Loyal-ties

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Loyalty has been on my mind today, ever since I caught portions of Morning Joe's conversation during the Political Roundtable. Not sure who said it, Joe or Mika or guest Matt Bai or the nonentity from Newsweek, but the consensus seemed to be there is no loyalty anymore...it's cultural these days not just the political quakes we're seeing courtesy the teabaggers and other independents.

No loyalty to party, no loyalty to employees or employers or spouses or....well, you get the idea.

So when I came across this commentary, John Hoeven (Opportunist-ND) for US Senate, at North Dakota's premier political blog, northdecoder.com, I decided to share it with you. Because right now a lot's being said about Governor John Hoeven's inevitability to take the Senate seat long held by Byron Dorgan.

But there's a growing volume of talk about Hoeven's party-hopping, too. Portraying his fealty to loyalty as the political equivalent of corporate values like companies who've gotten all kinds of tax breaks by communities to locate there only to jump borders for cheaper labor, or faux family values like John Edwards or Mark Sanford's concept of loyalty to their wives.

Whaddya think about Chet's posit that Hoeven [and perhaps other minority party novices] would rather switch and be powerful than stay in the far reaches of the minority once reality sets in? And should Democrats accept 'em in the fold? Is there a value to loyalty anymore?
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crossposted at firedoglake's The Seminal

Surrogate Sludge

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McCain surrogate Charlie Crist gettin' his road test for the Veepstakes this morning with JoeScar on MSNBC? [link when and if they post one]

Crist certainly proved he can dodge and duck a straightforward question...repeated multiple times by Scarborough... in the best evasive, subject-changing tradition of the radical 'thugs about whether he agrees with McCain's lowlife statement that Barack Obama would be willing to lose a war to win the election.

Even Scarborough found that smear way beyond stunning.

The Florida Governor did his best to push the positives about his guy Johnny Mac.

But this I'm positive about: the candidate who is so desperate to win he will say anything, do anything [sellout to Big Oil for campaign contributions, anyone?], flip-flop on his promised integrity and honor, and bear false witness is the AWOL-from-the-Senate and AWOL from his honor pledge John McCain.
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"Cool" Aid

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A while back, Karl Rove was pushing a storyline that Barack Obama was the cool guy over by the wall of the country club. That one failed, but never one to let a nasty tactic be put to bed, looks like Karl's back with a new take, eagerly expounded by the Morning Joe gang.

Yep, they heard it anecdotally, so it must be so...Obama's "too cool."

What planet are these people living on?

I guess when Rove thinks Americans are so stoopid they'll buy the same crapola he's dished out in past elections, why not keep serving it up. And since media people like Scarborough and Barnicle play it forward, who is he to pass up an opportunity to keep up the whispers. Of course these are the same media people who were quick to assure us the tongue-tied, ear-piece-enabled Bush won the debates in 2000.

When's one of 'em going to ask John McCain how he can make a man who broke his Bangla-daughter's heart a key part of his campaign?

The cool guy or the hothead?

That's what it's coming down to in this election. I for one prefer a guy who thinks with his brain and his heart. I've had enough of the guy who thinks with his sword.
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Prairie Postcard: Presidential Looks

Morning Joe Scarborough telling Andrea Mitchell today that Bill Clinton trying to build up an audience and dealing with hecklers--from both sides of the political spectrum--just "doesn't look Presidential."

What, Joe, we should have another go-round of staged, scripted, voice in the earpiece, invitation-only, "town hall" appearances to "look Presidential"?

Well excuse me for thinking that it looks exactly presidential to see a President interacting with real people, even the ones who disagree with him.

Enough of the imperial bubbleboy surround yourself with people who KYA emperor has no clothes kind of presidency.

Get real.

UPDATE: Scarborough goes on a riff to the Clinton campaign: More Hillary, Less Bill...More Hillary, Less Bill. *ahem* Joe, you're from the Bible belt, how does that line go...take the beam from your own eye... yeah, that's the one.