Anthony Bourdain called Sandra Lee "the hellspawn of Betty Crocker and Charles Manson".

But although Governor Cuomo may or may not learn to love her cooking over the years, I tend to doubt that was the first thing that attracted him to her.

I think it was more the effect of Ross Perot than Murphy Brown. His nearly 20% of the vote came more from the GOP side than the Dems and it probably tilted the swing states into the Clinton side of the equation.

I tend to agree that Christie in 2012 is too early. If the economy continues to recover and he is able to continue to hold spending down it will make him more attractive. As it is right now the cuts made at the state level are mostly transferred to the local level. My property taxes went up last year and are going up again this year (assuming the budget he proposed is enacted). He is becoming more and more politically careful these days - a little less blunt. He didn't endorse Christine O'Donnell and wasn't what I would call a strong supporter of Palin's Tucson retorts. He isn't pushing to eliminate collective bargaining for public unions like his Wisconsin counterpart either - all indicating a more centrist stand. It may not be fair, but he probably needs to lose a bit of weight as well. Clinton may not have been the poster boy for being in shape, but he wasn't really badly overweight. (Some of those pictures of him jogging were painful to look at, though. Put it this way - it wasn't that hard to find a Secret Service agent to keep up with him - like it was when GW Bush was running) It has been a long time since we had an overweight President in the White House and like it or not - image is important.

If Palin runs, then I know who John McCain is voting for.

Obama.

I've always felt that way, DM. An incumbent President, who wins a war, is supposed to be re-elected. Perot hurt George Sr. more than anything else in '92, including the lousy economy at the time. That Frank Perdue looking jerk .

Meh. She reminds me of Kay Adams with a boob job.

Ok, didn't know where to put this. RR you'll love this. I don't know the specifics but while campaigning I think in Ohio, Alan Simpson (NOT Arlen Specter, like I first noted) referred to these two rappers as:

Enema Man and Snoopy Snoopy Poop Dog ... What's funny is, even an "anti-rapper" like myself, finds this hilarious.


TIS

When one of your kids refuse to publicly support you, you might be in trouble.

Makes one wonder what if Rudy never gotten the prostate cancer which forced him to pull out of the '00 Senate race against Hillary?



"Poop"? A grown adult said "poop" in public?

It was actually Alan Simpson who said it but yes. It was just one of those things where someone likes to boast about how ignorant they are of a genre they don't like much anyway..

Lilo,

You're right. I don't know why I get those two mixed up. I will amend. Thanks!!


TIS

The war was old news by fall '92 and with the fall of the Soviet Union, 1992 was the first election since probably 1936 when foreign affairs played no role in the election discourse (and this would continue up to 2000).

Post-1968, Cold War played handidly to GOP's benefit and Bush Sr. got screwed when he lost that advantage. I'm reminded of the 1945 British elections, two months after Germany surrendered and PM Churchill didn't just lose his job, the Tories got destroyed, losing 190 seats.

Also let's not forget another factor: Bill Clinton the campaigner. Yes he was chubby (you all had to remind us of the "jogs"), but aside from Reagan, Bubba was probably the best American political campaigner of the last 40 years. He was the first Baby Boomer President, fresh new and exciting and this contrast really damaged Bush Sr., an aging member of the Greatest Generation that seemed out of touch in the 1990s. Dole later would have the same problem against Billy C.

I don't disagree at all, Ronnie. Daddy Warbucks was up against a plethora of adversity in November of '92, from the lousy economy to being the first ever candidate openly mocked for being an out of touch, cranky old white guy. But I stand by my assertion that of all his obstacles, Perot probably took the most votes away.

If Perot didn't throw his extra small Stetson in the ring, would Clinton have won anyway? Probably, but it would have been very, very close.

By SHANNON McCAFFREY, Associated Press Shannon Mccaffrey, Associated Press – 7 mins ago

ATLANTA – Newt Gingrich says his passionate hard work for his country contributed to his marital infidelity. In an interview posted Wednesday by The Christian Broadcasting Network, Gingrich — who recently converted to Catholicism — said he had sought God's forgiveness for mistakes in his past.

"There's no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate," Gingrich said.

"What I can tell you is that when I did things that were wrong, I wasn't trapped in situation ethics, I was doing things that were wrong, and yet, I was doing them," he said. "I found that I felt compelled to seek God's forgiveness. Not God's understanding, but God's forgiveness."

Palin '12 to base campaign from Scottsdale, Arizona?

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0311/Palin_would_base_campaign_in_Scottsdale.html?showall

It used to be "the devil made me do it." Now, I guess, it's "Uncle Sam made me do it."

After his statement TB, how can any voter take this man seriously as a presidential candidate?

Didn't he leave a wife who had cancer to be with another woman? Sort of like John Edwards. Also, his current wife I think is one he had an affair with no? Boy, the Dems could have a field day with his life. That is if they have the balls to do it.



TIS

Actually, John Edwards did not LEAVE his wife. The affair w/ Rielle Hunter took place during the 2008 campaign.

But remember....Elizabeth was 'in remission' at the time.

As for Newt Gingrich, yes I believe he did leave his wife for Callista who IS his current wife...but hadn't heard that Mrs. Gingrich #1 had cancer.

To be honest not that it guarantees anything but I think it's pretty clever of Newt to talk about all this now, then if he DOES run there's very little if anything that can be made of it during the campaign. Sort of like Clinton trumping the infidelity thing (thanks to ALOT of help from Hillary) in January of 1992 - with that post-SuperBowl interview on 60 Minutes.

Gingrich has been married three times. In 1962, he married Jackie Battley, his former high school geometry teacher, when he was 19 years old and she was 26. They had two daughters. In the spring of 1980, Gingrich left Battley after having an affair with Marianne Ginther. According to Battley, Gingrich visited her while she was in the hospital recovering from cancer surgery to discuss the details of their divorce. However, Gingrich disputes the account. Six months after the divorce was final, Gingrich wed Ginther in 1981.

In the mid-1990s, Gingrich began an affair with House of Representatives staffer Callista Bisek, who is 23 years his junior; they continued their affair during the Lewinsky scandal. In 2000, Gingrich married Bisek shortly after his divorce from second wife Ginther.

Yes, you're right, Edwards did not leave his wife. That doesn't excuse his behavior. The fact that it was during a campaign makes no difference either. He was campaigning for office. AND, the fact the Elizabeth was in remission doesn't make an affair acceptable. She HAD cancer. She died of cancer. Scum is scum and both these guys are just that.



TIS

You look up the word scumbag in the Oxford English dictionary and sure enough, there's a picture of John Edwards right underneath it.

I think that when one actually goes out of their way to convert to a religion, ANY religion...there is alot of studying and soul searching involved and you tend to take it much more seriously than some who have actually been raised in the same religion. For Gingrich to say these things about his infidelity may sound hilarious to some...but this is what Catholocism teaches. He WAS unfaithful, DID leave his wife and is now remarried to the woman he left her for. To truly become a Catholic he would have had to ask God's forgiveness and he may as well say it if he's going to run for President.

And I tell you...if anyone were to try & have a field day with it, it would probably be the liberal biased mainstream media more than the Democratic Party. I think the Dems would know better than to try & get him on THAT.

Just for the record I hope you don't think I was actually defending John Edwards.

The 'in remission' statement was his. I like to put it out there every now & then and since his name was brought up....

Actually I did although I couldn't imagine why you'd defend him. LOL Makes sense now. Thanks for the clarification.

TIS

Thanks, olivant...I got it now. I had forgotten about that first marriage.

1st wife Jackie Battley
2nd wife Marianne Ginther
3rd (and present) wife Callista Bisek

And so what he can't be taken seriously for is not that he's been married 3 times & left each wife for the next...but that he's converted to Catholocism and asked God's forgiveness.

I'm sure it'll be worth a try...

It's probably not going to be a major factor in 2012.

JFK's religion was a factor in the 1960 election. After that, few Americans knew, or cared, that Barry Goldwater's running mate in '64, Congressman Bill Miller from upstate NY, was Catholic.

Nelson Rockefeller divorced his wife of 30+ years and remarried to a woman 18 years his junior, who left her husband and kids for him, not long before he ran for the GOP nomination in '64. The divorce hurt him. But Ronald Reagan swept the GOP nomination, and the presidential race in 1980, on a family-friendly platform despite having divorced his first wife years earlier, and being estranged from one of his children.

Geri Ferraro raised a lot of eyebrows when she became the Dem VP nominee in '84. Not many blinked in '08 when Sarah Palin got the GOP VP nod.

So I guess he is telling us that if he is elected President he won't work that hard - that way there is no risk of inappropriate behavior. I have to admit, that is one of the lamest excuses I have ever heard. Maybe he and Edwards can team up and teach an ethics and morality course at some college.

The true religion!

People forget about Al Smith's 1928 campaign, where his Catholicism did play a considerable part in his defeat. That and he was "Wet" when Prohibition was still publicly supported.

Regarding '12 and Religion, How about Mitt Romney's Mormonism?

Locally here in East Tennessee back in the '08 primaries, Mittens was only referenced not for RomneyCare or managing the Olympics or even his father. No he was The Mormon. Like Smith and JFK's Catholicism was used against them, backwoods people and their ignorant fear of religious sects they both don't understand (Magic underwear?) and...

Well, how many Mormons do you know personally?

Huckabee in '08 played on that card when he told reporters he "heard" and was "displeased" with people claiming Mormons worshipped Satan.

Now where and from who did he "hear" this from? Why he never mentioned it, but he did conveniently use that excuse to slip that intolerable hateful thing out into public to influence the Evangelical GOP base.

Imagine if Palin runs. Her people will play this garbage without skill or subtlety. Newt and his coded speeches will too I'm sure. And knowing politics, if Mittens gets the GOP nomination, it'll be used against him too by the other side.

~And this from somebody who really doesn't care much for Mittens the shamelessly pandering used car salesman. He's almost the blue blooded Bill Clinton, but without the charm.