I was able to have a discussion with him, introduce him to my Dad and we each got a great picture with him. Now I’ve read reports of people having to wait two hours for a quick picture with him.

Many friends have asked how I feel about Santorum being attacked. It doesn’t bother me at all (well, maybe a little, when it is complete lies). But that means that he’s ahead….and gaining.

Honestly, I believe that Santorum has the best chance to beat Obama in November. Romney may have the money, but remember, it was RomneyCare that was the basis for ObamaCare. Why would the GOP want to put up a candidate who laid the groundwork for the worst Democratic attempt at a Socialist takeover? Doesn’t make sense to me.

And don’t get me started on Newt. I’m not sure how any true Conservative who votes on their values can vote for Newt. Sure, he’s educated. He’s a very smart man. But ethical? Not so much. If he can’t keep his vows to his first wife…his second wife…who is to say he’s going to keep his vows to his voters? When my (very Conservative) Doctor and I were discussing gay marriage, he said, “I think everyone has the right to get married…once,” and I agree. Once. One and done. Hopefully just like Obama. As in “one term and done”.

Obama has already been compared to Carter (a lot). Back in 2007 I had a bumper sticker that read Obama = Carter 2.0 (I didn’t put it on my vehicle, I’m not one of THOSE types). I’m hoping we can continue the Obama/Carter comparisons. As in a real Conservative sends him packing after one term. Now I’m not saying that Santorum = Reagan. That would be GOP blasphemy. But I believe he is the best in the field.

By the way, if you live in a state who has yet to vote in a primary/caucus, please vote for either Santorum, Romney, Paul or Gingrich. It’s great that you’re still in love with Bachmann/Perry/Cain/Huntsman…but your vote won’t matter. None of those four have a chance to face Obama in November. Vote for someone who is still actively campaigning. Otherwise you’re wasting your time and the time of the auditor who has to count the votes.

Hey dedicated Soapboxer readers! Miss me? I know you’re checking the website to see what I have to say about all of the developments in the ever-changing GOP race. Right?

I know it’s not nice to brag, but I totally called it. I should have bought a Powerball ticket on caucus day. I wrote an article for Yahoo! News  on caucus morning with my predictions. Granted it’s taken a few weeks for people to realize I was right, but such is my life. I’m used to it. When I’m right, I’m not humble. Especially when people slammed me for weeks saying that Santorum “had no chance” or “should have dropped out a while ago”. I told a friend that he’d be “eating his words” and he replied “doubt it”. Fork or spoon, buddy. Fork or spoon.

[Editor’s note: this is breaking news this morning.  The official tally gives Santorum the win by 34 votes.]

If you read the article, I was not only correct on the winner of the caucus but I called it ALL THE WAY DOWN THE LINE. Yeah. I’m awesome. Take that Miss Cleo. I also predicted Newt’s ex-wife issues, Romney’s win in New Hampshire and Huntsman’s mistake. Let’s take a look at that fun gaffe!

Where Jon Huntsman Went Wrong (Or Don’t Diss Iowa, Stupid)

The headline sums it up pretty well. If you want to be President of the United States, that means President of ALL of the United States, not just the East Coast. When you diss Iowa, you diss the whole midwest. And if you have a map (and are not Miss America), you’d know that’s a lot of the Country. As soon as he made his corn-Presidents comment, it was game over for Huntsman.

Newt’s Ex-Wife Problem

In my article regarding finishes in the Iowa Caucus, I stated that

Newt Gingrich isn’t conservative enough for Iowans, thus giving him a fourth-place finish. He’s got too many skeletons (and ex-wives) in the closet. He’s a brilliant and smart man, but Iowans believe if you can’t keep an oath to your spouse, what makes us believe you’ll keep an oath to the voters.

I had my husband in tears (from laughter) the other night. I compared Newt’s marital record to someone who is a habitual leaser of cars. You’ve got to trade up to the newer, younger, prettier model every few years…but you’ve got to take it for a test drive first. Am I wrong? I didn’t think so. It should be interesting to see (if the interview does air) what his ex-wife has to say. Forget the Kardashians, Newt should have a reality show titled, “Gettin Down with the Gingriches”. I’d watch it.

Perry is Dropping Out

I’m kind of sad to hear this news. It makes sense, he’s at the bottom of the pack, polling horribly and not getting endorsements. I thought he was a good enough guy, he was just horrible in debates. I think everyone can recall the “Ummm” heard round the world. Granted, W wasn’t the best debater either, but hey, I love me some W. Maybe it’s the accent or the Cowboy I like. Maybe Paula Cole was right, “Where have all the Cowboys gone?” Either way, this one is going back to Texas. Hopefully he’s “saved a pretzel for the gas jets.”

What’s going to happen after South Carolina? Who knows. Maybe I’ll make a prediction soon. I just hope whomever is the GOP candidate they can take out Obama. Keep the goal in mind, fellow Conservatives. OMG. Obama Must Go.