Althouse: "In his two weeks as a presidential candidate, Rick Perry has done something that neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney could do..."

August 31, 2011

"In his two weeks as a presidential candidate, Rick Perry has done something that neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney could do..."

"... wake up the left."

Says Politico.

From my perspective here in Wisconsin, I had not noticed that the left was asleep. Indeed, I've noticed that it could use some sleep. A long, restful, sanity-restoring snooze. In a bed, not on a marble floor.

33 comments:

MadisonMan said...: Why should 'the Left' -- whatever that is -- be awake now anyway? It's not like it has a Presidential Primary decision coming up.; 8/31/11, 10:46 AM
G Joubert said...: I say this is just wishful thinking on the part of Politico. Whatever their present state of consciousness, I don't think there's much of a chance of the left being anywhere near as jazzed about Obama as they were in 2008, and that's going to be a big problem for him. And I don't think the prospect of Perry as the R candidate would do it anyway. Now, if Palin where the nominee, that might do it. That'd gin 'em up.; 8/31/11, 10:53 AM
Scott M said...: But, damn! Wash your feet first.; 8/31/11, 10:53 AM
edutcher said...: The Left is certainly in need of a "sanity-restoring snooze" and has been for about 50 years.

It's been short on sanity for a very long time.; 8/31/11, 10:53 AM
edutcher said...: G Joubert said...

...

I don't think there's much of a chance of the left being anywhere near as jazzed about Obama as they were in 2008, and that's going to be a big problem for him.

27% of Demos would like someone else.; 8/31/11, 10:55 AM
Anonymous said...: Maybe if they got some rest, they would stop the infernal singing.; 8/31/11, 10:56 AM
Robert Cook said...: There is scarcely a "left" still extant in this country, but to the degree there is one, they have been largely somnolent during Obama's miserable administration...or perhaps terminally discouraged to the point of hopelessness.

That this vestigial "left" may have been aroused from slumber or despair at the prospect of Rick Perry as President is discouraging actually; it indicates that those who fear what President Perry might do are unconscious of what President Obama has been doing. Obama has been no less subservient to the right wing and to the financial elites than Rick Perry is likely to be, and certainly as eager to continue spreading death and destruction abroad as Perry might be.

Frankly, whomever is elected next year, from whichever of the two major parties...we're fucked.; 8/31/11, 11:19 AM
garage mahal said...: How can anyone sleep when you write 10 posts a day on "Wisconsin left"?

What are they up to NOW!!??; 8/31/11, 11:19 AM
Carol_Herman said...: Summers don't count. Americans don't pay attention until Labor Day.

On September 3rd Sarah Palin will announce. One way. Or the other.

Maybe, she'll announce she likes Perry?

But maybe she won't.

The "ENTERTAINMENT" has just begun.

And, Mitt Romney's family is willing to keep spending hundreds of millions of dollars "to buy the place."

Does money talk?

Does one side learn anything?

Making fun of Obama may be the biggest losing ticket in the world.

NOBODY CAN TELL. Because reading the future ... and reading horror-scopes is just stupid.

But funny.; 8/31/11, 11:24 AM
Paddy O said...: Weird. That means Sarah Palin must be extraordinary. She never has been a presidential candidate, and she's kept the Left from slumbering for years now.

At the same time, it's still a weird thing to say. Michelle Bachman certainly has bothered the Left too, what with the magazine cover, the edited video scandal, on and on.

Certainly it's true that both Obama and Romney have lulled the left into dozing off at times, but it's not like Perry is the first thing to catch their eye since 2008.

Romney is basically equivalent to "generic Republican candidate" so it's no surprise he's not raising a lot of attention.; 8/31/11, 11:28 AM
Alex said...: Hey garage - as opposed to the Wisconsin right wing? All those klansmen to cover...

You are fucking deranged.; 8/31/11, 11:31 AM
gerry said...: Perry, Sharpton said, “is looking to go to the O.K. Corral and start shooting. … Rather than the left get caught sleeping, we better load up, because he is bringing it.”

Certified malicious liar and anti-semite Al Sharpton uses violent metaphors to whip up his minions!

This one got me:
“It looks like Rick Perry’s campaign and its supporters are taking secret corporate spending to a new level,” said New York City Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio, who has campaigned against corporate involvement in politics. “His actions personify the corporate-sponsored campaigns that many of us feared Citizens United would create.”

Heh. From the L.A Times, July 23, 2008:Of the $20.3 million Obama's joint fundraising committees amassed in June, 86%, or $17.6 million, came in chunks of $5,000 or more and 64% came in increments of $28,500 or more, campaign finance reports filed over the weekend show.

Frank Clark, head of Commonwealth Edison, which supplies electricity to Chicago, gave $2,300 to Obama early in the campaign and $28,500 last month to the Democratic White House Victory Fund.

John Rogers, founder of the Chicago investment house Ariel Capital, also gave the maximum to Obama's presidential account, and $13,000 to Democratic White House Victory.

According to the campaign, Clark and Rogers are among Obama's largest fundraisers, each having raised more than $200,000 from friends and associates.

Employees at Exelon, the parent company of Commonwealth Edison, have given more than $180,000.

Another goodie:
“He doesn’t just go to religious right gatherings — he creates religious right gatherings, and that’s a big difference,” he said, citing The Response, a 30,000-person event Perry led in Houston in early August.

Lynn said last week’s polls showing Perry in the lead among Republicans had startled his group’s supporters.

“Any time there’s a very viable candidate who has taken on the mantle of a crusader for Christ and ignorer of the Constitution, that makes very many people who care about the real Constitution very nervous,” he said.

My irony meter pegged when this jackwagon accused Perry of being an "ignorer of the Constitution". So much for freedom of speech!

Good heavens, they've gone goofy!; 8/31/11, 11:39 AM
bagoh20 said...: I would hate to wake up to what the left is and realize I'm part of it. Just go back to sleep. The rest of us will fix it, and you may even have a life worth living if we succeed. If we don't, still better for you to stay asleep, cause it ain't gonna be good for anyone, if we fail.; 8/31/11, 11:40 AM
bagoh20 said...: The last thing anyone wants is for the whole nation to copy the success of Texas. That would mean millions of jobs, money to spend, fiscal sanity,... Oh the horror. Quick somebody wake up and stop it.

Yea, that's gonna sell us on Obama. Regardless, the educated have learned skills that allow them to rationalize that away, and the stupid don't care, they just like him, or is that the same thing? Anyway, it's gonna be a horse race.; 8/31/11, 11:47 AM
michaele said...: If Perry is so awful and out of the mainstream, you would think the liberals would be delighted at his leading in the GOP polls.; 8/31/11, 11:49 AM
Carol_Herman said...: The LEFT was real when we were fighting Commies! Because the sides were there ... full of believers.

It's all gone, now.

Truman sent them away ... when he decided America was really gonna play "stalemate."

The only real person who could'a made a difference was General Douglas MacAarthur. Truman dispensed with him as a threat.

But got Eisenhower, instead.

There's enough disappointment to go around, now. What with the lunacy of chasing Hollywood stars looking for communists. Having some grocer provide a red book that told the two networks whom to hire and fire. And, the general stupidity that arose by growing couch potatoes from the luminescence of the boob tube.

Then, of course, we "got" affirmative action. Which should have been a prized opportunity for people who didn't get a leg up ... to get there on smarts, alone.

But that's not what happened!

Sure. There's gonna be changes, ahead.

I think given the cards he's got to play, Obama's doing the "schlemiel." So when his cards drop more people laugh, than not.

And, more people are afraid of religious zealots. Than not. Which is why Islam's not a solution but an ALARM BELL!

Besides. I've always believed kids break with their elders.

The worst position to be in today, is an older teacher ... with the useless textbooks. Thinking the youth are being convinced of anything.

Hardly likely.

Now, where is there a problem you might fix? Why, heck. You might come up with ideas of your own that are not PROHIBITION! (That's always stupid.)

And, not dependent on what Obama is doing. But to have workable ideas at bringing jobs back. (Labor don't know how!)

And, getting people willing to invest. Take risks. Open businesses. And, get rid of the MOUNTAIN both sides placed inside their Federal cash-cow machines.

The whole thing's been bought by a few.

And, nobody wants to go after them where they take losses!

This is true, even in Germany. (Where there's a fantastic article written by MICHAEL LEWIS, up at Vanity Fair.)

Seems the german real estate never ballooned. But the Wall Streeters found "Dusseldorf." German bankers who kept investing in the sub-primes ... even after the market blew up.

And, they don't want to pay the piper, either.

Interesting times.

Better candidates.

Obama doesn't have to worry ... no better candidate has shown up yet worthy of the competition.

As to Marx, Groucho won!

As to communist plot, go look at Karl Marx's grave.

Maybe, before we get to "better" politicians, first we need an electorate that doesn't pay attention to baby kissing. And, really gives short shrift to the idiots who don't know science from a hole in the wall.

Kids are smarter than you think. AND, they have more energy!; 8/31/11, 12:05 PM
Jim at Polimerican.com said...: It's a lot more than just wishful thinking by Politico, it's DESPERATE wishful thinking.

Look at who they cite:

The Brady folks? With Heller and McDonald rewriting gun laws all over the country and putting places like Chicago on their heels, exactly what influence do they really have any more?

Barry Lynn? He's always been the fringiest, fringe of the atheist community. Has anyone EVER taken him seriously?

Al Sharpton? Don't get me started...

Women's Campaign Forum? Who?

Notice who they're NOT citing. Leftist VOTERS who, according to the lastest PPP poll are more apathetic about 2012 than ever. And that's from the latest Kos/SEIU poll they did.

Politico has begun their campaigning extra early.; 8/31/11, 12:12 PM
traditionalguy said...: Is Perry causing wild crowds to erupt again?

He is not shrinking violet, that's for sure.

But will Texas factions named Bush spring a Jeb announcement in time to stop the crazed Rick Perry?; 8/31/11, 12:43 PM
Pragmatist said...: The ones who could really use a nap are the hysterical teabaggers who seem to foam at the mouth when you use the O word. Maybe they should look to themselves before they complain about others.; 8/31/11, 1:03 PM
edutcher said...: Robert Cook said...

There is scarcely a "left" still extant in this country

Cook is homesick for the days when The Left meant William Ayers and Rap Brown and Diana Oughton were waging war on this country.; 8/31/11, 1:04 PM
AlanKH said...: But will Texas factions named Bush spring a Jeb announcement in time to stop the crazed Rick Perry?

Noooo. Too many bad memories. One Bush sided with the Dems on taxes, the other sided with them on spending. No more Bushes. I don't even want Nunn Bush shoes worn in the White House.; 8/31/11, 1:15 PM
Raul said...: What makes anyone, especially Ann, think that all of the teachers are from the "left?"; 8/31/11, 1:28 PM
Paul said...: It woke them up cause they are now afraid... VERY AFRAID!!

Rick can win this. He can take the presidency away from this stupe we have for president.

So they have better be afraid. Might win both houses AND the presidency. And by filibuster proof margines.; 8/31/11, 1:31 PM
Raul said...: michaele - "If Perry is so awful and out of the mainstream, you would think the liberals would be delighted at his leading in the GOP polls."

What makes you think they're not?

Politico?; 8/31/11, 1:32 PM
Raul said...: Paul - You're dreaming.; 8/31/11, 1:32 PM
Zach said...: I think a lot of people were holding onto the weakness of the Republican field as a sort of trump card -- no matter how bad it got with Obama, they could still see a path to victory against Romney, Bachmann, etc. But Perry has exactly the profile you'd look for in an election like this.

It's anybody's guess if Perry will still look good after the campaign is over. But I think a lot of people are suddenly confronting the possibility of losing.; 8/31/11, 1:50 PM
Anonymous said...: If we pick up the left and burp them, will they go back to sleep?; 8/31/11, 2:39 PM
Scott M said...: If we pick up the left and burp them, will they go back to sleep?

New term for me.

BCOTD

(Best Chuckle Of The Day)

Congrats.; 8/31/11, 2:41 PM
Dustin said...: "What makes you think they're not?"

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Oh too funny.

The democrats were salivating at a 'Romney is a flop flopper' campaign. They were hoping to basically copy the Bush 2004 campaign.

Instead, they are back to square one. Obama is again the inexperienced chump, only now he's got a record of failure against a record of success.

There's nothing more pathetic than a democrat pretending they are happy to be facing this fight. Perry is basically the very best candidate conceivable. He's taller, he's a veteran, he's more experienced, he's less scandalous.

All the dems have is to say 'oh, we wanted you to do that'. And I guess the same 'he's dumb and weird' thing they've been doing since 1972.; 8/31/11, 3:47 PM
bagoh20 said...: "27% of Demos would like someone else."

They have the most liberal candidate possible who could win, so I guess they want someone more conservative. See we have common ground to build on.; 8/31/11, 4:10 PM
Robert Cook said...: "They have the most liberal candidate possible who could win...."

Who is that?

Certainly not Mr. Obama, who is a tepid centrist, at most.; 8/31/11, 4:19 PM
sorepaw said...: Politico is scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Barry Lynn?

Once upon a time, he was anti-draft.

For the last 30 years, he's been a shill of the National Education Association, defending at all costs a government monopoly over K-12.; 8/31/11, 8:03 PM
Jim Bullock said...: Well, up until Perry they were focused on policies, with occasional holding shots at opposition individuals and groups. With Perry that flipped, with policies and positions supporting attacks on him as a candidate.

Interesting what counts as behavior when "awake."; 8/31/11, 10:35 PM