...And Then Paul Revere's Twitter Account Got Hacked

The interesting ying and yang of the Internet: right-wing blogs are engaging in 24/7 Weiner coverage, while left-wing blogosphere demands that you keep talking about Sarah Palin.

Make Room For Rick!

Rick Santorum is running for President and he hopes a strong, network of committed evangelical activists will propel him to a win in Iowa, a respectible finish in New Hampshire, and a win in South Carolina.

Although Politico reports Santorum has a strong infrastructure in Iowa, I still believe he is facing a tough challenge for evangelical voters from Bachmann and Cain in Iowa.

And, of course, I find it interesting that the POLITICO headline is "Santorum Sees A Huckabee Path" since Huckabee didn't get the nomination.

In the Garden of Beasts

I just finished, and am immediately re-reading, Erik Larson's new book, In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin. I don't usually finish a book and head straight back to the beginning, but something drove me back. You see, I read it on my Kindle, and as with Unbroken, another recent read (also about World War II, this time in the Pacific), I relied on the little "percentage read" graphic on the bottom of the screen as I barreled along at a quick pace. When I reached the end of the book somewhere in the 70+% range (the rest of the book contained sources and footnotes and an index), I realized that I had been reading too quickly, looking for something that would bring the entire book together--maybe some hidden depths to be found in the two main characters, Ambassador William Dodd and his daughter, Martha, who I found naive and gullible and kind of boring even as they came to understand the horrors awaiting Germany and the world as the 1930s progressed. But there wasn't anything like that, so I had to go back to the beginning to spend a bit more time with the many other fascinating personalities Larson includes in this work.

It is for the portraits of those people that you should read this book. Röhm...Diels...even Hitler himself. It's a good book, though not as gripping page-by-page as Larson's The Devil in the White City. Or perhaps it just can't follow up Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin, which is one of the best books I have read in recent years.

Well, at least she doesn't want to be a teacher.

Sarah Palin shares a bit of history as only she can.

Analysts predict problems for GOP as rightward drift continues

This compelling piece by Meghan Malloy in today's Iowa Independent is exactly what we've been discussing in recent weeks in our household. In the article, which you really must read, Malloy talks with a number of distinguished political analysts--and the consensus lines up with what Jeff and I have been saying between ourselves: A combination of factors is setting the GOP up for a long hard slog toward the 2012 election (Jeff, ever the optimist about his party and concerned about Obama's response to economic challenges, is still predicting a Republican win).

Iowa's "first in the nation" status, so valuable in establishing Barack Obama as a viable national Democratic candidate for the White House a few years ago, isn't doing the Republican party any favors this time around (it didn't last time either, though it probably influenced John McCain's choice of running mate and launched Sarah Palin's unlikely post-2008 career). Iowa Republicans are more conservative than Republicans elsewhere in the country, and they are far too easily fired up by distracting and divisive issues. Some of my long-time Republican friends (even an elected official or two) have told me that they feel entirely unwelcome in their party--and some have changed their voter registration accordingly, or have indicated that they will no longer simply swallow the party line on election day.

The apparently unsuccessful effort to pull New Jersey Governor Chris Christie into the race earlier this week is one clear sign of this--and the fact that it was 7 high-profile donors doing the recruiting suggests that fundraising may be a problem if Iowa caucus hopefuls continue to be perceived by donors as being too extreme and ultimately unelectable (which isn't to say that there won't be money flowing into these campaigns in Iowa--but it'll be split many ways, and I'll bet much of it will come from out of state). Unfortunately for the national GOP, "too extreme" is apparently just what Iowa's Republican party base wants.

I predict that listening to stories out of Iowa for the next 7-8 months will lead national Republican voters to disassociate themselves from the rhetoric these candidates have to spout in order to attract grassroots Republican support here in our state. Now doesn't Mitt Romney look smart to announce in New Hampshire?

I really didn't want to post about this, but...

the Wiener tweet plot thickens. Is it possible that it actually IS a setup AND the Congressman is hiding something?

Christie in a hurry

We all know that Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey was paid a special visit by 7 Iowa GOP donors and would-be king-makers last night. The Governor apparently wasn't willing to miss his child's ball game, though, and used the State's brand new State Police chopper to zip over to the game on the taxpayers' dime. He left during the 5th inning to make it back to Princeton (where the Governor's mansion is called "Drumthwacket," leaving me convinced that my home state of New Jersey may be the perfect locale for a new J. K. Rowling novel) in time for a dinner of chicken, ribeye, and sweet corn with the Iowans.

Thanks to Wonkette for the link to the helicopter story and the usual snarky commentary.

And yes, this is the same Chris Christie who just pulled his state out of a 10-state regional electric utility cap and trade program.

[Update: Lynda Waddington over at the Iowa Independent has more, and points out that Christie is no stranger to travel extravagances.]

A quiet meeting between regular folks

Donald Trump and Sarah Palin gave the paparazzi and media the slip last evening, meeting quietly in a secluded restaurant to chat about their kids and grandbabies and their robust reality show and infotainment careers. Entering through a back alley to avoid flashbulbs, they...

Oh, never mind. You know how it went down.

A bad day on the trail for T-Paw caps his first week as a declared candidate

Tim Pawlenty, this is NOT the kind of story you want in the Des Moines Register when you're trying to get your presidential campaign off the ground. When the first words of Jens Krogstad's first paragraph describe your event as including "a handful of Iowans," the second paragraph says the campaign "canceled two of its events Tuesday with little or no notice" (one because of a problem with the location...though reading between the lines, I suspect it was a problem with likely turnout) and the third paragraph begins, "Eight Iowans," you are not in control of your events or your message.

In the body of the article itself, the candidate sounds confrontational and defensive...and ill-prepared for the questions that a conservative caucus-type crowd might present. Add to that his laughable series of announcements and pre-announcements, some other negative press, an endorsement from the state auditor of Ohio (uh, wow?), and one has to wonder about the long-term prospects for your campaign.

[Update: Today's event in Council Bluffs drew an "enthusiastic crowd of about 65 people." Enthusiastic is good, and 65 > 8, so that's something. But it ain't much.]