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bedsitter23I know. I know. It's too early to talk about the 2016 election.
What am I? A crack addict?
Still, it's next impossible with CPAC going on- the Conservative PAC convention is hard to ignore.
Of course, there are places better than this that are covering it like Daily Kos, which is where you would go to get nuggets like "Why is that in the "If we were in power, no one would pay taxes ever" favorites like Wayne LaPierre and Michele Bachmann are suggesting that they would spend millions of taxpayer dollars- to put armed guards in every school (LaPierre) or to fund Alzheimer's and cancer research (Bachmann).
No, we know the news, and we know CPAC is about who is there (Trump, Rubio, Jindal, Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, Scott Walker, Allen West, Carly Fiorina, Newt, Rick Perry, Kelly Ayotte, Palin, Santorum, Paul Ryan, and emcee Ryan Reynolds (not that one)) as who isn't there (Governors Chris Christie and Bob McDonnell of Virginia- who have drawn conservative ire because they are more about governing than talking).
In any case, there's better places to find out about what's going on at CPAC. CSpan, for one. Another source would be Fox News which covers all the important stuff live and will cut away if someone insignificant like a one-term ex-governor is speaking.
It is also hard to not think election when a potential 2016 contender (Ohio Sen. Rob Portman) has reversed his policy on gay marriage after years of voting against equal rights legislation after his son came out).
No, it is in the news here in Iowa.
Mainly because Chuck Grassley has now joined Gov. Branstad in saying the Ames Straw Poll is no longer of any use. Grassley said "You can't be a loser one day and a winner the next (speaking about Rick Santorum, the eventual caucus winner who finished fourth at Ames).
It is also in the news because the Iowa Republican Party has spent a lot of time trying to see what went wrong. This coincided with the Des Moines Register's Sunday front page story which was where they brought in 15 key Republicans and asked what they thought should be different.
The 15 leaders included Santorum, Rand Paul, and RNC chairman Reince Priebus with 12 key state figures (The former State GOP chairman, the Lt Governor, Rick Perry's campaign chair, and congressmen Steve King (that one) and Tom Latham).
So, how does the GOP win in 2016? Their thoughts...
-Get rid of some of the many Presidential debates ("a treasure trove of soundbites for the Obama campaign (to use)" says Lt. Gov Reynolds.)
-Fight negative messages early (Reynolds also says millions of dollars were spent on negative ads about Mitt Romney even before he was running)
-Rethink early voting (a real gamechanger for the Democrats) and rethink technology and voter targeting (mentioned by several)
-Reform government and how it operates. Also don't get distracted by things like Todd Akin's comments(Latham)
-Make it all about a Balanced Budget amendment (King)
-Less government , more liberty, and more dollars in your pocket is a winning message (Paul) Paul also says immigrant reform and reaching out to independents are some ways the GOP could improve their position.
-Center the campaign around what the GOP can do for small business and win over middle income Americans ("We need to compete for the voice of the worker", Santorum says).
-Keep up fundraising efforts.
Overall, the 15 tended towards a message which talked about unity and bringing in the demographics that they struggled with in 2012- women voters, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and the Under 45 crowd (True to form, Santorum says that picking a 'moderate' won't change the party's losing ways).
So, there it is- be inclusive, bring in women, attract middle income Americans and nominate someone that excites everybody. How simple is that? it's kind of like when I was in college and went out on Saturday night. My plan was to be charming, be intellectual, be funny and say and do the right thing at the right time. We all know how that worked out.
What am I? A crack addict?
Still, it's next impossible with CPAC going on- the Conservative PAC convention is hard to ignore.
Of course, there are places better than this that are covering it like Daily Kos, which is where you would go to get nuggets like "Why is that in the "If we were in power, no one would pay taxes ever" favorites like Wayne LaPierre and Michele Bachmann are suggesting that they would spend millions of taxpayer dollars- to put armed guards in every school (LaPierre) or to fund Alzheimer's and cancer research (Bachmann).
No, we know the news, and we know CPAC is about who is there (Trump, Rubio, Jindal, Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, Scott Walker, Allen West, Carly Fiorina, Newt, Rick Perry, Kelly Ayotte, Palin, Santorum, Paul Ryan, and emcee Ryan Reynolds (not that one)) as who isn't there (Governors Chris Christie and Bob McDonnell of Virginia- who have drawn conservative ire because they are more about governing than talking).
In any case, there's better places to find out about what's going on at CPAC. CSpan, for one. Another source would be Fox News which covers all the important stuff live and will cut away if someone insignificant like a one-term ex-governor is speaking.
It is also hard to not think election when a potential 2016 contender (Ohio Sen. Rob Portman) has reversed his policy on gay marriage after years of voting against equal rights legislation after his son came out).
No, it is in the news here in Iowa.
Mainly because Chuck Grassley has now joined Gov. Branstad in saying the Ames Straw Poll is no longer of any use. Grassley said "You can't be a loser one day and a winner the next (speaking about Rick Santorum, the eventual caucus winner who finished fourth at Ames).
It is also in the news because the Iowa Republican Party has spent a lot of time trying to see what went wrong. This coincided with the Des Moines Register's Sunday front page story which was where they brought in 15 key Republicans and asked what they thought should be different.
The 15 leaders included Santorum, Rand Paul, and RNC chairman Reince Priebus with 12 key state figures (The former State GOP chairman, the Lt Governor, Rick Perry's campaign chair, and congressmen Steve King (that one) and Tom Latham).
So, how does the GOP win in 2016? Their thoughts...
-Get rid of some of the many Presidential debates ("a treasure trove of soundbites for the Obama campaign (to use)" says Lt. Gov Reynolds.)
-Fight negative messages early (Reynolds also says millions of dollars were spent on negative ads about Mitt Romney even before he was running)
-Rethink early voting (a real gamechanger for the Democrats) and rethink technology and voter targeting (mentioned by several)
-Reform government and how it operates. Also don't get distracted by things like Todd Akin's comments(Latham)
-Make it all about a Balanced Budget amendment (King)
-Less government , more liberty, and more dollars in your pocket is a winning message (Paul) Paul also says immigrant reform and reaching out to independents are some ways the GOP could improve their position.
-Center the campaign around what the GOP can do for small business and win over middle income Americans ("We need to compete for the voice of the worker", Santorum says).
-Keep up fundraising efforts.
Overall, the 15 tended towards a message which talked about unity and bringing in the demographics that they struggled with in 2012- women voters, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and the Under 45 crowd (True to form, Santorum says that picking a 'moderate' won't change the party's losing ways).
So, there it is- be inclusive, bring in women, attract middle income Americans and nominate someone that excites everybody. How simple is that? it's kind of like when I was in college and went out on Saturday night. My plan was to be charming, be intellectual, be funny and say and do the right thing at the right time. We all know how that worked out.
