Donald Trump Speaks at Black Church in Detroit (VIDEO)

He's got such an ease of relationships with the black community. It's on display. And I love his message of unity, peace, and prosperity. He's promising to right the wrongs that have afflicted America's blacks, and he's sincere.

I feel so bad that we might very well miss the chance to have this man as our national leader, because despite all of Trump's bluster, he's actually pretty meek in person. He in fact doesn't like to confront people face to face, he'll listen to concerns, and then use his business instincts to try to make this work. To try to strike a deal.

Remember Michele Bachmann from yesterday, where she said that if you don't like Trump's blustery demeanor, well, get over it. You gotta go with the full package, and I confident that he's expressing genuine heartfelt sentiments about black uplift and community recovery.

It's so much more enriching than what we hear from the current president, which is all about dividing communities rather than uniting them. Just look at public opinion polls on race relations today. Listening to Trump is like a breath of fresh air, and I'm black, people. My dad was black. My sisters and I endured racism and hostility when we were kids. No, I'm not from the downtrodden inner-city --- both of my parents held advance degrees from elite universities --- but the black struggle is real to me and I take all of this very personally.

In any case, at the Detroit Free Press, "Trump to parishioners at black Detroit church: 'I'm here to listen'." (At Memeorandum.)

And watch, at Fox News, "Trump speaks at Detroit church: We're in this together."

Michele Bachmann: This Will Be 'Last Election' If Hillary Wins Presidency (VIDEO)

I love Michele Bachmann.

I always have.

Via CBN (via Memeorandum):

HIllary Clinton's Laughable Internet Illiteracy

From Ashe Schow, at the Observer, "Hillary Clinton’s (Democrat) Woman Privilege":

The drip, drip of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s emails has revealed one narrative that doesn’t seem to have been played up in the media.

Hillary Clinton is technologically illiterate. If she were a Republican man, she would be chastised for being so bad at, well, everything that has to do with technology. Heck, if she were a Republican woman, she’d be ripped to shreds as a moron on par with how the media treated former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin or former presidential candidate Michele Bachmann. If either of those two women couldn’t figure out how to find an NPR station, for example (as Ms. Clinton couldn’t), they would be the subject of continuous mockery.

Saturday Night Live’s repeated skits about Ms. Palin, for example, led many people to believe the former 2008 vice presidential candidate actually said she could see Russia from her backyard.

But with Ms. Clinton, the comedy sketches to date have been tepid (humorous, but tepid) and have avoided her obvious failings with technology. Now would be the time to list a couple examples of Ms. Clinton’s—let’s call them “disagreements”—with technology, but I think the sheer number of these instances needs to be pointed out. I’m also going to include some other instances of Ms. Clinton showing she’s out of touch with regular people...

Keep reading. It's gold.

Carly Fiorina Plans to Excoriate Hillary Clinton, and Her Competition is Grateful for It

At National Journal, "Playing the Heavy":

Hundreds of conservative and evangelical activists had been listening politely and applauding on cue as Carly Fiorina talked about God, and opportunity, and work ethic. For many of those attending the Iowa Freedom Summit, it was the first time they'd heard her speak. For some, it was the first time they'd heard of her at all.

Then, more than 10 minutes into the speech, she mentioned Hillary Clinton.

"Like Hillary Clinton, I too have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles around the globe," said Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett Packard. "But unlike her, I've actually accomplished something. You see, Mrs. Clinton, flying is not an accomplishment; it is an activity."

The audience roared and was suddenly engaged, hanging on her words as she criticized Clinton on one issue after another. And when she landed on Benghazi—"Unlike Hillary Clinton, I know what difference it makes that our American ambassador and three other brave Americans were killed in a deliberate terrorist attack"—the crowd surged to its feet with a standing ovation.

"That's the first time I've ever seen her in person, and, frankly, I was moved by the speech. That takes a lot," says Sam Clovis, a former conservative radio host and tea-party favorite in Iowa. "It was the perfect speech on the perfect topic at the perfect place at the perfect time given in the perfect manner."

Fiorina, the only Republican woman actively considering a run for the White House, is taking on Clinton more forcefully and directly than any other GOP contender. It's a deliberate strategy meant to make headlines, differentiate her from the pack, and elevate her position on the national stage. And in the process, it's winning her friends, as Fiorina assumes an attack role that many Republican strategists think male GOP candidates need to avoid...

Keep reading.

This sounds pretty packaged and slickly marketed, and it's apparently working for her. But what's her game? Recall that Ms. Fiorina ran for U.S. Senate in 2010, and was defeated handily by Barbara Boxer. She's never held elective office. I imagine she's got even less of a chance to win the 2016 GOP nomination than Michele Bachmann had in 2012. Perhaps she's looking to do well in a primary or two to position herself as a legitimate running mate for the eventual nominee. A woman would certainly be a nice touch, and Fiorina's smart. She wouldn't generate the kind of attacks that hit Sarah Palin in 2008, although leftists are so evil I can imagine the most horrific smears on the former CEO even now. (Health issues? Say vicious attacks on her as a cancer survivor? Put nothing past the diabolical left.)

In any case, we'll see.

'Think Progress' — and Karoli LOL! — Punk'd by Parody Claiming Michele Bachmann Wants Illegals in 'Camps'

Boy, the leftist stooges at "Think Progress" -- and leftist loon Karoli lol! -- must have been really jonesin' for some dirt to smear Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. I mean look at their posts. They've got cut and paste from virtually the entire parody site KCTV7 News, as seen here: "MICHELE BACHMANN SUGGESTS LABOR CAMPS FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN."

And lol here's "Think Progress," where the idiots forgot to, you know, think: "CORRECTED: Bachmann And Migrant Children."

And at Crook and Liars (and Retards), "Crazy Eyes Bachmann Wants Central American Children Put In Indoctrination Camps (UPDATED)."

Karoli even had a Memeorandum thread to broadcast teh stupid.

Crazy Eyes Bachmann Wants Central American Children Put In Indoctrination Camps (UPDATED) http://t.co/2y2k2y9y1d http://t.co/8vBOOzQI8a

— memeorandum (@memeorandum) July 27, 2014

And as Jonah Goldberg noted earlier, that's some correction lol:

Now that's a correction http://t.co/RjMXtAHjob (h/t @mt_newman)

— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahNRO) July 27, 2014

Michele Bachmann Might Seek GOP Presidential Nomination in 2016

At RCP, "Bachmann Says She Might Seek Presidency in 2016."

Bachmann was my pick in 2012. I'll back her again in 2016, on the condition that she eschews policy positions on the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil causing mental retardation, heh.

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann Calls on Secretary of State John Kerry to Resign

Via Israel Matzav.

She's awesome. Remember, Rep. Bachmann lived in Israel. She hits it out of the park with her comments here. Wow.



Previously Kerry "apartheid" blogging here.

Oh My! Michele Bachmann Slams Socialist Bernie Sanders on Obama's 'War on Women'

I was watching this, heh.

Bachmann just destroys the hapless socialist senator from Vermont!

And Mediaite has the full video, "Michele Bachmann vs. Bernie Sanders CNN Debate Goes Completely Off the Rails":

For much of the debate it appeared the Bachmann and Sanders were talking simultaneously, while a seemingly helpless Blitzer sat on the sidelines choosing not to moderate in the traditional sense.

When Sanders said Republicans want to cut Social Security, Bachmann shot back with, “That is absolutely a lie. It’s brought up all the time and it’s a lie. Let’s face it, Senator Sanders. you shouldn’t be lying about what our position is.” When he asked her directly if she supports “chained CPI” and raising the minimum wage, Bachmann would not answer, choosing instead to direct the points she was trying to make straight towards Blitzer. Meanwhile, Bachmann had to pause several times throughout the conversation to tell Sanders to “calm down.”

The @cnn booker who put Michele Bachmann and Bernie Sanders on together should get a raise.

— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) January 27, 2014

.@KTumulty VIDEO: Bachman: Obama created war on women: http://t.co/binHhp20nP #TCOT #TGDN

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 27, 2014

Miley Cyrus on #SNL

I watched it.

She was pretty good.

And like I always say, she and her handlers are marketing geniuses. It's working out for her way past the obligatory 15 minutes.

At LAT, "Miley Cyrus can't stop on 'SNL'."

And at Twitchy, "SNL viewers agree: Miley Cyrus should keep the hot Michele Bachmann look."

The Boehner/Bachmann spoof is here, "SNL Miley Cyrus Parody - "We Did Stop (The Government)" ft. John Boehner and Michele Bachmann."

'Dad, Rush Limbaugh and Me'

An interesting op-ed from Madeline Janis, at the Los Angeles Times.

Read it all. She admits to being a stereotypical leftist and she harangued her father for listening to Rush Limbaugh. (One of her biggest peeves is that he received government benefits --- the GI Bill, Social Security and Medicare --- but was still conservative, as if conservatives don't support any government role in social welfare, health and education, a common leftist fallacy.) But the conclusion caught my eye:

I suspect that our family dynamic wasn't unique, and that across America fathers and daughters and sons and mothers have learned to accommodate political differences and respect one another across the gulf. Our love for each other and our family helped my father and me transcend the enormous ideological divide between us.

It makes me wonder if there isn't something in these experiences that might help us, as Americans, transcend our political differences. Even if we don't have the same closeness as a family, Americans of all political stripes do share a love of country. And that could be a start, at least, at reaching across the gulf of ideology to work cooperatively and respectfully to solve the challenges facing the nation.

And that's another leftist fallacy, which ends up being a pernicious leftist lie, that "Americans of all political stripes share a love of country."

Leftists do not actually love this country. The left --- and that includes this presidential administration and the congressional Democrat Party --- are Democrat-Socialists marinated in class warfare rhetoric and Marxist welfare redistributionism. They don't love this country. They love what they think this country could be if they were able to fully impose their socialist program on Americans without opposition.

And that's the basis of our political differences, which are irreconcilable. That some people agree to go along to get along is a testament to our national attributes of decency and pragmatism. But America as a nation will continue to stagnate as long as people remain ignorant to the true nature of leftism. The next two elections are crucial in this regard. And the GOP needs to have candidates who aren't afraid to call it like it is, people like Michele Bachmann and Allen West. And when more people like this win office and implement basic policies of decency, probity, and prudence, we'll start to turn things around.

In any case, more at the letters to the editor, "More on 'Dad, Rush Limbaugh and Me'."

'We Will Never Again Have a Republican President...'

Michele Bachmann has a stark warning:

Obligatory Blog Post on Michele Bachmann's 8-Minutes-Plus Congressional Retirement Video

Look, I love Michele Bachmann. She was my candidate for the Republican nomination in 2012. But this retirement clip is a bit much. She could have had as much to say in a couple of minutes. And frankly, the long spin on her congressional accomplishments highlights something of the lack thereof. Her most important impact has been as a media star, and she might have done better in the primaries had she avoided her Human Papilloma Virus gaffe of September 2011. I will say though, I think she's wise not to leave public life altogether. She's a powerful voice of dissent and we need as many of those as we can get.

Ed Morrissey has more, "Video: Michele Bachmann retires."

BONUS: Get a kick out of WaPo's report, which is basically a DLTDHYOTWO screed against the Minnesota Republican, "Rep. Bachmann will not run for reelection in 2014."

Michele Bachmann Talks Obama Impeachment

At CNN, "After IRS targeting, tea party says their fears confirmed."

Tea Party Looks to Oust Republicans Seen as Not Conservative Enough

This isn't anything new, although there's obviously greater urgency amid the left's information coup and the second term of the Obama disaster. Basically, double down hoping to gain some traction before we're all shot to hell.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Tea Party Seeks to Regroup: Movement Sets Sights on Ousting Republicans Seen as Not Conservative Enough":

The tea-party movement is trying to regroup after taking some licks in this month's elections. Several groups already are setting their sights on 2014 congressional races, in which they plan to promote their preferred candidates and hope to weed out Republicans they consider insufficiently conservative.

Many tea-party activists say they remain dumbfounded by the Nov. 6 defeat of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and favored GOP candidates for the Senate, and opinions are swirling over how the movement should push forward.

In Virginia, organizations that canvassed aggressively for Mr. Romney are now girding for next year's election for governor. Many are moving to support Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in his GOP primary contest against Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling.

Conservative groups also are considering potential challenges to GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham in South Carolina, Lamar Alexander in Tennessee and Saxby Chambliss in Georgia, whom some activists view as not conservative enough.

After scoring a wave of successes in the 2010 midterm elections, tea-party groups found the environment much less hospitable this year in states where President Barack Obama's campaign made gains with the electorate.

One of the movement's most outspoken advocates, Rep. Allen West of Florida, lost his first bid for re-election, while Rep. Michele Bachmann, a founder of the congressional Tea Party Caucus, barely scraped by to keep her Minnesota seat. Still, many House freshmen backed by the tea party in 2010 survived this year, and Republicans retained their House majority.

"This was a very difficult year, with the strength of the Obama ground game and the fact that Romney just didn't inspire much enthusiasm," said Jamie Radtke, an unsuccessful 2012 Senate candidate and founder of the Virginia Federation of Tea Party Patriots, a statewide umbrella group that continues to expand and now has over 60 member organizations. "But in many ways, we are stronger than ever," she said.

The federation, Ms. Radtke said, plans to play a big role in 2013 Virginia races, including those for the governor's and lieutenant governor's offices.

Across the country, tea-party activists are drawing different lessons from the year's setbacks.

One of the movement's big losses was in the Indiana Senate race, where Richard Mourdock, a favorite of tea-party activists, toppled six-term Republican Sen. Richard Lugar in the Republican primary, only to lose this month to conservative Democrat Joe Donnelly. Mr. Mourdock's campaign took a hit after he said that "even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something God intended to happen."

Tea-party activist Greg Fettig, a founder of Hoosiers for a Conservative Senate and a backer of Mr. Mourdock, said the main lesson from the loss is that activists need to be sure the campaigns they support are well-run.

In South Carolina, tea-party activists are looking to mount a primary challenge against Mr. Graham, whom they oppose in part because he voted to confirm Mr. Obama's Supreme Court nominees, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

"I think he will face a strong primary challenge," said Joe Dugan, South Carolina coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots. "The extent of that challenge and the money that can be raised will depend on his actions from this time forward."

Mr. Graham didn't respond to requests for comment.

Anderson Cooper Crosses the Line

From the Center for Security Policy:

Anderson Cooper closed one of five segments of his weeknightly CNN show that he recently devoted to attacking principally Rep. Michele Bachmann with a genuflection towards an iconic newsman, Edward R. Murrow. He deployed against her the gauntlet Murrow threw down to Sen. Joseph McCarthy in March 1954: “The line between investigating and persecuting is a [very] fine one.” If anyone has stepped over that line, however, it is Cooper himself, rather than the Minnesota congresswoman.

Night after night during the week of July 16th, the host of “Anderson Cooper 360” failed to meet even the most basic standards of investigative journalism. The irony is that, in his ill-concealed persecution of Mrs. Bachmann, Cooper has serially engaged in precisely the practices he pillories her and others for allegedly using, by his account, to destroy the reputation of the Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a Muslim-American woman named Huma Abedin. Let us count the ways...

Continue reading.

Cooper even goes after Frank Gaffney at this clip:

PREVIOUSLY: "Huma Abedin Gets Police Protection After Being Threatened." And make sure to see Nonie Darwish at that link.

Just Half of American Voters Identify Obama as Christian

And the number of Americans identifying Obama as Muslim has increased since 2008.

See Pew Research, "Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion: Only About Half Identify Obama as Christian":

The new survey on religion and politics finds that nearly four years into his presidency the view that Barack Obama is Muslim persists. Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim; 49% say he is Christian, while 31% say they do not know Obama’s religion.

The percentage of voters identifying Obama’s religion as Christian has increased since August 2010, from 38% to 49%, while there has been little change in the percentage saying he is Muslim (19% then, 17% today). Still, fewer say Obama is Christian – and more say he is Muslim – than did so in October 2008, near the end of the last presidential campaign. The increase since 2008 is particularly concentrated among conservative Republicans, about a third of whom (34%) describe the president as a Muslim.

Overall, 45% of voters say they are comfortable with Obama’s religion, while 19% are uncomfortable. Among those who say Obama is Christian, 82% are comfortable with Obama’s religious beliefs. Among those who describe him as a Muslim, just 26% are comfortable with his beliefs.

RELATED: "The Obama Administration Has Lost its Senses on Muslim Brotherhood."

Caroline Glick argues the administration's selling out U.S. interests to the Islamists.

Also at Atlas Shrugs, "'HALF OF AMERICANS DO NOT KNOW THE PRESIDENT’S RELIGION' .... DUH."

BONUS: At Politico, "Eric Cantor defends Michele Bachmann."

Huma Abedin Gets Police Protection After Being Threatened

Following up on my previous entry, "Rep. Michele Bachmann Wants Investigation of Huma Abedin, Aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton."

And this is wrong, "Weiner wife under guard":

Police and federal officials have placed security around ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin, after a New Jersey man threatened her, law-enforcement sources said.

An individual, described as a Muslim man, made the unspecified threat after Rep.

Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) last week claimed Abedin’s family had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and asked for a probe to see if she is helping the Islamist organization. The man was questioned by the NYPD and the State Department and has not been charged, sources said.

That said, it's a legitimate question about the potential influence of Abedin's parents on U.S. foreign policy. She's a top aide to the U.S. Secretary of State, for crying out loud. Find out what's up with that and be done with it. See Nonie Darwish, for example, at FrontPage Magazine, "Huma Abedin’s Mother and an Islamist Agenda":

Huma Abedin, Secretary Hillary Clinton’s chief of staff, could be the nicest woman with the greatest character, but that is not the issue nor should it be a reason to prevent ny inquiry into her family background and connection to the Muslim Brotherhood. Instead of attacking Representative Bachmann for raising important questions regarding Muslim Brotherhood penetration of the US government, the response from the media and Senator McCain should have been a statement to the effect that Abedin has already been vetted and has a sound security clearance. But instead, the response was: “How dare you, Michele Bachmann!”

Now let us examine Huma’s mother’s history and activities. Dr. Saleha Mahmood Abedin has been identified in Saudi Arabia as one of the founding members of the Muslim Sisterhood, a Muslim Brotherhood women’s group. This is the same group that half of Egypt was too scared to vote for and that was criminalized for many decades in Egypt for its subversiveness and terror activities. Dr. Abedin is no ordinary Muslim woman, but an activist who supports Sharia law. She is also a long-time chairperson of the “International Islamic Committee for Woman and Child” (IICWC). Now let us examine what that group is doing in Egypt today and why many Egyptians are afraid of its activities and are strongly denouncing it.

The last elections in Egypt have proved that half of Egypt is afraid of the Muslim Brotherhood and does not want to live under Sharia, but that is not the same concern of Abedin’s organization (IICWC), which is advocating Sharia law. The IICW contributed greatly to fear of its agenda after a recent publication in Arabic on its website. The following topics were discussed, among others, suggesting the annulment of Egyptian moderate laws, which would be replaced by Sharia laws. Below are some of the positions that appeared in the IICWC publication:

* The IICWC position that the current laws criminalizing female genital mutilation be revoked.
* The IICWC’s position demanding that the laws forbidding child marriage below the age of eighteen be revoked. No new minimum marriage age was given; the group stated that the marriage standard depends on the financial and mental ability and not dependent on a specific age.
* The IICWC’s positions, as reported, demanding that the laws forbidding marital rape be revoked and that polygamy is a right for men.
* The IICWC’s position that a health check-up before marriage be revoked since it is against religion and should not be part of the marriage contract.
* The IICWC’s position that criminal responsibility triggering at age 18 be reduced to age 15.
* The IICWC’s position revokes the right of a woman to register her newborn by herself for a birth certificate because Sharia states that a child’s lineage is given strictly to the father and his paternal line. The child belongs to the father even if it was the product of adultery.
* The IICWC’s position revokes the criminalization of physical and mental abuse of parents against children, so long as the punishment does not cause a permanent deformity or the beating is too extreme.

Above are the values that Huma Abedin’s mother believes in and that her organization is trying to impose on the Egyptian public after the revolution. Huma did not keep a distance from her mother’s activities when she introduced Secretary Clinton to her activist mother. During Clinton’s visit to Saudi Arabia, the US Secretary of State visited and spoke at the Islamic college of Dar El-Hekma together with Huma, where Dr. Saleha Abedin was a vice-dean and one of its founders.

See also the Center for Security Policy, "Ties That Bind? The Views and Agenda of Huma Abedin’s Islamist Mother."

Check that link.

At this point it's clear that Huma Abedin's mother is a woman whose agenda stands radically at odds with U.S. foreign policy. By all accounts, Secretary Clinton is personally close to Huma, and thus it's quite important that the public be reassured of no undue influence being exerted to disrupt U.S. protection of human and women's rights around the world.

Rep. Michele Bachmann Wants Investigation of Huma Abedin, Aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Ms. Abedin has family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

See Robert Spencer, "Huma Abedin and the Muslim Brotherhood: Bachmann vs. McCain."

And David Horowitz writes:

It’s disgraceful that that there are still influential Republicans who are clueless when it comes to the internal threat to this country posed by the Muslim Brotherhood, its front groups and its allies in the White House and the Democratic Party. It is also dangerous.

Also, from June, Jamie Glazov's interview with Walid Shoebat, "The Dark Muslim Brotherhood World of Huma Abedin."

GOP Butt Plugs Have Progressives Masturbating

I'm not kidding.

See NewsBusters, "The Newest Low in GOP Mockery: Comparing Them to Anal Sex Toys":

Liberals keep finding new ways to demonstrate their civility and class. NYU graduate student Matthew Epler fashioned polling data for the Republican candidates during the 2012 primary into sex toys called butt plugs – for a telecommunications class. He decided to market his creations, which met with the winking approval of left-wing outlets.

The plugs represent the polling data of Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Mitt Romney, rotated around a 3D axis.

Epler has decided to market what he calls “Grand Old Party” butt plugs. Epler’s brainchild doesn’t sell cheap – the whole set costs $350, while individual pieces sell for $45-65.

Progressives were literally eating this stuff up.

The Frisky has more: "If the GOP Candidates Were Sex Toys, This Is What They’d Look Like."

Primary Lessons for Mitt Romney

From Kim Strassel, at the Wall Street Journal, "Romney's Primary Lessons" (via Google):

Nominee Romney. It took six years, 36 debates, epic organization and a small fortune, but it appears he will finally claim that title. The question is whether he is willing to learn from his experience.

Despite the GOP handwringing over the length of its contest, the primary did serve one purpose: competition. Competition, at its best, makes the last man standing stronger. And Mr. Romney's rivals—both in their successes and their failings—helped sharpen the contours of today's political landscape. Each one has had a lesson to offer him. Combined, they offer a blueprint to victory in the tougher competition against Barack Obama this fall.

The two candidates who might, oddly, provide the biggest takeaway are Michele Bachmann and Jon Huntsman. Their campaigns were short-lived, for the reason that voters did not understand their purpose. Politics is about vision, yet Mrs. Bachmann never got beyond appealing to "mothers," or Mr. Huntsman beyond ramblings about China.

President Obama has a vision for this country, even if it's not one to which most aware Americans would subscribe. Mr. Romney is adept at warning about this Obama view and insisting that his view is different. But what is it? The governor has been inching toward a vision, but its description has been long-winded, framed in overused phrases ("freedom" or "the American Dream"), and its substance lost amid 59-point plans. The biggest test ahead for Mr. Romney will be whether he can define a grand purpose for his presidency in a clear and compelling way.

For inspiration, he can look to Herman Cain. His lesson was that it isn't enough to talk about the economy; a winning candidate has to present big, bold, pro-growth solutions. Mr. Cain's 9-9-9 plan had flaws, but it appealed to Americans in its freshness and its daring. Mr. Romney dragged through much of the primary with the least inspiring tax plan of his competitors, though he improved it in February—with a 20% across-the-board cut in income tax rates. There's no reason he can't improve it more, say by also including an optional and clean flat tax.

Speaking of big and bold, he could also study Newt Gingrich. Mr. Romney is fond of poking Mr. Gingrich about moon colonies, but at least the former speaker has ideas. Voters were drawn by Mr. Gingrich's notions to replace the EPA, and he pulled out a Georgia victory in part on his vision for harnessing America's new energy boom. The way for Mr. Romney to prove he has a vision is to lead with innovative reform—on energy, taxes, education, entitlements, regulation.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry offered pointers on one way to enthuse an unconvinced base: states' rights...

Read it all at the link.

I think the best thing will be for Romney to hone his case for improving the economy. A catchy 9-9-9 slogan might help, but with the economic numbers continuing to drag Obama down, it's James Carville's lesson from '92 that counts the most: "It's the economy, stupid."

Or, Rick Santorum's, Strassel suggests:

If Mr. Romney won't forcefully make the case that lower tax rates for all is what produces jobs and economic growth—but instead joins the president to beat up "the rich"—then Republicans are cooked. Mr. Santorum got that.

That sounds about right.