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)

On the Road with Adam Hasner

Here's the latest video from Adam Hasner, following him on the campaign trail:


YouTube | On the Road with Adam

Sandy Adams: "We have jobs bills sitting over in the Senate" [VIDEO]

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to interview Congresswoman Sandy Adams at her office in the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, D.C.

Adams is one of only fifteen members of Congress who have yet to miss a vote this year. (See Frank Torres' blog about this accomplishment here.)

Several of those votes Adams has taken were for the more than two dozen jobs bills that the House has passed, but have yet to become law.

Why? Because the Senate Democratic Leadership refuses to even discuss them, never mind actually voting on them.

#OccupyDenver vs. #BlogCon11: Now With Riot Police!

The Occupy Denver gang is at it again today. If you missed my post yesterday, I posted a lot of great photos, videos, and links about the defective hippies and how they wilted under our superior logic and vicious sarcasm.

I do want to take a moment and say a very loud and grateful "thank you" to the Denver Police Department, who have done an excellent job keeping us safe at our conference. Contrast that with the inexcusable inaction by the District of Columbia Police during Americans for Prosperity's Defending the Dream Summit last week - the AFP staffers called 911 several times when the Occupy DC protesters were literally trying to storm the convention center. The Denver PD have been absolutely wonderful and their presence at the hotel has been very reassuring.

Unfortunately, it seems that Occupy Denver has gone from relatively harmless silliness like electing a dog named Shelby as their leader to following the trend of Occupy DC and other Occupy groups that have turned violent.

Another poll asking the wrong question

Here we go again...every time someone does a poll on the Florida Senate race, it's followed by a flurry of overexcited articles and blog posts. Quinnipiac University published their latest poll this week, along with some breathless predictions about what the numbers mean. Crowley Political Report has some good comments here about why the Q-poll goes too far here ("Florida Republican voters can stay home next year because the nominee for U.S. Senate has already been decided, according to Quinnipiac University...").


The primary election isn't until August 2012, and the simple reality is that most people just aren't paying much attention to the Florida Senate race yet. This is reflected in the fact that "Undecided" is still winning the race (45% of Republicans, and 59% of Republican women, have not made up their mind yet).


I'm a political junkie. I live, eat, breathe politics. I love reading the latest news about the candidates, debating proposed legislation, analyzing communication strategies, and finding intriguing little details in campaign finance reports. But most people aren't like me. Even those who almost always vote in almost every election aren't really engaged in this race yet. They'll figure it out by the time next August rolls around, but until then...meh...

VIDEO: Occupy Denver Tries to Occupy #BlogCon11, Gets Smacked Down by Vicious Sarcasm

I am really starting to lose faith in the hippies of my generation. Last year, I wrote about how some "defective hippies" tried to protest a rally for now-Congressman then-candidate Dan Webster but weren't organized enough to show up on time.

Well, I'm in Denver at BlogCon and the Occupy Denver folks decided to come and protest our conference. Of course, they weren't very smart: they announced on Twitter that they were having a "surprise march" on our conference, somehow failing to understand that a room full of bloggers has access to the internet too. I'll grant them this: unlike the goons that Grayson sent after us last year, Occupy Denver didn't just show up on time, they were early.

Hey @OccupyDenver, it's not a "surprise" march if we know you're coming. http://t.co/vRgAqgrJ #duh #blogcon11Fri Nov 11 16:38:44 via Tweet ButtonSarah Rumpf
rumpfshaker

Happy Veteran's Day

In honor of Veteran's Day today, I wanted to share a quick story with you from my trip to D.C. last week.

After our conference ended, we headed back to our hotel and there were a lot of people in military dress uniforms walking around. It turned out that there was a big gala honoring veterans that evening, and it was a really special group of veterans.