Going, Going, Gone

Fred Thompson does the smart thing and bows out after a lackluster campaign ends with a disappointing third-place finish in South Carolina.

What happened to all the conservatives who practically begged Thompson to join the race? Common sense would seem to think they jumped behind Mike Huckabee.

With the exit of Thompson and Hunter, the B-team Republicans are down to virtually nothing.

Somehow I think Al D'Amato will take way too much credit for Thompson's exit.

Should They Stay or Go?

CNN and the AP are reporting that New Mexico Govenor Bill Richardson is going to bow out of the 2008 Democrats race for the presidential nomination.

It's a sad ending to what I expected would be a game effort behind the support of the nation's largest minority group, Hispanics. Unfortunately Richardson could never energy or finance his base like he wanted. He will most likely offer an endorsement to Barack Obama.

Meanwhile who else shows up in the "stay or go" category.

Rudy Guiliani: Rudy is opting to focus on 29 states including Florida and the majority of the states voting on Super Duper Tuesday, so he's not really bothered by his low numbers in Iowa or New Hampshire or so he says. Secretly you've got to be thinking he wanted to perform better than internet sensation Ron Paul. Still, until the 9-11 mayor, drastically falls on his face on February 5, we want him to stay.

Ron Paul: The internet sensation continues to perform right around fourth, putting him as the top B-teamer (with McCain, Romney and Huckabee considered the A-team) and really giving him a shot to speak at the Convention. I'm not sure if Paul will ever perform better than fourth place as a third-place finish would do wonders for his efforts. However, with plenty of money left in his war chest and a group of supporters willing to fight for his every word. I want Paul to stay until the Florida primary.

John Edwards: This is a tough one because Edwards performed so well in Iowa and is a legitimate third wheel on the Democrats A-team. That being said his likability showed a lot of flaws in the last week. He came out of Iowa almost arrogantly and tried to really group himself with Obama as being the ambassadors of change against status quo. But in reality who looks more like the status quo than John Edwards? He's a 50-year-old rich, white, lawyer who has the money to look like he's 35. He has a perma-smile and played John Cougar Mellencamp as his intro music before his speech in New Hampshire. If that ain't status quo I don't know what is. Neither Obama nor Hillary will probably consider Edwards as a running mate so he'll stay, but his appeal continues to decline with every word spoken out of his mouth. This hurts us because we love John Edwards' message and believe his heart is in the right place...now if only someone other than John Edwards was speaking those words. For the sake of the country he wants to help, we beg John Edwards to leave the presidential race.

ABC Says C-Ya

The network leaves Duncan Hunter, Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich off the VIP List.

But never fear Gravel fans, he's still in the race!

As for Representative Kucinich, I'm sure he has better things to do...

The Rundown...

• Bob Novak keeps it real on Fred Thompson – “[people believe that Thompson] did such a good job as the district attorney of New York City that he deserves a chance to be president.” [Y & N]
• Rudy enjoys George Steinbrenner’s [Village Voice] but rips American farm workers for not being millionaires. [Talking Points]
• Romney solidifies ever-changing stance on abortions. [Chippewa Valley]
• Ron Paul scores one for the B-Team [Conservative Voice]
• McCain makes final push for NASCAR fans [AP] and blames Bush for lack of appeal. [AP]

So Which Is It Rudy???

....Seems like the 9/11 "hero" is confused.

He says he supports abortion rights to the New York Times but wouldn't directly answer the question about it to the Newsday.

Sounds like someone is flip-flopping to me.

Meanwhile Mitt Romney can't even keep his own house in order on the issue after some news organizations found his wife (which one?) contributed money to Planned Parenthood. If Romney can't keep his women in line, what's he going to do about Congress?

Ron Paul Wants the Job NOW!

In an attempt to provide separation from the other B-Team Republican nominees, Republican Congressman Ron Paul says it's time to impeach President George W. Bush.

"I would have trouble arguing that he's been a Constitutional President and once you violate the Constitution and be proven to do that I think these people should be removed from office."

Opining that the U.S. had entered a period of "soft fascism," Paul noted that the legacy of the Bush administration has been the total abandonment of Constitutional principles.

"Congress has generously ignored the Constitution while the President flaunts it, the courts have ignored it and they get in the business of legislating so there's no respect for the rule of law." said Paul.

Of course the Texas representative's comments were widely ignored in America but they were front page in Canada, where people apparently have a better understanding of the Constitution than most Americans (excluding Ron Paul)

Tancredo Is Ready for Road Show...

...Stating that none of the GOP's current candidates are willing to speak about the issue of illegal immigration (presumably because they have yard work that needs to be done), Colorado Representative Tom Tancredo has officially entered the race to spread his message of exclusion and hate of all things non-WASP.

“The great tradition of the melting pot in America is not working,” Mr. Tancredo said. “The melting pot is cracked.”

Tancredo's Wikipedia entry shows a man devoted to his wife of 27 years and hell bent on ridding Colorado of illegal immigrants, unless they are working on the basement of his house. In which case he has adopted President Clinton's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Tancredo's stance on immigration has gotten him into fights with Bush advisor Karl Rove to the point of where each has accused the other of being a traitor and Rove telling Tancredo not to "darken the doorstep of the White House" or he will treat him like a soldier at Walter Reed Hospital.

Tancredo's other controversies include referring to Miami as a "third-world country" and other general forms of hatred to people of color. He should be a welcome addition to the race!

In Case You Missed This Bit of News...

...Ron Paul, a former Texas congressman who is self-described as a lifelong libertarian has thrown his hat in the ring for the GOP nomination of 2008.

Paul is no stranger to the presidential election process as he was the libertarian party candidate in 1988. He is, however, a stranger to actually receiving votes.

Paul's platform is that of returning the Republican party to its roots and investigating the president on whether he misinformed the public about his intentions to go to Iraq. Some might say that particular topic needs no investigation, but whatever.

"I'm very confident the Republican party has gone in the wrong direction," Paul said in his C-SPAN appearance. "We used to be the party of small government. Now we're the party of big government."

I'll toss his name on the chart soon enough. I'm sure I'll be crossing it out soonthereafter.

Conservatives Busts McCain...

...Despite being a war hero, grandpa-like figure and generally a decent guy, the conservative wing of the Republican Party continued to take cheap shots at John McCain.

"I will represent the Republican wing of the Republican party," 'B-Team' Candidate Jim Gilmore said.

Notice he said nothing about representing the people of the United States of America.

Meanwhile Colorado candidate Tom Tancredo excited the crowd with fiery racist remarks.

"It's great to celebrate diversity," he said. "It's when we make a state religion out of it that's a problem."

I wonder where the Colorado representative stands on Jim Crow laws?