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.

Media misses the obvious in Pakistan story

In case you missed it over the weekend, there was an incident in Pakistan that is causing us some serious foreign policy headaches. There's some conflicting reports about what happened, but basically NATO airstrikes wiped out two Pakistani military bases and killed about two dozen of their troops. Our relationship with Pakistan is apparently at the "worst" it has ever been since the war in Afghanistan began.

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...

Karen Diebel: Family > Politics

Last year, I had the privilege of working on Karen Diebel's Congressional campaign when she ran in the Republican primary for the District 24 seat. Karen's a strong social and fiscal conservative and I was thrilled to see her explore running for one of the new Congressional districts in 2012.

Karen's campaign was off to a solid start. She'd earned the endorsement of the Concerned Women for America and others who had backed her candidacy last year, and was building up a base of contributions.

The campaign was getting close to the time where it would be ready to get kicked into high gear. The Florida Legislature was working on the redistricting maps so Karen would know where her district would be, fundraising was going well, and she had launched an updated KarenDiebel.com website with the latest information about the campaign.

Running for elected office is a serious commitment, and one that Karen takes seriously. I spoke with her on the phone last night, and Karen told me that when she looked at her three sons and thought about how precious this time was while they were still young (they're 15, 13, and 12), she realized that her heart just was not in running for office this year. 

Does Emperor Romney Have No Clothes?

For months, we've been hearing that Mitt Romney is the "presumptive Republican nominee." He's the permanent frontrunner, the "inevitable" candidate, the polished professional running a machine-like campaign. Each stumble by any other candidate has been viewed as bequeathing benefits to Romney, further forging his armor as the almighty invincible candidate.

"But he isn't wearing anything at all!"

But is Romney really invincible? Is his selection as the Republican nominee for President really inevitable? Or does Emperor Romney have no clothes?

Happy Birthday Adam Hasner!

Today is Florida Senate candidate Adam Hasner's 42nd birthday. Adam's wife, Jillian, sent out this message earlier this week:

This is always a very special time of year for our family.  Not only do we get to observe Thanksgiving and all the ways we've been blessed, but we also get to celebrate Adam's birthday which happens to fall on the day after Thanksgiving.

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:

Reactions to the Super Committee Super Fail

File this under "News that Surprised Very Few People:" Turns out that Joint Deficit Reduction Committee, aka the "Super Committee," wasn't so super after all, and officially announcing today that they had failed to reach a deal.

RT @KatiePavlich: pretty sure the new word is for #fail is going to be #superMon Nov 21 12:57:47 via Twitter for iPhoneMichelle Malkin
michellemalkin

And, file this under "News that Surprised Absolutely No One:" Obama gave a prime time press conference in which he blamed the Republicans, demanded that people "pay their fair share" several times, blamed the Republicans, claimed that the failure to reach a deal jeopardized health care for the poor and medical research, blamed the Republicans, called for tax increases, blamed the Republicans, and oh, yeah, blamed the Republicans. 

Dramatic Chipmunk is shocked
that Obama blames the GOP.

Our president seems to lack the ability to give a press conference when things don't go his way without sounding like a petulant child.


I'm waiting for someone to make a mashup YouTube video with Obama press conferences and a toddler having a temper tantrum. Or maybe a remix of "Blame Canada!" from the South Park movie as "Blame Republicans!" Seriously, feel free to take these ideas, they're beyond my tech abilities, but just give me credit! (And a linkback, of course.)


Anyway, here's some reactions to the Super Committee Super Fail today from Marco Rubio, Adam Hasner, Newt Gingrich, and around the conservative blogosphere:

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.)

RedState interview with Karen Harrington at #BlogCon11

RedState's Moe Lane (follow him on Twitter @moelane) got this great interview with Congressional candidate Karen Harrington last week while we were at BlogCon in Denver:


YouTube | MoeLaneIII | Karen Harrington (R CAND, FL-20 Primary)

In case you missed it, here's my BlogCon interview with Karen:

Sunshine State Sarah | Interview with Karen Harrington [VIDEO]

I can't stop laughing at this Ron Paul Bad Lip Reading video

The folks at BadLipReading.com have been making videos with the Republican presidential candidates' ads, replacing the original words with an  intensely funny dose of awesomesauce. Here's their latest, featuring Ron Paul:

'RON PAUL' €” A Bad Lip Reading SoundBite - watch more funny videos

Gotta love the fact that the video starts with "A lot of people say, I kinda wish you were less coo-coo." Heh.

This post is dedicated to all the leprechaun farmers who are gamblers and love dishwashers. 

(Just watch the video, it will make sense...well, sort of.)

Conservative Media Conference Call with Adam Hasner

Earlier this week, Florida Senate candidate Adam Hasner held a conference call for conservative bloggers and media outlets.

Adam talked at length about his conservative principles and what motivated him to run for the United States Senate, stating that "2010 was only the beginning...not enough has changed in D.C." Drawing a distinction from the rest of the field, saying that Florida "doesn't just need someone who's electable," but instead "someone who will stand firm on principle."

"It's not just about electing any Republican, but electing the right Republican." - Adam Hasner

Interview with Karen Harrington [VIDEO]

Catching up from BlogCon last week...Here's a short interview I did with Congressional candidate Karen Harrington when she stopped by our conference in Denver:


YouTube | Karen Harrington at #BlogCon11

Rubio may have solution for gridlock on jobs bills

Earlier this week, I posted an interview with Representative Sandy Adams, in which she expressed House Republicans' frustrations about how they had passed over twenty jobs bills, but the Senate had yet to approve any of them, or even allow them to be discussed.

Well, at least two Senators are willing to start the ball rolling. Florida Senator Marco Rubio, teaming up with Senator Chris Coons (D-Delaware) in a bipartisan effort, has sponsored the "American Growth, Recovery, Empowerment, and Entrepreneurship Act" - aka "The AGREE Act." 

Chris Dorworth on Ed Dean Radio

State Representative Chris Dorworth was on the Ed Dean Radio Show on Monday, to discuss Scott Maxwell's distorted stories about him (you can read my blog post about that here):


Ed Dean Radio Show | November 14, 2011

Heck yeah, I'm biased! And proud of it!

Thanks, troll! 

"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood for something in your life." 

- Winston Churchill

The fun part about blogging is I always know when I've been effective: if some anonymous troll attacks me personally, that means I've hit home. 

So this morning, when the so-called "Florida Conservative News" website slammed me, I just had to laugh:

FIFTEEN TRILLION DOLLARS?!

Ugh...our national debt hit fifteen trillion dollars today.

$15,000,000,000,000.00!

(and the numbers continue to spin)