Shocker! Big Spenders Having a Hard Time In Campaign 08– And Watch For Emergence of Tom Ridge
Four times, Mitt Romney has outspent his rivals by amounts so big that we could guarantee a college education for a lot of kids. Four times, in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida, he lost to candidates short on cash.
Usually, as we say in Philadelphia, “money talks and __________walks!”
But things are changing. Romney is a fine candidate with alot of virtues but Americans are getting testy about negative campaigning and all that emotional trash that comes with the campaigns these days. Just look at what happened to Bill Clinton in South Carolina this past week.
You can’t run a national campaign without money, but you can try and rise above it. It is not easy to run any campaign without resources, but I’ll bet you tha Mitt Romney could have done just as well without having to tap into the family fortune.
Second post-Florida item: Early support in politics is considered solid gold. One of the first supporters of John McCain was the multi-talented Tom Ridge, the former Pa. Governor who should have sued the Bush administration for non support when he ran Homeland Security. The guy worked so hard and was cutoff from the White House by the Bush cronies.
I’m not saying this is a definite, but you heard it here first –If John McCain wins the GOP nomination, Tom Ridge will be on a very short list of Vice Presidential hopefuls. You can count on that.
Think of it: Clinton-Rendell, Obama-Rendell, McCain-Ridge.
We would have a lot of fun with those choices.
Larry,
How ’bout McCain-Huckabee? This should provide the balance that Republicans really need to assure that the core issues are addressed.
I believe that a McCain-Huckabee ticket could beat any combination of Democrats in the national referendum.
It is my opinion that the USA is ready for a woman President - just not THIS woman (Clinton), and we are certainly ready and overdue for a Black President, but not Mr. Obama, not now.
It’s gonna get interesting!
Kinda nice to be on the extreme sideline here in Iraq to watch the fray, and be free of the US media and the spin doctors. News out of Europe and the mid-East is much less filtered and spun than back home. We can see and read it for what it is.
Got my absentee ballot submitted for my participation in Super Tuesday (Arizona), and I wish more Americans overseas would get involved in the electoral process (Soldiers and civilians alike). It is great to be able to still have a voice while deployed away from home.
My first choice is Mike Huckabee, but with the results in from Florida, it sure seems as though John McCain may be the baby of the Republican Party, so the number two spot for Governor Huckabee is a nice consolation prize.
Thanks for this forum! God Bless!
I’ll second the Huckabee idea. Tom Ridge, however, will not be on McCain’s short list. His bull-headed governance of the state of Pennsylvania (remember how he screwed up the Philadelphia shipyard deal with the Germans in his first term?) and Ridge’s lack of personality makes him a non-starter. McCains sharp and sometimes nasty personality needs to be offset with a warm fuzzy youthful VP who is also more socially conservative than him. Huckabee fits that bill and can go around the country reassuring evengelicals and scaring others about Hillary or Barrack.
Ridge? Tom Ridge? Mr. Personality running for a national office?
I get it, this is supposed to be one of those humor columns with a touch of irony right?
Let me check my plastic sheeting, duct tape, canned food emergency pack for instructions.
Heh, Larry, it just dawned on me. Little people have learned how to make big fiscal waves on the Internet. What if we told the TV channels to stuff it (they in effect said that to us, who own the airwaves, when they stopped equal time TV.)That was Reagan’s canny way of turning the electoral process over to the rich. That and firing all those striking flight controllers.Why don’t we begin to use the Internet more and more to wage our electoral campaigns. And get the students in high school to prep for their first votes by seeing how policies are formed rationally instead of irrationally. Change is the big theme. Let’s change the way we run campaigns. I’ve just watched two German states (Hesse and Lower Saxony) run gubernatorial campaigns in a few weeks.There isn’t time to be grossly dishonest in short, snappy campaigns.Isn’t it about time we stuffed SuperTuesday in the historical attic? Patrick D.Hazard, Weimar, Germany.
I think Obama should pick Senator Kennedy to be his running mate. After all, Kennedy said Obama remind him of his brother, John. I don’t think Obama is anywhere near where JFK was. I like Robert Kennedy kids going for Clinton, which Ted and Caroline should have gone for. Hillary is much more like JFK than Obama will ever be. Hillary has feeling for people (lower and middle class) just like JFK and RFK.
Hillary ould never pick Ed…no geographic balance. For the same reason, McCain will never pick Huckabee…plus Huckabee would be a disaster. The man is a nut. For my money I see it as:
John and Rudy (note the endorsement today) vs. Hillary and Obama.
The Democrats would LOVE to have Ridge on the Republican ticket. He is would put everyone to sleep. I CAN see him in a GOP administration just like I could see ED in a Democartic administration..but let’s hope it is not something like secretary of state where his lack of tact would actually be fun to watch…maybe something that involves food.
Obama’s main weakness is lack of national experience, picking a barely known Eastern politician with the nickname “Fast Eddie” would be a disaster. Biden maybe, in the same manner as Bush needed a Chaney to give gravitas to his ticket. Eddie, who I actually like, brings nothing to the table except maybe Pennsylvania, a state which the D’s should and need to win even without him.
Will Hillary pick John Edwards to be her running mate in the November election?
LARRY ….interesting that you’d speculate on the return of Tom Ridge from (relative) recent obscurity….I also thought the same thing….He’s close friends with McCain and have the Vietnam Vet thing in common…..and it is key for McC to have a VP who comes across younger and stronger, since he’s gonna be 71 or so….of course, the far-right wing GOP wackos never liked Ridge (not hard-headed/hard-line enough for their—questionable–taste) so that would be a problem….but at this point, maybe the R’s ain’t got much of a choice….I worked with him and respect him …though not necessarily in agreement with everything he says or does….bottom line is: McCain needs a running mate who will counter concerns about his age and health, balance geographically and match him in what they stand for…..
I feel Obama doesn’t have the experience to lead this country just yet. I know after getting through 8 years of Bush, America will be happy with anybody new, but again, I think we need a more experience person to do the job and that will be Hillary.
Obama’s “lack of experience” in national politics is both his most attractive quality and biggest strength among a nation fed up with Washington politics. As to what he can accomplish with his vim and ideals, hopefully we’ll have a chance to see starting January 2009.
And now for the pipe dream: McCain-Obama ticket for president (but which party…), idealogically they seem to have much in common, not the least the “change” message resonating among independant voters.
Hillary has no experience either so I can’t see how anyone would pick her over Obama on that basis.
I really like the idea of Tom Ridge as VP for McCain. That would be a strong ticket. Ridge should have been Bush’ choice in 2000 but instead he went with the crooked Chaney.
Ridge would make a fine President one day. I am a strong supporter of him.
GW was real smart in cutting the legs out of all the moderate Republicans who might challenge him.
He put Ridge in charge of Homeland Security BEFORE he had the CIA and others reporting to HS! IOW, he had no power.
He put Whitman in charge of the EPA. In a Republican Administration that is like putting Ma Bell in charge of anti-trust legislation.
Lastly, he marched Colin Powell up the UN to deliver that career-killing speech knowing it was full of lies.
Crafty one that GW.
We need a man of character like Tom Ridge leading this nation!
To the person who said Obama is nowhere near JFK, I agree. Obama has values and character and won’t be sneaking in Hollywood stars into the White House for affairs.
Hillary has 35 years experience and also will pick up the John Edwards votes.
35 years experience doing what?
That is BS. She has 7 years experience as an elected official.
Surely we are not counting experience like Whitewater?!
If you are counting for-profit business experience then let’s skip her and go right to Bloomberg or Gates
OK, let put President Hillary Clinton and Vice-President Obama into the White House in 2009.
If the big money guys (Romney and Edwards this go ’round) win, then they get convicted of buying an election. If they get their hat handed to them, then we are all happy we can’t be bought? I don’t get that. I don’t think it is, or ever was, about the money. Ross Perot anyone?
When the Iowa caucass predictions turned out to be as accurate as a Bolaris weather forecast, all the political hacks pondered how they could be so wrong. Tie into your last blog about this country’s disinagrating attitude toward the press…it seems like we are getting more style than substance. What happened to doing the legwork, not just making the most obvious of observations for the sake of having something to say.
BTW Larry, don’t take this as criticism, it isn’t. I just never got the money argument. I also am growing more frustrated when politicians and politico’s seem suprised that, by and large, most people actually give a damn. Why the big suprise that candidates are not courting the opinion of a select, chosen few, but pretty much everyone?
The parity in Republican primary results are no better example of this.
Tom, there is only one guy that posts on LK’s blog who has as much passion for Hillary as you exhibit. Coincidence? Maybe, but I get a sense that this fellow might be running scared and is trying to find another body who is willing to sell his soul for a chance to turn the clock back to the 1990’s. America knows that a vote for Hillary is a vote for the past. Her slogan of experience is true. She’s had so much experience dealing with Bill’s antics that I heard if she does become head of state Bill will become out of state as in splits-ville.
If you didn’t get my drift than I’ll tell you directly. Hillary is a user and once you’ve completed your usefulness you’re forgotten. After all these years in politics how many friends does she have? Sandy Berger maybe but I don’t see all of her contemporaries stepping up and publicly endorsing her run for the president.
just watched the r’s debate,is that the best the r’s have to offer romney seems to be the best candidate,hucklebee,paul,and mccain had a weakest showing.
reagan was a theme,obama (reagan democrat)would be and ideal candidate for the republicans.