GOP Clown Car Continues to Empty Out: Carly Fiorina & Chris Christie

Chris Christie and Carly Fiorina have bailed  out of the 2016 GOP Clown Car. We can only hope she landed on him, and not the other way around.

Carly was far too icy and prickly to ever gather any steam, as far as I'm concerned. For all of the "unlovableness" people try to heap on Hillary, Carly made her look like your favorite pie-baking, cuddly grandma. And Carly was the mean, brittle other grandma you'd cry when you'd have to visit, and you couldn't enter that one room, or sit on the furniture unless it was covered with plastic. Like her face (ha!).

Christie was probably in my short (very short) list of GOP candidates who wouldn't have freaked me out if he'd won. He's a bully. And probably corrupt. But he'd also get things done without pulling Jesus into everything. and without embarrassing the living crap out of America for the next four years. I'm a bit sorry to see him go.

Carly Fiorina: Strong and Wrong!

Image from source, Esquire

Well, Carly Fiorina did well the other night, didn't she? She kicked and screamed enough to get removed from the kiddie table debate, and into the proper (though "adult" doesn't sound right) one, making a nice. . .even?. . .eleven candidates. Or contestants. Whatever. But, she did it, she got in, and by all accounts, she actually won the thing.

But if you paid attention to what she said, she was just wrong all over the place. It won't matter. Why? Well, it's that whole, Republicans prefer strong and wrong over weak and right. So long as you believe what you're saying to your core--or at least express yourself as though you do--and espouse a few hard right ideas, you're golden baby. Attention Jeb!, Bobby and the rest: Get confident, stupid!

So, Carly can make stuff up about Hillary Clinton (ironically while accusing her of lying), or she can invent a fake--but horrific!--Planned Parenthood video, but if she stares at the camera like a cobra about to strike, while delivering the lie in a resolute, confident voice? Pure. Conservative. Gold.

It shouldn't surprise me, from a group that absolutely gobbles up "truthiness," fact-like nuggets that feel true, rather than are necessarily actually true. It explains perfectly the whole phenomenon of Religious Freedom Restoration Acts, and "sincerely held beliefs" that require no doctrine and no evidence.

And it contrasts rather sharply with Donald Trump's much coarser version of the same thing. Fiorina is the refined version, Trump the larval stage. Where he's got pure id, with a child's penchant for tantrums and flair with vocabulary, Fiorina is polished and refined. But don't mistake her strength and confidence for accuracy or honesty.

[Excerpt]

Carly Fiorina: Strong, Crisp, and Effective if You Ignore the Facts

Let us take one more tour of the battlefield before we retire to the gift shoppe at Ronnieworld to pick up some Fawn Hall Authorized Confetti (Guaranteed 100 percent Genuine Secret Government Documents!) or, perhaps, for the kids, a Junior TOW Missile Commander suit complete with Iranian flags on the sleeves. What we saw last night, and I stayed awake for the whole damn thing so I now know all I care to know about Chris Christie's secret crush on Abigail Adams, was the triumph of fiction over fact, of fantasy over reality. In other words, what we saw was the most fitting tribute to Ronald Reagan ever produced. Congratulations, one and all. The final fealty of the Republican Party to total and complete bullshit has been sworn. . .

Read more at: Esquire

Impressions: 2016 GOP Debate #2

Embarrassing.

Fascinating. Entertaining. Baffling, Crazy. Boring. Interminable. Endless. And ultimately, still embarrassing.

The GOP/conservative/Republican/Tea Party contingent is a confounding, self-contradictory mélange of mostly crap with the occasional flash of wit or inspiration, dashed with horrifying lack of self awareness, anti-American and anti-constitutional (but simultaneously allegedly patriotic) fervor, and crazy religiosity. Impressions:

Image from source,
Washington Post

- Carly Fiorina acquitted herself nicely, and was unquestionably the winner. She's awful, but for this crowd, she was terrific.

- Donald Trump hurt himself with thinking people (who he was already not doing well with), and hopefully with some less fervent supporters. If he goes up in popularity, it's not for any reality-based reason from this debate.

- Ben Carson came off slightly better and a tiny bit more animated than he has in the past, though could get a job voicing Winnie the Pooh.

- Ted Cruz was just as creepy and face-punchable as ever. Jesus and meanness and creepy facey-ness.

- Marco Rubio was smart (-ish), and articulate, but oddly juvenile, while also bearing huge old man ears.

- Chris Christie managed to be more amiable and dickish.

- John Kasich looked like he woke up after a long slumber with his face pressed against a pillow, and bed head. He made sense (sometimes) but looked like hell.

- Ron Paul looked extra-weasely, and landed few punches, though he tried. He actually sounded a little reasonable. . .too often to make me comfortable.

- Mike Huckabee is a Dominionist prick who should never, ever be near the levers of power.

- Scott Walker was sleepy-eyed, but occasionally reared his head and made a semi-coherent point.

- Jeb! Bush was mostly reasonable, but not above pandering. I can't imagine he'll budge an inch.

From the kiddie table, you had two Jesus freaks (Jindal and Santorum) and two sorta-kinda normals (Pataki and Graham). They arguably got more airtime than they every would have otherwise, particularly without Rick Perry, but fit the tone of this clown show pretty well.

Embarrassing is still my assessment.


[Excerpt]

Fiorina emerges in GOP debate, but Trump still dominates conversation

The second Republican debate, a three-hour affair that veered from sophomoric insults to policy to late-night silliness, ended after 11 p.m. Wednesday, with an outsider candidate — former tech executive Carly Fiorina — challenging front-runner Donald Trump in a way few rivals have.
 . .

Read more at: MSN

2016 Clown Car Update: Carly Fiorina Jumps In

Well that was fast. After Ben Carson got to drive the 2016 GOP Clown Car for barely a spin around the block, Carly Fiorina has gotten behind the wheel herself, and is ready to drive it into the ground like she did Hewlett-Packard around for a while! So, it looks like the Republicans have their own lady candidate, and can claim even more diversity, even though of their entire declared and potential slate, only two are anything other than a white man. I almost included "heterosexual," but the verdict is out on a couple of them. Anyhooo....

Fiorina may have a little difficulty getting very far. She's not exactly warm and fuzzy, which is funny since conservatives love calling Hillary Clinton icy. In fact, Mary Matalin shows more warmth than Fiorina. And Miz F has a decidedly sketchy biography, since her chief accomplishments are largely considered to be failures. But it is getting interesting.

[Excerpt]

Carly Fiorina jumps in: “Yes, I’m running for president”

Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina jumped into the race on Monday morning. In a video posted online, Fiorina immediately painted herself as Hillary Clinton’s chief critic, beginning with a brief clip of the former secretary of state’s own presidential announcement. . .

Read more at: MSNBC

Are Sarah Palin's Endorsements Really That Great?

Image from source, CBS News

I ask, because one of the political memes to come out of the Super Tuesday (or Pretty Good Tuesday) primaries was that a Sarah Palin endorsement is golden.  In truth, she went two-out-of-three Tuesday night, which is pretty good, but not some kind of guarantee. And her choices seem to be based a lot more on front runners than it is on ideology.  I still don't know why Palin's opinion matters to candidates or voters.  She has very little credibility or gravitas. But she's fun to talk and write about (guilty!), so whatever.  Here's the data though, if you want to know what's behind all the chatter:

[Excerpt]


Sarah Palin's Endorsements: Pragmatic or Ideological?


By my count, former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has endorsed 14 Republicans in 2010. Last night, Palin's candidates went two-for-three. California Senate candidate Carly Fiorina and Iowa gubernatorial nominee Terry Branstad won the GOP primaries, while one of her "mama grizzlies" -- Cecile Bledsoe -- went down to defeat in a congressional primary in Arkansas. (South Carolina GOP gubernatorial frontrunner Nikki Haley was forced to a runoff.). . .

Read more at: CBS News

Carly Fiorina Disses Sean Hannity on Camera

Oooh, not good, Carly. The tea baggers and FReepers were already against you, despite the endorsement of Sainte Sarah Palin. But dissing Sean Hannity? Well, okay, his fans are almost entirely tea baggers, so maybe you haven't lost anything. And maybe you'll pick up some of the anti-FOX "News" crowd.

[Excerpt]


Hot mic catches Fiorina dissing Hannity: ‘Very bad choice’ to go on his show.





While waiting to be interviewed by Sacramento ABC affiliate KXTV this morning, GOP Senate candidate Carly Fiorina was caught by a hot mic taking a dig at Fox News host Sean Hannity. Fiorina criticized her friend Meg Whitman, the GOP gubernatorial candidate in California, for agreeing to go on Sean Hannity’s show the day after the primary elections. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

Demon Sheep!

Did you ever see that "sheep" ad that Carly Fiorina ran in California? It's narrated by Robert Davi, has the stupid term "FCINO" (fiscal conservative in name only), and a man in a red-eyed sheep costume. It was laughably bad, and justifiably mocked.  Now, in a rare case of Democrats actually turning one of these things to their advantage, a hilariously well done ad has been made on the sheep theme. Only they didn't just turn it on Carly, they've taken aim at the whole primary ticket in her race! Well done.

Carly Fiorina: Palin & McCain Could Not Run a Company

Boy, political memories sure are short. Do you remember back when Ross Perot was running for President, and pledged to run the country like a company? Quite a few people thought that was just a swell idea. I guess that was then, and this is now.

Carly Fiorina, one of John McCain's most powerful surrogates--and former head of Hewlett-Packard--was asked if Sarah Palin would be capable of running HP. Fiorina said "No," and that John McCain wouldn't be ready for such a job either. Wow. Presidentin' is easier than being the figure head of a company?

McCain Campaign Reaching Out to Women Voters

Photo from source, Washington Post

I guess the prospect of ex-Hillary Clinton supporters allegedly defecting from the Democratic Party was enough to make John McCain to think he can poach more of them away from Barack Obama. I'm not sure how a computer company CEO is supposed to relate to Clinton's older, non-college educated, women voters, though. I don't know much about Carly Fiorina, but I've heard and read her name a lot the last couple of days, so thought we all better brush up on her.

[Excerpt]

McCain, Obama Reaching Out to Female Voters

Sen. John McCain and his aides have gone out of their way to praise Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in recent days, and by the end of the week his most prominent female supporter, former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina, will embark on a female-focused speaking tour in Ohio and Pennsylvania. . .

Read more at: Washington Post