2012 GOP Presidential Campaign -- "This individual's going to accuse me of an affair for an extended period of time."

I was thinking about this and I think if ron paul were more rand paul-esque (ie crazy libertarian but still willing to toe the line when it mattered) he absolutely have a shot

he would absolutely*

for some reason many (most?) Republicans have a deep animosity for Ron Paul. I find it really strange. Maybe they just hate all his superfans?

as Cockburn sez: Trouble is, Paul really does have principles, starting with a refusal to endorse torture, assassinations, abuses to the Constitution, including endless wars.

also he's too weaselly. GOP likes manly men.

GOP's refusal to embrace ron paul:

• he's too weaselly
• he's too libertarian for their taste (which, when you think about it, suggests that there's limits to the extremism of the modern GOP, but perhaps has as much to do with what libertarianism means for paul's view of foreign policy and projection of american military power)

Not since the robber baron Henry Flagler blazed a path through Florida in the 19th century with his railroad has there been so triumphant a progress through the Sunshine state as Newt’s

We love hyperbole!

all the H's: hucksters, hyperbole, Heat, Hialeah.

I didn't know anyone north of Broward had heard of Hialeah.

Hell, I had and I'm out here.

I've heard of it, but I'm a U.S. population geek.

I think with Paul too there's the whole young people/the internet/non-traditional conservatives love him and I think that's a sign that there must be something up with the guy and he won't "defend true conservatism" or whatever the fuck these people want the party daddy to do XP

98% of Libertarianism is just privilege-protection in disguise, and the other 2% is bugfuck crazy, imo

greatest news of the week: DONALD TRUMP will moderate an upcoming GOP primary debate.

yeah there's that too but I don't think this things wig out too many GOP caucus-goers. XP

@michelleinbklyn Michelle Goldberg -- "I really think they feel I have a wonderful personality and they like me so much," says Trump of the GOP candidates. livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/updates/2356

lol @ jaymc

Good god they're setting themselves up from some The Apprentice like mockery.

As if they haven't already.

also he's too weaselly. GOP likes manly men.

eh

hw and w were both pretty weaselly

"Santorum...you're fired"

^^ unintentionally hilarious

haaa

can one ill-conceived debate expose, for the nation, how much of a circus sideshow the GOP has become?

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/jon-huntsman-skip-presidential-debate-moderated-donald-trump-201000365.html

"We look forward to watching Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich suck up to Trump with a big bowl of popcorn," Huntsman spokesman Tim Miller told Yahoo News.

"has become"

haaaaa

oh, well, mr. trump, i do have lingering questions about whether "the president" is a natural-born u.s. citizen. he looks kenyan to me.

https://twitter.com/davidfolkenflik/statuses/142704178077245440

OMG! It is a reality show! RT @DylanByers TRUMP: "I will be probably endorsing somebody right after the debates."

Responding to that, someone at HotAir:

He said “debates” — plural — not “debate,” so he’s not necessarily saying that the Newsmax event alone will decide his endorsement. But check the calendar. The Newsmax debate is the very last one before Iowa; by endorsing soon afterward, it’ll look as if the candidates’ performance at that event was determinative to him.

hw and w were both pretty weaselly

W was a drunk, baseball playing, plane crashing redneck from Texas. and a born-again Xtian. all GOP rightwing male checkboxes checked.

nobody liked GHWB, he was coasting on Reagan's coattails and the fact that Dukakis was a liberal midget.

I would lol of Trump endorsed Huntsman

I know about Hialeah bcz of the horsetrack, and I am always intentionally hialeahrious, you simp.

i would lol if trump endorses newt and trashes romney as a weaselly flip-flopper.

or maybe he'll find them all unsuitable and . . .

http://static7.businessinsider.com/image/4d90f3b1ccd1d54260570000/lewis-black-trump-2012.jpg

. . . oh that would be good.

candidates vie for the trump bump

I don't know why but that gave me the mental image of Trump putting on his toupee over a Bump-It

Roffle:

Trump's idea 2 moderate a debate is absurd. I hope all GOP candidates turn him down. It's a campaign; not a TV show.

Ari Fleischer wondering why it can't be like the pure and untelevised campaigns of 2000, I guess.

W was a drunk, baseball playing, plane crashing redneck from Texas. and a born-again Xtian. all GOP rightwing male checkboxes checked.

/ ivy league cheerleader and draft dodger. I'm sure Ron Paul could be sold as a 'real man' w/ the right media team. to start w/ he's actually from Texas. maybe he could put on some muscle,

I'm sure Ron Paul could be sold as a 'real man' w/ the right media team. to start w/ he's actually from Texas. maybe he could put on some muscle

this can work for chris bosh, not ron paul.

the GOP doesn't want someone who looks like the riddler. they want a daddy. a man. a man's man.

a man's man's man.

CNN just had a Republican focus group holding court on Gingrich and Romney. Major surprise: they don't trust either one of them. This is good news for...Gary Johnson?

FOR RICKY SANTORUM

candidates vie for the trump bump

― Never translate German (schlump), Friday, December 2, 2011 4:20 PM (1 hour ago)

Lumps Stump for Trump Bump

says Crump

:-D

My hope is they all turn down Trump and he uses that hour or however long to say, 'they dont care about telling the american public their principles; so i guess i am the only man here worth voting for' and throws his wighat back in the race as the last non-mittens.

really interesting results in this GOP focus group, concerning the republican slate of presidential candidates.

George Will hates Gingrich, and thinks Romney would be Thomas Dewey to Obama's Truman. So he gets behind Rick Perry (admitting his wife is on the payroll) and--this is really odd--Huntsman.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/romney-and-gingrich-from-bad-to-worse/2011/12/02/gIQArsM3LO_story.html

Some people respond.

The thing I find so odd about Will's endorsement of Huntsman has less to do with how conservative Huntsman may or may not be than seeing someone of Will's--I'll say visibility rather than stature so Alfred's head doesn't explode--so publically backing a lost cause.