The quotation in the title is attributed to the legendary baseball manager Casey Stengel, and it must underscore the level of exasperation sensible members of the Republican Party must be feeling right now.
I will admit to times over the last two weeks when I have become convinced ... convinced ... that the remaining presidential hopefuls in the GOP were blowing it on purpose.
Whether it was the Romney debacle at Ford Field, or Rick Santorum's abysmal debate performance, or Newt Gingrich ... being Newt Gingrich, Republicans have to be apoplectic as they watch a president with approval ratings in the mid-40s and economic approval ratings even lower skate to fairly decent leads and an electoral college edge over all Republican comers.
This was one of the president's better polling weeks, to be sure. But that wasn't all we saw this week. We also saw a raft of new Senate data, some key House polling with actual primary elections right on the doorstep (!). Add to that the most diverse (and, in some ways, comical) Air Ball candidates since ever, and it is a full week to catch up in the "people start voting again soon" edition of the Daily Kos Elections Weekend Digest.
THE BATTLE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE
THE REPUBLICAN FIELD: A couple of polling shifts over the past several days have to be cause for at least some concern in the Santorum camp. After a nearly unprecedented (in this cycle, at least) three-week climb up the charts in the Gallup daily tracking poll of the GOP primary, Santorum's momentum in that survey finally relented, as his double-digit advantage had eroded all the way to a meager single-point edge this morning.
Also, his edge in the key primary state of Michigan were also essentially gone by the end of the week (the polling you see with a clear Santorum advantage here, like the PPP poll, came almost exclusively in the first couple of days of the week). Arizona may be a tough draw for him, as well, especially with a likely Romney edge in early voting factored in.
Santorum does have a few things in his favor. Some of the post-2/28 polling shows some clear weak spots for Mitt Romney in the coming weeks. And Mitt Romney might have done his rival a huge favor on Friday with the mother of all unforced errors at Ford Field. But it seems increasingly likely that, by the time next weekend's Digest is published, Mitt Romney will have a wider advantage in the delegate count than he currently enjoys.
NATIONAL (Associated Press/GfK): Santorum 33, Romney 32, Gingrich 15, Paul 15
NATIONAL (Gallup Tracking): Santorum 31, Romney 30, Gingrich 16, Paul 11
NATIONAL (Quinnipiac): Santorum 35, Romney 26, Gingrich 14, Paul 11
NATIONAL (YouGov): Santorum 34, Romney 25, Gingrich 16, Paul 10
ALABAMA (Alabama State University): Gingrich 19, Santorum 18, Romney 15, Paul 4
ARIZONA (American Research Group): Romney 39, Santorum 35, Gingrich 11, Paul 9
ARIZONA (CNN/Opinion Research): Romney 36, Santorum 32, Gingrich 18, Paul 6
ARIZONA (PPP): Romney 36, Santorum 33, Gingrich 16, Paul 9
ARIZONA (NBC News/Marist): Romney 43, Santorum 27, Gingrich 16, Paul 11
ARIZONA (Rasmussen): Romney 42, Santorum 29, Gingrich 16, Paul 8
ARIZONA (We Ask America): Romney 37, Santorum 27, Gingrich 15, Paul 8
CALIFORNIA (Field Poll): Romney 31, Santorum 25, Paul 16, Gingrich 12
GEORGIA (Insider Advantage): Gingrich 26, Romney 24, Santorum 23, Paul 12
GEORGIA (Landmark/Rosetta Stone): Gingrich 38, Santorum 25, Romney 19, Paul 4
GEORGIA (Rasmussen): Gingrich 33, Santorum 28, Romney 20, Paul 9
MICHIGAN (American Research Group): Santorum 38, Romney 34, Paul 12, Gingrich 7
MICHIGAN (EPIC-MRA): Santorum 37, Romney 34, Paul 10, Gingrich 7
MICHIGAN (NBC News/Marist): Romney 37, Santorum 35, Paul 13, Gingrich 8
MICHIGAN (Mitchell Research/Rosetta Stone): Romney 36, Santorum 33, Paul 12, Gingrich 9
MICHIGAN (PPP): Santorum 37, Romney 33, Paul 15, Gingrich 10
MICHIGAN (Rasmussen): Romney 40, Santorum 34, Paul 10, Gingrich 9
MICHIGAN (We Ask America): Romney 29, Santorum 29, Paul 12, Gingrich 10
OKLAHOMA (Rasmussen): Santorum 43, Gingrich 22, Romney 18, Paul 7
OKLAHOMA (Sooner Poll): Santorum 39, Romney 23, Gingrich 18, Paul 8
PENNSYLVANIA (Franklin & Marshall): Santorum 45, Romney 16, Gingrich 9, Paul 7
TEXAS (Univ. of Texas/Texas Tribune): Santorum 48, Gingrich 17, Romney 16, Paul 14
VIRGINIA (Christopher Newport Univ.): Romney 53, Paul 23
WASHINGTON (PPP): Santorum 38, Romney 27, Paul 15, Gingrich 12
WISCONSIN (Marquette Law School): Santorum 34, Romney 18, Paul 17, Gingrich 12
LOOKING AHEAD TO NOVEMBER: There was actually a pretty formidable amount of data this week on the Obama v. Republicans front, and virtually all of it (a curious Gallup poll aside) was extremely good news for the president.
New polling gave him massive leads in the upper Midwest, with leads in Wisconsin and Michigan that exceeded his margins of victory in the 2008 landslide election. There was also polling from, of all places, the House of Ras giving him a solid lead in Virginia. And new data from a pair of pollsters gave credence to the idea that Arizona's 11 electoral votes are very much within striking distance for the Democrats in 2012.
The only black mark on an otherwise stellar polling week for Barack Obama was that USA Today/Gallup poll, which honestly smells outlier-ish on a number of levels. For one thing, Gallup is on an island as being one of the only pollsters in America that shows Mitt Romney in a better electoral position with the president, when compared to numbers in November and December (prior to the GOP primary). For another, they give Romney a four-point lead over Obama. You have to go back to November 13th to find a non-Rasmussen poll giving Romney that kind of a lead over the president.
Those two bits of contrary analysis don't even take into account that there were close to a dozen national polls conducted in the past two weeks, and none of them were so bullish on the chances of Mitt Romney.
NATIONAL (Associated Press/GfK): Obama d. Romney (51-43); Obama d. Paul (53-44); Obama d. Santorum (52-43); Obama d. Gingrich (52-42)
NATIONAL (Quinnipiac): Obama d. Romney (46-44); Obama d. Santorum (47-44); Obama d. Gingrich (50-39)
NATIONAL (Rasmussen Tracking): Obama d. Romney (46-43); Obama d. Santorum (47-42)
NATIONAL (USA Today/Gallup): Romney d. Obama (50-46); Obama d. Santorum (49-48)
NATIONAL (YouGov): Obama d. Romney (49-41); Obama d. Santorum (51-41); Obama d. Paul (49-37); Obama d. Gingrich (52-36)
ARIZONA (NBC News/Marist): Romney d. Obama (45-40); Santorum d. Obama (45-42); Paul d. Obama (43-41); Obama d. Gingrich (45-40)
ARIZONA (PPP): Santorum d. Obama (47-46); Obama tied with Romney (47-47); Obama d. Paul (46-42); Obama d. Gingrich (48-44)
CALIFORNIA (Field Poll): Obama d. Romney (55-35); Obama d. Gingrich (56-33); Obama d. Santorum (60-32)
IOWA (Selzer/Des Moines Register): Paul d. Obama (49-42); Santorum d. Obama (48-44); Romney d. Obama (46-44); Obama d. Gingrich (51-37)
MICHIGAN (NBC News/Marist: Obama d. Romney (51-33); Obama d. Paul (53-31); Obama d. Santorum (55-29); Obama d. Gingrich (56-28)
MONTANA (Rasmussen): Romney d. Obama (48-41); Santorum d. Obama (45-41)
PENNSYLVANIA (Franklin & Marshall): Obama d. Romney (41-33); Obama d. Santorum (45-37); Obama d. Paul (41-28); Obama d. Gingrich (47-31)
PENNSYLVANIA (Rasmussen): Obama d. Romney (45-44); Obama d. Santorum (46-40)
TEXAS (Univ. of Texas/Texas Tribune): Santorum d. Obama (51-37); Romney d. Obama (49-36)
VIRGINIA (Christopher Newport University): Santorum d. Obama (46-42); Romney d. Obama (46-43); Obama tied with Paul (43-43); Obama d. Gingrich (45-40)
VIRGINIA (Rasmussen): Obama d. Romney (49-43); Obama d. Santorum (51-43)
WASHINGTON (PPP): Obama d. Santorum (52-40); Obama d. Paul (51-38); Obama d. Romney (53-38); Obama d. Gingrich (55-35)
WASHINGTON (SurveyUSA): Obama d. Romney (50-39); Obama d. Paul (50-37); Obama d. Santorum (51-38); Obama d. Gingrich (56-34)
WISCONSIN (Marquette Law School): Obama d. Santorum (51-40); Obama d. Romney (53-38); Obama d. Paul (52-36); Obama d. Gingrich (56-33)
THE BATTLE FOR THE U.S. SENATE
AT THE POLLS: Aside from, well, just about every campaign move by the GOPers running for president this year, has there been a bigger unforced error than Republican Senate hopeful Peter Hoekstra's hideous "Debbie Spend-it-Now" ad? That blunder, according to a new poll, has destroyed his prospects of winning the Senate seat in Michigan. The Marist/NBC News poll had Democratic Sen. Stabenow ahead of Hoesktra by twenty-one points (53-32). The key takeaway from the poll: independent voters clearly recoiled at that ad. Last summer, Hoesktra had a respectable lead over Stabenow with independents. In this poll, it was Stabenow with a fourteen-point lead with indies.
It is pretty amusing to note, however, that while Hoekstra might have torpedoed any hopes of getting elected to the US Senate, he might have actually improved his chances of winning the GOP primary. A new EPIC-MRA poll in the state has Hoekstra now leading businessman Clark Durant by a lofty 48-5 lead. This is actually a slightly better performance for Hoekstra than a pre-ad poll (which had Hoesktra at 40 percent).
If the Republican Party of Wisconsin can find a way to give former GOP Gov. Tommy Thompson a good teabagging, the open Senate race in the state might well be a Democratic hold. That's the verdict from a new Marquette Law School poll in the Badger State, where near-certain Democratic nominee Tammy Baldwin trails Thompson by a modest margin (48-42), but holds slight leads over either of the more right-leaning GOP alternatives. She leads former Congressman Mark Neumann by four (44-40), and state Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald by eight (45-37).
The House of Ras, as we noted a couple of weeks ago, is starting to poke its head out of the cave and spit numbers to the world again. This week, they offer two Senate polls, in two of the hotter races for 2012. Their verdict in Virginia is right in line with everyone else: a total freaking tossup. The House had Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican George Allen tied, with both candidates pulling 46 percent. We get a second opinion in Virginia this week, courtesy of a new poll by Christopher Newport University. Their poll had Allen leading Kaine by two (42-40). But, if there is a cautionary note in that poll, it is the fact that the same poll also gave Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum leads over Barack Obama in the Commonwealth, an island on which CNU is standing very much alone.
Meanwhile, out West, the House of Ras also headed into Montana, and their report on the race falls essentially where everyone else has fallen thus far: a narrow lead for Republican challenger Denny Rehberg. Rehberg leads freshman Democratic Sen. Jon Tester by three (47-44), according to the Rassies.
Staying in the Mountain West, a pair of new polls out of Arizona make it appear that this GOP open seat is likely to be a hold for the Republicans, with likely Republican nominee Jeff Flake (a veteran congressman) up double digits on his opposition. In a PPP poll of the race, Flake led either former US surgeon general Richard Carmona or former state Democratic party chairman Don Bivens by eleven points, with identical results (46-35). Marist/NBC only tested Flake with Carmona, and set the margin at 13 percent (42-29). PPP also tested the GOP primary here, but found Flake with an enormous edge (56-7) over businessman Wil Cardon.
Some earlier polling in the state of Washington hinted that Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell was a potential target for defeat, albeit a second-tier target. New polling from PPP pours at least a little cold water on that notion. PPP has Cantwell leading Port of Seattle Commissioner Bill Bryant by fourteen points (50-36), and state senator Michael Baumgartner by fifteen points (51-36). They also pour a heavier pitcher of cold water on a GOP rescue scenario: they tested Cantwell against three-time statewide candidate Dino Rossi, arguably the best known GOPer in the mix. He also gets beat by double digits (53-41).
On the primary front, we have wondered forever-and-a-day whether or not teabagger favorite Ted Cruz was ever going to catch fire in the GOP primary and challenge the presumptive frontrunner, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in Texas. That might be happening, according to a new Univ. of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. The poll had Dewhurst at 38 percent, with Cruz surging to a strong second with 27 percent. A January PPP poll had the margin at 18 points, with Cruz at 18 percent. Meanwhile, in Nebraska, a new Wenzel Strategies poll shows state attorney general Jon Bruning blasting state treasurer Don Stenberg by a 48-19 margin. But veteran Daily Kos Elections readers know that Wenzel has to live down one of the worst polls of 2010 (claiming that longtime Washington Rep. Norm Dicks was going to lose to a Republican, who actually lost to Dicks by 16 percent), so use salt to taste on this one.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL:
- In last week's Digest, we noted a Miami Herald piece which savaged GOP frontrunner Connie Mack in Florida for both financial and personal foibles. This week, that story grew some awesome legs. It started when one of Mack's GOP primary foes, former interim Sen. George LeMieux decided to make some hay from the story, blasting Mack as the "Charlie Sheen of Florida politics." After a day or two, Mack decided to parry LeMieux's blast, and he did it in the dorkiest way possible. Mack's camp accused LeMieux of an effort to "mock the tragedy of drug and alcohol addiction." Mmmkay. Meanwhile, the bad press for Mack continues, as he is being investigated for a possible misuse of the "homestead exemption." Both he and his wife claim one, on the claim that they are financially independent of one another. While chances are that he'll skate on the charge, the optics aren't wonderful, and he doesn't need any more good news on that front.
- This is the kind of thing that might give Democrats hope, if it weren't for the contours of this particular race. In Maine, one of the GOP primary opponents of longtime Sen. Olympia Snowe elected this week to bail and seek an Independent bid for the office. Andrew Ian Dodge, a tea party aficionado, was apparently inspired by the Maine GOP's catastrophic effort in conducting their caucuses earlier this month. Does this move matter? It won't matter at all, in all probability. Dodge hasn't even filed an FEC report yet, and polls show Snowe up 2-to-1 or better against all Democratic comers.
- If you wondered where Senators go when their time in DC has come to an end, check out two great "where are they now?" stories from this week, both of which are probably a bit predictable. Former Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln, who barely survived a 2010 primary from netroots favorite Bill Halter before getting blasted in November by Republican John Boozman, is now lobbying for the right-wing National Federation of Independent Businesses. Her current goal: easing the regulatory burden on the business community. Meanwhile, a political career, even in lobbying, wasn't in the cards for former Nevada Republican Sen. John Ensign. After all, the circumstances of his exit from the Senate were ... ahem ... unique. Thus, he went back to his old job, working as a veterinarian.
THE BATTLE FOR THE U.S. HOUSE
AT THE POLLS: Unlike last week, when there was a veritable deluge of House-level primary polling, there was a relative paucity of it this week, though it is worth noting that there were some polls looking at some of the biggest upcoming House primaries in the bunch.
Case in point: the incumbent-on-incumbent battle for political survival in IL-16, a Republican vote-sink which drew two GOP incumbents (veteran Donald Manzullo and young freshman Adam Kinzinger). Local pollsters We Ask America (a GOP-allied firm, but one whose track record in 2010 was laudable, especially in Illinois) took a look at the race, and found something interesting. Despite having more of the 16th district's turf, and despite a money edge, Manzullo is presently trailing Kinzinger 47-34. This could be a race not unlike the general election in PA-17 back in 2002, when Democrat Tim Holden parlayed being a younger, more battle-tested candidate into an upset win in unfriendly confines against Republican Rep. George Gekas. That could be happening here, with the 33 year-old Kinzinger (well, he turns 34 on Monday) possibly out-hustling an opponent who was elected to Congress when Kinzinger was a freshman in high school.
We Ask America also hit one of the other big Illinois primaries: the incumbent-on-former-incumbent battle in the heavily Democratic IL-02, where longtime Democratic Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is being challenged by the woman Adam Kinzinger defeated to head to Congress, former Rep. Debbie Halvorson. JJJ's district became a bit more suburban in redistricting, which is what gave Halvorson a toehold in the district. If the WAA poll is right, however, it did not give her enough of a grip on the district. Jesse Junior had a 54-32 lead in the survey, with roughly a month to go until the primary.
Meanwhile, and it is easy to forget this, we are only a week or so away from the first Congressional primaries of the cycle, in the state of Ohio. In that state, we may have a humdinger of a primary in a district designed to be a Democratic vote sink. The district is the Columbus-based OH-03, and a new poll conducted by PPP for the campaign of Joyce Beatty hints at a coin flip. The poll shows former Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy leading in her comeback bid, but by only a single point (35-34) over Beatty. State legislator Ted Celeste is also in the mix.
Pennsylvania votes in April, and they have a couple of marquee races on the docket. The incumbent in one of them is apparently a bit nervous. In PA-18, veteran Republican Tim Murphy felt compelled to release an internal poll from last month showing him leading young teabagger Evan Feinberg by a 74-12 margin. Maybe it is the talk of the Club for Growth playing here, or media coverage of the intraparty battle. Whatever the reason, Murphy apparently is quite invested in letting people know he has a good shot of taking down the young upstart. The winner draws a stronger-than-usual Democrat in this reddish district: Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi.
Hawaiians don't go to the polls until late in the cycle, but a new Ward Research poll for local media shows a lopsided race in the open seat of HI-02, where Mazie Hirono is trying to move over to the Senate. The poll has former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann well ahead of state legislator Tulsi Gabbard (65-20). As David Nir pointed out on Monday, however, there are some curiosities in this poll. It didn't list two candidates, and the writeup says it was a statewide poll. The latter would be a huge oops, since roughly half the sample would be invalid, seeing how they live in HI-01.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL:
- Speaking of Ohio, we are now just nine days away from the first federal primaries of the cycle, with sixteen House seats in the Buckeye State picking their nominees. The link takes you to the latest fundraising reports out of the state, but the junkies here at Daily Kos Elections are looking at three races in particular next week. In OH-02, "Mean Jean" Schmidt must again defend her seat, this time from 2009 Cincinnati mayoral candidate Brad Wenstrup. Schmidt has raised more cash, but Wenstrup showed decent campaign chops in his near-miss loss to Mark Mallory in 2009. Meanwhile, up north, a lot of eyes in our community will be fixed on that odd strip of a district that runs from Toledo to Cleveland. That's where two Democratic incumbents, Marcy Kaptur and Dennis Kucinich, are waging battle. Kucinich, predictably, has raised more cash, but years of uncompetitive races have allowed Kaptur to collect some resources for the battle, and she has a CoH edge. Finally, in the state capitol, it is a three-way battle for the newly-drawn OH-03. Former Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy is trying to return to DC, and she has a modest funding edge. But she also has two very legitimate opponents in state legislator Ted Celeste and former state legislator Joyce Beatty. The three of them all cleared six figures in the last (shortened) campaign finance filing period. Victory in the Democratic primary is tantamount to victory in this heavily Democratic seat.
- On the redistricting front, another state saw their new maps finalized in a court of law this week, and the big news was ... well ... no big news at all. In the court-ordered remap of Minnesota, scarcely anything shifted. The biggest differences were that the 2nd district, held by Republican John Kline, became a little bluer, and Michele Bachmann's 6th district grew a little redder. In all probability, only one district in the state will be targeted: the Iron Range-based 8th district, won in an upset by conservative Republican Chip Cravaack in 2010. The district still leans notably to Democrats (Barack Obama carried the 8th 53-45 under the new map). Meanwhile, one of the bigger remaining fishes in the redistricting game may see a court-drawn map, as well. With an accelerated primary schedule (their primary was moved from September to late June) and an impasse in the legislature, a three-judge panel called on a judge to begin drawing the maps for New York. That bit of cartography could prove especially thorny, since the state must shed two seats in the process.
- Rarely does a single candidate entry into a race merit inclusion in the Weekend Digest, but Democrats caught a big break over last weekend in CA-26, a formerly GOP-held slice of Ventura County made infinitely more winnable for Democrats in redistricting. Democrats lost, by far, their most well-funded and recognizable candidate when county supervisor Steve Bennett bounced from the race with less than a month to go to the filing deadline. After a nervous week or two, state assemblywoman Julia Brownley elected to make a bid, giving the Democrats a first-tier competitor in one of their best shots at a pickup in the country. The seat was made open when the Republican who repped most of the territory (veteran Elton Gallegly) saw his home drawn into the neighboring 25th district.
THE BATTLE FOR THE STATE HOUSE
AT THE POLLS: After a week in which it was looking like the GOP was starting to look good for a pickup in a blue state, PPP headed to the state of Washington and found something quite different. The pollster found Democrat Jay Inslee, who trailed by 9-10 points in a pair of surveys last week, deadlocked with likely GOP nominee Rob McKenna (42-42). Before Republicans snicker at the "Democrat pollster" giving a good result for a Democratic candidate, however, it is worth noting that the usual suspect of an optimistic poll (sample composition) doesn't seem to be an issue on the surface. The sample voted Obama +14 in 2008, and Obama actually carried the state by 17 points.
Let's close the data fest with my favorite poll of the week, in the 2014 contest in Texas. In the Lone Star State, for the uninitiated, Gov. Rick Perry is leaning towards seeking a fourth (!) full term in office. If successful, that would give him 18 years in the governor's office. The problem? The voters. By a sizable margin (39-51), Texas voters are disinclined to re-elect Perry to a precedent-setting fourth term in office.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL:
- One of the bigger mysteries on the statehouse beat in 2012 has been the long story arc of whether or not Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett will take another bite of the apple in Wisconsin, where Republican Gov. Scott Walker will almost certainly be the subject of a recall election. Last weekend, in an interview, Barrett probably sounded more like a candidate than at any point before, acknowledging serious interest in the race. He might need to strike fast. Former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk is collecting some big endorsements, such as her support from the AFSCME this week.
- This story out of West Virginia strikes me as an odd brand of fail. In a speech with local Republicans, GOP gubernatorial candidate (and 2011 special election loser) Bill Maloney stopped about an inch short of claiming his defeat last year came as a result of voter fraud. He noted that something was "wrong" with the fact that he lost one county (Logan) by 6000 votes. There are three problems with that accusation: 1) the accusation is absurdly ineffective when it comes a full six months after the election; 2) his opponent, now-Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D) is from Logan County, rendering a pasting of Maloney there eminently believable; 3) he lost by closer to 8000 votes, meaning he would have lost even if he tied or narrowly won Logan County. I am not sure how this is a winning gambit as Maloney kicks off a rematch with Tomblin.
- This could probably qualify for the Air Ball Award, and it's pretty damned amusing, too. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell hasn't only fumbled badly on women's issues in his state this week, he also flubbed his moonlighting gig as the head honcho of the Republican Governor's Association. As the RGA head, he headed to Missouri last weekend for a confab, given that Missouri is a potential (though second-tier) pickup shot for the GOP. While in a meeting with activists, he said he supported well-funded businessman Dave Spence "100 percent". That led to catcalls from the crowd, many of whom were actually fans of teabagging alternative Bill Randles, who actually led Spence in a recent poll of the state. McDonnell did some backpedalling in a hurry, saying he'd support the candidate that emerged from the Republican primary.
THE ELECTIONS DIGEST “AIR BALL” OF THE WEEK AWARD
Hey, call it progress, y'all: we made it to a week where a state Republican party was not nominated for an Air Ball award. Of course, there were no electoral contests on the GOP side this week, so there's that. And given that Rick Santorum's little balloon might be about to burst, let's give him the week off. After all, there are plenty of great candidates to consider for the Air Ball this week.
State Del. Dave Albo (R-VA): If you were wondering about the human costs of the debate over abortion and women in the state of Virginia, wonder no more. We now know the toll: it is apparently preventing some Virginia Republican legislators from getting laid. While Albo delivered this floor speech, he clearly had tongue firmly in-cheek. But, watching this video, it's hard not to flinch and say to yourself repeatedly, "I cannot believe that he is saying this shit out loud."
Congressional candidate Paul Babeu (R-AZ): The only thing on a par with threatening to deport your ex-lover because he won't promise to keep your closeted private life in the closet? Attempting to place the blame on your "sister with mental illness" for disclosures of your private life that had appeared in blog comments (it was actually the jilted ex-boyfriend). Amazingly, his candidacy remains alive.
Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN?): The question mark is there for a reason. You see, the official drivers license that Lugar uses to establish his Indiana residency is a home he hasn't lived in since 1977. For perspective, Barack Obama was a sophomore in high school the last time Dick Lugar actually ... you know ... lived in the state he has represented in the Senate for decades. What's funny is Lugar's spin, which is that two different (presumably Republican) Attorneys General of the state told him he was fine.
Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA): Or his campaign. Or ... well ... somebody. Whose brilliant idea was it to put his "big economic speech" (which resembled, essentially, all of his other less-big speeches) in a 96 percent empty stadium? And, while we're nitpicking, whose brilliant idea was it to try to establish kinship with blue-collar Michigan by pointing out that your wife tools around in a couple of Cadillacs?! I rarely campaign for the Air Ball, people, but seriously: if this doesn't win with 90 percent of the vote, I'll be very, very disappointed in you all.