High Ground Underground

Another GOP Debate Following the debate Thursday in Florida, the apparently universal consensus (spinmeisters, focus groups, polls) had Romney as the clear winner, and Perry stumbled. The focus group showed people were leaving Perry for Romney. And just when I thought I was seeing a clear trend, the FL straw poll 2 days later had Cain way ahead of both Romney & Perry -- seemed a lot of them were fed up w. politicians in general -- gee, I wonder why after Obama. And Romney'd been working FL hard, I thought. So things are still fluid, w. rumblings of Christy entering the race. And Romney today had audience w. the Donald, as all candidates seem to be making that pilgrimage – is he (the Donald) the king-maker? After a few debates, there’s beginning to be a lot of repetition, which of course serves some purposes. But I’ll only highlight some key new points or exchanges. Perry was asked where his detailed jobs plan is – others [most notably Romney] have posted theirs. He didn...

Despite Perry’s early uninformed high poll numbers, Romney remains strong, and Perry’s veneer appears to be fading as he came under attack on various issues in the debates. These included his executive order mandating female child HPV inoculations (& possibly scandalous donations by the benefitting drug company & his persuasive staffer who benefitted), his stance on higher education benefits for illegals, his approach to Social Security dismantling, and the amount of credit he should take for his jobs record. When asked how much credit Perry deserves for Texas’ relatively strong jobs record, Romney replied that being dealt 4 aces doesn’t make you a good poker player. I.e., Perry already had a state w. no state income tax, w. Republican legislature, low corporate taxes, and right-to-work laws (not so union-burdened). And he pointed out that Perry’s 2 predecessors had higher job growth. Perry countered that his terms were in a time of national downturn. Yes, but not as dire ...

10 years ago today I had just returned from 19 days in Scandinavia. I’d decided to pick up a new Saab 9-5 at the factory in Trollhatten, Sweden, then drive it around Scandinavia, including Denmark where I have relatives. So my mother and I, and a Danish relative, toured from Aug. 20 to Sept. 8. It was fantastic - Oslo & Viking ships, Stockholm, Helsinki, Copenhagen & the last week in Jutland. In fact earlier plans had considered staying a few more days, possibly returning Sept. 11, but my father had wanted to celebrate his birthday, Sept. 8, with my mother. Otherwise, we may have spent an extra week in Newfoundland, with others whose flights were diverted that fateful day. I’d been home in my LA suburb of Gardena 2 full days – Sunday then one day at work on Monday -- and still recovering somewhat from jet lag. Tuesday morning I had just turned on the news after shaving, to watch while eating breakfast. I saw the incredible scenes of one of the Twin Towers having just be...

And in This Corner..... With the new kid on the GOP block (Perry) threatening all the others, the gloves came off, and he said he felt like a piñata. Jobs Perry countered the moderator’s charge of Texas being low in education and poverty (but high in employment, so low-paying jobs) by touting creating a million jobs – some 90% above minimum wage [that’s good?]. Romney was charged w. low Massachusetts job creation and being a private sector “buyout specialist.” He countered with how Mass. was in freefall, turned around & created more jobs in Mass. Than Obama in the nation. And he started businesses & made other more successful. He noted Texas has more people, resources, favorable business climate & Republican legislature – none of which he had in Mass. And the zinger was that Perry taking credit for those jobs is like Al Gore saying he invented the internet. And when Perry said that Mitt’s predecessor Dukakis created 3 times as many jobs, Romney fired back that Perry...

Romney, Perry & the Tea Party Romney's front-runner days now may be over (at least for a while), with Perry taking the lead as soon as he entered the race, and before anyone knew much about him. I think another big factor (though fewer now admit it) is religion. Perry's another good-‘ol-boy Huckabee. It has awakened some fire in Romney, at least -- he's pointed out Perry's (& others') career politician status, and his own business experience. We'll see how the debates and campaigns go -- it could be a repeat of 2008, but I'll do what I can. My sister saved a good cartoon which I found online: While the above pokes a little fun at some Tea Partiers (& Mormons), don’t get me wrong. I may not agree with everything the more extreme Tea Partyers advocate (it’s not a monolithic movement), or their sometimes intransigent or hasty approach (although at least they're peaceful and orderly, unlike the union & Leftist thugs, and sometimes lib...