Bum Rushed
Did you see that? Over the weekend something … changed. It started out the way it usually does — Rush Limbaugh unleashed another fusillade in the culture wars, this time calling a pro-birth-control Georgetown law student all kinds of nasty names. But then, the usual piling on from his GOP troops never happened. Instead, many of his usually faithful supporters actually denounced Rush (although Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich declined to join in). Next, his advertisers started to pull out, then conservative opinion leaders turned on him, including George Will.
Not sure what that means for the future of this campaign, but one thing is for sure: It’s never happened before.
Abandon Ship!
While he was saying Republicans are afraid of Rush Limbaugh on ABC’s This Week, George Will dropped another bombshell in his Sunday column in the Washington Post. Not only did he predict that neither Rick Santorum nor Mitt Romney will be elected president, he advised the GOP troops should move on to “the goal of retaining control of the House and winning control of the Senate.”
Insiders have been sharing this advice for some time, but there’s just one problem: The guy at the top matters. If your party’s presidential candidate is trying to eliminate birth control, you, as a congressional candidate, have a problem. If your party’s presidential candidate is not lighting a fire that will fuel a big turnout on Election Day, you have a problem. Will’s example of Barry Goldwater’s landslide defeat in 1964 proves it; that year, the Democrats added 36 seats in the House and two in the Senate.
@InlanderTMX
Have you heard of Twitter? Apparently it’s a pretty big deal. So to bring Trail Mix into this century — and even onto your phone — we’re adding a Twitter feed. So follow us through November for all the insight that will fit into 140 characters. Check us out @InlanderTMX.
This Week in Delegates
Next Tuesday, March 13, get ready for some Southern cooking when Mississippi and Alabama vote — probably not Romney’s best states. Kansas, on Saturday, might not be much better for him. But Hawaii, also on March 13, could give him a boost. While Romney doesn’t own a home there, he does have a place in La Jolla, and he can probably see Hawaii from his front porch.
