UP-FRONT POLITICAL-GOLD-FROM-YESTERDAY NUGGETS!!
We have several stories that I've posted recently that deserve more attention:
(1) Blame the GOP Establishment for the Rise of Gingrich (Conor Friedersdorf) from the Atlantic
I posted this yesterday based on a quick read of the first paragraphs. The WHOLE article is full of great analysis. Just an example:
"What a political movement gets when it spends years marshaling more demagoguery than sound arguments against its opponents, what it gets when its intellectuals are deposed by its entertainers, what it gets when Roger Ailes and Rush Limbaugh are its agenda-setting personalities; what it gets when all these factors and more prevail, is a Newt Gingrich victory in South Carolina, where the voters, having been trained to elevate emotion and style over substance, didn't even realize that they've chosen as their champion a man who is neither conservative nor capable of leading anyone."
In addition to this piece, Friedersdorf has followed with some further commentary HERE and HERE.
(2) Why it’s China’s Turn to Worry about Manufacturing (Vivek Wadhwa) from the Washington Post
This story has more to do with the direction technology is going and presents a fascinating picture of the US's economic future!
"New technologies will likely cause the same hollowing out of China’s manufacturing industry over the next two decades that the U.S experienced over the past twenty years. ... there are three exponentially accelerating technologies—artificial intelligence, robotics, and digital manufacturing—that will reshape the competitive landscape for manufacturing. Specifically, these technologies will make manufacturing more creative, less expensive, more local and more personal."
(3) From Gingrich To Palin To Gingrich (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast
As with the Friedersdorf, this column is filled with a clear-eyed assessment of where GOP "elites" have created their own monsters.
"... the concept of a responsible, sane, pragmatic party leadership able to corral or coax or manage a party's base is, it seems to me, a preposterous fiction on its face, as we are seeing. The Republican Establishment is Rush Limbaugh, Roger Ailes, Karl Rove, and their mainfold products, from Hannity to Levin. ... They have never quite reconciled themselves to Romney since he represents a gray blur in a stark Manichean universe they have created for more than a decade now. ... There is only them and us. Anyone who diverges an iota from this schematic is speaking without a microphone in front of a revving airplane engine."
Now -- today's regular nuggets!!
Biggest Political News of the Day: Confidence in the Economy (Jonathan Cohn) from the New Republic
"Once again, today's biggest political news isn't about the Republican candidates or the President, even though the former are battling in Florida and the latter is about to give the State of the Union address. It's the latest Gallup survey, which shows economic confidence has risen sharply since August and is now at levels not seen since May."
Obama To Announce Mortgage Crisis Unit Chaired By New York Attorney General Schneiderman (Sam Stein) from the Huffington Post
"During his State of the Union address tonight, President Obama will announce the creation of a special unit to investigate misconduct and illegalities that contributed to both the financial collapse and the mortgage crisis."
It's the Insurgents vs. Establishment in the GOP (Gerald Seib) from the Wall Street Journal
"Mitt Romney, welcome to John Boehner's world. Both men—one the presidential candidate just stung in South Carolina, the other the speaker of the House—are fairly conventional leaders attempting to ride herd on a restless Republican Party that seems more interested in insurgent leaders. Let's just say they are having limited success. That's the real lesson of South Carolina's Saturday primary..."
The Republican Base Simply Does Not Like Mitt Romney & Why The Press Rarely Reports It (Erik Erikson) from Redstate.com
"Mitt Romney who no one much cares for outside of well paid consultants, lobbyists, and First Class Acela Express Republicans in Washington and New York is going to drive up his own negatives to make Newt Gingrich more toxic to the base than himself. "
A similar view from the right-wing punditry:
Why Newt Could Win the Nomination (Michael Walsh) from the National Review
"The problem with Romney, it seems to me, is that not only is he the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time, politically ill-wind speaking, he has no natural constituency ,,, Newt’s inoculated himself against further Super PAC attack ads and renegade ex-wives, it’s unlikely that Romney can carpet-bomb him as effectively as he did in Iowa. Newt’s now like one of those nuked Japanese film creatures that not only was not destroyed but is back, bigger, badder and more cheesed off than ever. To whom does Romney really appeal?"
Public Sours on Romney in January (Jon Cohen) from the Washington Post
"The number of Americans with negative views of Mitt Romney has spiked in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, compounding the former Massachusetts governor’s challenges as he tries to rally from Saturday’s big loss in South Carolina. Among independents, Romney’s unfavorable rating now tops 50 percent — albeit by a single point — a first in Post-ABC polling back to 2006."
Swiss Mitt (Reid Wilson) from the National Journal
"Mitt Romney had a Swiss bank account. You're welcome, Democratic National Committee. ... Romney handed Democratic opposition researchers a trove of new data that will surely show up in attack ads this fall, if he's lucky enough to be the GOP nominee."
THIS is one of the key reasons Romney didn't want to disclose his taxes. Even the most moronic spin meister can weave this into political gold: "Romney's been hiding his assets in Swiss bank accounts -- just like ex-dictators and drug kingpins." You can see the ads now.
Mitt Romney's Attacks Only Help Newt Gingrich (Ana Marie Cox) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"As Newt surfs Tea Party sentiment, Mitt's negative messaging in Florida serves merely to boost Gingrich's insurgent credentials."
I SUSPECT that this is true -- and we'll see next week.
Andrea Mitchell: "Top Romney Advisor" Said "Party Elites" Will Find Alternative If Mitt Loses Florida from Townhall.com
""I talked to a top Romney adviser tonight who said, 'Look, if Mitt Romney can not win here in Florida then we're going to have to try to reinvent the smoke-filled room which has been democratized by all these primaries. And we're going to have try to come with someone as an alternative to Newt Gingrich..."
IF TRUE, this "top advisor" gives some hint as to why the Romney campaign is failing so badly to connect with GOP voters: any late entry orchestrated by the GOP establishment would play right into the angry victimization meme that is fueling Gingrich's campaign in the first place. Clearly Gingrich is a MASTER of this rhetorical landscape. Moreover, why is a top ROMNEY advisor saying this?! To even suggest this is to admit your campaign is already in deep trouble. I cannot see any scenario where Romney would drop out - no matter how badly he might lose in Florida or anywhere else. So why is this campaign "insider" even going there?
OUR BAD-PUNDIT-OF-THE-DAY!!
The GOP Deserves to Lose (Bret Stephens) from the Wall Street Journal
A brutal (and largely accurate) critique of the GOP field. But also without doubt the most vicious back-handed attack on a candidate spouse I've ever read in a supposedly top-tier newspaper.
"Voters instinctively prefer the idea of an entertaining Newt-Obama contest—the aspiring Caesar versus the failed Redeemer—over a dreary Mitt-Obama one. The problem is that voters also know that Gaius Gingrich is liable to deliver his prime-time speeches in purple toga while holding tight to darling Messalina's—sorry, Callista's—bejeweled fingers."
Don't get it? Look up Messalina (3rd wife of Roman Emperor Claudius). Maybe I'm missing something here, but as far as I can see, Stephens just called Calista (to put it politely) a sexually voracious prostitute. Now -- as many readers here already know, there is quite a bit I don't care for about Calista. But as far as I can see, she has done nothing that even remotely warrants this characterization! Moreover, THIS kind of too-cute-by-half, hiding-a-gutter-comment-in-an-obscure-reference is cowardly, smarmy, and (in its content) vaguely misogynistic. I've never heard of Stephens, the author -- but that the WSJ editorial board would give this line the green light suggests that Rupert Murdoch has perhaps had more of an impact of the Journal's editorial policies than I had suspected. It also further suggests that the GOP "establishment" really is going to throw everything they can at Gingrich to stop his candidacy!
Gingrich is Obama’s Best Surrogate (Dana Milbank) from the Washington Post
"The most important figure in Tuesday night’s State of the Union address wasn’t on the House floor. In fact, he hasn’t taken a seat in front of the chamber in 13 years. But as he campaigned for the Republican presidential nomination in Florida, former House speaker Newt Gingrich was doing more to boost President Obama’s reelection prospects than anything Obama himself could do."
Will GOP Risk Goldwater II With Gingrich in 2012? (Stuart Rothenberg) from Roll Call
"In 1964, an angry Republican Party nominated conservative Barry Goldwater for president. Eight years later, Democrats rallied behind George McGovern, an unapologetic liberal. In each case, the parties embraced what they thought were truth-tellers who reflected their core values. And, of course, both candidates lost badly."
The Gusts of Gingrich (Frank Bruni) from the New York Times
"The candidate hasn’t grown careful, and it doesn’t seem to be hurting him."
Newton Leroy Gingrich: America's 'Hypocritical Moralizing Apostle' (Editorial) from Nachrichten [of Austria in English]
"Far-right Republicans see in Gingrich a mirror image of themselves: a retro-party led by angry White men, whose frustration with the challenges of globalization has erupted into resentment. Gingrich understands this sentiment better than anyone. And he uses it in the worst way."
You Can Thank The Supreme Court For Newt Gingrich’s Extended Campaign from Talking Points Memo
"Were this 2008, that probably would have been the end of the line for Gingrich: he wouldn’t have had the cash to run any ads in the early primary states. But the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision — which celebrated its two-year anniversary over the weekend — gave life to “independent expenditure” political action committees closely tied to political campaigns, letting Gingrich’s broke campaign carry on with a little help from Newt’s pal Mr. Adelson."
It's good to hear this. The only way Citizens United will get struck down in the short term is if GOP politicos and/or voters perceive it as damaging to THEM. And there is increasing evidence that at least some are beginning to see it in this light. Maybe a decisive Gingrich win in the primaries and his corresponding defeat in the general election could create some momentum in that direction.
The GOP’s Unemployment Trap (Andrew Leonard) from Salon
"Romney and Gingrich aren't talking about unemployment for a reason: Because they don't have any solutions."
HISTORIC WASHINGTON DC NUGGET!!
The Story of Washington’s Cherry Blossoms (Ichiro Fujisaki) from the Washington Post
"This spring will mark the 100th anniversary of the chilly day in late March 1912 when two women in heavy coats dug into the earth along the north edge of the Tidal Basin to plant saplings. First lady Helen Taft and Viscountess Iwa Chinda, the wife of the Japanese ambassador to the United States, were joined by just a few people as they helped cherry blossom trees from half a world away take root in the nation’s capital."
MICHELLE OBAMA NUGGET!!
African American Women See Their Own Challenges Mirrored in Michelle Obama’s ( Krissah Thompson and Vanessa Williams) from the Washington Post
"“She is mainstreaming to the world what a lot of us already know about ourselves,” says Dacenta Grice, a 37-year-old black woman who works as a physician assistant in Atlanta. “She reinforces the reality that so many of us live. She is a black woman who just seems fantastic in her own right, who just seems like every day people and is relatable.”"
EXTRAORDINARY NORTHERN LIGHTS NUGGET!!
The Midnight Phoenix Rises: Biggest Solar Storms for Six Years Create Spectacular Northern Lights (PHOTOS) from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
The video that goes with this story is incredible! Also see the pictures below.
"The Northern Lights have lit up the skies above Scotland, Canada and Norway after the biggest solar storm in more than six years bombarded Earth with radiation. The Canadian Space Agency posted a geomagnetic storm warning on Tuesday after residents were also treated to a spectacular show in the night sky."
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