1773 – Free speech for me. (2010)

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As of right now, ak4mc.us and Twenty Eleven (and I) endorse Herman Cain for President in 2012.

If he runs.

Some background: My wife and I met Herman Cain in 2004 at the IHOP in Fayetteville, Georgia while he was seeking the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate; Cain almost forced Johnny Isakson into a runoff, which might have been a good thing for Georgia—although Herman Cain as a sitting Senator would be a far less palatable candidate for President (as even he admitted to Greta Van Susteren the other night).

Cain sat across from Chris and me talking to us while the rest of the crowd at the event arrived. We’d already been intrigued by his TV spots and although at the time I’d been leaning toward supporting my then-Congressman, Mac Collins, Collins’ incessant negative attacks on all the other candidates had gotten on my nerves. We came away convinced that Herman Cain was the real deal.

And I wouldn’t mind seeing someone I’ve already met taking the presidential oath 25 months from now.

Reagan 101

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1773

Within the limits of their own horizons, all people want the future to be better than the present.

All people. Including criminals and mass-murderers, though their horizons are dark and their definition of “better” is twisted. Still, that’s what it takes to write believable characters in fiction: to start with the assumption that even villains have some notion of a “better” future, for themselves if for no one else.

But it’s also an important consideration in motivating people to act in desired ways; no one likes to be criticized incessantly for being less than perfect. They want to learn what they can do to make it better.

When Ronald Reagan spoke about the things the Democrats had gotten wrong during the Carter years, it was always as preamble to what he wanted to do to get it right. He pointed out error and failure, but blame was secondary to his message—his real point was always, “That’s the past. Now, here’s what we as Americans can do to make the future better.”

Anyone looking at Reagan’s record as President knows he never got all of the things done that he said he wanted to do. He got what he could with the time and resources he had, and left office hoping his successor would build on his legacy. Can anyone imagine Ronald Reagan throwing his hands in the air, sputtering that George H.W. Bush had screwed up once and for all and everything he, Reagan, had done was now lost forever?

That wasn’t his style. And that isn’t what America needs in 2011. The Republicans in Congress need to be corrected when they screw up—not condemned.

Round 1

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…goes to the good guys.

H/t: Commenter Pablo at Protein Wisdom.

Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em

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1773

…’cause 2012 is only two years away and you know damn well the jockeying has already begun.

One thing you can count on is that the Senate will be targeted again; in 2010 most of the seats to be decided were already held by Republicans so opportunities for gains were limited. The class that comes around in ’12 will be very different, and unless the momentum shifts 180 degrees again in the next two years the GOP is all but guaranteed to take control.

Of course, the Senate quest will be overshadowed by that one non-congressional national office that’s supposed to be on the ballot next cycle. The Tea Party’s energies will need to be focused on that, but I hope it’s still strong enough to make relevant differences in House and Senate races again.

Time will tell. A lot depends on how Obama reacts to yesterday’s outcome. I rather hope the Democrats’ survival in the Senate emboldens him to keep @#$!!ing himself over.

America has shown it can deal with having to apply its own band-aids for two years. Two more years won’t kill it either.

Not bad, could’ve been better

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Barney Frank didn’t get the keester-kicking he so richly deserves, and the networks are all saying Jerry Brown will be the Bizarro State’s next goober-nut.

But Russ Feingold went bye-bye, which is a nice consolation prize. And as of the most recent numbers it looks like not only is Nathan Deal leading in Georgia’s own goober-natorial election, he may be on track to avoid a runoff with Roy “Mr. Weatherbee” Barnes, whose greatest accomplishment during his first term as goober-nut was to foist on Georgia the ugliest state flag in U.S. history.

Also, two of the Democrats in Georgia’s U.S. House delegation — Jim Marshall and Sanford Bishop — are about to get a packet with information on applying for their congressional pensions, since come January they’ll no longer be drawing congressional paychecks. (Wrong about Bishop — see below.)

When I moved here eleven years ago there were, I think, two Republicans among Georgia’s constitutional officers (excluding the Public Service Commission). In 2011 I think they’ll all be Republicans. Georgia’s conversion from a one-party Democrat state to a one-party Republican state — obviously already begun by 1999 — is now complete.

Now all that remains is for Sharon Angle to hand Harry Reid his walking papers.

It could happen.

Update: If California is now the Bizarro State, its capital must be Excremento.

‘Nother update: I had Bishop losing based on this at MyFoxAtlanta.com, but subsequent numbers on Fox News showed that race tightening up in the home stretch. We’ll see. Fox News did finally call the goober-natorial for Deal though.

‘Nother other update: Official results show Bishop re-elected. Maybe next time.

Still one more update: Although the carnage wasn’t as spectacular as I (tongue-in-cheekly) predicted, it’s heartening to know that the red tide did penetrate all the way down to the statehouses as I hoped.

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