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White Light and the Iowa caucus

P

PACE

Guest
Prisms are well known for light speed retardant capabilities, in fact, that is their function; slow down the speed of light so the entire color spectrum is visible to the human eye, Raindrops do this post a heavy rainfall, given enough light, you are blessed with a rainbow.

The Iowa caucus served as a prism last night, to slow down the speed of rhetoric so that the color spectrum of the GOP hopefuls was fully exposed to the naked human eye.

The vote split, between Romney and Santorum speaks volumes to the real divisiveness in the GOP; Romney, the true retail politician, the safe bet to beat Obama, is neck to neck with the social conservative, Rick Santorum, with the purist, Ron Paul, behind them.

Now, looking at the flash poll conducted in New Hampshire, you'll see Romney with a healthly lead, but surprisingly enough, Huntsman, who registered 1% in Iowa, while never campaigning there, streaks up the ladder to sit comfortably behind Romney.

So this creates a bit of a conundrum for the GOP; while Iowa who has the burden of first, clearly sent a message that the party is indeed split, New Hampshire sends a message that they are leaning towards the fiscal conservatives, or rather in this case, dare I say it, moderate republicans, It's no wonder, New Hampshire and of course Maine still hold the most moderate of all Republican Senators, Collins and Snowe, and remember that Rhode Island wasn't far behind for a while with Chaffee. These Senators were the disciples of Bob Dole, who did a fine job in organizing consensus in the Senate.

But you have a raw edge to the GOP which will not compromise, and they will battle any progress in order to promote an agenda, and that would be, make Barack Obama a one term president.

Romney, in his congratulatory speech last night, repeated this dog whistle for those who are not voting his way. He basically pushed aside those who did support him and in typical corporatist ruthless fashion, went after the "market share" he missed.

Of course he did, but that's just the fever, it's really not the virus,
The virus is the raw edge of the GOP further pushing the GOP to the extreme right, while the country remains moderately middle, slightly left or right. This is reminiscent of the Progressive Party or the Bull Moose Party of TR's time, when the party indeed split, and cost themselves politically. I happen to think that TR was correct when he showed outright ire at the machinations of Standard Oil and old man Taft, but in the end, it caused failure, and it was in direct conflict with a democratic way of thinking; the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Now Santorum, more than likely sincere in his family/faith values, has stepped into territory where he has no quarter, no experience, and no credability, that would be foreign policy. Santorum never once engaged himself as a spear carrier for aggressive foreign policy, why would he have any creds now? he was a US senator and had many opportunities at the time to champion a strong foreign policy, maybe it's because others did it for him, and he does not see that now. Well, that could be the case, but certainly Rick cannot campaign on his experience in this arena, and for that matter, neither can Romney.

In fact, I would feign to guess that both Romney and Santorum have not made many friends either at State or the DOD with their reckless and politically motivated comments concerning foreign policy, specifically Iran. Our DOD is well aware that Iran has a strong Air military compentency, and while cooler heads have prevailed, the comments made to "gather market share" must be considered immature at best and malovent at worst when it comes to this campaign.

But what is surprising, is the change in the GOP; GOP was considered the party of strong military might, and respect thru fear in the world arena, also they are known for being lock step and shoring up behind their blue ribbon taker, no matter what. And let's not forget, there was a modicum of common denominators among the GOP faithful; most importantly, lower taxes.

Now you have a clear color band in the GOP, which is reminiscent of the Democratic party of the 60's. There were purists, radicals, social progressives, etc, and it was a fractious and contentious group who finally came together to organize under the credo, "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few".

I would be very interested in seeing the flash polls today in South Carolina, I would be very surprised not to see Santorum at the top of the group. But then again, this GOP is intriguing and interesting for a change.

But their colors are showing, very clearly, and theres another point to made, contrary to popular belief, these candidates are unique in another way;

They really don't like each other, and the all famous talent to compartmentalize one's opinions and facets of life may fail here. Look JFK made compartmentalization of his life a pre-requisite for the presidency, From what I am seeing and hearing, I would say, except for Romney, who appears to have no soul, every one of them would fail in this regard.

JFK had a soul
Romney has a focus group

Love the colors, as usual, they are brilliant

Regards
Pace
 

Boca

Governor
Well, well...that's an impressive takeaway from a preference poll of 5% of the registered voters. I do love the prism analogy though.
 

BRU

Mayor
Prisms are well known for light speed retardant capabilities, in fact, that is their function; slow down the speed of light so the entire color spectrum is visible to the human eye, Raindrops do this post a heavy rainfall, given enough light, you are blessed with a rainbow.

The Iowa caucus served as a prism last night, to slow down the speed of rhetoric so that the color spectrum of the GOP hopefuls was fully exposed to the naked human eye.

The vote split, between Romney and Santorum speaks volumes to the real divisiveness in the GOP; Romney, the true retail politician, the safe bet to beat Obama, is neck to neck with the social conservative, Rick Santorum, with the purist, Ron Paul, behind them.

Now, looking at the flash poll conducted in New Hampshire, you'll see Romney with a healthly lead, but surprisingly enough, Huntsman, who registered 1% in Iowa, while never campaigning there, streaks up the ladder to sit comfortably behind Romney.

So this creates a bit of a conundrum for the GOP; while Iowa who has the burden of first, clearly sent a message that the party is indeed split, New Hampshire sends a message that they are leaning towards the fiscal conservatives, or rather in this case, dare I say it, moderate republicans, It's no wonder, New Hampshire and of course Maine still hold the most moderate of all Republican Senators, Collins and Snowe, and remember that Rhode Island wasn't far behind for a while with Chaffee. These Senators were the disciples of Bob Dole, who did a fine job in organizing consensus in the Senate.

But you have a raw edge to the GOP which will not compromise, and they will battle any progress in order to promote an agenda, and that would be, make Barack Obama a one term president.

Romney, in his congratulatory speech last night, repeated this dog whistle for those who are not voting his way. He basically pushed aside those who did support him and in typical corporatist ruthless fashion, went after the "market share" he missed.

Of course he did, but that's just the fever, it's really not the virus,
The virus is the raw edge of the GOP further pushing the GOP to the extreme right, while the country remains moderately middle, slightly left or right. This is reminiscent of the Progressive Party or the Bull Moose Party of TR's time, when the party indeed split, and cost themselves politically. I happen to think that TR was correct when he showed outright ire at the machinations of Standard Oil and old man Taft, but in the end, it caused failure, and it was in direct conflict with a democratic way of thinking; the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Now Santorum, more than likely sincere in his family/faith values, has stepped into territory where he has no quarter, no experience, and no credability, that would be foreign policy. Santorum never once engaged himself as a spear carrier for aggressive foreign policy, why would he have any creds now? he was a US senator and had many opportunities at the time to champion a strong foreign policy, maybe it's because others did it for him, and he does not see that now. Well, that could be the case, but certainly Rick cannot campaign on his experience in this arena, and for that matter, neither can Romney.

In fact, I would feign to guess that both Romney and Santorum have not made many friends either at State or the DOD with their reckless and politically motivated comments concerning foreign policy, specifically Iran. Our DOD is well aware that Iran has a strong Air military compentency, and while cooler heads have prevailed, the comments made to "gather market share" must be considered immature at best and malovent at worst when it comes to this campaign.

But what is surprising, is the change in the GOP; GOP was considered the party of strong military might, and respect thru fear in the world arena, also they are known for being lock step and shoring up behind their blue ribbon taker, no matter what. And let's not forget, there was a modicum of common denominators among the GOP faithful; most importantly, lower taxes.

Now you have a clear color band in the GOP, which is reminiscent of the Democratic party of the 60's. There were purists, radicals, social progressives, etc, and it was a fractious and contentious group who finally came together to organize under the credo, "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few".

I would be very interested in seeing the flash polls today in South Carolina, I would be very surprised not to see Santorum at the top of the group. But then again, this GOP is intriguing and interesting for a change.

But their colors are showing, very clearly, and theres another point to made, contrary to popular belief, these candidates are unique in another way;

They really don't like each other, and the all famous talent to compartmentalize one's opinions and facets of life may fail here. Look JFK made compartmentalization of his life a pre-requisite for the presidency, From what I am seeing and hearing, I would say, except for Romney, who appears to have no soul, every one of them would fail in this regard.

JFK had a soul
Romney has a focus group

Love the colors, as usual, they are brilliant

Regards
Pace
Interesting, full of metaphors, adjectives, and theory. Mitt HAS a soul and if he gets the nod he can and will beat obama
 
P

PACE

Guest
Interesting, full of metaphors, adjectives, and theory. Mitt HAS a soul and if he gets the nod he can and will beat obama
Hiya Bru!, hope your holidays were sparkling!, yes of course, my opinion, and with regards to metaphors, I collect them as you know.

I am not so sure about Romney, but then again, we are talking politics here, right? I can see him as a moderate president and that might be good, but the extreme right, has taken ahold of the GOP faithful, I'd rather the fiscal conservatives like the Hagels and others were the cream right now. but it does appear there is a split, that you cannot deny.

Good for Iowa for having the fortitute once again to go first, but this was a very telling caucus and the slimmest lead in history.

Talk to ya soon!

Regards
Pace
 

NCmusicman

Governor
Error: Santorum never once engaged himself as a spear carrier for aggressive foreign policy, why would he have any creds now?

I think you are wrong about that - he served on several Senate committees and knows his stuff.
 
P

PACE

Guest
Well, well...that's an impressive takeaway from a preference poll of 5% of the registered voters. I do love the prism analogy though.
Hiya Boca, I didn't misrepresent, I did state it was a flash poll, that definitive of what you stated,

Regards
Pace
 
P

PACE

Guest
Santorum never once engaged himself as a spear carrier for aggressive foreign policy, why would he have any creds now?

I think you are wrong about that - he served on several Senate committees and knows his stuff.

No, not really, Santorum was more of a fiscal/social conservative in the Senate, not a spear carrier for the military, those individuals would be McCain of course, Hagel, Lieberman and Clinton,

During the short tenure of Rick Santorum that is, he DID engineer the Good Friday resolution, which I believe, backfired horribly in the Senate.

Regards
Pace
 

Minotaur

Governor
Fantastic read. Santorum would be expected to be the republican conservative candidate. All three Romney, Huntsman and Paul are not related to today's republican internet board mantra yet things look good for them. They are indeed on the more progressive side of the party middle roaders so there is hope that we are seeing republicans finally getting it that they can't go back to cave man days where beating the drum on abortion, military and any trigger word concept is not going to do it. Are they finally growing up or being lead?

To expand on this by veering a bit, your commentary may come into focus even clearer after NH if indeed Huntsman comes in as high as is expected (3rd) because he can out shine Romney on every level and he does have a soul. Add to all of this that if Huntsman does pull it off that light will be on him enough to show he has better creds and expertise than Romney on all levels of economics including business with more tools to grow industry as well, having done already to Utah what Romney offers as his own issue solutions. I think that though Huntsman has gotten a cursery look from some, the bigger picture has not risen. If it does he makes Romney look like a piker. This may end up being, oh me, oh my, a moderate race.

Good read.
 

Boca

Governor
Darlin' I didn't mean to suggest you misrepresented, only that you put more meat into the stew than any food for thought recipe would call for.
 

MaryAnne

Governor
Estimates were that 135,000 were at the Caucuses.I am not surprised Santorum came out close.

Did you see Jon Stewart eating candy. Said Romney's piece had Santorum on it. Jon choked on that one:eek:)
 

Addy

Rebuild With Biden!
"the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" -- from your post

Dems get that.. -- always have!

The measure of a society is how it treats its weakest members”[/I] A quote attributed to many.. but often stated...same sentiment.

awww.politicususa.com_wp_content_uploads_2011_12_Repubs_feed_poor_and_seniors_dog_food.jpg

Image: critterscrap.com
 
P

PACE

Guest
Darlin' I didn't mean to suggest you misrepresented, only that you put more meat into the stew than any food for thought recipe would call for.
Then I would advise, stop eating.

Regards
Pace
 
P

PACE

Guest
Fantastic read. Santorum would be expected to be the republican conservative candidate. All three Romney, Huntsman and Paul are not related to today's republican internet board mantra yet things look good for them. They are indeed on the more progressive side of the party middle roaders so there is hope that we are seeing republicans finally getting it that they can't go back to cave man days where beating the drum on abortion, military and any trigger word concept is not going to do it. Are they finally growing up or being lead?

To expand on this by veering a bit, your commentary may come into focus even clearer after NH if indeed Huntsman comes in as high as is expected (3rd) because he can out shine Romney on every level and he does have a soul. Add to all of this that if Huntsman does pull it off that light will be on him enough to show he has better creds and expertise than Romney on all levels of economics including business with more tools to grow industry as well, having done already to Utah what Romney offers as his own issue solutions. I think that though Huntsman has gotten a cursery look from some, the bigger picture has not risen. If it does he makes Romney look like a piker. This may end up being, oh me, oh my, a moderate race.

Good read.
Thank you Mino, I try, I happen to agree with you, you see, if Huntsman does show that Romney is beatable, and that can change, because we know the trending in this GOP race has been anything but predictable, then there's a real threat to Obama; why? because truly Obama is a moderate himself, slightly left of center, with a slightly right of center candidate like Huntsman, it would be a really great race, with the "right" kind of blood, sweat and tears required for such an awesome position.

However, I see Romney right now as a "chameleon on plaid" he can changed colors faster than a bottle of Rit dye. and that's fast!

Regards
Pace
 
P

PACE

Guest
"the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" -- from your post

Dems get that.. -- always have!

The measure of a society is how it treats its weakest members”[/I] A quote attributed to many.. but often stated...same sentiment.

awww.politicususa.com_wp_content_uploads_2011_12_Repubs_feed_poor_and_seniors_dog_food.jpg

Image: critterscrap.com


Yes, and to take it further, by all means, feed the hungry, help the poor, clothe the naked, minister to the poor in spirit, where have I heard that before?

Regards
Pace
 

fairsheet

Senator
Above, Boca hints at a relevent little detail that I actually heard being comisserated about on Fox. The actual turnout for this particular caucus was relatively light. And on top of that, only 75% of the folks who did turn out, would identify as GOP. The GOP's #1 and "go to" campaign theme this time around, is "Obama-hate". Political history suggests that GOP turnout would be useful measure of how MUCH the people actually fear and hate Obama. The light Iowa turnout may hint that they don't fear and hate him as much as the GOP needs for them to.

-For what it's worth, none of the opinions and analysis above, are mine. They're all taken virtually verbatim, from the Fox piece I watched.
 

Friday13

Governor
FWIW (not much), I thought Huntsman was the best of the candidates. That being said, I do not like his, or Mutt's tax plans...multi $TRILLION$ in tax cuts heavily favoring the rich and corporations.

As for Santorum, considering that Thomas is his "favorite judge", what would we have to look forward to in judicial appointments from him?

I'm looking forward to 4 more years of Obama, preferable with a Dem House and Senate.
 
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