July's GOP Asshat of the Month
The competition was particularly intense this month. There are four in the running, any of whom could have walked away with the honor on an increasingly rare quiet month in GOP wingnuttia circles. On the other hand, there is no certainty that some of these gaffes will even end up hurting the Republican who muttered them.
Let's start with the most benign of this month's asshats....Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, whose campaign hacks probably thought they won the lottery when they discovered Santorum's opponent, Bob Casey, was endorsed by al-Jazeerah. Turns out the endorsement was real, but unfortunately for Santorum, it was not the al-Jazeera he was hoping for. Instead of the inflammatory Middle Eastern media monopoly, the al-Jazeerah that endorsed Bob Casey is a small group of peace activists based out of Dalton, Georgia, which "promotes cross-cultural understanding between people all over the world." Yet the embattled Santorum went so far as to produce a TV ad bashing Casey over his "al-Jazeera endorsement". D'oh!
Equally benign but comical was the quandry Maryland Senate candidate Michael Steele got himself into last week when he "spoke off the record" to Washington Post reporter Dana Milbank about how being a Republican in the current climate is like "wearing a scarlet letter". Milbank's story referenced Steele's remarks as the thoughts of an anonymous GOP Senate candidate, but it only took a matter of hours before it was revealed to be Steele. When asked whether he's ashamed to be a Republican, Steele backtracked, assuring Republicans that George Bush is Steele's "homeboy" (Steele is an African-American) and backpedaled further from there, generally making a complete ass of himself. Had he stood by his original statement, Steele may have been able to warm up to black voters in Maryland who would otherwise be willing to give him a shot. Since he didn't, he may have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory with the statement given that Steele would have an exceptionally hard time finding too many voters in Maryland willing to describe George Bush as their "homeboy".
More ominous with his blunder, Rhode Island Republican Steve Laffey let slip his true feelings about the liberal GOP establishment in the state supporting incumbent Lincoln Chafee in the primary when he said early this month that he wanted to shake the hold that the Old Line members have on the State GOP. He said they're happy with the scraps they get from the Democrats, don't want to rock the boat (and just want to collect fees for services) and they didn't want to win. He than offered that, "Luckily those people are old and are dying." Tell us how you really feel, Steve. Gotta love the rock-solid moral foundation that guide the orthodoxies of these "pro-life" Republicans. Hard to get rhetoric more vicious than that....and probably not the best strategy for winning a primary against an incumbent when polls show you'd lose by more than 25 points up against a Democrat if you were to win that primary.
But among this crowded field, I'd have to say the biggest stooge is Montana Senator Conrad Burns, already up to his neck in corruption scandals and trailing in every poll to a Democrat even though he represents a state that voted for George Bush by 20 points in 2004. Burns' latest act of malice is mind-blowing given how big of a hole he's already dug for himself. It seems that wildfires were burning up hundreds of acres of Montana ranches and woodlands in the past month, and that a firefighting crew from Virginia came into try to combat the flames. Old Conrad ran into a few of these firefighters at an airport recently and proceeded to unload his fury on them with the following screed:
"See that guy over there? He hasn't done a God-damned thing. They sit around. I saw it up on the Wedge fire and in northwestern Montana some years ago. It's wasteful. You probably paid that guy $10,000 to sit around. It's gotta change."
Picking a fight with firefighters, Conrad? And by the way, these firefighters were of the $8-12 an hour variety....products of the cheap labor dystopia your party so fervently celebrates. Maybe Conrad was so infuriated with these firefighters he couldn't control his outburst. Maybe he thought it would endear him to Montana voters also upset by the inability to control the fires. Whatever he was thinking, the smackdown backfired on him as he's been hammered by a week's worth of bad press and public criticism by Montana firefighters. Of course, Burns is backpedalling now with the usual "wish I had chosen my words more carefully" quasi-apologies, but it's gonna be awfully hard to unring that bell.
Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
Let's start with the most benign of this month's asshats....Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, whose campaign hacks probably thought they won the lottery when they discovered Santorum's opponent, Bob Casey, was endorsed by al-Jazeerah. Turns out the endorsement was real, but unfortunately for Santorum, it was not the al-Jazeera he was hoping for. Instead of the inflammatory Middle Eastern media monopoly, the al-Jazeerah that endorsed Bob Casey is a small group of peace activists based out of Dalton, Georgia, which "promotes cross-cultural understanding between people all over the world." Yet the embattled Santorum went so far as to produce a TV ad bashing Casey over his "al-Jazeera endorsement". D'oh!
Equally benign but comical was the quandry Maryland Senate candidate Michael Steele got himself into last week when he "spoke off the record" to Washington Post reporter Dana Milbank about how being a Republican in the current climate is like "wearing a scarlet letter". Milbank's story referenced Steele's remarks as the thoughts of an anonymous GOP Senate candidate, but it only took a matter of hours before it was revealed to be Steele. When asked whether he's ashamed to be a Republican, Steele backtracked, assuring Republicans that George Bush is Steele's "homeboy" (Steele is an African-American) and backpedaled further from there, generally making a complete ass of himself. Had he stood by his original statement, Steele may have been able to warm up to black voters in Maryland who would otherwise be willing to give him a shot. Since he didn't, he may have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory with the statement given that Steele would have an exceptionally hard time finding too many voters in Maryland willing to describe George Bush as their "homeboy".
More ominous with his blunder, Rhode Island Republican Steve Laffey let slip his true feelings about the liberal GOP establishment in the state supporting incumbent Lincoln Chafee in the primary when he said early this month that he wanted to shake the hold that the Old Line members have on the State GOP. He said they're happy with the scraps they get from the Democrats, don't want to rock the boat (and just want to collect fees for services) and they didn't want to win. He than offered that, "Luckily those people are old and are dying." Tell us how you really feel, Steve. Gotta love the rock-solid moral foundation that guide the orthodoxies of these "pro-life" Republicans. Hard to get rhetoric more vicious than that....and probably not the best strategy for winning a primary against an incumbent when polls show you'd lose by more than 25 points up against a Democrat if you were to win that primary.
But among this crowded field, I'd have to say the biggest stooge is Montana Senator Conrad Burns, already up to his neck in corruption scandals and trailing in every poll to a Democrat even though he represents a state that voted for George Bush by 20 points in 2004. Burns' latest act of malice is mind-blowing given how big of a hole he's already dug for himself. It seems that wildfires were burning up hundreds of acres of Montana ranches and woodlands in the past month, and that a firefighting crew from Virginia came into try to combat the flames. Old Conrad ran into a few of these firefighters at an airport recently and proceeded to unload his fury on them with the following screed:
"See that guy over there? He hasn't done a God-damned thing. They sit around. I saw it up on the Wedge fire and in northwestern Montana some years ago. It's wasteful. You probably paid that guy $10,000 to sit around. It's gotta change."
Picking a fight with firefighters, Conrad? And by the way, these firefighters were of the $8-12 an hour variety....products of the cheap labor dystopia your party so fervently celebrates. Maybe Conrad was so infuriated with these firefighters he couldn't control his outburst. Maybe he thought it would endear him to Montana voters also upset by the inability to control the fires. Whatever he was thinking, the smackdown backfired on him as he's been hammered by a week's worth of bad press and public criticism by Montana firefighters. Of course, Burns is backpedalling now with the usual "wish I had chosen my words more carefully" quasi-apologies, but it's gonna be awfully hard to unring that bell.
Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
posted by Mark at 9:25 PM
2 Comments:
Hey, I just found a new poll on CA-50 and found out that it was not the "papers to vote" comment that hurt Busby in the 50th; it was abysmal independent turnout. Independents were not appeased by Busby's "culture of corruption" message, as Indies tend to see Dems and Repubs as corrupt. But moderates and Indies like Busby's immigration stance much more than they like the harsh stance of conservatives. Immigration worked as well for Bilbray as corruption did for Busby.
I am not as worried about immigration being potentially harmful to Dems, but it is hard to see how it will play out in Louisiana, North Carolina, and Georgia. We shall see.
I'm about to leave for my boyfriend's house to do some last-minute trip stuff and will not be online again until I get back late on the 26th. Bye!
I wrote a whole entry on the new poll on CA-50. (And with the election now in court, things could change.)
http://californianintexas.blogspot.com/2006/08/why-did-busby-lose-not-because-of_03.html
The immigration issue has quieted considerably in the last month, but expect it to return with a vengeance after Labor Day, particularly in the South where the issue will have the most potency. I'd be surprised if the Republicans didn't resurrect the immigration card because it certainly has the potential to be "gay marriage times ten" if played right.
The lack of enthusiasm on the part of independents seems to be a problem nationwide this cycle and if it doesn't change, could result in alot of races in November ending the way CA-50 did. Kos is pessimistic about the apparent lack of voter motivation this cycle as well. I sure hope things heat up in the next month or so or it'll be too late.
Have fun on your vacation. Did you say you're going to Brazil? That should be exciting. Hope you have a good time.
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