Happy Halloween

Some political Halloween funnies for you (click on the images to enlarge):

Occupy Wall Street vs. The Tea Party

The Democrats have been trying to claim that the Occupy Wall Street protests are their version of the tea party movement.

Complete nonsense.

Hat tip: Francisco Gonzalez

See also:

Big Government | John Nolte | #OccupyWallStreet: The Rap Sheet, So Far
Human Events | Occupy Phoenix Asks, "When Should You Shoot a Cop?"

LeMieux falters, DC establishment panics, Team Hasner keeps marching forward

Awww. Another bad week for George LeMieux.

He has been completely unable to wash off the orange tint from his years with Crist. Since L'Affaire de Greer continues to be an irresistible story for Florida's political reporters, it's not going to get any easier for him. 

This was blatantly clear in an interview LeMieux gave to Adam Smith, in which I'm just going to assume he was extremely sleep deprived, because I cannot for the life of me figure out why a political candidate would say so many dumb things in one conversation. Either that or Charlie Crist has pretty low standards for what constitutes a "maestro." 

Seriously, someone please explain this trifecta of stupidity to me:

Come hang out with me at the Villages tonight

The Villages Republican Club of Sumter County is having an "Old Fashioned Rally" tonight, and I'll be there representing Team Hasner. They'll have live music, hot dogs, and lots of candidates have been invited.

Come say hi if you're in the area:

TODAY! 6:30 - 8:00 pm

Savannah Center

1545 Buena Vista Blvd.

The Villages, FL 32162

Remember, you can find lots of great conservative events at the "Events" tab at the top right of this page.

What the GOP can learn from Bobby Jindal

"Leadership." It's not a four-letter word. 

National Journal's Josh Kraushaar explains why:

"999 Means Jobs Jobs Jobs!"

Here is Herman Cain's new radio ad, which just went into heavy rotation on The Rush Limbaugh Show starting today:

You want a campaign team? I'll give you a campaign team!

La-dee-dah. 

I have to say, it has been quite entertaining watching certain politicos and journalists go on and on about how Herman Cain's campaign "didn't have anyone in Florida." Well, there's a big, huge, gigantic difference between "we don't have anyone" and "ha ha, we aren't telling you yet!"

St. Petersburg Times | The Buzz Blog | Herman Cain adds big names to Fla campaign team

Look for an announcement soon about some top-tier political talent joining Herman Cain's Florida campaign team.

Everyone has a 9-9-9 Plan!

Herman Cain isn't the only one with a 9-9-9 Plan:

[Hat tip: Crooks and Liars blog]

See the original 9-9-9 Plan here!

Marco Rubio on O'Reilly Factor

Here's Senator Marco Rubio's appearance on The O'Reilly Factor from earlier tonight:


FoxNews | O'Reilly Factor | Marco Rubio in No Spin Zone

Rubio discusses the controversy surrounding the Washington Post article (see my posts here and here):

Unbelievable

So, I've been working on a long list of really great posts, and you'll see them over the next few days, but I got tied up with an unbelievably weird problem today...

Someone stole my name. Seriously. 

An out-of-state campaign consultant who worked briefly with me on a campaign last year put up a website for his alleged consulting company (I say "alleged company" because I cannot find record of it actually being incorporated) and listed my name as being an election law attorney with his company. He also stole the name of another consultant friend of mine, and the vast majority of his "past client" list belonged to us, not him.

Cheese!

Here's Herman Cain at the Iowa State football game yesterday, taking a picture with their mascot:

Cain's campaign staff posted the photo on Twitter with this comment:

Team HC ~ OK. Maybe it's just us but we think these smiles seem similar. #IA #Cyclones http://t.co/4rCHsJfMSat Oct 22 21:15:56 via webHerman Cain
THEHermanCain

Cy the Cardinal is no Albert, but he does have a pretty nice smile!

Campaign Kickoff to Re-elect Winter Park Mayor Ken Bradley

Winter Park Mayor Ken Bradley is kicking off his re-election campaign next week. I proudly supported him in his first run for office in 2009, and I'm happy to endorse his reelection. Bradley deeply cares about Winter Park and has established himself as a tough advocate for fiscally conservative principles.


The election will be January 31, 2012, the same day as Florida's presidential primary. This decision to have the election on that day is saving the taxpayers about $30,000 (see what I mean about being a fiscal conservative?).

Here's all the details for for the campaign kickoff:

Headed in the Right Direction

Here's something cool...jobs numbers that are actually positive!

Governor Rick Scott posted the latest employment figures on his website, showing that Florida’s unemployment rate for September was 10.6 percent, down 1.3 percentage points since he took office.

This year shows a positive overall trend: Florida reduced the number of government jobs by 17,900 and added 110,300 private sector jobs for a net job gain of 92,400:

Those Crazy Racist Southern Republicans Did It Again!

In case you missed it, Bobby Jindal, the Republican Governor of Louisiana, was reelected last night.


"Landslide" hardly begins to cover it - Jindal captured 66% of the vote and his nearest competitor only 18%, plus eight other candidates with 5% or less. Full election results available here.

Angry Taxpayers

This is making the rounds on Facebook (I saw it posted on several friends' profiles tonight) and it's too cute not to share:

WaPo attacks Rubio, gets smacked down by facts and history and logic and stuff

Yesterday I published a post debunking the Washington Post's false and defamatory attack on Marco Rubio, "Aggressively Stupid: WaPo Attacks on Marco Rubio." There was a lot of media attention on this story during the past twenty four hours, and it was overwhelmingly in support of Rubio and scathingly critical of WaPo.

At best, Rubio was imprecise in his description of family history that happened fifteen years before he was born. Quelle horreur! Seriously. That's all this faux-controversy is about. Ask me when my mother's family moved to Florida from Indiana and you'll get a "ummm...1955? 1956?" in response. Families share their stories with each other; they don't  exchange birth certificates and affidavits.

Anyway, here's a roundup of some of the reactions around the 'net:

Update on Cain's Campaign in Iowa

Here's a good NRO profile of the new head of Herman Cain's campaign in Iowa:

"Thanks, George!" Love, Obama

In case you missed it, I wrote a post about a month ago debunking the myth that George LeMieux was a "conservative" during his few months in the Senate:

Sunshine State Sarah | Reality check on LeMieux's "conservative" voting record 

Well, looks like I have an addendum to that post. Check out this press release from the Adam Hasner campaign earlier this week...it doesn't sound so conservative when Obama is thanking LeMieux for breaking ranks with Republicans, does it?

Herman Cain: Positively Pro-Life

Positively Pro-Life

The past twenty-four hours were a whirlwind of controversy for Herman Cain, as statements  he made on Piers Morgan's CNN show appeared to suggest that he was pro-choice.

While that may not have been a great interview, and his words could have been chosen with more clarity, the accusation that Cain is pro-choice or a waffler on the issue is completely incorrect.

Here's an easy 1-2-3 on why I know that Herman Cain is pro-life:

First of all, here's the statement that Cain issued yesterday:

Aggressively Stupid: WaPo Attacks on Marco Rubio

Rubio: Proud of his family's history

The Washington Post published a ridiculous hit piece on Marco Rubio yesterday, claiming that "documents show" that Rubio had "embellished the facts" about his family's history, specifically how they came to America from Cuba.

You can pinch your nose and read the article here.

Because Rubio's family emigrated to America from Cuba in 1956, and Fidel Castro did not officially take power until 1959, writer Manuel Roig-Franzia claims that Rubio should not be able to say he is part of the Cuban exile community, and accuses Rubio of exaggerating his family's history for political gain.

I have decided I will not call this article journalistic malpractice, because that would imply that what Roig-Franzia published yesterday was journalism, instead of an egregious attempt at character assassination. Roig-Franzia's belligerent distortions of history makes him a prime candidate to create the next campaign video for Alan Grayson (of "Taliban Dan" fame).

Well, that makes sense.

If I tried spending money like this, I'd end up in jail...

(Click image to enlarge)

(Hat tip: @rachelveronica, via Facebook)

Harry Belafonte not a fan of Cain, but Castro's OK?

"You shall judge of a man by his foes as well as by his friends."

- Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim

This quote applies well to actor Harry Belafonte, who attacked presidential candidate Herman Cain as a "bad apple" and "false Negro" (are you kidding me?!) in a recent television appearance. Of course, Belafonte has no problem waxing poetic about Fidel Castro:

Babalú Blog | Herman Cain insulted by Harry Belafonte, who hails Fidel Castro

Staying awake for an interview though, seems to present more of a challenge.

Happy Warrior Redux

Erick Erickson has an excellent post over at RedState this morning, calling Herman Cain a "happy warrior:"

The Las Vegas Debate aka Conservative Slap Fight

Well, that was entertaining.

The Republican presidential candidates met in Las Vegas last night for the latest debate. As appropriate for the location, it was a wild evening with some of the nastiest fights ever between the candidates yet and even an appearance by Wayne Newton.

I've got the Twitter trending topics (from right after the debate ended) for you, and then some random little thoughts about the debate itself:

Sean Penn: The Tea Party just wants to get the black man out of the White House

I'm not sure what is making Sean Penn so cranky. Did the Castro brothers forget to send him a birthday card? Well, since he couldn't hang out with his favorite murderous Cuban communists, he went on Piers Morgan's CNN show instead:

"Cut Spending Now" event tonight in Orlando

~ TODAY ~ 5:30 - 6:30 pm ~

Sheraton Downtown Orlando Hotel

400 W. Livingston St.

Orlando, FL 32801

More details here.

RedState coming to the Sunshine State in 2012!

RedState editor Erick Erickson announced yesterday that the 2012 RedState Gathering will be in Jacksonville, Florida on August 2 - 5, 2012:

Karen Diebel signs "No Climate Tax" Pledge

Congressional candidate Karen Diebel won praise last week from Americans for Prosperity's Florida Chapter after she joined more than 550 bipartisan lawmakers and candidates in signing the group's "No Climate Tax Pledge," agreeing to "oppose legislation relating to climate change that includes a net increase in government revenue."

AFP Florida Newsroom | AFP-FL Applauds US House Candidate Karen Diebel for Signing "No Climate Tax" Pledge

AFP's "Cut Spending Now" Tour in Florida this week [UPDATED]

Americans for Prosperity's "Cut Spending Now" Tour kicked off in Florida today. Here's the link to all the details on AFP  Florida's website, and here's the next few stops:

News about DeMint's endorsement "a fabrication"

Heh. Looks like Romney's consultants were caught being too clever by half:

RedState | Erick Erickson | Jim DeMint Is NOT Endorsing Mitt Romney

Roll Call is running a story that Jim DeMint may endorse Mitt Romney. Here’s what you need to know about it. 

A number of DeMint past and present consultants in South Carolina work for Mitt Romney. I’m not sure the reporter knew just how heavily he was being spun, but he was. 

The story is mostly wishful thinking by Romney consultants in South Carolina who have ties to DeMint. If you need further proof the story is bogus, consider DeMint’s own office calling the story “a fabrication”...

Marco Rubio and Florida's Primary Date: Are We Looking at the Wrong Conspiracy?

Florida's controversial decision to move our presidential primary election to January 31 continues to inspire headlines, most notably in several articles last week by Robert Stacy McCain, in which he reported that his sources told him that Cesar Conda, Senator Marco Rubio's chief of staff, had sought to influence the primary date in order to give an advantage to Mitt Romney, and also Rubio on the unreliable presumption that he would be Romney's choice for a running mate:

The Other McCain | Top Rubio Staffer Reportedly Pushed for Early Florida Primary to Help Romney

American Spectator | Robert Stacy McCain | Republican Campaign Apocalypse

Javier Manjarres at The Shark Tank responded with his own article detailing Rubio's emphatic denial that Conda had been involved in influencing the primary date:

The Shark Tank | Senator Marco Rubio Denies Staffer's Collusion with Romney Campaign

Now, I like a good juicy political scandal as much as anyone, but after spending the last week making phone calls to my own sources around the state, I'm wondering if we're not looking at this story from the completely wrong angle.

More brainy people showing love for 999

I have to say, I find it pretty amusing to hear the political pundits stamp their collective feet and declare that Herman Cain's "999 Plan" can't possibly work...

...and in the meantime, more economists, policy wonks, and other brainy people come forward and say they like what they see...

Here's Reagan economist Art Laffer, who is famous for the "Laffer Curve", who calls 999 a "wonderful plan" and addresses the criticisms both from the left that it's a regressive tax and from the right that it's a risk to institute a new tax:

"It's your right...but..."

 
'Nuff said.

Can someone please tell George LeMieux how a blogroll is supposed to work?

Oh, George LeMieux. You may not be much of a conservative, but you sure are funny.

I had heard that LeMieux had some sort of "Bloggers for George" group on his campaign website, and I was curious to see who might be listed.

Shocking! Never thought I'd see the day...

...that Scott Plakon and Dennis Baxley disagreed on anything.

The two Republicans serve together in Florida's House of Representative, have very similar solidly-conservative voting records, have co-sponsored legislation, both endorsed Adam Hasner for Senate, and describe themselves as "good friends."

So I was surprised - nay, shocked! - to read in yesterday's Palm Beach Post that the two were on opposite sides on an issue:

Team Hasner!

Exciting news! Starting this month, I'll be the Conservative Media Outreach Director for Adam Hasner's Senate campaign. I thought it was fitting for "Florida's Top Political Tweeter" to break the news on Twitter:

My first WMFE podcast: "Procrastinating Politicians"

My first contribution to WMFE's new "Conservative Voices" commentary program aired yesterday. In case you missed it, click the below player to listen:



If the embedded player doesn't work, try this link:

WMFE | Conservative Voices | Sarah Rumpf - Procrastinating Politicians

Allen West is Laughing All The Way to the Bank

A million dollar $1.9 million smile.

Awwww. Poor, poor Democrats.

Literally...

As the Crowley Political Report notes, Republican Congressman Allen West raised an astonishing $1.9 million during the last financial quarter, far outpacing his two Democrat rivals:

Crowley Political Report | Allen West piles up the cash; should Democrats just surrender now?

Herman Cain Origami!

I love stuff like this. There's a website called "Nerds4Cain" that has created a fun origami crane pattern with Herman Cain's logo, and posted instructions so you can make one yourself:

Nerds4Cain | Original Herman Cain Crane

Dick Morris endorses Adam Hasner

Another great endorsement for Florida Senate Candidate Adam Hasner was announced today:

Today, Adam was proud to announce that he has earned the endorsement of famed political expert and Fox News contributor Dick Morris.

This is what he had to say about Adam:

Is George LeMieux really reconsidering the Dream Act?

Last month, in a post titled "Reality check on LeMieux's 'conservative' voting record," I wrote:

...What we have with LeMieux's time in the Senate is someone who knew he was being closely watched by conservatives and intended to run for office in the near future, but still couldn't be counted on to vote a consistently conservative line...

Do we really think we can rely on George LeMieux to fight for conservative principles? Do we really believe he will stand strong against not only the Democrats, but also the Republicans in Congress who seek dangerous, ill-advised "compromises?"

Regardless of whether the Republicans regain the White House or not, Congress is going to have to tackle some extremely challenging issues in the next few years, and we will need staunch conservatives with backbones of steel to lead the way. I do not have confidence that George LeMieux fits that definition.

Well, despite LeMieux's best efforts to pretend that he's the "proven conservative" in the Florida Senate race, a leopard can't shed his spots...

"Is Romney the Next Kerry?"

A provocative title, from a recent Daily Beast article:

[Mitt Romney's] encyclopedia-sized list of policy reversals makes 2004’s whipping boy, John “I voted for it before I voted against it” Kerry, look like an exemplar of political consistency...

Here's some brainy economists discussing Cain's "999 Plan"

One of the centerpieces of Herman Cain's campaign platform is his "999 Plan," which would eliminate many taxes (the income tax, payroll tax, death tax, capital gains tax, etc.) and replace them with a 9% personal income tax, a 9% corporate income tax, and a 9% sales tax. You can read the plan for yourself here.

So, can it work? In my opinion, our current tax system is so complicated as to be abusive, wasting needless money and time as Americans struggle to comply with it. Cain deserves credit for proposing a bold solution like the 999 Plan and emboldening people to demand not just tweaks to our tax code, but actual substantive reforms. 

To be fair, I'm not an economic expert. I double majored in Political Science and German and then headed to law school. I've always filed my own taxes and done my best to be well-read on current events and economic issues, but I'm not the next Milton Friedman. So, that being said, I've gathered up several articles and videos here from people who actually are economics experts, and you can see what they have to say about Cain's plan:

High five to Congressmen Stearns and Issa!

On the rare chance that Members of Congress can be trained the same way you train a puppy, let's try a little positive reinforcement. After the jump, I share stories of two Congressmen who I think deserve a high five.

Herman Cain on Hannity: "I never took a class in political correctness"

Presidential candidate Herman Cain was a guest on Hannity last night. Cain gave his usual straight-talking interview, but my favorite line was definitely when he says, "I never took a class in political correctness."

In case you missed it, here's the video:

New Gallup Poll Shows Cain Nearly Tied With Romney

GALLUP | Cain Surges, Nearly Ties Romney for Lead in GOP Preferences

PRINCETON, NJ -- Republicans' support for Herman Cain has surged to 18%, their support for Rick Perry has sagged to 15%, and their support for Mitt Romney remains relatively stable at 20%...

Ouch: Romney less well-known now than in 2007

Ouch...

Saint Petersblog | Somehow Mitt Romney is less well-known than he was last election cycle

Somehow, Mitt Romney has pulled off something remarkable. He is less well-known than he was in the last election cycle:

Only 27 percent of Americans named Mitt Romney and only 28 percent named Rick Perry. That’s below the same measure taken four years ago in October 2007, when 45 percent could name Rudy Giuliani and 30 percent could name Romney. So, well into his second campaign for president, Romney is now less well-known than he was four years ago, when he ran the first time around. Not exactly encouraging...

Listen to Sarah on WMFE 90.7 FM

Orlando's National Public Radio station, WMFE, is starting a new weekly program called "Conservative Voices," and I've been invited to be one of the commentators:

WMFE | Conservative Voices

About Conservative Voices

Conservative Voices is a weekly commentary segment where political consultant, blogger and attorney Sarah Rumpf along with Fred Leonhardt who was voted one of the Top 25 Power Players in Orlando will talk Politics, public policy and more from a conservative point of view.

The segments will air every Wednesday at 1:59 pm. You can listen at 90.7 FM in Central Florida, or www.wmfe.org online.

I've already recorded my first segment and you can tune in this week on October 12th. Make sure to tune in every week to see what Fred and I have to say!

SW Orange County Republicans Club to host Karen Diebel

Congressional candidate and former Vice-Mayor of Winter Park Karen Diebel will be the guest of honor at the next meeting of the Southwest Orange County Republicans Club (SWOCR).

(FYI, I worked on Karen's congressional campaign last year and I'm proud to endorse her again for 2012.)

Link to Event Flyer 

Link to Facebook Event Page

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Reception starts at 6:15 pm

West Orange County Country Club

3300 West Orange Country Club Drive

Winter Garden, FL

This meeting and lots of other great events can be found on the calendar at the "Events" tab on the top right corner of this website.

Morning Coffee Reading for October 10, 2011

Today, we have a special "Häagen-Dazs" edition of morning coffee reading for you, serving up a nice generous scoop of stories and videos featuring THE Herman Cain that you may have missed last week:

Palm Beach Post | George Bennett | Cain no mere flavor of month; says 'I am Hagen Dazs black walnut with substance'

THE VILLAGES - The Republican presidential race has already seen the rise and fall in the polls of Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry. But the latest polling phenom, Herman Cain, insisted Wednesday that he has staying power.

"Unlike some of the other flavors of the week, I am Hagen-Dazs black walnut with substance," Cain said as he kicked off a national book tour here.

"That's the difference -- substance in terms of my economic growth and jobs plan, substance in terms of how I want to fix Social Security. Many of the other candidates are just talking generically about 'We need to fix it.' I am talking specifically about how we fix it, and that's what's resonating."

"I like Herman Cain"

There is an email making the rounds about Herman Cain's professional experience. As pointed out below, Cain is a lot more than just a "pizza guy." 

This is one heck of an impressive resume and I think anyone reading the entire list would find it difficult to claim he's not qualified for the White House:

ICYMI: Dennis Miller's endorsement of Herman Cain

Here's Dennis Miller endorsing Herman Cain for President on The O'Reilly Factor:



Dennis Miller | VIDEO: Miller in the No-Spin Zone

See also: Cain's appearance on Miller's radio show. "How proud would I be to have him as my President?"

"If we lose our freedom here, where do we go?"

My friend Robert Stacy McCain attended the Values Voter Summit yesterday and scored a great interview with Texas Senate candidate Ted Cruz:

Adam Hasner to address Tampa 912 on October 10th

Florida Senate candidate Adam Hasner will address the South Shore Chapter of Tampa 912 on Monday, October 10, 2011 at 5:45 pm. Event flyer with all the details after the jump:

Get excited! CPAC 2012!

The American Conservative Union sponsors the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. every year and last month held their first ever regional CPAC here in Orlando.

This week, they added a lot of new information about next year's CPAC to their website, including the new official CPAC 2012 video:

Herman Cain's lucky numbers, Part III

More positive numbers coming in for Herman Cain (see Part I and Part II):

IBOPE Zogby Poll: Cain Expands Lead Over GOP Field & Leads Obama, 46% - 44%

Follow up on the Univision debate boycott

Earlier this week, I reported on how the controversy regarding Univision's attacks on Senator Marco Rubio had led the leading Republican presidential candidates to boycott an upcoming debate hosted by the Spanish language channel. The Miami Herald ran an article with an update on the boycott, including comments from Rubio:

Miami Herald | Rubio talks about Univision, immigration with National Journal

Herman Cain on Red Eye: "The Cain Train Has Gone Insane!"

Herman Cain has had a whirlwind of a week, juggling his book tour and dozens of media appearances every day. Here he is on the Fox News show Red Eye:

Mitt Romney's Problem: Being Mitt Romney

Here is The Daily Show's Jon Stewart doing a viciously efficient job of highlighting the weaknesses in Mitt Romney's candidacy:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Herman Cain's lucky numbers, Part II

Just a follow up on my post a few days ago about Herman Cain's rapid rise in the polls...new reports continue to show very positive numbers for Cain:

Herman Cain: "What YOU can do to help me keep this momentum..." [VIDEO]

Yesterday, I drove over to St. Petersburg to meet up with Herman Cain's book tour for his book, This Is Herman Cain!: My Journey to the White House.

After the book signing, Cain did several press interviews on his bus, and he had this message for his supporters:


YouTube | Herman Cain: "What YOU can do to help me keep this momentum..."

Stay informed...stay involved...stay inspired...

This long shot is getting shorter and shorter thanks to you!

[Cross-posted at RedState, The Minority Report, and Truth About Bills]

Sen. Maro Rubio: “I am not going to be the VP nominee” - ABC News

Sen. Maro Rubio: “I am not going to be the VP nominee” - ABC News

Thank you, Steve Jobs

1955-2011

The first computer my family had was an Apple IIe. I loved it. It was nothing short of magical to have a computer in my house.

Considering how the way I now earn a living is so closely tied to technology, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Steve Jobs. Innovations he pioneered at Apple completely changed not only the home computer industry, but how we communicate with each other. And because Apple is such a force, you don't even have to own any Apple products to benefit from the ideas that Jobs introduced to the world.

So, from my little corner of the internet and the bottom of  heart, I send a sincere thank you to Steve Jobs, and my prayers and condolences to those who knew him.

See also: Wall Street Journal | Steven Paul Jobs, 1955 - 2011

[Cross-posted at The Minority Report]

Herman Cain's lucky numbers

You'd be smiling too, if you were this guy.

Herman Cain has a lot of reasons to smile. 

It is now clear that his win at the Florida Presidency 5 straw poll was no fluke.

Besides a significant fundraising surge late in the third quarter ending on September 30, great polling numbers continue to pour in, providing statistical evidence to the ample "I like that guy!" anecdotal evidence I've been seeing for months:

Forbes: Is Mitt Romney Committed to Repealing Obamacare?

Lots of food for thought in this Forbes article from yesterday:

Forbes | Is Mitt Romney Committed to Repealing Obamacare?

Two smart articles by Byron York you should read

Byron York is the Chief Political Correspondent for the Washington Examiner, and has been traveling in person to many of the key Republican presidential debates and rallies - Iowa, South Carolina, and even our CPAC Florida/Presidency 5 events in Florida last month. 

In my opinion, the fact that York has made the effort to be physically present at these events and spent a substantial amount of time talking to us scruffy grassroots folks - you know, the actual voters - has added a depth to his reporting. Too often, journalists report on voting trends and the "mood of the electorate" based solely on reading reports from pollsters or observing at a distance.

Here's two recent articles by York that I recommend you read:

Washington Examiner | Byron York | The myth of Republican unhappiness with the field

Washington Examiner | York: Cain's 9-9-9 plan sounds good; will it work?

Catch up on York's latest columns here.

#StandWithRubio - GOP Candidates Announce Boycott of Univision Debate

Que imbecilidad

Spanish-language TV station Univision learned a lesson today about the limits of their influence.

After the story broke that Univision had released an embarrassing twenty year old story about Senator Marco Rubio's brother-in-law, allegedly in retaliation for Rubio's refusal to appear on the liberal Al Punto show (Shark Tank has a good write up here), three Hispanic Republican leaders - Congressman David Rivera, Florida House Majority Leader Carlos Lopez-Cantera, and Miami-Dade County Republican Party Chairman Erik Fresen - sent letters to the Republican National Committee and the Republican presidential campaigns.

The candidates responded in an avalanche today, with Herman Cain, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Jon Huntsman, and Michele Bachmann all announcing that they would boycott a Univision-hosted debate unless the station made amends with Rubio.

David Limbaugh: May 2012 Be a Referendum on Obama's Perverse Vision for America

David Limbaugh has an excellent blog that you should be reading anyway, but this week it's a don't miss:

David Limbaugh | May 2012 Be a Referendum on Obama's Perverse Vision for America

It's clear that Obama's re-election strategy is to demonize conservatives and his Republican opponents as extremists, "small," intolerant and morally deficient. That's a safer course, I suppose, than running on his miserable record.

Heck yeah! I want a Mercedes too!

A funny picture from the #OccupyWallStreet protests:

Moonbattery | Too Dumb to Draw a Peace Sign

Other than those supported by the Tea Party, pretty much any cause you can imagine has been picked up by the anti-Tea Party primarily infesting Lower Manhattan. Here we see a young revolutionary protesting in favor of Mercedes-Benz:

Awesome. I'd like a Mercedes. Specifically, this one would be nice. [oooh...shiny...]

Hmmm. Maybe I've misinterpreted what this entire protest is about? ;)

Cain vs. Unable

[Hat tip: The Looking Spoon]

 

More 20/20 Hindsight regarding Herman Cain

September 2011 is a month that Herman Cain will never forget. I've already written about how events last month should have made Cain's win at the Florida Presidency 5 straw poll less shocking, but September is far from the first time that Cain has exhibited strong potential. Check out these articles from back in May, when the first debate took place in South Carolina and Cain officially announced his candidacy:

From Left to Right

I've said it a million times, and I'll say it again: one of my favorite things about going to conservative conferences is meeting so many other passionate conservative activists and bloggers. One of the new people I met at CPAC Florida last month was Brandon Darby, a former leftist organizer who is now a conservative.

Darby has a very interesting life story and earned notoriety for his role as an FBI informant stopping radical leftist plots, including one to bomb the 2008 RNC Convention. He is still active as an activist, just on the conservative/tea party side now, and writes for Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment.com website.

Darby shared some of his experiences and how he made the philosophical journey from left to right at a breakfast meeting sponsored by the Americans for Prosperity Foundation during CPAC Florida (video below the jump):

Herman Cain Book Tour in Florida on 10/5

Presidential candidate Herman Cain's book tour comes through Central Florida this week, stopping in at Barnes & Noble bookstores in The Villages and St. Petersburg on Wednesday, October 5.

Cain will start at noon at the Lake Sumter Market Place, 1055 Old Camp Road, The Villages, FL 32162, and then at 4:00 pm, he'll be at 2501 Tyrone Blvd., St. Petersburg, FL 33710.

Don't forget, this book tour and lots of other great events can be found at the "Events" tab on the top right of this website, and you can support Sunshine State Sarah by shopping at Amazon.

Conservative snarky chicks x 3

One of the best things about going to gatherings like CPAC, RedState Gatherings, etc. is getting to meet other conservative bloggers and commentators. Two of my fellow conservative chicks and princesses of snark, Jenn Taylor and Lori Ziganto have a blog and online radio program called "That's What She Said," and they invited me on the program for last Thursday's show.

We discussed my experiences as an eyewitness to the infamous booing at the GOP debate last week, Herman Cain's exciting win at the straw poll, and the implications for the Republican contest for president. Jenn and Lori do a great job with their show and I had a really fun time as their guest.

You can download the show at iTunes or listen to it at the TWSS Dames blog.

Keith Olbermann calls me "improbable"...huh?!

Just when I think liberal media bias has reached the apex of insanity, I find something like this...

Keith Olbermann, who was too ridiculous for even MSNBC to tolerate, recently landed at Al Gore's internet television venture "Current TV." As expected, the move to an online audience hasn't toned down Olby's foaming-at-the-mouth liberal ranting.

This weekend, I got a tip on Twitter (thank you, @aipolitics) that Olbermann had mentioned me last week as part of his tiresome segment naming various people conservatives as "The Worst Person in the World." Unlike Olbermann, I know how to use Google (more on that in a minute), and easily found the video (relevant section starts at about the two-minute mark):

Herman Cain on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

Herman Cain knocked it out of the park last night on the Tonight Show. He gives an excellent discussion of his extensive business experience and why his 999 Plan won't hurt lower income Americans, deftly clarifies his stance on Muslims in the Cabinet, and gives a sharp and funny description of his Republican competitors.

"...I've had over 40 years of EXECUTIVE EXPERIENCE!" ~ @THEHermanCain on LenoSat Oct 01 04:23:38 via UberSocial for BlackBerrySarah Rumpf
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In case you missed it, here's the video: