I'm married with two daughters and have been teaching political science in a red state for 19 years. My blogging covers a lot of issues but I'm a progressive kind of guy who tends to focus on political process, conservatism, and religiosity. Living in the Bible Belt gives me a little different though not necessarily more friendly perspective on conservatism. I also get in the occasional sports post.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Trump and the Politics of Confrontation
Chris Cilliza of the Washington Post is on the right track in claiming that Donald Trump was so popular with Republican voters because of his willingness to confront President Obama.
Commonly Subversive
The family and I watched Common and Queen Latifah in Just Wright yesterday. Hard to see him as the "subversive" Bill O'Reilly says he is.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Winning the GOP's "Highest Unfavorables" Title
Before Newt Gingrich announced his presidential candidacy, his "unfavorable" ratings in national surveys were high but not as high as Sarah Palin's and Donald Trump's.
Now that Newt's running for president, I imagine that his negatives will start inching up to the Palin/Trump level. Maybe he'll eventually surpass Palin and Trump as the most unpopular politician in Aemrica.
Americans also already know and have fully formed opinions about Palin, Trump and Gingrich. And in many cases, their verdicts are harsh. A recent independent national poll from Quinnipiac University reflects the trio's electability problems: 58 percent of respondents said they would never vote for Palin or Trump, and 42 percent said they would never vote for Gingrich.
Now that Newt's running for president, I imagine that his negatives will start inching up to the Palin/Trump level. Maybe he'll eventually surpass Palin and Trump as the most unpopular politician in Aemrica.
Ooh! Yecch!
There's a little David Williams ad on my blog. Williams might not be worse than Robert Mugabe, Pol Pot, or the King of Saudi Arabia, but he's certainly not as qualified for the job as Democratic incumbent Steve Beshear. I support Beshear.
Being Married to Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich throws Paul Ryan and the House Republicans under the bus by referring to the Ryan budget as "right-wing social engineering."
Newt Gingrich has been married to the Republican Party 1978. Unfortunately for the GOP, it looks like they're going to find out just how bad a spouse Newt can be.Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich distanced himself on Sunday from a House GOP plan to make cuts to Medicare, calling it “too big a jump" for the American people.
“What you want to have is a system where people voluntarily migrate to better outcomes, better solutions, better options, not one where you suddenly impose it,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I am against Obamacare imposing radical change, and I would be against a conservative imposing radical change.”