Mark A. Kilmer (the weblog)

He will do or say anything.

From Jonathan Martin at Politico.com:

Mitt Romney’s campaign is sending out automated phone calls to Florida Republicans attacking John McCain on taxes and Social Security, an aide to the former governor confirms.

A Florida Republican up in the Panhandle received a robo today suggesting he “take a hard look at John McCain’s record.”

“John McCain voted against the AARP-backed Medicare prescription drug program,” the call notes, in an obvious effort to give seniors pause about the senator.

Further, the call continues, McCain opposed repealing the capital gains tax, the death tax (again — think seniors) and twice voted against the Bush tax cuts.

From Philip Klein from AmSpec Blog:

This is an abomination for several reasons.

First, McCain should be praised by all conservatives for being one of the few Republican Senators to oppose the multi-trillion dollar boondoggle, which has become the poster child for the party’s betrayal of small government principles.

Second, in last Thursday’s debate, Romney correctly noted that, “the earmarks and the pork barrel spending and the bridge to nowhere, that’s an easy one to take a shot at. But the big one is entitlements and reining in entitlement costs. And that’s where the big dollars are.” Yet just days after Romney made that statement, we find out that his campaign is attacking McCain for opposing legislation that, by some estimates, added $16.2 trillion to our long-term entitlements deficit.

Third, one of the biggest obstacles to entitlement reform is the AARP, which uses scare tactics to convince senior citizens that Republicans want to throw elderly people out on the streets. Were it not for the fear-mongering of that organization, we may very well have had a chance to achieve true reform such as personal accounts for Social Security, or indexing benefits to inflation. We’ve heard a lot of talk in the past week about how McCain allies himself with liberals and is disloyal to his own party, but now Romney is the one favorably citing the AARP and using that group’s style of smear tactics against a fellow Republican who took a stand for fiscal conservatism.

Romney does not deserve to win. If McCain wins after Romney outspent him 9-1 in the State, Romney is toast. He’s nowhere in New York and California, and he could pick up two or three Super Tuesday States. That’s it.

It looks as if Ronald Reagan’s memory will be preserved in the party for a while longer.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

On FNS, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said that the American people have “got to be pleased” with the bipartisanship with which he and Nancy got their scheme together involving government checks to stem a recession which he acknowledged does not exist in an economy which he insisted is still growing. He praised the bipartisanship, calling it a case of R’s and D’s putting the country’s economic interests over their own political interests, when he just admitted that we don’t need the scheme and we know that it is candy for the voters in an election year.

Mike Huckabee was next on FNS, defending himself against attacks from Mitt Romney, talking about Romney’s “secret timetable” for getting out of Iraq. He declared that he is coming in 2nd in national polls and that this was a “national election.” (Both the primary system then the Electoral College are proof otherwise, but there we have it.) Huckabee spoke of the mutual respect he and Senator McCain share.

On TW, South Carolina’s Dem winner Barry Obama said that his campaign proved that you could rise about racial politics in South Carolina, but Bill Clinton played racial politics. He said that Ronald Reagan transformed the political agenda for twenty years, and he averred that Democrats now have the opportunity to do the same.

On MTP, McCain backed his assertion that Mitt Romney had called for a timetable for leaving Iraq. The former Commerce Committee chairman defended himself against Romney’s charge that he is clueless on the economy. He wasn’t sure how to defend himself against Thad Cochran’s assertion that he’s losing-control nuts. Oh, and he claimed that he, Lindsey Graham, and the President concocted the idea for the Surge.

On FTN, Rudy Giuliani stressed his record as a tax cutter and predicted a win in the Florida Republican primary. He said that his strategy to ignore the early States while concentrating on Florida was the right one, given the “assets and resources” he had.

Next on FTN, Hillary agreed with Representative Jim Clyburn that the results in South Carolina should change the tenor of the Democrats’ debate; in fact, she claimed this notion as her own. She blamed Clinton’s over-the-top South Carolina behavior on enthusiasm for his spouse and “sleep deprivation.”

On LE, Mitt Romney repeated as a mantra that John McCain does not understand the economy. He said that John McCain was a liar for telling people that Romney had advocated a timetable for troop withdrawal from Iraq when speaking to Robin Roberts on ABC News’ Good Morning America last April. He said that the economy was in his genes, and that he was all about the future. He would apply “Reagan principles” to the economy. He did not mention his own “stimulus” proposal.

Read the show-by-show review at RedState.com. …

For Sunday, January 13, 2008

FOX News Sunday (FNS): Host Chris Wallace talks Keynesian stimulus package with Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson.

Meet the Press (NBC): Tim Russert talks to a longtime favorite of the Sunday morning talk shows, Republican Presidential hopeful John McCain.

This Week (ABC): Host George Stephanopoulos chews the fat with 2008 Dem Presidential hopeful Barry Obama.

Face the Nation (CBS): Host Bob Schieffer talks Dem Presidential hopeful Hillary, then to GOP Presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani.

Late Edition (CNN): Host Wolf Blitzer talks to General David Petraeus, then to Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, and to Republican Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee.
—–

John McCain and Joe Biden have been hanging out of these shows for the past decade or longer, and McCain might need to at least finish a close second on Tuesday (in Florida) to keep the money coming in order to compete a week later. That could be what’s on Russert’s mind.

The Hank Paulson bit is to be expected, as he’s pushing for the White House, with Nancy along for the happy ride, a stimulus package which will not simulate an economy not in recession. It’s an election year, and the press eats this stuff up.

Barry will be there (TW), as will Hillary (FTN). Don’t know what happened to Edwards, who looks to finish third in the SC Dem primary tomorrow. At least Schieff has some room for Rudy on FTN, when Hizzoner just might finish third in Florida depending on whether or not he has the early votes he’s promised for weeks. Romney gets the week off, finally.

Remember when Iraq was going to be the big issue of this election cycle, used to beat the Republicans further into the ground? That didn’t work out for the Dems and the media, but at least Wolf’s going for an update from the general in charge.

I’ll be here tomorrow with the report.

From DefenseLink:

The Multinational Force Iraq commander will stay where he is for the time being, and no decision has been made to shorten tour lengths for Army personnel in the U.S. Central Command area of operations, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said during a Pentagon news conference today.

President Bush wants Army Gen. David H. Petraeus to stay “right where he is at least through late fall and maybe the end of the year,” Gates said.

The secretary’s statement puts to rest media speculation that Petraeus would move to another four-star command.

There had been noise of moving Petraeus to the NATO command, and that is not going to happen under this President.

[posted first at RedState.com]

Tomorrow night — Thursday, January 24 — the struggling cable outlet MSNBC will host the final Republican debate before the Florida primary. At the debate will be John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, and Mitt Romney.

Oh, and… RonPaulRonPaulRonPaul. (I saw the incomparable Dr. Paul speaking at the March for Life in DC yesterday, carried live by EWTN. Good for him!)

The debate is from 9-10:30p ET at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, with the post-debate analysis going from 10:30 ’til midnight, hosted by Chris Matthews. It would seem so that the sportscaster Keith Olbermann, who evidently runs MSNBC but cannot even get close to winning his own time slot, has taken himself out of the mix. Perhaps he realizes that he is an embarrassment to his own fiefdom when he attempts to operate in any grownup capacity.

The moderators will be NBC News anchor Brian Williams and Tim Russert of Meet the Press.

Read On…

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