Somebody Needs To Tell Richard Land He Is Not God

Now that Newt Gingrich sits on top of the polls for the Republican nomination, his private life is taking center stage. Evangelical leader Richard Land urged Gingrich to address his "turbulent marital history." He said in an open letter:

"Mr. Speaker, if you want to get large numbers of evangelicals, particularly women, to vote for you, you must address the issue of your marital past in a way that allays the fears of evangelical women,.... You must address this issue of your marital past directly and transparently and ask folks to forgive you and give you their trust and their vote."

Another PR Disaster For The GOP

Well, this is just great. It was bad enough that the GOP is constantly portrayed as being more preoccupied with protecting tax cuts for the rich than helping the middle class. Now the GOP opposes an extension of the payroll tax cut. Just who runs PR for Congressional Republicans?

The Lesser Of Two Evils Is Still Evil

Since announcing his second attempt at winning the GOP nomination, Mitt Romney's main argument has been that he is the only one who can beat Obama. He is the only one who can appeal to independent voters. To bolster their case, his supporters point to polls showing Romney close or ahead of Obama in key swing states. Nevertheless, Romney has not been able to move the needle and his support is stuck at 25% of the polls +- margin of error.

Next Time Look Up The Tax Tables

It is clear that progressives are going to make income inequality a central theme in the upcoming elections. Can't really blame them. God knows President Obama can't run on the economy.

Yes, yes, yes.... "It would have been a lot worse, if the stimulus bill wasn't passed". We all heard that talking point. No need to repeat it ad nauseum. And yes, yes, yes.... "It is all Bush's fault".. We heard that too. But let's face it. It is a lot easier to run on low unemployment and a prosperous economy than try to prove a negative or blame a precedessor most Americans prefer to forget.

Any discussion about income inequality will include the progressive assertion that the "rich" pay less income taxes than the poor. Immediately followed by the assertion that the GOP is the party of the rich. Not very original but still very much in vogue.

Power! Stopping Cain

It seem so long ago when Herman "Godfather" Cain was riding high in the polls and his web ad became a sensation. He never imagined that a cigarette puff could create so much controversy. So much free publicity. And so much cash rolling in...

That was about two weeks. That was before Politico published a story about two women filing complaints alleging sexual harassment while Cain was heading the National Restaurant Association.

The GOP Needs To Call Buffett's Bluff

 AP Photo By Nati Harnik, File

Despite being part of the eviiil 1%, Warren Buffett is held in high esteem by progressives because he wants Congress to raise his taxes. Whenever he has a chance, he bemoans the unfairness of the tax code which collects more from him than his secretary (give her some Berkshire stock already!).

Weekend at Perry's

Despite horrible debate performance after horrible debate performance, backers of Rick Perry are still making the case that he is a viable candidate to go against Obama.

They fall back on lame excuses like "we are not electing a debating champion". They try to divert attention by bringing up Obama's eloquence and how it has not helped our economy. Or they go the opposite direction and point out that Obama is also not quick on his feet by bringing up the "57 states". And then there is the old standby joke about the teleprompter. (Note to the GOP: Republican presidents have used the teleprompter too!)

Watching the attempts to prop up Perry reminds me of the 1980s movie "Weekend at Bernie's".

Time For The GOP To Rethink Its Position On Personhood

“If it can’t pass here, it’d be hard to pass anywhere,” ~ John Bruce, Political Science Professor at the University of Mississippi.

Yesterday voters in Mississippi rejected Amendment 26 which would have declared a fertilized egg a person. The final numbers are not in but it appears that the measure was defeated by a margin of at least of 55% to 45%. A stunning number when one considers that Mississippi is the heart of the Bible Belt.

Defining Personhood: Mississippi's Amendment 26

After suffering staggering defeats in Colorado in 2008 and 2010, the movement to declare a fertilized egg (zygote) a person has moved to Mississippi. On November 8th, Mississippi voters will vote on the following amendment:

"Be it Enacted by the People of the State of Mississippi: SECTION 1. Article III of the constitution of the state of Mississippi is hereby amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION TO READ: Section 33. Person defined. As used in this Article III of the state constitution, "The term 'person' or 'persons' shall include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof." This initiative shall not require any additional revenue for implementation."

Power! JR Pushes Back

Tired of taking verbal hit after verbal hit from Mitt "Bobby" Romney during the debates, Rick "JR" Perry decided to push back. Hard. His campaign released a tough ad on Romneycare.

This is not the first time that Romney faced criticism over Romneycare. Tim Pawlenty labeled it Obamneycare only to back down during the first presidential debate. And then watched his campaign fold as activists concluded T-Paw was just too nice to take on POTUS Obama.