The health care end game

By David Kaiser, Editor

Filed Under General, Healthcare, Race for White House 2012 on Mar 16 

It’s been a hectic couple months for this editor. Besides being in busy season for work, I’m taking two classes (including accounting for the first time in my life), and trying to be a good husband for my wife, who is dealing with the serious health issues of her father. (Oh, and for the praying folk out there, please keep him in your thoughts today, he’s undergoing double bypass surgery)

I’ve also been completely unmotivated to write about this entire health care debacle. I’m so worn out of the news cycle this mess has made, it makes me not even want to watch any type of news program.

But as the potential end to a political battle that could define a presidency seems near, I felt it was time to weigh in.
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Pence vs Rendell on Fox and Friends

By Troy La Mana

Filed Under Congress, Domestic Policy, Race for White House 2012, Races 2012 on Feb 26 

The war between these two heats up.

Predict CPAC straw poll, win a free book

By Jason Wright, Editor

Filed Under Contests, Race for White House 2012 on Feb 18 

By now everyone knows CPAC is well underway. Between now and Saturday, attendees will have a chance to vote in the most important 2012 poll of any kind to-date. Who will win?

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Good Bayh!

By Neil Braithwaite

Filed Under Race for White House 2012 on Feb 15 

Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana will retire in 2010.

Can you say Presidential challenge in 2012?

The Phil has spoken

By Red State Eddio

Filed Under Congress, Contests, Domestic Policy, Humor, Race for White House 2012 on Feb 2 

Punxsutawney_Al
Well, the truth is out. Indisputable. Inevitable. Indubitable. Irrefutable. Incontrovertible.

The verdict is in.

Earlier this morning, Punxsutawney Phil took one look at the proposed new federal gov’t budget, saw the shadow this debt-riddled monstrosity cast over him, let out a shriek, and quickly scampered back into his hole.

His last words were, “What the #@$% is THAT?” …or something to that effect.

So there you have it – six more years of recession. Have a nice day.

I wonder if someone could slip him a copy of the latest Derby rankings and see if he could give a few thoughts on it?

I suspect he’ll go for Paw-lenty over Mittens…by a hair, of course.

Why not Scott Brown in 2012?

By Jason Wright, Editor

Filed Under Race for White House 2012 on Jan 20 

Long before Drudge had the headline: “NOW… WILL HE RUN FOR PRESIDENT?” I’d been wondering the same thing. More importantly, I’d been wondering ‘why not?’

For better or worse, Obama completely changed the rules by which we nominate and elect presidents. Previous generations wouldn’t have allowed Obama to even climb on the debate stage, not with so little experience under his belt and none of it executive.

In November of 2012, Brown will have 20 years of elected political experience at the local, state and federal level. Not to mention his military experience, of which Obama has none.

Brown is good looking, bright, a savvy debater, an electable moderate, and so on. He is Romney without the wishy-washy reputation.

So why not Brown next time? At the very least, shouldn’t he be ranked in the 2012 Power Rankings?

Overheard on the streets of NYC

By Cordeiro

Filed Under Race for White House 2012 on Jan 18 

A trusted source and confidant who regularly endures my rants on all things political recently returned from a weekend in the Big Apple.

Said source recounted overhearing two women having a rather loud and spirited conversation about The One. To the best of my transcription ability, here’s the gist of that conversation:

Woman #1: I saw a picture of Barack and Michelle yesterday. They looked good! Just like a couple of movie stars!

Woman #2: Too bad this is real life and not just a movie.

Woman #1: Mmmm hmmm!

Looks like buyer’s remorse is bustin’ out all over the place.

Santorum serious about 2012

By Jason Wright, Editor

Filed Under Race for White House 2012 on Jan 15 

From CNN:

In an e-mail and letter to supporters of his Political Action Committee, America’s Foundation, Santorum writes, “After talking it over with my wife Karen and our kids – I am considering putting my name in for the 2012 presidential race.”

Give me one good reason you wouldn’t support Newt Gingrich for president

By Jason Wright, Editor

Filed Under Race for White House 2012 on Dec 22 

If you’re a conservative, watch this clip and tell me you wouldn’t vote for him in 2012. And if not, why.

2012 Election: Could Obama face a primary challenge over Afghanistan?

By Jason Wright, Editor

Filed Under Race for White House 2012 on Dec 3 

Examiner: 2012 Election: Could Obama face a primary challenge over Afghanistan?

I’ve been wondering this for a few weeks now. Even if a challenge were unsuccessful, it could create cracks for the GOP to wedge open. Who might be possible dem challengers to the thrown?

Happy trails, Mike Huckabee

By David Kaiser, Editor

Filed Under Race for White House 2012 on Dec 1 

In what many, including myself, are terming his own personal “Willie Horton” moment, former GOP presidential candidate and Fox News host Mike Huckabee is likely hearing the sound of a flushing toilet this morning.

Going down said toilet is any shot the Huckster had at the 2012 Republican nomination.

Willie Horton, if you don’t recall, is the name of a criminal that was the beneficiary of a weekend furlough program that was supported by former Massachusetts governor and 1988 Democratic Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis. Horton raped a woman and assaulted her fiance in Maryland after not coming back from a weekend furlough. The case was a major issue in the 1988 election that was won by George H.W. Bush handily.

The current situation does not look good for Huckabee, who as governor of Arkansas, commuted the sentence of Maurice Clemmons, the now-dead suspect who allegedly killed four Seattle-area police officers in an ambush on Sunday.

Huckabee is doing his best to defend the circumstances of his decision, citing a laundry list of people who agreed with commuting the sentence, but my guess here is that the damage is done. For my money, Huckabee was not going to be the nominee in 2012, but he without a shadow of a doubt could have been a player and perhaps even king-maker.

Now we just hear the gurgle-gurgle of his presidential aspirations headed down the drain.

Great gift idea for that political junkie on your Christmas list

By Kristen

Filed Under Race for White House 2012 on Nov 30 

Last week I picked up Sarah Palin’s already-a-best-seller-before-hitting-the-stands autobiography “Going Rogue”. I liked her before the 400+ pages; I like her even more now. Certainly I’m not blown away thinking she is the greatest person to walk the face of the earth. But holy cow she is an incredible woman with an incredible journey.

I wrote up a quick review on a book site I participate in. After reading all the scathing reviews from a number of Sarah-bashers who probably couldn’t identify the first six presidents of the US on a multiple-choice test (and probably didn’t actually read this book), I couldn’t help myself with a little tongue-in-cheek yet honest critique on Ms Palin’s runaway hit.

Here it is if you’re interested:

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Time to include Cheney in rankings?

By Jason Wright, Editor

Filed Under Race for White House 2012 on Nov 27 

http://www.draftcheney2012.com

Lou Dobbs in 2012?

By Jason Wright, Editor

Filed Under Race for White House 2012 on Nov 24 

I’m surprised this hasn’t hit the PD front page until now.

Lou Dobbs weighing White House run in 2012

Can Lou Dobbs make the leap from the anchor desk to the Oval Office?

(CNN) – Can Lou Dobbs make the leap from the anchor desk to the Oval Office?

A radio interviewer on WTOP joked Monday about the “crazy” idea that the former CNN host could mount a White House bid in 2012 – but Dobbs wasn’t laughing. “What’s so crazy about that?” he responded in the interview broadcast on the Washington, D.C. station.

“Well, I’ll tell you this much: it’s one of the discussions that we’re having,” Dobbs said. “For the first time, I’m actually listening to some people about politics.”

Dobbs, who amicably parted ways with the network earlier this month, also told former Sen. Fred Thompson that he was definitely weighing a run.

Viewer’s Choice Power Rankings – time to vote!

By David Kaiser, Editor

Filed Under Race for White House 2012 on Nov 19 

Thanks to everyone for nominating and seconding a great group of candidates for the first PD Viewer’s Choice Power Rankings. Here is the slate of candidates that you all get to vote on. The top three vote-getters will be featured in a post, and the person who nominated them will get to write the blurb supporting their nomination.

Here is the list:

Mitt Romney, Glen Beck (?!?), Tim Pawlenty, Mike Pence, Jim Demint, Joe Wilson, Tom Coburn, Eric Cantor, Rick Santorum, Peter King, and Sarah Palin.

Please vote for one (1) person only in the comment section below. All votes will be tabulated at the end of next Wednesday and the folks who nominated the top three will be contacted to write their blurb.

Best of luck!

The dark horses are about to saddle up

By Red State Eddio

Filed Under Race for White House 2012 on Nov 18 

RCP ran a story today on the guys we may be hearing a lot more about over the next year: the fresh faces and possible “dark horse” candidates for 2012 – provided the Mayans don’t kill us all with their calendar, that is. In light of our power rankings and first-on-the-scene derby rankings and people’s choice rankings, I thought it’d be good to throw a few more names into the blender known as the run-up for the 2010 mid-term elections. Some of these guys could have some serious traction and face-time between now and then, so pay attention when you see or hear them in the near future.

I know some of you have been pining away like Whodat for someone other than the same-old-same-old retreads from ‘08 (cough, cough…Huckabee, Ron Paul…cough, cough), so here’s a first crack at a new class of possible leaders of the free world. If Barack “165 total days in the senate, including Saturdays” Obama can fly out of nowhere to capture the Lib nomination, then anything is possible these days. And these guys are a whole lot more credible, talented, and experienced than the junior senator from Illinois.

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The Viewers’ Choice Power Rankings

By David Kaiser, Editor

Filed Under Race for White House 2012 on Nov 11 

Political Derby poet-laureate Whodat sent an interesting idea to the PD brain trust (talk about an oxymoron) for getting some of the readers involved in ranking the horses the way they see fit. So to that end, we are excited to announce the PD Viewers’ Choice Power Rankings!

The way it works is simple:

Each and every one of you has the opportunity to nominate someone you feel should be considered for the VCPR. Each candidate must be nominated and seconded. Over the next week, we’ll accept nominations and then compile a list of candidates that will then be voted on by you, the denizens of PD world. The top three vote-getters will then be featured in the first official VCPRs, and the reader who nominated them will be given the opportunity to present the case for their personal horse.

So start your research and find the horse of your dreams! The deadline for nominating and seconding a horse will be November 18th.

Good luck!

NY-23 special election having 2012 implications

By Rick Hendrix

Filed Under Race for White House 2012, Races 2010 on Oct 28 

As Stephen notes in his post yesterday, the NY-23 special election is making waves nationally. One interesting point is its implications for the 2012 presidential race, as Politico points out here.

The race has become something of a cause celebre among national conservatives, and it’s interesting to see what various potential Republican candidates for 2012 are doing. So far, Newt Gingrich has endorsed the liberal Republican, while Sarah Palin and Tim Pawlenty have endorsed Doug Hoffman, running on the Conservative Party line. Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee have stated they will not endorse either candidate. I think this is an early victory for Palin and Pawlenty.

Others who aren’t currently considered potential 2012 candidates but who have endorsed Hoffman include Dick Armey, Fred Thompson, Rick Santorum and Steve Forbes.

Huck-a-what?

By Stephen Fountain, Editor

Filed Under Polls, Race for White House 2012 on Oct 16 

According to Rasmussen Reports Mike Huckabee now leads the list of potential GOP presidential prospects with 29% support.

Twenty-nine percent (29%) of Republican voters nationwide say former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is their pick to represent the GOP in the 2012 Presidential campaign. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that 24% prefer former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney while 18% would cast their vote for former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Read the details at Rasmussen Reports.

Jindal’s 10 point healthcare plan

By Scott A. Robinson

Filed Under Race for White House 2012 on Oct 7 

In yesterday’s Washington Post, Bobby Jindal came out of hiding, hoping most of America has forgotten about his disastrous speech, to pen an op-ed where he discussed his 10-point healthcare plan. Jindal appears to be positioning himself for a Presidential run, attempting to appeal to conservatives. He began by writing “health care is an American issue, and the Republican Party has an opportunity to demonstrate that conservative principles work when applied to real-world problems”. Yet his plan has some fundamentally non-conservative points. Let’s explore his concepts.

– Voluntary purchasing pools: Give individuals and small businesses the opportunities that large businesses and the government have to seek lower insurance costs.
– Portability: As people change jobs or move across state lines, they change insurance plans. By allowing consumers to “own” their policies, insurers would have incentive to make more investments in prevention and in managing chronic conditions.
– Lawsuit reform: It makes no sense to ignore one of the biggest cost drivers in the system — the cost of defensive medicine, largely driven by lawsuits. Worse, many doctors have stopped performing high-risk procedures for fear of liability.

I agree for the most part with his first three points, which are basically multi-group pooling, inter-state portability with the same tax incentives given to businesses also shared with individuals, and tort reform. However, his following positions overall stray sharply from conservative principles.

– Require coverage of preexisting conditions: Insurance should not be least accessible when it is needed most. Companies should be incentivized to focus on delivering high-quality effective care, not to avoid covering the sick.

Requiring coverage does not allow the marketplace to work properly. It actually adds costs. This is part of the problem we are currently experiencing as each state requires differing specific coverage levels. We should allow insurance companies to differentiate themselves by what they do and do not cover and what they will and will not charge for it by what the market dictates. Requiring coverage is not a conservative principle.

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