The January 2nd edition of New York Magazine brings us the virtually complete takedown of the entire GOP presidential primary field in “The Molotov Party,” by Frank Rich.
John Heilemann sets the stage for Rich in another feature in the magazine, entitled, “O Lucky Mitt.”
I’ll be sending along links to “The Molotov Party” to many—especially my non-Dem friends--over the course of the next few days. Grab your favorite beverage, sit down, and prepare to laugh out loud, A LOT!
First, however, my favorite paragraph from Heilemann…
O Lucky Mitt
John Heilemann
New York Magazine
January 2, 2012
…What a difference a month has made. At this writing a few days before Christmas, Romney has reassumed his perch in the catbird seat: level with the deflating Gingrich in the national polls, far ahead of him (and everyone else) in New Hampshire, and quite possibly on the verge of pulling out a win over the rising Ron Paul in Iowa. Romney and his people deserve much of the credit for this turn of events. But an equally large share belongs with the fact that, rather than staging a proper nominating contest, the GOP finds itself hosting what Republican strategist Alex Castellanos calls “the world’s greatest clusterfuck…”
And, now, the master, who (earlier in his piece explained to us why 75% of the Republican Party is just batshit crazy) delves further into this inconvenient truth about the GOP this cycle…
The Molotov Party
Frank Rich
New York Magazine
January 2012
The panicked GOP Establishment, belatedly closing its ranks to hasten Romney’s coronation, could well get its wish. Gingrich’s capacity for self-immolation is infinite, and the only non-Romney left who could make trouble is Paul. Either way, the 25-75 split has been a lucky break for Obama. Though the White House has made a great show of saying that it regards Romney as its toughest potential opponent, that stance has always seemed disingenuous. In a time of economic woe, it’s a gift to run against a chilly venture-capital tycoon who, in Mike Huckabee’s undying characterization from the 2008 GOP primary campaign, looks like “the guy who laid you off.” If a candidate can attract only a quarter of his own party after essentially four years of campaigning, where is the groundswell going to come from next November? The thinness of that 25 percent is dramatized by the Real Clear Politics compilation of polls of Republican contenders and voters: Of 59 surveys taken since the Perry boomlet of August, Romney has only placed first in 20. A bomb-throwing non-Mitt, by contrast, would energize the 75 percent majority that whipped Mitt the other 39 times—particularly the activists who might otherwise be tempted to sit on their hands on Election Day. But fielding a radical ticket would come at the price of energizing any Democrats who also are thinking of staying home in 2012.
Bold type is diarist’s emphasis.
And, the one thing that could bite Democrats in the ass, just as it did in 2010…
…In the end, the most powerful Obama opponent remains the same it has always been—the economy.
Whoever ends up on the GOP ticket or in the White House, the 75 percent is no sooner going to disappear than the aggrieved 99 percenters in the blue populist camp. What Republican aristocrats in denial like Karl Rove can’t bring themselves to recognize is that “the most unpredictable, rapidly shifting, and often downright inexplicable primary race” they’ve ever seen is not just a conservative revolution but one that has them in its sights.
You really have to read the entire piece by Rich to appreciate just how brutal this guy can be when he puts his mind to it.