Voters are starved for change. They're sick of politics as usual. They want principled candidates who are willing to take a stand--even if they don't agree with the candidate on every issue.

Ron Paul's supporters are homemakers, engineers, self-employed and retired. Regular people across the county--and likely across party. Just for being his wacky, principled self.

Will we see more candidates being themselves, not just a focus-group tested version of themselves? I doubt it. There's too much money in campaign consulting.

What's funny: according to opensecrets.org, a recent contributor to Ron Paul was... Barry Manilow. Yes, that Barry Manilow. He's donated equal amounts to Democratic candidates Joe Biden, John Edwards, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Dude, even Barry Manilow (of "Mandy" and "I Write the Songs" fame) is developing an edge. Donating to Ron Paul and cancelling an appearance on The View because he didn't want to be interviewed by nutty Elisabeth Hasselbeck. I think it's a sign of the apocalypse.

The time for change is now.

Can we just say right now that clearchannel is an arm of the Republican Party?

I don't think this incident shows they're an arm of the Republican Party. They are, just not for this particular reason.

Why would any company want to run an advertisement that's just going to piss off their core demographic? Lose the core and you lose repeat advertisers.

Most everyone is affiliated with a political party. Should anyone registered with a political party be banned from the airwaves and banned from federal funding? That basically leaves a few crazy mountain men eligible for public radio and television.

Is it NPR's fault that so many fair-minded journalists are registered Democrats?

NPR is left-wing in the same way the country as a whole is left-wing. Deal with it.

You're right. This isn't about Romney's ambition or his "wide stance" on abortion or gun control. Because with the campaign Giuliani's been running, he has the same problems as Romney.

This is about Romney being "the only top-tier candidate still trotting out the push for a constitutional amendment," as Log Cabin's Tucker writes on his blog.

The Log Cabin supported George W. Bush in 2000. But when Bush formally supported a Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage in 2004, the Log Cabin Republicans felt betrayed. They struck back with a million dollar ad campaign. This is where they cut their teeth and really learned how to organize. Now they're using their new-found skills to go after Romney for the same reason.

$8.5 million from himself. That's like how he won the Iowa Straw Poll even though none of the other major candidates participated and Romney threw a ton of money at the Straw Poll.

_____

Plus, there are contributions from brother G. Scott Romney, wife Ann Romney and the five brothers Ben, Craig, Josh, Matt and Tagg. Since the Romney family is at least 100 strong (see New York Times), Mitt Romney could probably run an entirely Romney-financed campaign.

For people concerned about a Bush or Clinton dynasty, look out--it's the Romney Dynasty that's on the move.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/11/us/politics/11family.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

You don't get to plead guilty when it's politically convenient and then say "I take it back" when it's not.

On another note, I looked on Craig's website craig.senate.gov for any updates about this but didn't see anything. I did, however, see a link for "How to contact me."

Tee hee. We all know how to contact you Senator Craig.

"As it stands, it just means that someone has invented a Whore Skeleton costume... which is probably the last costume to be officially Whor-ified."

I'm also astounded by the whorification of Halloween costumes. Some of them are to be expected now: the Naughty Nurse, French Maid, cheerleaders, cats and bunnies. But Sexy Skeleton?? Also on that website: Sexy Taxi Driver and Sexy Mental Patient. Wow.

What's next? Sexy Septic-Tank Technician?

Not only is this great comic fodder but it gives a Democrat a chance at his Senate seat. It's the story that will not die.

Why won't Craig let it die?

My current theory: Craig feels the Republican Party forced him into the closet, which forced him to troll the men's rooms which forced him to plead guilty to try to keep it all quiet.

Then the Republican Party turned its back on him (don't say it...).

So now Craig is out to screw them over (don't say that either).

Armchair therapists, what say you?

Look, many of us know that, in the words of Al Franken, "Rush Limbaugh is a big fat idiot." Some people consider this a license to just ignore whatever he says. We shouldn't. Not just because Limbaugh is influential across "fly-over country"--and flyover means "just ignore those hicks."

We shouldn't ignore Limbaugh because he has the support of high-ranking members of Congress. Eric Cantor, the Chief Deputy Majority Whip (the highest appointed position in the House of Representatives) is pushing a campaign to support Rush.

You may not like it, but Rush matters.

People who find Rush and his like disgusting are in the minority in this country.

This made me wonder, so I did a little research. After Limbaugh's horrifying imitation of Parkinson's-stricken Michael J. Fox in Fall 2006, CNN conducted a poll:

Opinion of Rush Limbaugh:

• Favorable-26%
• Unfavorable-58%
• Not Sure-16%

Opinion of Michael J. Fox:

• Favorable-75%
• Unfavorable-14%
• Not Sure-11%

So only 26% of the country has a favorable rating of Rush Limbaugh. Hmm, that coincides with Bush's approval ratings...

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/10/30/mj-fox-vs-rush-limbaugh-poll-no-contest/