Charles Krauthammer Slapdown
There's a reason Charles Krauthammer has a name like a Norse god... Charles, Hammer of the Krauts... it's because he can strike you down like lightning. He was on Inside Washington, broadcast on government-funded-and-thus-pro-expansive-government PBS stations, when government-funded-and-thus-pro-expansive-government PBS commentator Mark Shields began to do the typical lefty routine of warning Republicans not to nominate a conservative presidential candidate or it could be "a problem." Krauthammer's wonderful response: "See, what Mark wants is a Republican nominee who is a squish and then he’ll vote against him anyway." Bingo. Here's the video.
Every candidate has weaknesses and sure, I can see problems with conservative candidates like Palin or Bachmann or Rick Perry - but the problems have nothing to do with their policies... which I don't think would be a problem at all.
H/T to the excellent Noel Sheppard at the likewise excellent Newsbusters.
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Comments :
Apr '11
Re: Charles Krauthammer Slapdown
Agreed.
In fact, at least in my observation, I think a middle-road candidate is not wanted by either side -- unless that candidate is in the opposition.
Jan '11
Re: Charles Krauthammer Slapdown
I agree with everything you said, Andrew.
But let me particularly praise the work of Noel Sheppard. I'm a regular, everyday reader at NewsBusters, and while not every post is perfect, Sheppard never wastes your time. When he lodges a criticism against some liberal media outrage, he's always fair, and he always explains the logic of the criticism. He doesn't merely preach to the choir. He's very persuasive in that way.
Let me add one more thing. Have you noticed that guys like Mark Shields and E.J. Dionne spend all their time talking about conservatives? Anything to push the focus off Obama and the current White House disaster.
Aug '10
Re: Charles Krauthammer Slapdown
Agreed. The left would love for Republicans to run another middle-of-the-roader.
Sep '10
Re: Charles Krauthammer Slapdown
Yes, and it's funny coming from Krauthammer who is a little squishy himself.
Even Republican moderates are starting to see some of the points we conservatives have been talking about. We had the perfect experiment in 2008. Obama ran as a centrist (hah!) and McCain was the ideal Republican. The moderates saw the media turn on McCain along with others like Colin Powell. Then they saw exactly how "centrist" Barack Obama really was, and they finally see that it's all theater. The lines are drawn and Democrats pushing GOP moderates, as they pushed McCain, tip them off that maybe, just maybe, the Democrats like to run against moderates, and all this concern for the viability of the GOP candidate is so much hogwash. And why should they not like running against a moderate? The moderate guy still gets demonized and trashed by the Democrat media complex once nominated, but like a fool, won't call out Democrat candidate on grounds of principle where he is weakest. He won't get any more votes from the illusory independents "in the middle" who are Democrats who might someday vote for the perfect Republican.
Oct '10
Re: Charles Krauthammer Slapdown
I've been saying this myself, though: we risk repeating the mistakes the McGovernites did. The solution doesn't have to be nominating a moderate--just someone who's a little less populist and a little more pragmatic (and please, please, can we stop with pseudo-Keynesian "supply-side" nonsense?).
May '10
Re: Charles Krauthammer Slapdown
Is there anyone who offers more bad-faith advice to Republicans than E.J. Dionne?
Edited on May 23, 2011 at 12:48pmDec '10
Re: Charles Krauthammer Slapdown
Notice how the progressives always ALWAYS prefers that conservative canidates be "moderate" but never prefer that of their own side, but instead champion the hard core left as speaking truth to power.
I often watch the discourse between Shields and Brooks on PBS Newshour and Shields always gets away with the edgy or snarky comments whereas Brooks comes across as a squish. I wish Krauthammer would take his place and then we'd really see a lively discussion.
Mar '11
Re: Charles Krauthammer Slapdown
I always think it's a pity that Dr Krauthammer is smarter than all the potential Republican candidates, combined (with the possible exception of Paul Ryan, who is not running). Same goes for Jonah Goldberg and Glenn Reynolds - why can't we come up with a better candidate, when we have such good Pundits?
And when is the Ricochet website gonna be fixed?
Edited on May 23, 2011 at 1:47pmAug '10
Re: Charles Krauthammer Slapdown
David Williamson: I always think it's a pity that Dr Krauthammer is smarter than all the potential Republican candidates, combined (with the possible exception of Paul Ryan, who is not running). Same goes for Jonah Goldberg and Glenn Reynolds - why can't we come up with a better candidate, when we have such good Pundits?
And when is the Ricochet website gonna be fixed? · May 23 at 1:44pm
Edited on May 23 at 01:47 pm
David,
As I'm sure the above named people would admit, being a pundit is a heck of a lot easier than being a presidential candidate. (Which makes punditry the greatest gig in the world, btw)
Oct '10
Re: Charles Krauthammer Slapdown
mesquito: Is there anyone who offers more bad-faith advice to Republicans than E.J. Dionne? · May 23 at 12:42pm
Edited on May 23 at 12:48 pm
Well, I can think of one person who does - someone who loves trolling John Yoo's threads on this blog.
Jun '10
Re: Charles Krauthammer Slapdown
Ronald Reagan ran as a conservative and was re-elected as a conservative. We shouldn't willfully alienate independents, but there is no reason a conservative needs to pretend to be something else. What the candidate needs to be is a compelling--which is different than charismatic--candidate. (And therein, may lie the problem).
Edited on May 23, 2011 at 1:59pmApr '11
Re: Charles Krauthammer Slapdown
Mark Steyn makes this point as well: what the MSM wants in a Republican nominee is an amiable loser.
Oct '10
Re: Charles Krauthammer Slapdown
tabula rosa, Reagan ran as a conservative, but in reality was more of a "principled moderate" (or, another one of my phrases, "restrained squish"). The difference between Reagan and, say, Romney, is Reagan seemed to use conservatives to restrain his idealism; he was aware of him own limitations, and compensated for them.
We need someone like that. A moderate with deep ties to conservatives, who will make the tough choices but still minimize government intervention. A conservative purist could never govern; but a moderate dedicated to maximizing conservative principles could.
Jun '10
Re: Charles Krauthammer Slapdown
Ha! I've been calling Krauthammer the Hammer of the Krauts for years. I guess great minds really do think alike.
Oct '10
Re: Charles Krauthammer Slapdown
The German Hammer.
May '11
Re: Charles Krauthammer Slapdown
Re: Squishy moderates
Who votes in the Republican primary in New Hampshire? Any chance of voter ID stopping the activists from other states this time?
May '11
Re: Charles Krauthammer Slapdown
Actually, Cabbage hammer