No CGI Bunnies Were Harmed in the Making of this Video...

...but we can't say the same for small businesses in the current economy.

The latest video from Cain Connections:

Scott Plakon, the Lucky Charm Legislator

They put athletes on Wheaties boxes. Maybe they
should replace the leprechaun with Scott Plakon?

There's being in the right place at the right time, and then there's Florida State Representative Scott Plakon.

Plakon seems to be a lucky charm for presidential candidates: within 24 hours of his endorsement, things start going well for that candidate - very well.

Dear GOP Candidates, Come Get Me

As I noted last week, I've been officially "undecided" about who I'm supporting in the Republican presidential primary for a few weeks. 

Herman Cain: Wasted Potential

In case you were under a rock today, Herman Cain announced earlier that he is suspending his presidential campaign. There's a million articles up already with the details of what he said, so I'm not going to bother with rehashing the announcement. Instead, I'd like to put down a few thoughts on the campaign and where it all went wrong.

Polls: Do they matter?

An interesting look back...here's the Real Clear Politics Average from the GOP Presidential primary race four years ago (figures from November 30, 2007):

Rudy Giuliani - 28.5%
Fred Thompson - 14.2%
John McCain - 12.8%
Mitt Romney - 12.7%
Mike Huckabee - 9.2%
Ron Paul - 4.2%

Two quick thoughts about Herman Cain

1. I really, really hope Herman Cain doesn't drop out this week. Regardless of the truth of any of these accusations, if he gives up this quickly, it will send a signal to the Left and the media that burying someone with allegations of sexual impropriety is a successful way to drive a conservative candidate from the race.

Peter Schorsch needs a dictionary

Bloggers are still picking dumb fights in order
to get people to come to their sites? Lame.

Yawn. I'd really thought that blogger wars were, like, sooo 2008, but apparently Peter Schorsch is determined to hang on to this trend:

As Herman Cain campaign implodes, thoughts on Deborah Cox-Roush, Sarah Rumpf and others who have backed him

The post isn't really about Cain so much as it is Schorsch's chance to attack me six ways to Sunday. He spends about two-thirds of the post blathering on about me. Seriously? What in the world did I do that was interesting enough to warrant a top headline post?

I mean, seriously? In a week in which Barney Frank announces he's not running for reelection, Herman Cain's campaign makes national news for all the wrong reasons, the euro is nearing meltdown, and redistricting squabbles are causing waves across the state, attacking another local blogger is how Schorsch wants to spend his time? Seriously?!

First of all, Schorsch committed a serious breach of ethics by disclosing several of my comments that we agreed were "off the record." We had a phone conversation a few days ago and then some back-and-forth direct messages on Twitter yesterday. I've saved the screencaps and not only did Schorsch affirm that my previous comments were off the record, those direct messages were as well. 

Questions, both silly and serious, about the Cain campaign

I'm going to start this post by saying I am highly skeptical of this latest accuser of Herman Cain, Ginger White. What I said to the Palm Beach Post earlier this month - that these accusations "don't reconcile with my conversations with [Cain] and what I know of him" - still stands.

That being said, I have a few thoughts and questions and musings, some serious, some less so...

May your Thanksgiving be full of Sunshine

In preparation for this post, I spent some time this week looking up past Thanksgiving presidential proclamations and quotes, collected statements from some politicians (at least those who were smart enough to not ask for campaign donations in their Thanksgiving messages. You know who you are. Tsk tsk!), and some other fun stuff. Enjoy:

What were you doing in 1994?

What were you doing in 1994? If you're old enough to vote, you were alive then. I was at Edgewater High School, in the marching band and German Club. (My nerd credentials run deep). One big highlight from that year was finally convincing my parents to let me get contacts instead of glasses.

Yes, 1994 was an interesting year. Between Nancy Kerrigan getting clubbed on the leg by a figure skating rival, Kurt Cobain's suicide, and O.J. Simpson no longer being viewed as just that football player in the Naked Gun movies, it's amazing anyone managed to remember there was an election.

And regarding that 1994 election, here's what some people you may recognize were doing:

Follow up from Saturday's GOP debate

Ah. Finally. Someone put the entire debate on YouTube. I was having the worst time getting the original video to embed properly and it was slowing down this site's load time. The perils of amateur web design...sigh...

Anyway, read my post from yesterday, and then I really recommend that you watch the debate when you get a chance. FYI there's some introductory remarks from the debate organizers and Frank Luntz, and the actual debate starts at about the 35 minute mark:

YouTube | PikaFilms | Thanksgiving Family Forum -- Complete Video

The GOP debate you probably didn't watch, but should have

Last night, CitizenLink, a Focus on the Family affiliate, sponsored a debate in Iowa last night between the Republican presidential candidates, focusing on social issues. But you probably didn't see it, because it was online only, in a livestream that was scheduled up against a lot of college football games. That's really a shame, because it was definitely worth watching.

(At the end of this post, I've included a link to the video of the entire debate, so you can watch it, and I strongly encourage you to do so.)

"999 Means Jobs Jobs Jobs!"

Here is Herman Cain's new radio ad, which just went into heavy rotation on The Rush Limbaugh Show starting today:

You want a campaign team? I'll give you a campaign team!

La-dee-dah. 

I have to say, it has been quite entertaining watching certain politicos and journalists go on and on about how Herman Cain's campaign "didn't have anyone in Florida." Well, there's a big, huge, gigantic difference between "we don't have anyone" and "ha ha, we aren't telling you yet!"

St. Petersburg Times | The Buzz Blog | Herman Cain adds big names to Fla campaign team

Look for an announcement soon about some top-tier political talent joining Herman Cain's Florida campaign team.

Everyone has a 9-9-9 Plan!

Herman Cain isn't the only one with a 9-9-9 Plan:

[Hat tip: Crooks and Liars blog]

See the original 9-9-9 Plan here!

Marco Rubio on O'Reilly Factor

Here's Senator Marco Rubio's appearance on The O'Reilly Factor from earlier tonight:


FoxNews | O'Reilly Factor | Marco Rubio in No Spin Zone

Rubio discusses the controversy surrounding the Washington Post article (see my posts here and here):

Cheese!

Here's Herman Cain at the Iowa State football game yesterday, taking a picture with their mascot:

Cain's campaign staff posted the photo on Twitter with this comment:

Team HC ~ OK. Maybe it's just us but we think these smiles seem similar. #IA #Cyclones http://t.co/4rCHsJfMSat Oct 22 21:15:56 via webHerman Cain
THEHermanCain

Cy the Cardinal is no Albert, but he does have a pretty nice smile!

Update on Cain's Campaign in Iowa

Here's a good NRO profile of the new head of Herman Cain's campaign in Iowa:

Herman Cain: Positively Pro-Life

Positively Pro-Life

The past twenty-four hours were a whirlwind of controversy for Herman Cain, as statements  he made on Piers Morgan's CNN show appeared to suggest that he was pro-choice.

While that may not have been a great interview, and his words could have been chosen with more clarity, the accusation that Cain is pro-choice or a waffler on the issue is completely incorrect.

Here's an easy 1-2-3 on why I know that Herman Cain is pro-life:

First of all, here's the statement that Cain issued yesterday:

Harry Belafonte not a fan of Cain, but Castro's OK?

"You shall judge of a man by his foes as well as by his friends."

- Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim

This quote applies well to actor Harry Belafonte, who attacked presidential candidate Herman Cain as a "bad apple" and "false Negro" (are you kidding me?!) in a recent television appearance. Of course, Belafonte has no problem waxing poetic about Fidel Castro:

Babalú Blog | Herman Cain insulted by Harry Belafonte, who hails Fidel Castro

Staying awake for an interview though, seems to present more of a challenge.