Food for Thought on the 2nd of September

[1] From Jay Costs' new gig at The Weekly Standard:

From McKees Rocks to Columbus? It is looking increasingly likely that John Kasich will be the next governor of Ohio.  Rasmussen shows the Republican up 12 against incumbent Ted Strickland, with the latter at just 40 percent.  PPP has Kasich up 10, again with Strickland mired at 40%.  The GOP's time in the Ohio wilderness after the Taft debacle appears to have been fairly short.  

Tom Jensen of PPP summarizes the state of the Midwestern Democratic Party:

I think this fact sums up how much trouble Democrats are in for in the Midwest this year: Ted Strickland's 34/52 approval rating on the Ohio poll we put out today makes him...the most popular Democratic Governor in a Big Ten State! (...)

The Midwest, rather than the South, is going to be the Democrats' worst region because they have so much more to lose. When you see approval numbers like these for the Governors in these states- not to mention the President- it makes you wonder how bad the damage is for Democrats in the Congressional and Legislative races in the region.

Dayyyuuuummmm!

[2] From Lisa Frabrizio, in The American Spectator; on living in the liberal bubble:

In past ages, it was mostly starry-eyed young people who inhabited these utopian climes; those who have not yet been exposed to the real world with all its scabs. But most of the denizens today are Peter Pan-ian liberals who declared in the 1960s that they had no intention of growing up. And, as long as they are in power, they don't have to. They write the history books, they report the news as they would have it portrayed and they teach our kids that, as in Never-Never-Land, they don't need to fret about responsibility as long as there are evil, rich grownups to be taxed to care for them. And if life really isn't that way, it should be; and that's the point.

This is what enables them to act with such certainty in matters where their positions have either been proved wrong or are mere theories. That is why they can believe wholeheartedly that man can cause changes in the climate; that taxing the rich will stimulate the economy; that the way to foster equality between the races is to favor one over the other; or that the murder of unborn children is somehow liberating to women: because in the islands of their minds, that's the way it should be.

First, Obama’s juvenile buck-passing hasn’t and won’t work. The election game plan of threatening the return of Bush isn’t going to fly. Heck, the voters wouldn’t mind having him back! Second, Obama has, to a degree we have not seen in recent years, shied away from acknowledging error. His “out” was always that Bush had messed things up — far worse than we even imagined. Now with Bush-bashing proven to be entirely counterproductive, what will Obama do to deflect blame? And finally, you have to keep faith with the American people. They may get impatient and lose perspective, but they remain exceedingly fair and possess a large reservoir of common sense (e.g., a mosque at Ground Zero is absurd, Bush was a decent man who made tough calls, we shouldn’t dump on loyal allies). It is good to be reminded of that.

Yes. The Democrat group specializes in condescension these days. And Barry is a perfect representation of that.

[3] Robert Costa, in National Review; Jacksonville's Pat Caddell on the Midterm Elections:

Unlike President Reagan at his first-term midpoint, in 1982, “Obama is not able to go out there and say, ‘Stay the course.’ That’s just not possible. The Democrats’ hope with health care was that ‘people will like it after we pass it.’ Well, they hate it, and you don’t see any effort to promote it. The Democrats had a chance to do this right — most people supported aspects of reform — but because of the way it was passed, as a crime against democracy, the country has simply not accepted it. The lies, the browbeating, the ‘deem and pass’ — all of it was a suicide mission.”

That's what I've tried to say to friends on that side of the aisle but it appeared they were all deaf, dumb and blind with respect to the obviousness of all of this.

[4] Jennifer Carroll

At 10 a.m. this morning, Rick Scott will apparently make it official; Orange Park's Jennifer Carroll will be his selection to run as Lt. Governor. This is a brilliant move for the Republicans and marries up two ends of the  Florida peninsula. It also positions her for much more prominence, nationally, and provides something of a checkmate on Alex Sink and the Democrats.

Kudos to Rick Scott.

Comments

[huxley]

"That's what I've tried to say to friends on that side of the aisle ...."

I noticed your comment at JOM and thought I'd stop over. I remember some of your comments at Belmont Club in 2006. Good to see you're still in business.

Boy, it sure is hard to have much discussion between the two sides these days. It's not just that the stakes are high and people disagree, but they don't even agree over what they disagree.

[RattlerGator]

Thanks for stopping by, huxley. Yep, I'm still kicking, still think Wretchard is a Blog God, and still very much enjoy the Just One Minute community whenever I stop by.

These are incredibly interesting, and eventful, days.

[huxley]

Wow. I just got clobbered over at http://climatesight.org/2009/04/12/the-schneider-quote/#comment-3748 .

Really I'm not a flamer, but that's the way it goes on those climate blogs.

At this point I'm convinced they know that they can't make their case in open debate.

It seems that way in a lot of the red-blue debates too. If you disagree with the blues, you're evil, stupid or a racist.