Americans United For Change, Except When They Are Against It

The old legacy media is hard at work trotting out various trial balloons in their support of the Democrat campaign efforts for 2012. There is the obvious of their promoting Donald Trump, while having to go in to deep denial that he is playing them like a fiddle. One thing Mr Trump has learned from his Apprentice days is that controversy equals ratings and attention. When was the last time you saw a commercial for a reality show, any reality show, that showed the contestants getting along like one big happy family? By having the media seize upon his latest attention grabbing headline whether it is the birth certificate or Obama's grades, he has managed to take attention away from others and promote himself. This is also further proof of the liberal media mindset which dictates they only going to promote the person they think their liberal guy can beat like they did with McCain.

In what has been a continuing narrative now is the shift from identifying Republicans as Republicans. Instead they are labeling them as Tea Party backed. There is a reason for this. They have invested much time and effort in painting the Tea Party folks as just a bunch of crotchety old racist white folks living on the fringe of the political spectrum.

This article caught my attention for a couple of reason. First of course is the headline. Tea Party Lawmaker Frank Guinta Draws Ire Over Medicare Vote. Rep Guinta is a Republican from New Hampshire. The next thing that got my attention was the photo accompanying the article. Anytime you see pre printed mass produced signs it is a good sign that the folks holding them are part of a larger organization such as a union or a liberal front group. That is the case here. If you look at the bottom of the signs you will see the group these folks represent is Americans United For Change dot org.


My blogging experience has taught me that if a group ends with dot org designation there is a very high probably that it is a liberal/progressive group.

I surely can't be the only one who is struck by the irony of a group with change in their title that is against change. The simple fact is the current Social Security system and Medicare program just are no longer viable. They were fine for the WWII crowd, but folks we are 70 years down the road and the realities in American in the 21st century simply don't reflect the conditions that existed in the 1940's.

I have never forgave AARP for being instrumental in killing former President Bush's attempt at overhauling Social Security. I will never be a member of their organization for that reason but then they compounded the problem by participating in the Obamacare legislation to such a degree that they managed to kill all the successful Medicare Advantage programs EXCEPT for the one they offer that is underwritten by United Healthcare. It is just another example of this administration rewarding their supporters and picking winners and losers in the private sector, and at the same time punishing the American people.

Then there is this exchange during the meeting.

"Why Congressman Guinta, why in the world, did you ever vote for the Paul Ryan Medicare plan," asked, Gary Patton, who posed the first question at an often raucous town hall meeting the congressman hosted at a local high school here.

Patton, 73, told Guinta that he was concerned that the plan introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the chairman of the House Budget Committee, would "end Medicare as we know it."

"The proposal that was in the House last week, again, does not affect anyone who is 55 or older," Guinta assured. "I want to try to allay some fears about the proposal, I want to make sure that people have the proper information. If you don't like the plan, let me know that."

It is the same thing that was going on with the Social Security reform efforts. The liberal/progressives have managed to scare senior citizens once again. Just like the Social Security reform this Ryan budget proposal will make no changes to those receiving Medicare currently.

What I am getting tired of is senior citizens getting worked up into a tizzy, and since so many of our legislators fear this crowd and are closer in age to them then they are me, wind up continuing to punish me.

Hey Geritol crowd here's a news flash. It is my benefits they are trying to change, not yours.

Anyway my advice to everyone is 1) When looking for political candidates look for the ones not getting attention by the media to find a conservative probably more in line with your way of thinking and 2) Realize the Tea Party is not a political party. We still have a predominately two party system in this country, Republicans and Democrats.

When was the last time you saw a Democrat labeled as a Move On backed lawmaker?

Oh yeah and as far as that 'ire' directed at the representative goes, he might actually take it serious if the folks acting like children weren't you know, actually children.

Joe Platte, a middle school student from nearby Stratham, N.H., who took a back-row seat at the meeting, interjected: "What about me? I'm 14, what am I going to do."

'She Is Absolutely Obsessed With Painting the Tea Party People as Racists'

Is this the best you Democrats can do? If you think about it for a second, if Tea Partiers were the racists they're being portrayed as, then why would these sneaky Democrats have to bus people in to pretend to be racist Tea Partiers? Taken further, why would Democrats know how to be "racist"? Does it just come natural to them?

Do they think this pathetic behavior is going to win them votes in November?

New Hampshire Democrats are engaged in a statewide search for liberal activists willing to attend so-called tea parties on Thursday and carry signs expressing racist or fringe sentiments, a Democratic source with knowledge of the effort tells NowHampshire.com.

According to the source, who sought anonymity for fear of reprisals, the Dems’ last minute scramble reflects a growing obsession among party leaders that they need to discredit the tea party movement soon or it will overwhelm them come the November election.

Former Democratic State Party Chairman Kathy Sullivan is heading up the search, the source said. Sullivan has been calling and e-mailing liberal activists trying to get them to attend tea parties in different parts of the state and hold signs denying the authenticity of President Barack Obama’s birth certificate and make racially disparaging comments to reporters.

“This is Kathy’s [Sullivan] project,” the source told NowHampshire.com. “She is absolutely obsessed with painting the tea party people as racists.”

Similar “crash the tea party” efforts are taking place throughout the country on Tax Day.

If she pulls it off, this won’t be the first time Sullivan has endeavored to manufacture a racist controversy regarding the tea party movement. Last month Sullivan and other Democratic leaders attempted to portray a “white pride” rally in Concord held by a Massachusetts-based white supremacist organization as a tea party. Sullivan was forced to retract her bogus accusation.

H/T Instapundit.

Hot Air and Sister Toldjah link. Thanks!

The Pantsuit Implosion (UPDATE) The Queen is Crying

Scroll for update.
Drudge has the siren blaring.

TALK OF HILLARY EXIT ENGULFS CAMPAIGNS
Mon Jan 07 2008 09:46:28 ET

Facing a double-digit defeat in New Hampshire, a sudden collapse in national polls and an expected fund-raising drought, Senator Hillary Clinton is preparing for a tough decision: Does she get out of the race? And when?!

"She can't take multiple double-digit losses in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada," laments one top campaign insider to the DRUDGE REPORT. "If she gets too badly embarrassed, it will really harm her. She doesn't want the Clinton brand to be damaged with back-to-back-to-back defeats."

Meanwhile, Democrat hopeful John Edwards has confided to senior staff that he is staying in the race because Hillary "could soon be out."

"Her money is going to dry up," Edwards confided, a top source said Monday morning.

MORE

Key players in Clinton's inner circle are said to be split. James Carville is urging her to fight it out through at least February and Super Tuesday, where she has a shot at thwarting Barack Obama in a big state. But others close to the former first lady now see no possible road to victory, sources claim.

Developing...

Dan Riehl isn't buying it.

Hmm. They could be aiming at the "Comeback Queen" angle if she indeed resuscitates her flailing campaign, but at this juncture, a huge loss in New Hampshire could lead to an irreversible slide.

Latest numbers still show a double-digit lead for Obama.

UPDATE: Aww, let's all feel sorry for her now.

Not.

ABC News' Kate Snow Reports: Campaigning in New Hampshire one day before the first-in-the-nation primary, Senator Hillary Clinton got emotional and had tears in her eyes as she spoke with voters about how hard it is to balance a busy campaign life and her passion for the country's future.

More at Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, Captain's Quarters, Blue Crab Boulevard.

UPDATE II: AP from last month: Has the political risk of emotion, tears faded?

WASHINGTON — Having a Muskie moment isn't necessarily a bad thing anymore.

Tears, once kryptonite to serious presidential candidates, today are more often seen as a useful part of the political tool kit.

Mitt Romney this week became the latest candidate to show his sensitive side. Tears welled in his eyes Monday as he spoke on the New Hampshire campaign trail about watching the casket of a soldier killed in Iraq and imagining that he had lost a son of his own. A day earlier, he choked up on NBC's Meet the Press in speaking about his religion.

His campaign seemed skittish about two such episodes in as many days.

But for a candidate who sometimes comes across as cool and detached, showing a little emotion may not be something to cry about.

The nation has come a long way in the 35 years since a New Hampshire sob story ended then-senator Edmund Muskie's 1972 presidential campaign. Muskie's campaign slid off the tracks after it was reported that he had cried in response to a newspaper attack on his wife. He went to his grave maintaining that it had been melted snowflakes, not a tear, in his eye.

Fifteen years later, in 1987, former Democratic congresswoman Pat Schroeder got grief for crying as she announced that she would not be a presidential candidate.

She's still catching flak about it today, mostly from women.

"Oh, my gosh, I got a devastating e-mail about it from a woman writer just a couple of days ago," Schroeder said in an interview. "I want to say, 'Wait a minute, we are talking 20 years ago.' It's like I ruined their lives, 20 years ago, with three seconds of catching my breath."

Schroeder says she used to keep a "crying file" on weepy politician episodes, but it got so huge she threw it out.

"Guys have been tearing up all along and people think it's marvelous," Schroeder said, pointing to episodes stretching back to Ronald Reagan.

But for female candidates, crying clearly is still in the no-fly zone.

Hillary Rodham Clinton is not allowed to cry.

At least not in public.

Flailing Clinton Buses In Supporters to NH

Yeah, everyone hates me here. Send up some hacks who pretend to like me.

They're getting desperate.

Reporters who walked into this Nashua high school today were immediately struck by the crowd — there are visibly more people here for Sen. Hillary Clinton than were here for Sen. Barack Obama yesterday in the same location.

The Clinton crowd was loud and boisterous and their foot-stomping was thunderous.

Many of them were also from Massachusetts.

Clinton gave a few minute speech about how she sees the race for 2008 shaping up, then started taking questions. As she did, I noticed dozens of people start streaming out via the back doors.

Of the 7 people I interviewed, three said they had taken advantage of the short drive to come see both Clinton and Obama in the area in advance of the Feb. 5 Massachusetts primary.

But the others said they were Clinton volunteers who came up to canvass on her behalf this weekend.

Serap Sankoh, a biostatistician from Acton, Mass., said she had been actively recruited to attend and wave signs wildly by the Clinton campaign. "I got the telephone calls not last night but the night before and I'm a die-hard supporter, so I made the drive," she said.

Another reporter noticed a charter bus parked outside — and it wasn't part of our traveling motorcade.

Weak.

I'd like to have been a fly on the wall when Mrs. Clinton saw these numbers.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in New Hampshire shows Barack Obama earning 39% of the vote while Hillary Clinton attracts 27%. The survey was conducted on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. All interviews were conducted after the Iowa caucuses and before last night’s debate.

Check out this video. Try not to be distracted by Frank Luntz's hair.



UPDATE: More bad news for Mrs. Slick.

It's Official: Americans Sick of Iowa and New Hampshire

I've felt this way for a long time. Why do these two states get to hold so much influence over who becomes President of the United States?

According to a national survey conducted for The Associated Press and Yahoo News, just over half of all voters said New Hampshire and Iowa have an extraordinary amount of influence over who wins the two parties nominations.

"They have way too much — WAY too much — say," said Kevin Thomas of Tacoma, Wash. "California's a big state and they don't have any say, and Iowa's not even half the size of California. It really makes me as a voter wonder what's going on."

Fewer than one in five voters said they favor the current system that allows Iowa and New Hampshire to hold the first contests, while nearly 80 percent would rather see other states get their chance at the front of the line.

Surely it's one reason many states have moved up their primary dates.

Perhaps the two major parties can figure out another way of doing things; maybe rotate some new states in earlier every four years.

No doubt it would make political reporters happy if they could spend a couple of months this time of year in, say, Florida, rather than chasing candidates all over the frozen cornfields.

Another suggestion would be to limit the amount of time campaigning. We still have ten full months to go before the general election and people will be so sick of politics by then.

Hapless Hillary Panders Door-to-Door

Sorry, lady, Halloween was six weeks ago

How humiliating it must be for this imperious, insufferable woman being reduced to going door-to-door trying to scare up votes.

Why, she was just going to be coronated and not have to deal with the little people.

Then reality set in. She's just not likable.

Hillary Clinton went door-to-door in freezing New Hampshire on Saturday, asking for support in the early voting state where her once-huge lead in the Democratic presidential primary race has melted away.

The New York senator knocked on doors along a snow-covered block of Manchester, less than a month before the crucial January 8 New Hampshire primary, the second binding contest of the 2008 presidential campaign.

"I'd be honored to have your support," Clinton said on the front porch of Mike Glickstein, a Manchester resident.

Glickstein, a 38-year-old maintenance worker whose beagle howled incessantly as he spoke to the former first lady, said he had intended to vote for Clinton already.

Even dogs can't stand her, apparently.

Doesn't she look thrilled to be there?

Here she goes for a stroll. Probably the first time in her life she actually had to walk on ice.

If I fall down, there will be hell to pay!

On the upside, if she slips and falls, John Edwards can swoop in and sue someone.

A woman so icy should be used to this by now

UPDATE: Don Surber links. Thanks!

He's much more compassionate than I am.

UPDATE II: Hot Air links. Thanks!

UPDATE III: Thanks also to Doug Ross for the link. Monday morning Matt Drudge put up the second photo above for all the world to see.

UPDATE IV: The most significant photo of 2007...?