Caucus Update: "That coveted Ronald Reagan endorsement" edition

The GOP are all about Reagan.  He looms large over the field.  Still, there seems like plenty of times that Ronnie would be lambasted by today's Republicans, he is clearly the preeminent icon of all things conservative.

First there's the attacks on Rick Perry and Mitt Romney - the most damning of accusations- that they were Democrats when Reagan was in the Oval Office.

Still, one of the first things he wants to do if elected, Willard wants to build a Reagan monument.

Ron Paul says he's the heir to Reagan.  Rick Santorum would say Paul is closer to Goldwater, and Santorum's platform is Reagan conservatism.

Newt Gingrich wrote two books and a DVD to honor the Gipper, but perhaps no one mentions Reagan more than Michele Bachmann.

So it's probably no surprise in this unretouched picture that Dutch made a quick stop in Sioux City to say Chely is his pick for #45.

I gotta cut loose

Footloose- I probably should start my review by saying 1) I don't  really have any feelings one way or the other towards the original and 2) I just was hoping it wasn't terrible.

It is MTV films, so the possibility was there.  Still, Footloose is really a fun movie- one of those movies where you care less artistic statement, and enjoy it on TBS on a random Saturday afternoon.  It is generally enjoyable, and it is destined for those TBS replays.

Kenny Wormald plays the James Dean archetype, and generally works as the Boston kid transplanted to the South.  It is all a bit cliche but Wormald for the most part pulls it off.  It's hard to imagine it would work as well with Zach Efron in that role as originally planned.

Julianne Hough plays the 'Are you really trying to pull off being a 15-year old?" love interest.  The supporting cast is generally better than one would expect (Ray McKinnon and Miles Teller in Chris Penn's role for starters), and Dennis Quaid (who I always thought was under-rated) channels his inner Rick Perry as the John Lithgow replacement.

There's plenty of music and dancing, but it's not a musical as advertised.  I grew up in a county that still doesn't sell beer on Sunday, so I have a great affinity for these characters, and in the times of the Tea Party, a ban on dancing hardly seems that far fetched.

I am going to give it a thumb's up for what it is.  The idea struck me as a bomb in the making, but for all intents and purposes, it is hard not to like this movie at least a little.

Comics Update

Orchid (Dark Horse) - written by Tom Morello - I have to admit that I probably like Morello more than I should.  In Rage Against the Machine, he fit the Keef and Thunders archetype of being cooler than the singer.  I also like Audioslave a bit more than I would want to admit (I could listen to them all day, but they just don't seem indie 'hip'.).  His Nightwatchman project is also pretty interesting for some major label protest music.

Orchid is Morello's debut comic and although I was on the fence, I found issue 1 a must by at a $1 price.  Orchid looked like a bit of a Tank Girl rip-off, and it is the story of a futuristic world with a rebellious former prostitute as the lead character.

My first thought is that creating a new world with new characters, setting up history and society and culture for new readers is hard.  Morello takes a little while to get things going.  Other than that, I don't really have anything bad to say about it.  It's like a Vertigo title with some rough edges, but the characters seem to be thought out and are pretty likable.  One thinks Morello could have used a co-writer, but it's cool that he didn't.  I'll probably stick with it for at least a little while (and I will recommend it, given the $1 price for issue 1).  At its worst, it's still better than a lot of the DC 52 titles I've read.

The Shade (DC)  - written by James Robinson - If asked to recommend any comics, I am going to name Starman, Robinsons's series that ran from 1994 to 2001.  It was the stereotypical 'comic for non-comics people'; not a Vertigo title, but similarly a comic that looked to challenge the boundaries and bring the intelligent writing to the masses.

Robinson's Starman characters have only made small appearances since that tile ended a decade ago.  here we get one of th more memorable characters of Starman back for at least 12 issues. 

I only review it only on the offchance that it wasn't any good, but no fear, Robinson and having one of his wittiest characters back is more than awesome.  Starman fans should love it, and I think new readers should be able to take to it right away.  For those who like comics or even those who just like supernaturalish tv shows, this is recommended.

Caucus Update : "Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder" edition

In Sunday's Register, Kathie Obradovich makes a case for any of the candidates to still pull off the victory in Iowa.  Specifically, she mentions that no candidate has a county chairman in all 99 Iowan counties.  Other points of interest from her article include that candidates have generally spent less time in Western Iowa than expected, and also that buzz on Rick Santorum is growing.

Still, Kathie missed one thing.  it seems Iowans like their candidates better when they are not around.

Herman Cain has rocketed to the top of the pack, and it's probably no coincidence that he hasn't been anywhere near the state in over two months.

Meanwhile, Michele Bachmann has campaigned endlessly in the Hawkeye State since the Ames poll, and her numbers fall ever more each day.

Worth mentioning also is that Mitt Romney has practically all but avoided the state and he's sitting in a sweet spot, and Rick Perry was too, up until roughly about the time his bus stopped here.

In any case, Herman Cain (He of the "This will kill you" border fence and the 9-9-9 plan) is riding a wave which has led him to leading in Iowa according to Rasmussen polls that came out today.

Cain 28%
Romney 21%
Paul 10%
Gingrich 9%
Bachmann 8%
Perry 7%
Santorum 4%
Huntsman 2%

Rasmussen also separates the 'my mind is made and I ain't changing it' crowd (Cain 30% Romney 22% Paul 17%) and the 'rain, sleet and snow' caucusgoers, and they are going for Cain (31-18 vs Romney).

All bad news for Rick Perry who is getting lambasted in National Vote Initiative ads including this one which says Perry "couldn't be bothered to learn the US Constitution" (which may also explain why he thought the Revolution happened in the 16th Century).

Still, the Tea Party Express has got his back, running this ad that seemingly endorses Perry, though the TPE says they are only using Perry as an example of someone doing a better job than Obama.

Well, at least this point, Perry should be happy to have at least one person who still likes him.