Jimmy Orr on the signifigance of the straw poll

Jimmy Orr with some perspective on this weekend's Values Voters straw poll:

Sorry, but Huckabee beating Romney at a political conference more than three years before the next presidential election? Missed that one. It didn’t come across the ESPN ticker yesterday.

But since this is a political blog, we’ll give it its due. And we’re not diminishing the conference or the Family Research Council. It’s just too early to put much into it.

[...]

At this stage, it’s all a tie. And it will all be forgotten shortly.

But if you get down in the weeds, Palin’s numbers are notable. Some may argue that she performed poorly. But she, unlike the other second place finishers, didn’t attend. She was in Alaska welcoming home her son Track from duty in Iraq.

[...]

All in all, does it mean much? Nope. But it gives a glimpse into what some social conservatives are thinking.

Welcome home, Track. God bless you, and your family. Thank you for your service to your country.

More: Giovanni’s World has a few more words to say about the straw poll.

- JP

It might be worth joining the GOP just to be a Ted Nugent Republican

The Value Voters Summit is underway in Washington this weekend, and many political animals are looking forward to the straw poll which will be taken Saturday at the conference. While it's just a straw poll, and the 2012 presidential race is still pretty far down the campaign trail, some pundits think they will be able to read something significant in the tea leaves. One of those is Bernie Quigley of The Hill's Pundits Blog:

It should be useful in cutting through the ambiguity and denial about the various grassroots movements around the country. In a poll six months ago, Palin and Paul came in tied for second, behind Mitt Romney. Romney will come back as we get closer to 2012, but he should sink some this weekend because of his association with healthcare insurance as governor of Massachusetts.

The brooding ambiguity in the heartland has both Jeffersonian aspects (Ron Paul) and Jacksonian aspects (Sarah Palin). Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry registers in on both of these. All three might be categorized as Ted Nugent Republicans to varying degree and manifestation.

The straw poll at the Value Voters conference should give some indication about the Nuge Factor that is rattling some traditional Republicans. Nugent was the star of the show in some of the Texas "tea party" rallies on April 15.

"Ted Nugent Republican"... Hey, we like that. We like the sound of it so much that we're considering a change in our voter registration from independent to GOP just so we can call ourselves "Ted Nugent Republicans." The "Kill It and Grill It" rocker is one of Sarah's staunchest advocates.

Quigley continues:

Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina, was sent almost to seizures when a purely conservative crowd started chanting "Ron Paul, Ron Paul, Ron Paul..." to the tune of "USA, USA, USA..." during one of his speeches. Paul is not a Republican, Graham shouted back at the group.

We never thought we would find ourselves in the position of defending Ron Paul, considering the unkind and incorrect things he has said about Palin supporters, but he's a heck of a lot more of a Republican than Lindsey the Liberal claims to be. 

Quigley suggests that Mitt Romney might just be the leader who can pull the various factions of the GOP together, and he cites Mitt's success in turning around the 2002 Winter Olympics as evidence. We're not seeing it. The failure of RomneyCare in Massachusetts doesn't bode well for him, and there are a significant number of conservatives in the GOP base who consider Romney too much of a changeling on the issues to trust him. And we don't see the Olympics as having much in common with a political party, either.

- JP

Sarah Palin proves her critics wrong again

The Palin-bashers of the nutroots Left frequently remind their drooling readers that the former Alaska governor is such a rank opportunist that she will seize on every occasion which presents itself so that she can make political hay and advance her career.

But the record suggests otherwise. Consider that the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate had the chance to address a GOP women's group at the Reagan Library in what would have been the photo op of the decade. Picture Palin at the podium with the Boeing 707 (Special Air Mission 27000) which served The Gipper as Air Force One perfectly framed overhead in the shot. No ambitious pol would pass this one up, right? Wrong. Palin declined the invitation, just as she passed on several other prime political opportunities.

And now she's done it again. According to Ralph Z. Hallow of the Washington Times:

Nearly 2,000 social conservative activists from 49 states gather for a Values Voters Summit in Washington Friday and Saturday, but movement favorites former Gov. Sarah Palin and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will not be addressing the throng.

[...]

Mrs. Palin, who resigned as Alaska's governor in July, and Mr. Gingrich, the former Georgia congressman, are the two biggest draws for conservatives across the country.

Despite their physical absence, Mrs. Palin and Mr. Gingrich will be part of the straw poll - the first major sampling of social and religious conservatives' preferences for 2012.

"The Palins are expecting the return of eldest son Track this weekend from a yearlong deployment with an Army combat brigade in Iraq," Palin spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton told The Washington Times.

As we reported Monday, Track's unit, the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division will complete its rotation home with the last soldier stateside no later than Oct 2.

Why the nerve of that woman! Passing on a prime political opportunity and putting her family before her career. Come to think about it, that's exactly what Sarah Palin did when she resigned as governor.

One of these days, the Sarah Snipers are going to wake up and realize that they have reached the point of diminishing returns by smearing former Governor Palin. It's turning off independents on both sides of the mid-field stripe. Their guy has a negative approval index to the tune of minus eight points; every major item on his agenda is opposed by an increasing majority of Americans (56 percent now oppose his health care "plan"); he is making enemies out of our allies and sucking up to our enemies; he's spending our money like he actually had it; he's run up the national debt and deficit to several times that of his predecessor -- in sum, his presidency is an EPIC FAIL. They are going to have to stop attacking citizen Sarah Palin and get their defense on the field to guard the goal line, or it's GAME OVER.

- JP