Remember the Maine…Caucus
111 million Americans kicked off the Super Bowl week with family and friends. The holiday ritual setting transcends any typical sporting event. Most importantly, unlike Thanksgiving’s passive aggressive commentary between ‘please pass the stuffing’; these tend to be the people we choose to be with.
Curiously, instead of taking a bathroom break during commercials, we tailor our needs to accommodate the commercials. The same holds true for the halftime entertainment; was Madonna lip sinking or did she almost take a header and did M.I.A. just flip America the bird?
So, when I turned to my elder son when Clint finished his ‘Halftime in America’ Chrysler spot and rhetorically asked; was that a political statement or what, he simply acknowledged his agreement by allowing air to escape his pursed lips while shaking his head in concurrence. Whether it was intended as such or not, it made its way to the CPAC held in Washington D.C.
The Conservative Political Action Convention was original designed to act as a critique of the Conservative agenda going forward. While that standard is still adhered to, it still has evolved into an increasingly popularity contest and pep rally for the Republican Party.
As a lifelong Republican, I tend to agree with the criticism offered this year by Ralph Hallow of the Washington Times and Erick Erickson of the highly respected ‘Red State’ blog. To sum up their position, the lack of enthusiasm and lack of a viable Conservative candidate historically spells defeat.
The ‘Halftime in America’ spot was linked to President Obama’s administration ‘picking winners’ as opposed to the fair market mechanism, as highlighted by numerous guest speakers. Mitt Romney was the 7 point victor of the CPAC straw poll, which seems contrary to their agenda.
In fact, the straw voters choose not to heed the warnings of making it a contest based on electability, lack of a concise message and an unduly focus on beating the incumbent at all costs. Scott Rasmussen, began by asking the attendee’s “who has mocked the hope and change message of President Obama?” He then added, that is really stupid because that is exactly the message we should be promoting for our candidates.
Another major theme was the attack on the constitutionally protected Religious freedom by the Obama Administration. Speaking from a strictly political perspective, I honestly believe this was a calculated risk orchestrated from the President’s re-election contingent to draw Republicans into a no win argument.
Of course, while all this was going on, the House was voting on the STOCK Act to prohibit Insider Trading, a law which has been in place for decades. In this instance, I believe it expands the existing restrictions, citing IPO’s among other updated specifics, to include a credulity factor to counterbalance the Congress’ all-time low approval rating.
Least we forgot to mention an election took place in the great State of Maine. The week long Caucus ‘concluded’ with Mitt Romney garnering a majority of the 5,600 or so votes cast by a margin of less than 200 votes and a 3% margin of victory over Ron Paul. Voting is not complete due to a major snowstorm but should not affect the outcome of the election. The final tally will be reported after the February 18th results are known.
