Commentary and analysis on American politics, culture, and national identity, U.S. foreign policy and international relations, and the state of education
- from a neoconservative perspective! - Keeping an eye on the communist-left so you don't have to!
Our hearts go out to all Americans along the coast affected by this recent tragedy, especially those who lost family members in the rig explosion, and our prayers go up for a successful recovery. May spill responders be safe.
Yeah, yeah. Another airheaded lefty celeb gets all human rights-y on us.
In contrast, let's hear it from a blonde with brains, Heather MacDonald, "Praising Arizona":
The Arizona law is not about race; it’s not an attack on Latinos or legal immigrants. It’s about one thing and one thing only: making immigration enforcement a reality. It is time for a national debate: Do we or don’t we want to enforce the country’s immigration laws? If the answer is yes, the Arizona law is a necessary and lawful tool for doing so. If the answer is no, we should end the charade of inadequate, half-hearted enforcement, enact an amnesty now, and remove future penalties for immigration violations.
A Tennessee jury on Friday convicted the man who hacked Sarah Palin's e-mail account on two of four charges -- computer fraud and obstruction of justice. The panel did not find David Kernall guilty guilty of wire fraud. It deadlocked on an identity theft charge.
The former University of Tennessee student faced as much as 50 years for breaking into Palin's e-mail while the former Alaska governor was the Republican vice presidential candidate in 2008.
The two charges for which Kendall was convicted -- unlawful computer access and obstruction of justice -- carried a combined maximum penalty of 25 years in prison and $500,000 in fines. It also calls for as much as eight years of supervised release, but it will be up to the judge to decide the sentence.
While I think all abortion industry types are crooks and liars, there are some pro-abort ideologues who I believe are misguided but genuine.
Until 2 days ago I had Amanda Marcotte of Pandagon in that category. She's harsh and anti-Christian, but I thought she was honest ...
Despite our differences, I gave her the benefit of the doubt as being authentic. No more. Marcotte now falls into the liar and deceiver category.
RTWT to get the full background, but I couldn't resist Jill's Twitter exchange screencap:
Leftists are liars, as I brutally demonstrated recently with Captain Fogg of the Swash Zone. No amount of factual presentation will work with these pure haters. That's why good folks of moral persuasion have to keep the pressure on. It's a tough job, but thank God we have folks like Jill Stanek on our side.
Marcotte, childless, is in no position to argue in favor of recommending another's child as a human science experiment. Apparently it is no great leap for hardcore pro-death ideologues to advance from endorsing human embryo research to endorsing human child research.
After making national headlines for a new law on illegal immigrants, the Arizona Legislature sent Gov. Jan Brewer a bill Thursday that would ban ethnic studies programs in the state that critics say currently advocate separatism and racial preferences.
After making national headlines for a new law on illegal immigrants, the Arizona Legislature passed a bill Thursday that would ban ethnic studies programs in the state that critics say currently advocate separatism and racial preferences.
The bill, which passed 32-26 in the state House, had been approved by the Senate a day earlier. It now goes to Gov. Jan Brewer for her signature.
The new bill would make it illegal for a school district to teach any courses that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, promote resentment of a particular race or class of people, are designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group or "advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals."
Yeah, you read that right. Listen to Sting sing the virtues of "big government" at the video. Another reason why I completely disassociate politics from pop music. Well, almost completely: Thank goodness for Ted Nugent.
The crisis began last week when the oil rig Deepwater Horizon sank in deep gulf waters, days after it exploded and caught fire. Of its crew of 126, 11 are missing and presumed dead. The rig was owned by Transocean Ltd. and operated by BP, which is responsible for the cleanup.
Oil has been leaking at a rate of 5,000 barrels a day. Because it could take 90 days to drill a relief well to stem the flow, the spill could reach 18.9 million gallons, more than leaked from Exxon Valdez in Alaska's Prince William Sound, the worst spill in U.S. history.
Barack Obama is a revolutionary on a mission to cut America down to size. One size fits all, to be precise. His post-sovereign America is a country no different from any other: economically bankrupt, morally rudderless, with nothing exceptional about it besides the heights from which it tumbles and the remorselessness of its choice – his choice – to decline. With their characteristic attention to detail, clarity and fearlessness, Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer assay the wreckage. The Post-American Presidency is must reading for every concerned American who needs to know why we’re in this perilous moment, and where we’re headed if we don’t take our exceptional country back.
-- Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review legal affairs editor and bestselling author of Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad
This is NOT a parody. It’s not a poster put up by some kooky student or lone Left-Wing agitator. This is an official poster for an official, school-sponsored symposium at Brandeis University:
The symposium will be a look at the American Right from a “neo-Nazi” perspective. And when Brandeis says “Neo-Nazis,” they mean “tea partiers.” Think I exaggerate? Check out the web page for the event ...
I have said something like this before, but at the risk of being a bore, and because of the times in which we live, I will repeat myself:
The real reason liberals accuse Tea Partiers of racism is that contemporary American-style liberalism is in rigor mortis. Liberals have nothing else to say or do. Accusations of racism are their last resort.
The European debt crisis — first Greece, then Portugal and now Spain (and Belgium, Ireland and Italy, evidently) — has shown the welfare state to be an unsustainable economic system. The US, UK and Japan, according to the same Financial Times report, are also on similar paths of impoverishment through entitlements.
Many of us have known this for a long time, just from simple math. Entitlements are in essence a Ponzi scheme. Now we have to face that and do something serious about it or our economy (the world economy) will fall apart.
Liberals, leftists or progressives — whatever they choose to call themselves — have a great deal of trouble accepting this. To do so they would have to question a host of positions they have not examined for years, if ever, not to mention have to engage in discussions that could threaten their livelihood and jeopardize their personal and family associations.
Thus the traditional wish to kill the messenger who brings the bad news: the Tea Partiers. And the easiest way to kill them — the most obvious and hoariest of methods – is to accuse them of racism. Never mind that there is no evidence — or what little evidence proffered has been shown to be manufactured prevarication — liberals must continue the racism meme at all costs. There is no other. To engage the Tea Party Movement in a battle of ideas would be suicidal for them, because the basic economic tenet of American liberalism — an increase in government spending and consequent increased national debt is good for society — seems nonsensical to the vast majority of our citizens at this point in history. And for good reason.
My blog buddy William Jacobson's posting on Michelle Malkin'shate mail, so be sure to check it ou: "Just Say It - "All Immigration Laws Are Racist." Speaking of the left's "racist" allegations against Arizona's new immigration enforcement law, William notes:
At its heart, the accusations of racism stem from the view which many critics of the Arizona law share, but will not state: All our immigration laws are racist because the vast majority of illegal immigrants are non-white, and of those, a majority are Mexican. Immigration laws, therefore, must be racist, and those who seek enforcement of the laws are racists.
This is the argument which is not made, because it inevitably leads to an open border policy which is a non-starter politically. Open borders are advocated by many groups, but not explicitly by any major political party or politician.
Hence the tension. You will hear charges of racism no matter what is done to enforce the immigration laws.
Perfectly said, and extremely intersting, given that -- once again -- the left's latest attacks on Michelle reveal where today's true bigotry and racial obssession are found. See, "Breaking news: I am not white!":
The hate mail is on an increase again thanks to my outspoken defense of Arizona’s immigration enforcement measure. Too many to choose from, but here’s a typical response:
from Ruben ruben_baruch@sbcglobal.net to writemalkin@gmail.com date Thu, Apr 29, 2010 at 7:42 AM subject The color of your skin
Dear Michelle:
I have never met you or heard from you until today.
I didnt’ need to hear you for too long to know the kind of person you are or what are your personally.
I just wondering how or where did you learned to speak like the way you do.
Because you are are not white, and that is obvious, I would like to invite you to take a walk around or drive in Arizona and see and feel in your own skin the racism that exist [sic] in that state. I really would like you to experience first hand the racial prejudice ...
As I reported on air this afternoon via Michelle Moore’s updates, Illinois sent in the riot squad to stop the couple hundred peaceful protesters from … doing what it isn’t exactly clear. Protesters sang “God Bless America” and apparently that was enough to invoke the riot squad. Illinois may be running a deficit but sure has money to burn for silly and unnecessary things.
Additional links at the post (via Memeorandum). But Dana adds:
Who gave the order to call in the riot police on protesters? Word is that Secret Service from inside the venue and the presidential team pressured local law enforcement, who were against the idea. Local cops were overruled, I’m told by various sources, including a few members of local press. Moore reported that she overheard Secret Service telling the riot squad to “push them back, out of sight.“
Intimidation tactic. Plain and simple. There was no violence, no arguments, just a couple hundred patriots who sang patriotic songs and wore red, white, and blue. Unbelievable.
*UPDATE
Doug Edelman identifies this man as the one who called in the riot squad and said to “push them back, out of sight” ...
The tea partiers were completely peaceful throughout, as they always are.
The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the Press, conducted April 21-26 among 1,546 adults, finds that as many say the Republican Party (36%) as the Democratic Party (37%) could do better in improving the job situation. Four years ago, the Democrats enjoyed a 47% to 29% advantage on this issue. Similarly, the public is evenly split over which party could do a better job of dealing with banks and financial institutions (36% each). Nor is there a consensus on who can reduce the federal budget deficit (38% Republican vs. 35% Democratic Party).
The Democratic Party holds a significant edge on only one of six issues tested – dealing with the nation’s energy problems. Even there however, its 40% to 32% advantage over the GOP is far narrower than its 22-point lead last August (47% to 25%).
While not the most salient issue overall, the findings on foreign policy are also troubling to the Dems (respondents favor the GOP by a margin of 39 percent to 34 percent).
Members of Congress face the most anti-incumbent electorate since 1994, with less than a third of all voters saying they are inclined to support their representatives in November, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Dissatisfaction is widespread, crossing party lines, ideologies and virtually all groups of voters. Less than a quarter of independents and just three in 10 Republicans say they're leaning toward backing an incumbent this fall. Even among Democrats, who control the House, the Senate and the White House, opinion is evenly divided on the question.
It'd be an understatement to say I can hardly wait for the November elections. A couple of weeks ago Sean Trende published "How Bad Could 2010 Really Get For Democrats?" According to the article, on the possibility of the GOP takeover of Congress this year:
A 1994-style scenario is probably the most likely outcome at this point. Moreover, it is well within the realm of possibility - not merely a far-fetched scenario - that Democratic losses could climb into the 80 or 90-seat range. The Democrats are sailing into a perfect storm of factors influencing a midterm election, and if the situation declines for them in the ensuing months, I wouldn't be shocked to see Democratic losses eclipse 100 seats.
I'd stress again that most of what we've been seeing is general dissatisfaction with the nation's direction and intense unhappiness with incumbent Members of Congress. But the Dems hold the majority, and as the polls keep coming in with devastating findings for the party in power, I'm thinking, like Trende, I won't be shocked by the loss of 100 seats as well.
Last Sunday, while at the checkout stand at my local Ralphs, folks inside the store started gasping at a huge swarm of bees that began swirling out in the parking lot. I took my groceries home and came back with my camera. The bees had mellowed out by then:
You can see the hive as I got down a little bit:
And then a little closer:
I'm using my little Nikon Coolpix L20 Digital Camera with 3.6 Optical Zoom. It's been fantastic for point-and-click at tea parties, although not so great for closeups like these. Speaking of which, I'll have what Ann Althouse is having (er, using). Here's another angle of the hive. A couple of bees started to come at me, and while I'm not sure if these were the "killer" Africanized bees, I didn't feel threatened. That said, they were densely packed and potentially dangerous if someone were to get attacked by the swarm:
Africanized bees defend their colonies much more vigorously than do European bees. The colonies are easily disturbed (sometimes just by being nearby). When they do sting, many more bees may participate, so there is a danger of receiving more stings. This can make them life threatening, especially to people allergic to stings, or with limited capacity to escape (the young, old, and handicapped), and to confined livestock or pets. Once disturbed AHB will continue the attack for a long distance.
Texas Governor Rick Perry's in thenewstoday with the report that he killed a coyote while out for his morning jog:
Perry said he will carry his .380 Ruger - loaded with hollow-point bullets - when jogging on trails because he is afraid of snakes. He'd also seen coyotes in the undeveloped area.
When one came out of the brush toward his daughter's Labrador retriever, Perry charged.
"Don't attack my dog or you might get shot ... if you're a coyote," he said Tuesday.
I just shot a rattler this mornin' that was threatening my cat. Ain't no thang around these parts; we all has firearms. Then I ate me that rattler and made mah woman a necklace out of his bones.
There are some differences, I admit. I'm not running for reelection, which (along with my natural modesty) is why I'm also not dressing up my story with quotable quotes like "he became mulch."
And I don't have fans like Michelle Malkin to use my alleged accomplishment as proof that politicians she doesn't like are less than men:
This could cost Texas Governor Rick Perry the endorsement of PETA, but to save the life of his dog, it’s worth it...
In a related story, Florida Governor Charlie Crist screamed like a woman and jumped on a chair when he saw a mouse run out from under his tanning bed.
If you find that outburst about Crist weird and unseemly, remember: the sourcing is every bit as good as Perry's and mine.
Okay. Right.
Yeah, I'll give it to Roy that Michelle spoofin' Charlie Crist for "screaming like a woman" might be a little "wierd" or "unseemingly," except that Michelle didn't write the post. Doug Powers did. What's wierd is the striking contrast between Roy's lazer-like focus on his "Bikini Burlesque" (NSFW) babes and his total gender identity fail on the blogging at Michelle's. And it's even more weird given that Roy's a self-proclaimed expert on the happenings of the "Right Wing Blogosphere."
I know it's hard out there, Roy. But sheesh, I thought you were "da man" (NSFW)!
The Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed a lower court decision that could have required removal of a cross that has stood in California's Mojave National Preserve for generations.
Although it splintered in its reasoning, the court suggested strongly that the cross should remain because Congress has transferred the small plot on which it stands to a private group, addressing constitutional concerns.
"The goal of avoiding governmental endorsement does not require eradication of all religious symbols in the public realm," wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy. "This cross," he wrote, "evokes thousands of small crosses in foreign fields marking the graves of Americans who fell in battles."
The cross was originally erected on the site in 1934 by members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, to honor American soldiers who died in World War I. The cross has been maintained or rebuilt over the decades by members of the veterans group.
No. In the days when the Internet was young, our hopes were high. As with any budding love affair, we wanted to believe our newfound object of fascination could change the world. The Internet was lauded as the ultimate tool to foster tolerance, destroy nationalism, and transform the planet into one great wired global village. Writing in 1994, a group of digital aficionados led by Esther Dyson and Alvin Toffler published a manifesto modestly subtitled "A Magna Carta for the Knowledge Age" that promised the rise of "'electronic neighborhoods' bound together not by geography but by shared interests." Nicholas Negroponte, then the famed head of the MIT MediaLab, dramatically predicted in 1997 that the Internet would shatter borders between nations and usher in a new era of world peace.
Well, the Internet as we know it has now been around for two decades, and it has certainly been transformative. The amount of goods and services available online is staggering. Communicating across borders is simpler than ever: Hefty international phone bills have been replaced by inexpensive subscriptions to Skype, while Google Translate helps readers navigate Web pages in Spanish, Mandarin, Maltese, and more than 40 other languages. But just as earlier generations were disappointed to see that neither the telegraph nor the radio delivered on the world-changing promises made by their most ardent cheerleaders, we haven't seen an Internet-powered rise in global peace, love, and liberty.
And we're not likely to. Many of the transnational networks fostered by the Internet arguably worsen -- rather than improve -- the world as we know it. At a recent gathering devoted to stamping out the illicit trade in endangered animals, for instance, the Internet was singled out as the main driver behind the increased global commerce in protected species. Today's Internet is a world where homophobic activists in Serbia are turning to Facebook to organize against gay rights, and where social conservatives in Saudi Arabia are setting up online equivalents of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. So much for the "freedom to connect" lauded by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her much-ballyhooed speech on the Internet and human rights.
Sadly enough, a networked world is not inherently a more just world.
A Riverside County man took his mobile medical marijuana collective on the road several months ago. But authorities say he's running more than a pot collective out of his RV, and they've threatened to put him in jail.
Stewart Hauptman is a former jockey with arthritis in his knees. He says he's successfully used medical marijuana for quite some time to help deal with the pain.
"When it started to help me, I thought about other patients that might need the same type of help that I was getting," said Hauptman.
So he converted his 1985 Pace Arrow motor home into a medicinal marijuana collective with shelves and baskets for the pot.
"It's a mobile RV, it's a one of a kind. It was just my understanding what people need in this lifetime, they want service," said Hauptman.
It would appear Hauptman has everything he needs to conduct business. He has his articles of incorporation and a seller's permit, but he's missing perhaps the most important thing& the marijuana. That's because everywhere he tries to conduct business, law enforcement tells him it's against the law.
"They're not allowing me anywhere to go, that's why it sits here in my driveway," said Hauptman.
A third of registered voters are inclined to reelect their representatives in Congress, the fewest since the Republican Party rode voter discontent to control of the House and Senate 16 years ago, according to a new ABC News-Washington Post poll.
Nearly six in 10 said they'll instead look for someone new come the fall elections.
The impact on congressional races is uncertain, and the finding may chill incumbents of all stripes. But the dynamic does have a partisan cast: Republicans and swing-voting independents alike are far more likely than Democrats to be looking for change in Congress.
President Barack Obama's victory in Election 2008 was one of the greatest political triumphs in American history. But as things look now, he may also be remembered as recording the most massive midterm electoral losses in American history. If Sean Trende's right, we could see Democratic Party losses into the 100s. Talk about CHANGE!
And for a refreshing take, at left is Republican activist Kristee Kelley at the 2010 Indiana GOP State Dinner. As she writes at Theo's:
I tend to err on the side of modesty. I don't feel as though I have to show all my goodies to attract attention ... That said, I can't let the asinine Islamic cleric earthquake comments slide without protest.
Taking one for the team ...
Now that's what I'm talking about!
Now if we could just get Opus #6 off the ski slopes for a contribution we'd be stylin!
I feel almost a little obligation here, having reported the Erin Andrews peephole sensation more than any other blogger on the web. One of the biggest controversies surrounding Andrews' peephole controversy was the backlash against USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan for arguing that Andrews had it coming:
"If you trade off your sex appeal, if you trade off your looks, eventually you're going to lose those ... She doesn't deserve what happened to her, but part of the shtick, seems to me, is being a little bit out there in a way that then are you encouraging the complete nutcase to drill a hole in a room."
"Women sports journalists need to be smart and not play to the frat house. There are tons of nuts out there."
Brennan later backed off the comments, saying that:
"Twitter is a great format for many things, but not for serious reflection on an important topic such as this. "
Given the intensity of the story, and the unprecedented coverage it got (roughly 10 days of 24/7 media saturation), it's easy to understand Brennan's regrets. But other commentators made similar remarks at the time, and Andrews' later GQ photoshoot -- published that August, but shot before the peephole crime -- definitely lent credence to Brennan's "playing to the frathouse" line. And now with Andrews' hyped celebrity on DWTS, it's something of a mystery as to what lessons the ESPN hottie took away from it all. She doesn't seem to have toned it down much. Indeed, I can't ever recall seeing her more made up than at this clip of her appearance on Jimmy Kimmel's last night. She's 32 and gorgeous, and I while she says she's currently isolated from sports talk, I somehow doubt that sportscasting's on the Erin Andrews horizon too much longer:
Also, flashback video of Christine Brennan on Reliable Sources last year:
Like everyone said at the time, let's hope something like this never happens again.
And a special thanks to Chris Smith of The Other McCain for his wise counsel on blogging this story.
Activists from the Lyndon LaRouche PAC set up shop on at the main crosswalk yesterday at Long Beach City College. I was walking back to my office across Carson Street when I spoke to the woman in the green shirt. I asked her, "How can you justify the Hitler mustache on President Obama? That's extreme." She then went into some whacked comparison between the U.S. and Nazi Germany. I disagreed politely and mentioned that I was professor of political science. She then proceeded to lobby me for classroom visits to meet my students! I almost laughed. I ran up to get my camera in my office. The scene upon returning:
A second woman was working the table. She was even more strident in her views of the U.S. as a Nazi regime:
Once I started taking pictures the woman in the green shirt clammed up. She refused to give me her name on the record for this report, and instead held up the LaRouche pamphlet and told me to contact the PAC's office. Not so confident and proud about the U.S.-Nazi analogy after all:
I have no problem with their activities, actually. It's their right. What bothers me is how the idiot leftist media makes these folks out to be tea partiers when they're not. They'reDemocrats:
Longtime readers will recall the first time I came across the LaRouchies: At the Adam Schiff town hall last summer. Interestingly, Wikipedia discusses the LaRouche PAC healthcare policies with a picture of the group's table from the event:
LaRouche's organization opposed the Obama administration's health care reform proposals, and its comparisons of U.S. President Barack Obama to German dictator Adolf Hitler in 2009 generated controversy. LaRouche called Obama's actions "impeachable," without actually calling for impeachment, due to his support of health insurance reform that LaRouche says is comparable to Hitler's Action T4 euthanasia program. The LaRouche movement has printed pamphlets with a picture on the front showing Obama and Hitler laughing together, and have made posters of Obama wearing a Hitler-style mustache. In Seattle, police have been called twice in response to people who were offended by the posters threatening to tear them apart or to assault the LaRouche supporters holding them.
As town hall meetings on this issue during the summer of 2009 began to attract very large and angry crowds, the comparison of Obama to Hitler began to show up on many signs and banners. The Atlantic wrote that LaRouche supporters "patented the Obama-is-Nazi theme."[149] The Anti-Defamation League issued a report titled, "Lyndon LaRouche, Holocaust Imagery & the Health Care Debate".
Nancy Spannaus, a LaRouche spokeswoman, told the Washington Times that the Obama policy was "a direct copy of the policy Hitler declared in October 1939, when Hitler issued the order for euthanasia against those determined, by a board of medical experts, to have 'lives unworthy to be lived.'" She said that the LaRouche alternative was to "cancel the bailout and HMOs, implement bankruptcy reorganization of the financial system, and return to the Hill-Burton system that made our health care the best in the world.
I've been totally busy at work and haven't been able to blog much today. Last night's Eagles gig was simply unbelievable. I was expecting a great show but the band's performance exceeded my expectations by far. I'll have more running comments on the show later, although I found this mini-review from a younger concert-goer that's worth sharing:
... on Sunday evening I went with my mom & my friend Simone (my brother's gf) to see The Eagles in concert at the Honda Center in Anaheim. It was SO FUN! Seriously, they were so good. I mean, what the hell do I know? They sounded great to me. I had fun. My mama had fun, my friend had fun. What else is there?? I pretty much knew all of their songs with the exception of songs off their new album (which I totally want to buy now!). Those guys are some seriously old, talented dudes. And I mean that totally respectfully. I'm guessing there was some pretty hard partying on their behalves in the 70's, and they earned those wrinkles, amongst other things. They played "Hotel California" just 3 songs in... so of course the crowd went wild. I also thought it was really cool that they played it so early into the set, they really gave the people what they wanted early on & that helped set the mood for the rest of the show. As it turns out we are all old fuddy duddies (technical term) and didn't stay to the very end. I'm sort of kicking myself for that because I didn't get to hear my favorite Eagles song, "Take It Easy".
Well, I'm happy to report that those "old dudes" played "Take It Easy" during the encore, as well as Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way." For the finale, Don Henley stepped away from his drumset to sing "Desperado" in the spotlight. We left the arena close to midnight. The band played a 3 1/2 hour set, and they waved goodbyes for what seemed like 10 minutes before walking off stage. As readers know, I've been to hundreds of concerts, and this was by far the best show I've seen in quite sometime -- and that's really saying a lot.
As usual, the piece is one of those balloon poppers LAT's so famous for. Note especially the quote from political scientist Larry Gerston:
"I don't know why Chuck DeVore has not done better. It is a mystery to me," said Larry Gerston, a political science professor at San Jose State University. "It does shock me that a guy like that, a good-looking guy with a good pedigree as far as the right wing's concerned, who says all the right things about abortion, healthcare, you name it, still he has not managed to move nearly as far as he needs to be considered in the swing of things."
Actually, DeVore reported $1.8 million in his first quarter campaign statement, more than Tom Cambell, who announced a $1.6 million haul. And the DeVore campaign has announced that billboards will go up across the state beginning today.
DeVore's voter outreach includes billboards, radio ads, yard signs that supporters can print, mailers and intense use of social media. Some of these pieces show how humble his campaign is: His daughter designed the billboards; his radio ads end "This is Chuck DeVore. Not only do I approve this message, I wrote it."
DeVore has also been an enthusiastic campaigner since he joined the race in November 2008 and has vastly outpaced his rivals on the campaign trail, holding 330 events across the state.
DeVore's Tax Day schedule showed the type of coalition he is trying to build among social conservatives, voters enraged by the Obama administration and long-time committed Republican activists. After hitting the Family Action PAC in Newport Beach, he spoke at tea parties in Irvine and Oceanside and capped the day off with a speech to a Republican women's club in Fallbrook.
By stitching together supporters in these various groups, all of which are vital in a GOP primary, DeVore sees a path to victory.
Polls show that many of Campbell's supporters are conservative Republicans, which DeVore said doesn't square with some of the law professor's positions. At least two independent expenditure groups are already spending as much as $2 million on television ads, mailers and robo-calls to tell voters about Campbell's liberal social stances — he favors abortion rights and same-sex marriage — and about his support for temporary state tax increases.
Once these positions become better known, some Campbell supporters will desert him and find a natural home in the DeVore camp, the candidate believes.
"I'm liking everything where it is and I'm going to press on forward and be the happy warrior because I think I am going to win this," DeVore said.
DeVore also notes that state ballot information identifies him as an "assemblyman" and not a "miltary reservist." But when more information about him is available, support surges. See SFGate, "Why DeVore is surging next to Fiorina in new Senate poll: He's a military guy." (At the Oceanside April 15th tea party, vets and military famlies got all fired up for DeVore.)
The takeaway here is that roughly a third of GOP primary voters are still undecided. And having seen the enthusiasm at the DeVore rallies, media honchos ought not bet against the grassroots just yet. With still over a month to go, events will test the dictum that "campaigns matter." Sure, DeVore's got the underdog role cornered, but in 2010 that's a campaign asset MSM outlets are downplaying like no tomorrow.
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