Many of us have wondered what kind of person would support Willard “Mitt” Romney in his ongoing, inept, relentless campaign for the GOP presidential nomination. Paul Constant at Seattle’s The Stranger offers a glimpse at one facet of the kaleidoscope:
I’ve been to every rally held by every major Republican presidential candidate in the greater Seattle area this month. And I didn’t attend these rallies in the cushy press boxes, safely back from the candidates, with a great view and perfect sound. I attended these rallies the way everyone does, among the supporters, in the thick of it, and I can tell you that I hate the Romney crowd worse than all the others. The Santorum crowd seethes with hatred, but it’s honest hatred, the unabashed hatred of bigots. The Ron Paul crowd is irredeemably dumb, but they believe they’re doing the right thing. The Gingrich crowd is sleazier and thinks way too much of its own intelligence, but they have that unashamed teabagger bravado going for them. The Mitt Romney crowd, simply, is wall-to-wall self-entitled assholes.
__
They spout bile on all their foes. I heard more birther chatter in today’s crowd than at any other rally… The hate wasn’t just for the president. An older woman said that avowed Romney-hater Rush Limbaugh “used to be great,” but now he had gotten “raunchy.” Democrats are just stupid and hate success: “See, they don’t want this rich guy in office, but they don’t realize this rich guy knows how to make America rich!”
__
But mostly, the Romney crowd is just fond of themselves. Everyone in line believed they were too special to be standing in line. They complained that volunteers got to get in first, when they personally knew Washington Republican Party Chair Kirby Wilbur. They grumbled about having to stand outside, and how organizers would be hearing from them. They sent their spouses out to scour the line ahead, to see if there were friends who would help them cut in for a better position. The self-entitlement was thick, is what I’m saying. There were so many centers of the universe in line that the entire galaxy should have collapsed in on Bellevue under the strain…
In other words, as Mr. Charles Pierce puts it, Willard “is a locust of a politician, consuming what he can and moving on… the great ingrate of American politics”, and his fellow locusts are proud to recognize him as their king.
Apart from the ongoing decline & fall of the Republican Party and all its proponents, what’s on the agenda tonight?
lamh35
I’m sorry, but I love this and y’all should love this too, Rush’s last attempt at damage control:
“Rappers are Worse”…..
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/03/and-so-we-enter-the-part-of-the-rush-saga-where-he-attacks-rap-music.php?ref=fpblg
What is it with conservative and rappers? Nevermind that in today music world, their own children are the ones buying all the rap albums. If I remember correctly, the majority of rap music is bought by white youth…right?
So this “double standard” ain’t gonna impress anyone.
Poopyman
Leave it to Pierce. “A locust of a politician”. So succinct. So surgical.
And Constant had me at the first line – I felt sorry for him, which made his assessments all the more believeable (not that I didn’t already assume them.)
BGinCHI
Bumper sticker on a Bentley:
Dicks for Romney
lamh35
oh and now it seems that Allstate has dropped their advertising too from Rushbo. That’s 12 I believe.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/allstate-pulls-ads-from-rush-limbaugh-show
Seebach
What this suggests for me is that Mitt may be able to open the money spigots, but these aren’t the type of people to go door to door or drive people to the polls.
Thoughtcrime
I am the Locust King, I can buy anything.
JPL
@lamh35: What about country music?
BTW Gingrich is up 20 points in GA and Romney is second.
Chris
Presumably that’s why we “worship” the guy who managed to rise from a mixed-race single-mother not-exactly-rolling-in-money household to Harvard Law School and from there to the White House. While they worship the guy who inherited all his wealth from Daddy.
Yep, we just HATE success! That must be it!
c u n d gulag
Less like locusts, and more like sharks.
They, and their money, has to move forward, or they feel they’ll die.
Waiting in line, is a death sentence.
And then, with prey, they love tearing at the bodies indiscriminately – as long as they have their shard of meat – they’re happy.
And the more the poor creature suffers, the happier they are.
THESE ARE THE ENTITLED PEOPLE!
Trust fund are for the real lazy people!
Guillotines, and pikes for the heads, are the prescriptions to rid this country of these parasites.
For the WHOLE family!
Leave no one to inherit.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
A hypothetical Romney Inauguration (God forbid!) would be really fun for the organizers. And by “fun” I mean that if they are really, really lucky, none of the incidents of live cannibalism will make it onto network TV.
JPL
Here is the GA poll
Ignore the last paragraph because no way, no how will this state go for Obama.
dmsilev
@JPL: The thought of Georgia being close enough that Romney (or whoever, but let’s just say Romney) would have to put in campaign effort is amusing, but realistically if Georgia is evenly vaguely competitive Obama has already won.
Litlebritdifrnt
Wow look at this
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/03/05/gop-hopefuls-losing-ground-to-obama-among-latinos-poll-says/#ixzz1oFrop1CE
The Other Chuck
Yes, rappers are worse, and when a politician stands up on the floor of congress and starts espousing the merits of 40’s, blunts, and bitches, then perhaps Limbaugh’s excuse will actually be apropos of anything.
Just more screeching into the echo chamber, because no one outside it is buying it.
Clime Acts
One of the great things about BJ is that none of the front pagers here do this.
The Dangerman
I’m stunned by the attempt from some on the Right to “Rally Around Rush”; did any of these assholes learn that you don’t toss good money after bad? Rush is a sunk cost (almost spelled that “suck” cost, which would have been correct, too).
Idiots.
Litlebritdifrnt
Strangely this evening on my drive home the calls coming in to the local RWNJ radio station were pretty much 3 to 1 against Rush. Even more shocking was the host correcting his first caller because he said “truth hurts don’t it, she is a slut and a whore, I heard it on the radio that she is having so much sex she cannot afford her contraception” the Host said “hold on right there, she never said any such thing” the caller said “but I heard it on the radio”. The host then just cut him off.
The last caller I heard was the best, “Rush Limbaugh is a gasbag, and what is worse he has just cost us the election” The host said “you really think that?” the caller said “yes, he has lost us the presidential election”.
David Koch
Biggest shock of the Limbaugh scandal: I had no idea AOL still existed.
Cacti
@Chris:
Republicans love a self-made success story.
That’s why they loved Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, and loathed George W. Bush.
geg6
@David Koch:
I had the very same reaction.
Martin
@JPL:
Obama lost GA by 5%. The minority population in the state has gone up by about 5%, and if Mittens is the nominee, I don’t see him as a strong GOTV candidate for the GOP.
I don’t think Obama will win GA, but I also wouldn’t put money on him losing. It could be pretty close – particularly if Obama decides to campaign there.
Cacti
And that political cartoon is off base. Romney’s a Mormon.
He’d be toasting with Sprite while pretending to knowledge about beer.
Tehanu
Anne Laurie: excellent post, thanks.
Amanda in the South Bay
So, last month I entered into a promotion with MSFT for a free Windows Phone that they were sending out to WP7 developers. Seemed like a good deal, since I really needed a phone to put the finishing touches on my app.
Well, turns out they delivered it to the wrong address. Turns out that the address I gave MSFT was a PO Box (and they didn’t specify how they’d send it, otherwise I’d have obviously used my street address), and MSFT sent it by UPS. UPS apparently asked the people at the post office for my address (since it was on the form I used to fill out for the PO Box), and delivered the phone to my old address from two years ago.
So some lucky person just got a phone (Nokia Lumia 800) that sells for 899 unlocked and carrier free on the Microsoft Store website for free.
I’m pretty furious right now.
David Koch
They’re just entertainers. ~ Rich Santorum
Those are not the beats I would have used. ~ Mittens
Both sides (East Side & West Side) do it. ~ WaPo
Cacti
@Martin:
Being the smart campaigner that he is, I can’t imagine that Obama wouldn’t force Romney to expend resources on a traditionally red state. The McCain states are all must wins for Willard.
Raven
@Cacti: Hmmm, I don’t think so.
SuzieC
Hilariously, this strongly Dem house in Ohio is getting bombarded by Romney robocalls. Just in the last hour, I’ve answered calls from robot versions of Mitt, Ann, and Barbara Bush. I’m just delighted to see how Mitt is wasting his truckloads of money.
Cowbelle
The “rappers are worse!” excuse is so blatantly racist that it’s not even dog whistle.
Punchy
I too find it funny that all these advertisers stomached decades of vile, disgusting racism, bigotry, and wanton dickishness (see: mike fox), but now….POOF!…..they “discover” what a fuckstain he really is.
scav
@Amanda in the South Bay: Have you contacted MickySoft about the error? Did they saw they weren’t going to correct the mistake?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Remember when we all thought Ann Romney ‘humanized’ the Willardbot? Apparently cluelessness is contagious.
Midnight Marauder
@Martin:
Two weeks ago, no one on this site would have dared imagine or suggest that we would experience a cultural savaging of Rush Limbaugh the likes of which the country had never before witnessed.
I don’t think it’s all that crazy to suggest a state like Georgia might actually be in play in an election season like this.
And I’m not going to be shocked at all if President Obama carries Georgia in November. If anything, I think we would be idiots to not strategize about making such a thing become reality.
Maybe he would decide to campaign there if we gave him a reason to campaign there, is all I’m trying to say.
Roger Moore
@Cowbelle:
Nope. As somebody said, it’s getting so noisy nobody thinks their dogwhistles can be heard anymore, so they’re switching to steam calliopes and foghorns.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Cowbelle: In Rush’s world, you’re only a racist if you 1) actually use the N-word or one of its synonyms 2) get caught on tape or in writing/e-mail.
scav
@Punchy:
A) Hit too close to home in a demographic sense;
B) Hit too close to an unexpectedly close election.
Others?
pseudonymous in nc
I can definitely see Obama campaigning in Atlanta, but my sense is that the state is heading towards Mississippi levels of polarisation: you have the exurbanites who are still convinced that Those People are waiting for the nod from President Blackguy to head out on the rampage.
The main reason Obama should contest GA, even if Mittens is the nominee, is that it forces Rmoney way out of his comfort zone. He might be able to drum up a bunch of self-entitled executive assholes in Nym Patronym country, but it won’t be fun for him.
JPL
@Midnight Marauder: Umm…I’d be shocked… Romney would have to openly campaign for President Obama before he’d lose here. Just my opinion though.
trollhattan
@Cacti:
An oldie but goodie:
How do you keep your Mormon fishing buddy from drinking all the beer?
Bring a second Mormon.
I’d like to think Willard has a hidden heathen fun-loving side but I’ve given up any hope of that.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@Midnight Marauder:
Agreed, with the caveat that I suspect if things are looking that good going into the general election, the next stage will be targeting specific swingable Congressional districts rather than just going after red states per se. I would be shocked if Obama’s campaign doesn’t have their eye on the House and Senate races needed to get us a blue Congress.
Jesse Ewiak
Speaking as a Seattleite, yeah, that sounds like large parts of Bellevue. :)
Roger Moore
@pseudonymous in nc:
I think it depends a lot on how the election is going. If it really turns into a Republican fail parade to the point he has a serious chance of wining a state like Georgia, he probably should be campaigning there. Remember, it’s not enough for him to win. If he really wants to get something done, he needs a supportive Congress. Extending his coattails as far as possible is a good way of trying to get there.
Martin
@Cacti: Depends on what his choices are. If Obama is looking strong come convention time, he’ll go into Texas big. He needs to make 12 points there, but if he can win it or even keep it close, it’ll send shockwaves through the GOP. If polling is closer, he’ll probably skip it and stick with places like GA that are easier takes but still need real effort to close the deal.
geg6
@ThatLeftTurnInABQ:
It is my most fervent hope that things keep on the current trajectory and we can focus more effort on making sure Obama has a congress, both houses, that he can work with. I barely let myself think about this, but have been giving to the DSCC and DCCC a little (which is relative since anything I give can be characterized as “little”) more than I have in the past.
Just in case.
JPL
@Roger Moore: There was an Obama for President office within a few miles of my house and he did come close last time. It just won’t happen again though. The democratic party in GA is dying. They want the President to campaign here because he could help raise money for the party here. Unless Romney campaigns for him though, he won’t win.
Barney
Remember, the owner of one of America’s largest beer distributors really is married to a major supporter of Romney: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cindy_McCain
pseudonymous in nc
@Roger Moore:
But there are also intangibles (or less tangibles) that come from, say, holding a big rally in Atlanta. For all the talk of SuperPAC money, it’s useful to give Democrats in a decent-sized state the kind of attention that has them opening their wallets. And it’s extremely good for ground campaigning — the rally I went to in 2008 had people dedicated to collecting names and addresses for follow-up.
David Koch
This isn’t getting any coverage, but southern evangelicals just don’t like Mormons.
You see it in polls where enthusiasm has plummeted among registered republicans and at the ballot box were turnout has been down by double digits.
With the absence of a Palin-like-code-talker to bring out all the crazies, Georgia, South Carolina, Montana, and Texas could fall into the Dem column.
Raven
@David Koch: You underestimate the power of racism.
Martin
This could be fun.
What’s somewhat unsaid here is that the caps that the Dems are going to hold the GOP to are on Defense and Medicare *reimbursement rates* – not benefits. The GOP is opposing those cuts, and instead asking for deeper cuts in other areas in exchange for preserving those. In the end, the Dems are going to make the GOP appear to be opposing deficit reduction. Worse, opposing deficit reduction that they already agreed to. The semi-adults in the GOP see this coming in an election year and want to stick to the plan.
This is the scenario we anticipated might happen way back during the debt ceiling fight. I’m a bit surprised the GOP hasn’t gotten their shit together on it 6 months out. (Not really, but this is electoral suicide here).
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@David Koch:
It’ll be interesting to see who he picks. I think this Rush stuff is the nail in the coffin of McDonnell’s chance, I still think Rubio’s out (Mormon/Foreign). I think he’s gotta get a Southern accent out there with him.
Davis X. Machina
Why, that’s exactly why Andy Young and Maynard Jackson had MARTA built.
Raven
@Davis X. Machina: And why it stops where it does.
WPDevLove
@Amanda in the South Bay: I work for Windows Phone PR, with a focus on dev, and would be happy to help rectify things if you can share more details on the specific contest you entered and who your MS contact was. Please feel free to reach out to me directly at [email protected]
Cheers,
Krista
MikeJ
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Not just foreign, but raised as a mormon before converting to something else. So he’d be doubly suspect.
Arclite
That line is fucking genius.
trollhattan
Whilst TBogg gathers himself in preparation for commenting on the hawt McMegan news! [news=hawt; McMegan=1/hawt] he pounds on the Just-like-normal-folk Romneys.
http://tbogg.firedoglake.com/2012/03/05/mitt-romneys-hobo-wife-may-have-to-live-out-of-one-of-her-cadillacs-someday/
Marcellus Shale, Public Dick
good exigesis of gop campers
paul-irredeemably dumb
santorum-seething with hatred
gingrich-sleezy and egotistical
romney-self entitled assholes
Arclite
@trollhattan: Tbogg cracks me up:
trollhattan
@MikeJ:
I’m holding out hope for a “two vaguely handsome and very specifically artificial dudes” Romney-Rubio ticket. We can find out, for one thing, which typeface has the kewhlest “R” and how it looks draped in red, white and blue.
SiubhanDuinne
@The Dangerman:
Heh. And I first read it as “skunk” cost, which also works. Although massively unjust to skunks.
David Koch
@trollhattan: still can’t believe someone has nice as Tbogg camps out at lake-bat-shit.
Speaking of which, I encountered a real life PUMA 3 weeks ago (in person) who told me she wasn’t gonna vote for Obama because he stole the nomination from Hillary.
Gawd. Well, at least she didn’t accuse Obama of killing Vince Foster. But seriously, it’s been 4 years already, when are they gonna finish the 5 stages of grief? These guys are still on stage 2 (anger) – they’ve got 3 stages left to go.
SiubhanDuinne
@Martin:
He’s coming to Atlanta later this month for a fundraiser. I haven’t heard what the price of admission is — likely too rich for my blood — but if it’s more or less what I would be donating anyway over the course of the campaign, I might just go.
Linkmeister
@trollhattan: Oh, my. TBogg’s photo caption is inspired.
burnspbesq
Holder’s speech earlier today at Northwestern Law is a big fucking deal. Among other things, it lays out in detail the legal basis for targeted killings, and flatly asserts that Fifth Amendment Due Process does not require an advance judicial determination.
Full text here.
http://www.lawfareblog.com/2012/03/text-of-the-attorney-generals-national-security-speech/
SiubhanDuinne
Nothing to do with politics, but Roger Ebert’s blog just called my attention to the fact that John Belushi died 30 years ago today. I’m sure it’s been noted elsewhere but I haven’t seen any mention here at the BJ secretariat.
RP
āSee, they donāt want this rich guy in office, but they donāt realize this rich guy knows how to make America rich!ā
Bill Maher nailed this mindset:
“And the success or failure of [Romney’s] campaign will depend on his ability to convince someone making 26 grand a year that he, Mitt, a rich guy, knows how to make them rich too. And if you elect him, he’ll tell you the secret. It’s not a political platform so much as a wealth seminar. This is the same thing that makes guys like Tony Robbins rich, they have a secret. But the secret turns out to be that they’re rich because they’re robbing from you.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC4sfy5VllM
Anne Laurie
@trollhattan: I actually feel bad, a little, about picking on Ann Romney — she was effectively captured into the Romney compound at the age of 16, and I think she’s a classic example of Stockholm Syndrome.
As for TBogg’s specific points (FDL won’t let me log in over there):
(a) Dressage being one of the priciest ways to burn through money in one of the priciest avocations still legal, I say you go, Girl Romney! Short of setting fire to stacks of benjamins in every single one of the Lake Winnepasaukee “cottage”‘s many fireplaces, she could not have chosen a more hallowed passive-aggressive old-money-WASP method of bleeding her lord & master’s Cayman bank accounts.
(b) As for the Escalade and the multiple Cadillacs, I have driven through Belmont many times (on my way from my battered blue-collar MA city to another similarly downscale town abutting The Only Town in the Commonwealth That’s Deliberately Kept McDonalds Franchises Out), and the public roads really really really suck there. Every time we skirted a pothole so large it had potholes of its very own, we’d joke about the utility of Land Rovers and ‘spare’ vehicles in a town too relentlessly self-centered to waste funds on public utilities. Same goes in spades for the “official” Romney homebase in New Hampshire, state motto: Live Free or Die Trying…
psychobroad
@Davis X. Machina: That’s why we didn’t let MARTA expand into Cobb County. As someone told me, no subways keep “the element” out of our lily white suburbs. Apparently, the black people who live here now are figments of the Cobb Republican politician’s imagination.
psychobroad
@Raven: Beat me to it.
sloan
LOL:
That is hilarious. I’ve noticed the same clockwise circle/chop-chop-chop arm thing in a number of his public appearances. He fucking HATES being in the same room with those people.
mdblanche
So basically what Paul Constant is saying is that each of the GOP candidates is attracting a crowd much like himself?