Bruce W. Walker: Fountain of Misinformation

Found a new wingnut to mock, as noted in the previous item. This guy's really funny. Nice shirt. Nice Black Dye #3, too. Let's look at his suggestion for Freddie Thompson's "campaign."

Getting it straight with conservatives matters a lot. Battleground polls consistently and accurately show that about sixty percent of Americans consider themselves conservative, while only about thirty-five percent of Americans consider themselves liberal. That is why none of the Democratic candidates is campaigning as a liberal, but rather campaigning against the so-called “Far Right.” That is also why Fred Thompson, who may soon be the only serious conservative standing, is not only the favorite to win the Republican nomination but also the general election.

We don't know what the latest polls say (this mess was posted 1 November) but we're pretty damn sure that Thompson isn't a favorite for anything besides candidate most likely to need a nap every afternoon. Nor do we know what "battleground polls" are, though we suspect Bruce may be thinking of polls taken in "battleground" states, that is, states where the horse race could go either way. Which would imply that the left/right split in those states is a little closer than 35/60. And would imply that Bruce isn't getting anything too straight for his audience.

Although Republicans respect Rudy, they still have reservations about him. They will vote for him because he is a good guy and because he could beat Hillary.

Sure. You bet. Seems like a wonderful human being. "They still have reservations about him. They will vote for him." Huh?

Brownback and Tancredo have already left the race, and Hunter is probably not far behind. That leaves Huckabee, and the more we learn about him, the more some conservatives are going to mistrust him.

Of course you all remember Tancredo's tearful announcement that he was "leaving the race." No, wait a minute, that was Tancredo's campaign commercial, which was premiered 13 November, two weeks after Bruce W.

said Tancredo had left the race.

The laughs get bigger though. Don't go anywhere.

Huckabee appears to have been very soft on illegal immigration as Governor of Arkansas, and his conservatism sounds, often, more like the Populism of William Jennings Bryan than the conservatism of Ronald Reagan. Mike has gotten a bounce, and he has worked hard for it, but the closer inspection he gets, the more conservatives may shy away from him.

Bruce, we're begging you here, is there any rationale for any of these sweeping statements you're coming up w/? Anything?

Thompson, by contrast, is the real deal. He has taken genuinely courageous stands, like telling President Bush that he should pardon Scooter Libby and raising money for his legal defense or like tackling Social Security – the program that seems to make all Republicans into sheep – and actually calling for a limitation on benefits. Moreover, Thompson is perceived as
conservative more than any of the top tier Republicans.

No amnesty for non-citizens here w/o papers, but convicted lying criminals should all go free. Courageous isn't the word. Outrageous, maybe. And remind us who perceives Freddie as "conservative more." And if Freddie's "the favorite to win the Republican nomination," why isn't he one of the "top tier Republicans?"

Nationally, Fred continues to run just about even with Rudy in the Rasmussen Poll, and it is logical that the support which went to men like Tancredo and Brownback will probably end up with Thompson.

Sure, that Tancredo support is all going to Freddie. Because the "immigrants, illegal or otherwise, scare the living shit out of us" people are going to hop on the Thompson bandwagon once they find out Freddie's a tool of the corporate interests who want indentured illegal laborers. If Tancredo leaves the race. (Twice this ninny has typed that Tancredo is out of the race. And he hasn't bothered to come back to correct it either.)

But here's the big suggestion we've all been waiting for:

For his unconventional campaign, I have an unconventional suggestion: normally the presidential nominee, after winning the nomination, picks his running mate and announces it to the world. No one has voted to [sic] this guy (or gal) and so the running mate is up to whomever happens to win the nomination. Fred, why not announce right now who your nominee will be? That would immediately focus attention back on the Thompson campaign and catch all the pundits and journalists off balance.

At least one self-perceived pundit makes this suggestion every election yr. "Oh, do tell us who your veep will be. You'll revolutionize the entire process, & get so much attention, blah, blah, blah." Yet no candidate has ever done this, for many practical reasons. This year, there is the possibility that the Republicans may have an old-fashioned convention w/ actual wheeling & dealing in smoke-filled rooms, & you can bet that no candidate will lock himself into a vice-president.

Not only is Bruce making a silly suggestion, he has a silly selection:

I would pick John Kasich as my running mate, if I were Thompson. He is well known, well liked, rightly considered decent and down to earth. The name of his Fox News program, “Heartland,” conveys exactly the sort of values and persona that those of us in Flyover Country, who will election [sic] Thompson as president a year from now, want.

Kasich could also start campaigning all over the country right now and very effectively. He and Thompson could each start separately campaigning in key states, multiplying the power of campaigning time. Kasich, critically, is also from Ohio and could help Thompson carry Ohio in the general election. Picking Kasich now would make Thompson’s unorthodox campaign even more unorthodox, and I bet Americans would love it.

What is the deal w/ Walker? Why would he suggest Kasich, managing director of Lehman Brothers' investment banking division since 2001, host of a wknd. show on Fox News Channel (hardly a typical resident of "Flyover Country") would be much help in Ohio now? Does he really think a managing director @ Lehman Brothers is "down to earth?" Does he know Kasich, or is he just impressed w/ his tee vee persona & the fact that his telebision show is called "Heartland?" Bruce does seem simple enough to be sucked in by that sort of thing.

A LOOK AT THE POLLS From PollingReport.com:
USA TODAY/Gallup Poll Favorability Ratings 2-4/11/07: Giuliani 55%, Freddie 29%.

Looking at "Who would you vote for in the Republican primaries?" (none of these have a huge sample) in the most recent polls, taken over the last two mos., Giuliani comes in anywhere between 25% & 33%. Thompson between 12% & 23%. McCain is about the same as Thompson, & Romney anywhere from 8% to 21%. Huckabee got 10% in one poll, single digits in all the others. Romney had single digits in several of the polls too. None of the other buffoons, including Ron Paul, got out of single digits. Margins of Error between ±3.8% & ±6%, most of them ±4.5% & above. So who's the obvious leader here, especially after Mittens gets tired of spending his own money on his campaign?