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I don’t know what’s better: the GOP potentially postponing their convention because a hurricane is going to hit hundreds of miles away, or the entirety of NRO declaring that Barack Obama’s just so angry.
I do like the idea that McCain and Bush avoided Katrina to have a birthday party, and now McCain and Bush are going to avoid having the party altogether so that they can also avoid the hurricane. Did they not recognize that they were having the convention in the midst of hurricane season? As an aside, if they move the convention back a week, besides ensuring that it’s the worst-attended convention in political history, McCain would also accept his nomination on September 11th, thereby indelibly politicizing yet another tragedy for his own gain. If he pushes it back another week, he won’t be the nominee until 8 days before the first debate, and he’s in a godawful financial situation - he’s already pushed off his fundraising apparatus to the RNC.
So, the choices: Katrina nomination, 9/11 nomination, or broke-ass nomination. I’d just go with Katrina. And get a very nice cake for my trouble.
Posted by
Jesse Taylor on 09:46 PM •
Permalink
Orrr.... No convention. Make some big play about his not needing a convention since he spent FIVE AND A HALF YEARS DRINKING HIS OWN PISS IN HANOI. Just skip the speeches from the Ag Commissioner from Idaho (since no ACTUAL congressfolk will be seen within a mile of Larry Craig’s stall) and have a one night nomination, roll call by acclimation and speech.
Might as well limit the damage.
Why does God hate Republicans? Serves these sanctimonious Cargo Christians right.
Well, God sits on high, her head between her hands and says, “9/11, Katrina, Rita. How many messages do I have to send these stupid Americans?”
Hawes - legally, I believe, he has to have some form of convention to accept the nomination. The delegates have to come, have to cast their votes, and have to officially nominate him. And he must officially accept said nomination, as must his VP.
Don’t turn lethal natural disasters into political messages Hawes. It’s not cool.
McCain would also accept his nomination on September 11th,
Awesome! This makes this night even better.
I can has broke-ass nomination?
And, had this been the Democratic convention, and they were under the threat of a hurricane, the Christian right would have most definitely attributed that to Gawd.
I joked on an earlier thread that the real theme of the last night of the Republican Convention would be “9/11”.
I never knew it would literally come true.
I can’t begin to imagine the logistical headache of trying to move the convention, and I suspect it’s really not actually possible to shift it. Wouldn’t all the venues and hotels already be booked for other events?
I can’t begin to imagine the logistical headache of trying to move the convention...
Ordinarily, I’d agree - but it doesn’t sound like all that many people are planning to attend this one.
I can’t wait till Obama is Pres, I’m quiting my job and collecting off the government. Everything will be free. So many promises to keep Obama....I’ll do this he says, I’ll do that, I’ll make sure those evil companies pay, I will do this, I will do that.
They can have the RNC convention over at the Applebee’s on Hwy 27. They have a private room and can do a nice buffet - all the green jello you can slurp.
Or they could have it at one of McMaverick’s houses - that way Cindy could get a nice tax write-off.
Boy, is BobK in for a surprise…
I see Bobk is having his nightly “meal” of MD 20/20 and whippets.
Bobk-- that’s only if you’re black. If you’re white then you know what a black president means-- white people are going to be sent back to their ancestor’s respective countries of origin. If you’re from more than one-- say you’re German, Irish and English-- then prepare to be dismembered.
(eyeroll)
Yeah, be reasonable, Jesse. If you believed in God, you’d be worried about tempting Him after what they’d done over the last eight years too…
If the RNC delays the convention, then it’s possible that it will not be during the hurricane, but during the hurricane AFTERMATH.
Won’t the networks *love* to have the news cutting back and forth between Repug speeches and images of flooding, storm damage, displaced folks, etc. It’ll be just like old times! Plus the huge spike in gas prices that would occur: $7/gal, anyone?
Only this time, I suggest they send Geraldo to Minneapolis, to do a special report on airport men’s room stalls, in the way that only Geraldo can.
Now they’re talking about a hugely scaled-down Republican Convention. Fail.
No convention bounce for Cranky.
Hey the 2004 RNC was also held in the ashes of the city they helped destroy. The lack of shame is pretty much a feature. And as cosmically appropriate as a hurricane hitting the RNC in New Orleans would be, I seriously hope it misses NOLA. That area has suffered enough…
Now, if Rudy Giuliani had gotten the nomination, he’d already have pushed it back a week, just so he could have the chance to accept the nomination on 9/11. It. Would. Be. Awesome.
Oh for GOD’S SAKE. If they’re going to put it off by a week, can they please also go hold it in some other metro area? Those of us in the Twin Cities are really ready for the circus to come to town so it can do its thing and then go away.
Naomi, since you’re from MN, what can you tell us from local experience about Tim Pawlenty? Is he that popular?
I can’t wait till Obama is Pres, I’m quiting my job and collecting off the government. Everything will be free. So many promises to keep Obama....I’ll do this he says, I’ll do that, I’ll make sure those evil companies pay, I will do this, I will do that.
Not bad on the bitterness, BobK. How’s that clinging to guns and God working out for you, ya hard-working white American?
Naomi, since you’re from MN, what can you tell us from local experience about Tim Pawlenty? Is he that popular?
I’ll field this one, Naomi.
No, he isn’t that popular. Indeed, if Mike Hatch hadn’t gone berserk in the waning days of the 2006 campaign, and called a reporter a “Republican whore,” it’s likely Timmy wouldn’t be in the governor’s mansion. He’s not an unskilled politician, mind you, but he’s pretty transparent—for example, he once negotiated a budget settlement with the Dems that hinged on the Democrats referring to a cigarette tax as a “health care fee,” so that he could technically not be breaking his pledge not to raise taxes. Also, because he’s been at the vanguard of cutting state aid to local governments, local property tax rates have skyrocketed. Oh, and his Lt. Governor was in charge of the Minnesota DOT when the bridge collapsed, and TPaw refused to fire her, because...um...well, okay, he didn’t have a reason.
Anyhow, polls seem to indicate that most Minnesotans’ votes would either be unaffected or affected negatively by a Pawlenty on the ticket; I’d be shocked if he could put the state in play, though he might be able to do in Al Franken.
Why the hell is McCain on the brink of choosing him then? That makes no sense!
Because all his other choices are even worse.
I thought it was great that they didn’t leak the VP name because it would have fallen short of popping that performance. They were going to leak the name but decided not to waste their great name in a bag (it’s most likely Pawlenty which is as bland as you can go) because it would hit the Obama wave like a drop against Hurricane Gustov.
Hawes - legally, I believe, he has to have some form of convention to accept the nomination. The delegates have to come, have to cast their votes, and have to officially nominate him. And he must officially accept said nomination, as must his VP.
I don’t think so. Parties can choose candidates by whatever means they wish. It is only Republican Party rules which require a convention. Those could presumably be amended, although I’m not sure if the Republican National Committee would have the authority to do so right now, when delegates to a national convention have already been elected and so forth. If they did do so, though, I don’t think any federal court would take up a challenge to it, since they’ve repeatedly ruled that party candidate choice procedures are entirely private matters to be decided by the parties.
Thanks John. I was wondering when party rules had become the law of the land.
Wait, isn’t the poster who used “legally” going into LAW SCHOOL? Well, I guess that’s what school is for.
The VP rumor is Sarah Palin, unless they rented a Gulfstream to fly from Anchorage to Hook Field just to fool people.
If the hurricane hits, they could always Stephanie Tubbs-Jones the convention, by having every speaker regrefully, respectfully, and reverently refer to it every time they opened their mouths.
They should just hold it at a Denny’s, where theyu can get all the conventioners
a deal on the Grand-Slam Breakfast.
Sure the coffee is weak, but it’s a whole lot stronger than GOP morals!!
John - thanks for the clarification!
They can’t change the date of the convention, because it takes a lot of space to hold a convention, and it’s all booked up. The Minnesota Twins already had to go on a 14-day roadtrip to accommodate the convention--the longest roadtrip in baseball since 1968--endangering their chances of winning a pennant. What, are they not going to allow the Twins back in town?
Seems odd that you would cheer a hurricane that has the potential to destroy homes and lives just so it will screw with the Republican Convention. Even to joke about it is in very bad taste. I guess that says a lot about the Liberal mind.
Rea - the nation’s first Waffle House convention is pending.
Oh, and Eric, you’re a dick. Bye.
or the entirety of NRO declaring that Barack Obama’s just so angry.
Gosh, I know! “Angry” this, “angry” that. So unfair. I can’t imagine anyone really thinking it’s fair to paint someone as “angry” every time someone opens her mouth in disagreement with the prevailing narrative, can you? Unde what circumstances would anyone on the left ever jump to the “angry! angry! angry!” chant when describing women people?
Even to joke about it is in very bad taste.
But to let people die in one is perfectly fine, because it’s their fault for being poor. I guess that says a lot about the Conservative mind.
Go on whining, Jason. You’re dead meat walking and you know it. I am sinful enough to enjoy your discomfort.
I was wrong about Pawlenty it seems.
Sarah Palin?
Ok, so McCain has been talking up experience and he chooses someone whose experience consists of Governing a state that has about 600,000 people, or about as many people as Charlotte, NC on a crowded holiday weekend.
Most County Executives have more experience than that!
Unde what circumstances would anyone on the left ever jump to the “angry! angry! angry!” chant when describing women people?
Well, first when the person is self-destructively angry (which Obama really isn’t). And second when the anger isn’t over something genuine (e.g. Obama’s disgust with Bush’s depredations) but rather over, say, bogus instances of “sexist statements” that were in fact gender-neutral criticisms.
Hope that helps you out, hattie. Enjoy the results of your vote for that great champion of feminism, John McCain.
Oh, come live in “liberal” Massachusetts where “angry” is a marginalizing word aimed at any and all dissenters from the official party machine, and those who would question the elected authoritarian “experts” - particularly professionals with degrees in the subject at hand - when they don’t know shit about that which they speak.
Okay, now the papers are speculating that Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, is the odds on for the VP. Smart, capable, good looking, earthy and outdoorsy, and a woman who has had to make a tough choice about one of her own pregnancies.
If McCain picks her, shall we form a Pandagon Office Pool and award a prize to the commenter who selects the date/time that McSame says something demeaningly and stupidly sexist in her presence?
Ms Kate-
She’s still in Alaska.
It is down to Joe Liberman, Tom Ridge, Bob Portman, or Eric Cantor.
I can say since Eric Cantor (or as I call him, the Shyster from Short Pump) used to be my Congressman he is a lightweight and would be slaughtered in a debate with Joe Biden.
The Boston Herald is reporting her as the front runner. Quoting:
A Gulfstream IV from Anchorage, Alaska, flew into Middletown Regional Airport in Butler County near Cincinnati about 10:15 p.m. yesterday, Rich Bevis, airport manager told The Associated Press. He said several people came off the plane, including a woman and two teens, but there was no confirmation of who was aboard.
Palin would be such pandering.
This is a man (John McCain) who talked about how important experience is, and he wants to put someone a heartbeat away from the Presidency who has been Governor of a state with as many people as a third tier American city for 1 1/2 years.
Well, hey, she’s Puma Palatable, speaks redneck fluently, is married to a racial minority, and looks fabulous too ... that seems to bridge and appease several constituencies.
One more thing - her son is set to deploy to Iraq in the fall.
I’ll say it’s good to see several powerful figures (Biden, Webb, McCain, Palin, etc) having relatives serving in Iraq. That’s a good message to send.
Ms Kate--
She is EXTREMELY anti-choice from what I’m reading. Also a member of the weirdo “quiverfull” movement. I don’t think that plays well with PUMAs.
I don’t think the pumas that are left are thinking so clearly. If they were, they would notice how bloody anti-choice McSame is.
She even doesn’t believe in abortion being legal in cases of rape, incest, or even life of the mother from what I’m reading. That’s further right than McCain.
Ms Kate, AFAIK the update was that she was still in Alaska.
I don’t think the pumas that are left are thinking so clearly. If they were, they would notice how bloody anti-choice McSame is.
More to the point, fuck the PUMAs. They’re just someone’s diversionary technique. Trying to appease them is pointless.
So, the choices: Katrina nomination, 9/11 nomination, or broke-ass nomination.
If they could swing it, 9/11. I mean, they’re going to be shrieking about it again anyway, so they can keep suggesting Obama is a Muslim who hates America and espouses treasonous policies of surrender. Oh, and POW.
Palin would be an awesome choice. Sure, she’s a moral and intellectual lightweight, and has ties to indicted Alaska pols. But she spouts evangelical, can pretend to be sympathetic about reproductive decisions she actually wants the government to strip from non-influential people, and most important of all, she’s a woman. Because female swing-voters are now desperate to vote for any ticket with a woman on it, even one headed up by an anti-contraception misogynist right-wing shitbag who doesn’t think women deserve equal pay for equal work. Yeah, whatever.
The thing that worries me about Palin as VP is that Biden can’t attack her in the debate without the wingnuts making him into a mean sexist.
She even doesn’t believe in abortion being legal in cases of rape, incest, or even life of the mother from what I’m reading. That’s further right than McCain.
No, it isn’t. McCain endorsed the draconian South Dakota ban. He is absolutely opposed to reproductive rights for ordinary people, no matter what he’s said about his own family members. Naturally, the rules wouldn’t apply to them.
I didn’t know McCain was THAT nuts. Wow, that’s extreme. Just far, far out right wing.
Wow, that’s extreme. Just far, far out right wing.
That’s McCain. No moderate maverick is he.
AnnieJumps, the word was that she flew to Minnesota late last night, as quoted above from the banner headline at bostonherald.com. Both my local papers are reporting her as the wild card favorite. Do you have a linked source for her still being in Alaska?
That said, how long until she gets patronized, belittled, or given the cunt treatment by McSame?
It is Palin. Just wow. This is the biggest pandering, most token-tastic pick I’ve ever seen.
Ben D., what have you been reading on her?
Annejump-
Shes an extreme right wing Mel Gibson-type (i.e., not mainstream) Catholic, a member of the fringe “quiverfull” movement, and former runner up for Miss Alaska.
From what sources, I mean? Sorry, should have clarified.
I checked Wikipedia but probably wasn’t looking hard enough. Thanks
I’m quiting my job and collecting off the government.
Please do that, Bob—assuming that you’re quitting your job and not quite-ing your job (whatever that means). Once you run out of money and credit, you’ll have to file for bankruptcy. Then, you’ll enjoy the consequences of the Republican bankruptcy bill, which your boys Bush and McCain supported and Obama opposed.
Ben D., she’s Assemblies of God, not Catholic. Also, I haven’t seen anything that indicated she was part of the Quiverfull movement. Do you have a source for that?
I, for one, hope they don’t postpone it because they already have the streets closed up here. I work at a downtown St. Paul hotel right outside the no car zone and getting around is tough. Not to mention parking.
Plus, we are already crawling with republicans complaining about how we don’t carry fox news on our cable package (a minimum of propoganda is required for their comfort, apparently).
I want this thing to start so it can be OVER!
Gustav hit Cuba as a Category 4 and is on its way to the Gulf Coast.
Fuck. Brownie’s not still in charge, is he?
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Orrr.... No convention. Make some big play about his not needing a convention since he spent FIVE AND A HALF YEARS DRINKING HIS OWN PISS IN HANOI. Just skip the speeches from the Ag Commissioner from Idaho (since no ACTUAL congressfolk will be seen within a mile of Larry Craig’s stall) and have a one night nomination, roll call by acclimation and speech.
Might as well limit the damage.