Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

After roe, women are no longer free.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

In my day, never was longer.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

I was promised a recession.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

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The Echo Chamber’s Top Enforcement Officer

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Apparently Nooners isn’t conservative enough for Chris Wallace:

In an interview with POLITICO today, Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace questioned Peggy Noonan’s “conservative bona fides,” following her recent editorials criticizing of Mitt Romney’s campaign.

“Peggy Noonan has bashed George W. Bush, based Mitt Romney, wasn’t crazy about McCain. So, [her] conservative bona fides I’m not sure I take too seriously,” Wallace told POLITICO’s Patrick W. Gavin. “[Columnists] like Peggy Noonan, sometimes they’re New York City’s idea of conservatives.”

Wallace’s remarks come on the same day that Romney surrogate and former Gov. John Sununu criticized Noonan, a Wall Street Journal columnist, for her attacks on Romney, telling MSNBC, “I wouldn’t hire Peggy Noonan to run a campaign.”

Heresy is not allowed in the hive mind.

Reader Interactions

112Comments

  1. 1.

    hueyplong

    What a Schadenfreudelicious treat.

    Let’s hope there are many more to come.

    Cool under fire ain’t their thing.

  4. 4.

    LittlePig

    Interesting. I knew the Rmoney campaign had Sununu out as lead attack dog (he’s been ever more of an irascible asshole than usual these last few months), but would have expected Fox to back the Villager even so.

    Ailes and Murdoch must be on a really short leash this round.

  7. 7.

    dmsilev

    What is the conservative equivalent of getting airbrushed out of a photo of the Kremlin wall? Getting your invitation to the next National Review cruise rescinded?

    Also, when do the show trials begin?

  8. 8.

    Surreal American

    “Peggy Noonan has bashed George W. Bush, based Mitt Romney, wasn’t crazy about McCain. So, [her] conservative bona fides I’m not sure I take too seriously,” Wallace told POLITICO’s Patrick W. Gavin.

    Oh children, children, you’re both equally loathsome!

  10. 10.

    Alex S.

    If you can look past her hallucinations about the Reagan era, Peggy Noonan is a quite capable strategist. Remember how she trashed Sarah Palin in a hot mike moment?

  12. 12.

    Chyron HR

    “[Columnists] like Peggy Noonan, sometimes they’re New York City’s idea of conservatives.”

    Eeew, ick, NEW YORK CITY, amirite? I sure wish someone would crash some airplanes into a few of their precious skyscrapers, that’d teach them a lesson.

  13. 13.

    Alexandra

    Honestly, I never thought that in late September, I’d be enjoying following this election this much.

  15. 15.

    CJ

    Also, too, GWB failed because he wasn’t conservative enough. Which is why we went with Romney instead of Gingrich.
    Why are you laughing?

  16. 16.

    Comrade Dread

    Welcome to the former GOP Heretics club, Peggy.

    Given some time and reflection, I’m sure your excommunication will open your eyes to the complete and utter cluster**** the party has devolved to and move you promptly over to the moderately conservative Democratic party.

  17. 17.

    General Stuck

    There is some truth in that. Ever since the eighties, Peggy in her own mind, has been sitting on the face of Ronald Reagan. Those other mousy fuckers just don’t measure up.

  19. 19.

    Danny Wagz

    I question Chris Wallace’s “Journalism bona fides”

    1.) He works for the Fox “News” channel.
    2) He’s on the Fox “News” channel on Sunday mornings.

    Case closed.

  20. 20.

    jl

    I guess to blind authoritarians, that logic makes sense.

    How long has it been since Noonen wrote anything with enough substance to understand what she really believes?

    If all you really believe in is grabbing power, then that logic makes sense too. But no, not really. Noonen criticized some losers who hurt their own cause in either short or long run. So, she is disloyal? Well, she’s a woman, so what is with her thinking she can say something except ‘yessir’?

    Beyond that, I got no insight into this circular firing squad.

  22. 22.

    gogol's wife

    @CJ:

    I swear I dreamed last night that Romney dropped out and they ran Gingrich, and he WON. Nightmare alley.

  24. 24.

    jl

    @General Stuck:

    True, but compared to the real historical Reagan (as opposed to Zombie Reagan, Myth Reagan, and Godhead Reagan), they were mousey (or did you means ‘lousy’?) fuckers who did not measure up. I think that is true, much as I hate most of what Reagan did.

  25. 25.

    dance around in your bones

    Heh heh heh – when you’ve lost Peggy ‘Lush’ Noonan….well, what can I say?

    I’mma vote for Obama and EVERY downticket Dem. Oh yeah.

  26. 26.

    cmorenc

    Instead of the unsound judgment and loyalty of Peggy Noonan, the GOP faithful should look to the sound wisdom and factually accurate insight of Jennifer Rubin.

  30. 30.

    dr. bloor

    Wallace’s remarks come on the same day that Romney surrogate and former Gov. John Sununu criticized Noonan, a Wall Street Journal columnist, for her attacks on Romney, telling MSNBC, “I wouldn’t hire Peggy Noonan to run a campaign.”

    Yes, much better to hire a campaign manager who thinks putting a mean-spirited, prolapsed pig rectum out there as the face of the campaign is a good idea.

  31. 31.

    FridayNext

    What I love is the implicit assumption that a Conservative is defined by who they support or how much of a team player they are and not based upon, you know, holding actual Conservative ideas.

    It’s not news to anyone paying attention, but is striking nonetheless.

  34. 34.

    Zifnab

    @Alex S.:

    If you can look past her hallucinations about the Reagan era, Peggy Noonan is a quite capable strategist.

    Her hallucinations about the Reagan Era were part of her master strategy. There’s a reason even independents and conservative Dems bow their heads in respect to the term “Reaganesque”. Reagan was marketing gold.

    On the flip side, Ailes’s FOX News was Dick Nixon’s pet project. So it’s nice to know Tricky Dick is still screwing the pooch from beyond the grave.

  35. 35.

    jl

    And, exactly what would anyone with a lick of sense hire Sununu to run? I’d pick Noonen over Sununu. Just she would need some minders to help her ‘maintain’, if you know what I mean.

    Edit: My favorite recipe for Sununu: Jabba the Hutt minus the power. Only a few ingredients and you can whip it up in a second.

  36. 36.

    Rathskeller

    Internecine warfare has begun! Yaaaay.

    Here’s Mitt Romney pointing to the fucking clouds

    I just love this campaign so much. Thanks, GOP primary voters! You had Huntsman and even Pawlenty, but you went right for the weirdo with the great hair. Kisses!

  37. 37.

    General Stuck

    @jl:

    None of the others conquered communism and tore down The Berlin Wall with their bare hands like RR. If he coulda had a third term, Gorby’s ink blot would have been history, also too.

  38. 38.

    Gus diZerega

    This kind of thing is standard operating procedure in totalitarian movements. It was typical in the old Communist Party. In that case the best of them were finally forced to discover their inner integrity and leave the movement. Let’s hope Noonan can do the same, and denounce the apparatchiks of the right.

  39. 39.

    MikeJ

    @FridayNext:

    What I love is the implicit assumption that a Conservative is defined by who they support or how much of a team player they are and not based upon, you know, holding actual Conservative ideas.

    On the left we prove our purity by refusing to accept good ideas from Dems if they aren’t the one true perfect liberal idea.

  42. 42.

    shoutingattherain

    Ronald Reagan’s fluffer is not conservative enough for today’s action-packed, tea-fueled GOP. Consider my gob smacked.

  44. 44.

    Anoniminous

    Wallace?

    Pish-tosh.

    I’m waiting for the naked mud-wrestling to-the-death match between Peggy and Ann.

    Pay good money to see that.

  46. 46.

    General Stuck

    @Maude:

    Don’t know about that one. But he could live on jelly beans and president with 6 hour naps. No one since has met that bar.

  47. 47.

    Hal

    If you think about it, this makes total sense. As some have said in the past, Reagan himself could not pass today’s GOP smell test, so it’s not shocking that Noonan would not be considered conservative enough herself, coming from that era.

  48. 48.

    NorthLeft12

    They are talking about a “journalist”, right?

    I guess these guys just consider themselves part of the Republican/Conservative noise machine. No independent thought is tolerated.

  49. 49.

    hueyplong

    Just watched the Sununu piece. He was very excitable and aggressive in a way that probably comes off as despearate to an objective observer, assuming any exist at this stage in the country’s political life.

    If he were a witness in a trial, I’m fairly sure the jury wouldn’t be buying any of it.

  50. 50.

    beltane

    I’m hardly a big Peggy Noonan fan, but…she is a voice from the days when the GOP had widespread appeal. I don’t know, you’d think they might want to take her advice to heed once and a while.

  51. 51.

    Hill Dweller

    Yesterday, the Romney campaign jumped on the President’s innocuous statement about not being able to solely change Washington from the inside, prompting Willard to claim he would change Washington from the inside. Well, the President has already started pummeling Willard with the ‘inside job’ talking point; accusing Romney of wanting to rubber stamp all the Washington insiders'( using oil companies, lobbyists, etc. as examples) agenda.

    Sometimes it feels like an NBA player in a pickup game with elementary school kids.

    As an aside, thanks to the rest media, especially Ben Smith, for trying to help Willard elevate this silly attack yesterday.

  52. 52.

    jl

    @Hal:

    Noonen: often addled, but never crazy.

    You are right, she just doesn’t have what it takes. If she were a real he-man, she’d cut her own throat with the rest of them.

    Weakling.

  53. 53.

    shoutingattherain

    @Rathskeller:

    ”Ha ha. We’re in the stretch aren’t we? Look at those clouds. It’s beautiful,” he said, pointing to the sky. “Look at those things.”

    That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever read today. Day’s not over yet…

  54. 54.

    ottercliff

    Peggy Noonan’s so yester-century. That vapid, pig-faced “former Miss America” Fox talking head is the new Peggy.

  55. 55.

    Spatula

    Heresy is not allowed in the hive mind.

    This statement is just as applicable to Balloon Juice, so…what’s your point?

  58. 58.

    steve

    Wow. Here’s nooners:

    “This week I called it [the romney campaign] incompetent, but only because I was being polite. I really meant ‘rolling calamity.'”

  59. 59.

    Epicurus

    I’m too lazy to look it up, but didn’t that turd grow UP in NYC? Yet another example of the son not even coming close to his father’s legacy. Mike Wallace must be spinning in his grave…oh, well. It’s not like there is a shortage of other examples…cough, Romney, cough, Trump, cough, “W.”

  60. 60.

    David

    “I wouldn’t hire Peggy Noonan to run a campaign.”

    Apparently, Republican pundits are supposed always cheer on Republican candidates no matter what. No wonder the Republican Party is in complete disarray and dying.

  61. 61.

    LAC

    Big question – why is Sununu even a relevant source of opinion? The only run that old man makes is to the toilet.

    And Mike Wallace should have beaten Chris harder.

  62. 62.

    ? Martin

    Mitt Romney’s trustee said in a campaign press release that Romney artificially inflated his own effective tax rate so it would remain above 13 percent by deferring $1.75 million in charitable deductions. Romney had previously said that none of his last decade of tax returns dipped below that 13 percent threshold.

    I don’t question why Romney would do that in order to show a higher tax rate considering how bad his low rate looks, but why the fuck would the campaign tell people he did that?!

    There’s no way anyone can help looking at that and saying, “Oh, so he would have only paid 12% and he still thinks he needs a tax cut!” Does he really think that $1.75M in charity makes up for policies that the public doesn’t like?

  64. 64.

    Ash Can

    AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

    Congratulations, Peggy. What you helped inflict upon this country as a Reagan Administration wunderkind, Bush Sr. speechwriter, and general Reagan-wing GOP cheerleader has come full circle. You should be proud; this is the result of your very own handiwork. Enjoy it, just as the rest of this unfortunate nation has been enjoying the fucking mess you helped make years ago.

  66. 66.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @? Martin:

    Because everyone would have noticed it anyway. This way they are admitting that Romney deliberately did what he said he would not do i.e., paying more in taxes to increase his effective rate and I am sure hoping that folks will give him a pass on it.

  68. 68.

    quannlace

    ”Ha ha. We’re in the stretch aren’t we? Look at those clouds. It’s beautiful,” he said, pointing to the sky. “Look at those things.”

    Oops. I think they need to adjust his medication.

  71. 71.

    comrade scott's agenda of rage

    As usual, driftglass nails this:

    http://driftglass.blogspot.com/2012/09/willard-romneys-polygamy-problem.html

    To beat the Kenyan Usurper, Romney must woo and win two wives at once: Little Red State Fundy nuts like Malkin who believe Their Glorious Moment has finally arrived and that Mittens had better goddamn well move their shoutycrackers nonsense to the top of his agenda…and professional Beltway GOP hothouse flowers like Peggy Noonan who are horrified that anyone would be stupid enough to speak talk about Little Red State Fundy’s batshit Bircher drivel in public.

  73. 73.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    @shoutingattherain:

    “Ha ha. We’re in the stretch aren’t we? Look at those clouds. It’s beautiful,” he said, pointing to the sky. “Look at those things.”

    __
    That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever read today. Day’s not over yet…

    __
    In Mittworld the clouds are always the right height.

  74. 74.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Apparently no one can get to the tax returns as Mitt Romney’s site has crashed under the weight of the traffic. There are some pretty pissed off reporters out there right now.

  75. 75.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    “[Columnists] like Peggy Noonan, sometimes they’re New York City’s idea of conservatives.”

    New York City?! Yeah all those commie left wingers on Wall Street are certainly worthy of conservative derision.

  77. 77.

    quannlace

    I’m listening to Michael Medved right now, and he is just losing it on air. Ranting on about Peggy Noonan (Just shut the *bleep* up!) and ranting about the unfair media doing all the ‘bashing’ on Romney.
    Oh, and all this week he keeps insisting the polls are showing a ‘turnaround’ for Romney. Of course, whats the one he keeps referencing? Rasmussen. ha-ha-ha. Which actually for the first time is showing Obama ahead.

  81. 81.

    GregB

    Mindless cannibalism among the GOP.

    Clearly the plan to let Obama self destruct this month has been a brilliant strategy for the Romney campaign.

  82. 82.

    Todd

    @steve:

    “This week I called it [the romney campaign] incompetent, but only because I was being polite. I really meant ‘rolling calamity.’”

    I loved that one too. She’s cutting him up with a machete, not a scalpel.

  83. 83.

    quannlace

    I’m listening to Michael Medved right now

    Oh, you know, the ‘see what the other side is saying” And getting 100 yards close to Limbaugh’s show would give me la grippe.

    And it is kinda fun, in a mean way, to hear how more apoplectic and desperate they’re sounding as R’s campaign goes down the tubes.

  84. 84.

    gbear

    “[Columnists] like Peggy Noonan, sometimes they’re New York City’s idea of conservatives.”

    Does anyone remember how good MPR news programs used to be when they were based in New York? I do.

    MPR’s move to DC was the worst think they ever did. Where they used to have the vibrancy that comes from the big city, they now have the brain-dead smugness that comes from never leaving the village.

  86. 86.

    gnomedad

    No one with half a brain is fooled by Fox News, but isn’t “not conservative enough!” a bit of a give-away even for them. And we’re talking Peggy Noonan here, who weeps when she sees the letter “R”.

  87. 87.

    GxB

    I know there’s nothing to say
    Someone has taken her place
    When times go bad
    When things get rough
    Won’t you lay Frum down in tall grass
    And let ’em do his stuff

    Yeah! Bowm, bowm, bowm
    chikki, chicki… (ect)

    She’s our Second Hand Noonz!

  88. 88.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    @GregB:

    Clearly the plan to let Obama self destruct this month has been a brilliant strategy for the Romney campaign

    Transcript of secret Romney campaign strategy session:

    TIM: I warned you, but did you listen to me? Oh, no, you knew it all, didn’t you? Oh, it’s just a harmless little bunny, isn’t it? Well, it’s always the same. I always tell them–

    ARTHUR: Oh, shut up!
    TIM: Do they listen to me?
    ARTHUR: Right!
    TIM: Oh, no…
    KNIGHTS: Charge!

    [squeak squeak squeak]

    KNIGHTS: Aaaaugh!, Aaaugh!, etc.
    ARTHUR: Run away! Run away!
    KNIGHTS: Run away! Run away!…
    TIM: Ha ha ha ha! Ha haw haw! Ha! Ha ha!
    ARTHUR: Right. How many did we lose?
    LANCELOT: Gawain.
    GALAHAD: Ector.
    ARTHUR: And Bors. That’s five.
    GALAHAD: Three, sir.
    ARTHUR: Three. Three. And we’d better not risk another frontal assault. That rabbit’s dynamite.
    ROBIN: Would it help to confuse it if we run away more?
    ARTHUR: Oh, shut up and go and change your armor.
    GALAHAD: Let us taunt it! It may become so cross that it will make a mistake.
    ARTHUR: Like what?
    GALAHAD: Well…ooh.

  89. 89.

    quannlace

    How anyone can listen to the Ned Flanders of radio for an extended period of time is beyond me.

    Small doses, Hon, small doses.. ;-)

  91. 91.

    Grumpy Code Monkey

    To be fair to the hacks…

    Like it or not, Romney is the candidate, so naturally anyone with a vested interest in a Republican victory (such as Wallace) is going to bite back on any criticism of Romney, no matter how accurate or warranted it is. That’s simple politics – nobody ever won a campaign for President by saying, “yeah, our candidate sucks and our ideas suck even more.” You always play to win, even if you know you’re going to get curb stomped.

    Having said that…

    They (the base and the Village) picked this loser. Not Perry, not Cain, not Newtron. Anyone wringing their hands now only has the backbone of their own party to blame, because they’re the ones who’ve driven out all the viable candidates. It’s not like Romney hasn’t been running for President since the 19th century. It’s not like anyone couldn’t already see from his past performance as Senatorial candidate and Governor that he’d be a train wreck as a Presidential candidate (although I don’t think anybody including myself could have foreseen just how epic a disaster movie this has become; this is like watching the worst-ever Michael Bay flick, but without any of the hot chicks and a really lame soundtrack).

    I’ve claimed repeatedly that all the smart Republicans with a future (they exist) took a dive in ’08 and ’12. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in ’14 and ’16. If Obama and the Democrats can right the ship, if we can make headway on the debt, if we can disentangle ourselves from the ME, if we can return to a time of general prosperity, that’s when voters get lax and the GOP will be the most dangerous.

  94. 94.

    hueyplong

    Michael Medved?

    I’d rather listen to Limbaugh. At least with the latter you’re listening to the party’s official source.

  95. 95.

    Brachiator

    “Peggy Noonan has bashed George W. Bush, based Mitt Romney, wasn’t crazy about McCain. So, [her] conservative bona fides I’m not sure I take too seriously,” Wallace told POLITICO’s Patrick W. Gavin.

    The rats don’t desert the sinking ship go into a frenzy and bite other rats.

    Next up, the GOP declares an Inquisition, burns ideological heretics at the stake.

  96. 96.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    @Grumpy Code Monkey:

    if we can return to a time of general prosperity, that’s when voters get lax and the GOP will be the most dangerous.

    __
    Personally I think the GOP’s worst nightmare is that the economy recovers and we enter a period of expansion and optimism during Obama’s 2nd term, because they will get zero credit for the recovery and enough people will remember what happened the last time a Democratic president was replaced by a Republican to put them out of the running in 2016.

    That’s when things get interesting in the Village, because how long can you hold out sucking up to a party that is semi-permanently out of power? 12 years of being out of favor with the people in power is long enough to put a dent in somebody’s career. I’m convinced that GHB’s election in 1988 was a key part of building the right-wing mainstream media we have today. If Obama’s successor wins in 2016 we may be looking at a similar scenario.

  97. 97.

    West of the Rockies (formerly Frank W.)

    Okay, maybe a touch off-topic, but I find Wallace (along with Hannity, Coulter and Malkin) to produce an immediate and quite visceral reaction akin to physical disgust in me. I can’t stand the perma-smirks on on Hannity & Wallace (nor Hannity’s ever-rolling, twitching eyebrows). I find the evident arrogance and rage of Malkin & Coulter to be revolting. Sure, other newscasters/pundits are annoying, but these guys really creep me out. (With Limbaugh, it is his ever-emphatic/ever-lying voice….)

  98. 98.

    Brandon

    I though Chris Wallace was supposed to be playing the straight man for Fox. Now that the chips are down, it appears that he’s been enlisted to support Hannity in the role of enforcer. Quite an interesting testament to how far they must feel their backs to be against the wall, when their consigliere feels the need to reach for the sawed off and knuckle duster.

  99. 99.

    Brachiator

    @ThatLeftTurnInABQ:

    That’s when things get interesting in the Village, because how long can you hold out sucking up to a party that is semi-permanently out of power?

    Courtiers have developed the exquisite ability to curry favor with whomever is power. No matter how long a prince or party is in exile, when they return they find that for every high placed arse there is a pair of lips eager to kiss it.

    If Obama’s successor wins in 2016 we may be looking at a similar scenario.

    I generally try to avoid speculating too far into the future, but if Obama wins a second term, Hillary Clinton is the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party in 2016.

  101. 101.

    catclub

    @Grumpy Code Monkey: “, so naturally anyone with a vested interest in a Republican victory”

    Not so sure about that. Fox’ ratings were up on the election
    of Obama, and have stayed up. They had been down because no one wanted to listen to explanations of Bush’s fuckups.

  102. 102.

    Grumpy Code Monkey

    @ThatLeftTurnInABQ:

    Personally I think the GOP’s worst nightmare is that the economy recovers and we enter a period of expansion and optimism during Obama’s 2nd term, because they will get zero credit for the recovery and enough people will remember what happened the last time a Democratic president was replaced by a Republican to put them out of the running in 2016.

    The social conservatives made inroads during the Clinton administration precisely because the economy was ticking along so well, and people were more easily distracted over social issues like abortion and gay marriage. That’s also the time when tax cut talk gains the most traction (although that’s exactly the time the government should increase revenue to pay down the debt). That’s why the 2000 election was close enough to steal. Think about it, Gore should have walked away with a double-digit victory; the Clinton administration presided over the longest peacetime expansion in history (or at least in the 20th century). Yeah, Gore as a candidate had his flaws (and an incompetent staff), but it should *never* have been that close.

    American voters have short memories and fucked up priorities. Exhibit A: John McCain. The Keating Five scandal should have been a millstone around McCain’s neck. That by itself should have sunk his career forever. It baffles me that it came up as little as it did in 2008. He shouldn’t have made it out of the primaries intact, just for that.

    And yet he was the candidate. And almost half the country voted for him.

    Nobody with a functioning brain is going to vote GOP over economic issues ever again. However, they will win on social issues, sometimes, just because we’re that flawed as a species.

  103. 103.

    Randy P

    @Spatula: Even if that were true, can you really not see the distinction between Sununu and a bunch of anonymous schmucks commenting on a blog?

    Don’t you guys get guidance in your talking points? This is D, D- material.

  104. 104.

    Grumpy Code Monkey

    @Brachiator:

    if Obama wins a second term, Hillary Clinton is the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party in 2016.

    A lot can happen in the next four years, depending on how successful the Democrats are. The DNC proved to me that we have a deep, young bench. It’s not at all obvious to me that Hillary (who will be 69 in ’16) will be the front-runner.

  106. 106.

    Turgidson

    @Grumpy Code Monkey:

    If Obama and the Democrats can right the ship, if we can make headway on the debt, if we can disentangle ourselves from the ME, if we can return to a time of general prosperity, that’s when voters get lax and the GOP will be the most dangerous.

    Hopefully, if all those things happen or are clearly on the right trajectory when the 2016 race gears up, the Democratic nominee will unapologetically run as the heir to Obama’s legacy. It is exceedingly unlikely that he will get caught with his zipper down like Clinton did, so it should be a pretty straightforward platform. Gore’s failure to embrace Clinton’s agenda while reminding people they weren’t voting for the Clenis probably cost him the election (among other things). I’m confident Obama won’t leave a minefield for his successor to navigate if he can help it.

  107. 107.

    Turgidson

    @Grumpy Code Monkey:

    A lot can happen, but I think it’s basically Hillary’s if she wants it. After her 2008 near-miss and team player attitude she showed once it was over, and her awesomeness at State…she has a truckload of goodwill in the bank AND she is now one of the most popular public figures in America – which was very much not the case in 2008.

    I also think, if she indicates she’s running, Obama’s braintrust will quietly get behind her and help run the campaign (no more Mark Penn!). The only potential monkeywrench to that is if old uncle Biden runs too. Then they might have to stay truly neutral until someone pulls away. And geez – the combined fundraising might of the Clinton and Obama operations? SuperPACs SchmuperPacs.

  108. 108.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    “Peggy Noonan has bashed George W. Bush, based Mitt Romney, wasn’t crazy about McCain.

    George W. Who?

    Oh, I forgot. It’s Friday. Conservatives admit Bush exists on Fridays, unless there’s an aftershock of some prominent Bush fuckup currently happening.

  109. 109.

    Spatula

    @Randy P:

    Randy P, what is NOT different is the hive mind concept, evident in both cases.

    You have no credibility to mock others for operating from within an echo chamber, when you are doing your mocking from within an echo chamber.

  110. 110.

    Lavocat

    Man, this is the best part – where they begin to turn on one another!

    I love it when Republicans turn into self-loathing cannibals!

    Or, as Flounder would say: “This is gonna be GREAT!”

  111. 111.

    Bruce S

    Can’t really complain about dismissals of Peggy Noonan, even if it comes from inmates of the asylum.

    She’s a horrible woman. Deserves any calumny heaped on her, even if it’s from crazies who are no saner than she is. In fact, this is way more fun than normal folk pointing out the obvious. She can’t even get respect from her fellow morons, grifters and sociopaths.

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