McConnell Seated With Carter for Inaugural Lunch

Someone on the Inaugural Committee, or perhaps in the White House, figured out a way to torture Mitch McConnell. He and Secretary Chao will be seated with former President Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalyn at the lunch in  the Capitol following the ceremonial swearing-in.

This has to be excruciating for McConnell. The whole day will be a constant reminder that our team lost.  Sitting with the second worst president in the nations's history just makes it worse.

McConnell  did not overlap with Carter.  So there isn't any bad blood, just acute ideological differences.

Plainly, they can't talk politics. Religion  and sex would not work;  we don't want Carter to recall when he lusted in his heart.

Here's a topic.  McConnell can ask Carter if he has been attacked by any swimming rabbits lately!

Boehner Reelected; Massie Votes Against

Rep. John Boehner has just been reelected House Majority Leader, but not unanimously.  Nine Republicans did not vote for him, including newly-sworn in Rep. Thomas Massie from Kentucky's 4th Congressional District.  Massie voted for Rep. Justin Amish  (R-MI).

The lack of unanimity for Boehner is fall-out for the Fiscal Cliff deal and the fact that it raised taxes on the so-called rich but failed to achieve any spending cuts at present.

McConnell on the Deal and What's Next

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has an op-ed on Yahoo! News regarding the deal he negotiated to prevent taxes going up on all Americans. Note his choice of New Media for its publication; no point in writing free copy for the opposition media.

McConnell makes clear that there will be no further discussion regarding taxes.  That issue is off the table.  He will focus, with his famed discipline and relentlessness, on spending.

The link to his op-ed is not working at the moment, so I have cut and pasted it in its entirety:

The first day of a new Congress always represents a fresh start. This year, it also presents a perfect opportunity to tackle the single-greatest challenge facing our nation: reining in the out-of-control federal spending that threatens to permanently alter our economy and dim the prospects and opportunities of future generations of Americans.

Earlier this week, I helped negotiate an imperfect solution aimed at avoiding the so-called “fiscal cliff.” If I had my way taxes would not have gone up on anyone, but the unavoidable fact was this if we had sat back and done nothing taxes would have gone up dramatically on every single American, and I simply couldn’t allow that to happen.

By acting, we’ve shielded more than 99% of taxpayers from a massive tax hike that President Obama was all-too willing to impose. American families and small businesses that would have seen painfully smaller paychecks and profits this month have been spared. Retirement accounts for seniors won’t be whittled down by a dramatic increase in taxes on investment income. And many who’ve spent a lifetime paying taxes on income and savings won’t be slammed with a dramatically higher tax on estates.

Was it a great deal? No. As I said, taxes shouldn’t be going up at all. Just as importantly, the transcendent issue of our time, the spiraling debt, remains completely unaddressed. Yet now that the President has gotten his long-sought tax hike on the “rich,” we can finally turn squarely toward the real problem, which is spending.

Predictably, the President is already claiming that his tax hike on the “rich” isn’t enough. I have news for him: the moment that he and virtually every elected Democrat in Washington signed off on the terms of the current arrangement, it was the last word on taxes. That debate is over. Now the conversation turns to cutting spending on the government programs that are the real source of the nation’s fiscal imbalance. And the upcoming debate on the debt limit is the perfect time to have that discussion.

We simply cannot increase the nation’s borrowing limit without committing to long overdue reforms to spending programs that are the very cause of our debt.

The only way to achieve the balance the President claims to want is by cutting spending. As he himself has admitted, no amount of tax hikes or revenue could possibly keep up with the amount of money Washington is projected to spend in the coming years. At some point, high taxes become such a drag on the economy that the revenue stalls.

While most Washington Democrats may want to deny it, the truth is, the only thing we can do to solve the nation’s fiscal problem is to tackle government spending head on — and particularly, spending on health care programs, which appear to take off like a fighter jet on every chart available that details current trends in federal spending.

The President may not want to have a fight about government spending over the next few months, but it’s the fight he is going to have, because it’s a debate the country needs. For the sake of our future, the President must show up to this debate early and convince his party to do something that neither he nor they have been willing to do until now. Over the next two months they need to deliver the same kind of bipartisan resolution to the spending problem we have now achieved on revenue — before the 11th hour.

When it comes to spending, the time has come to rise above the special interest groups that dominate the liberal wing of the Democratic Party in Washington and act, without drama or delay. The President likes to say that most Americans support tax hikes on the rich. What he conveniently leaves out is that even more Americans support cuts. That’s the debate the American people really want. It’s a debate Republicans are ready to have. And it’s the debate that starts today, whether the President wants it or not.

McConnell Was Brilliant to Hire Jesse Benton

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's decision to hire Jesse Benton as his campaign manager already is paying off. Benton's Tea Party bona fides could not be stronger, as a former campaign manager of the Pauls.

To those Tea Party patriots who are displeased with McConnell's role in negotiating the compromise to the Fiscal Cliff, Benton reassures.  For some, the deal McConnell struck looks suspect because it does raise taxes on couples above $450k without really generating much revenue -- and without immediate cuts.

This tax increase, indeed, any tax increase, exposes McConnell on his right flank.  That's why Benton's explanation of the strategy behind the deal is so important, particularly with respect the bifurcated approach to making tax rates permanent so that this issue will be off the table when the negotiating turns to the debt limit:

I have had the honor of working for some leaders I could really be proud to stand with. And let me tell you, I have never been more proud of a boss than I am of Senator McConnell right now. Let me tell you why. When Barack Obama won re-election in November, Obama decided he was willing to force the country off the fiscal cliff to push through his agenda.  The result would be the largest tax increase in American history. Unless Congress took action, everyone’s taxes were going up January 1st, big time. Middle class families across Kentucky and our country would have seen their first paychecks on January 15th literally hundreds of dollars smaller due to new federal income tax withholding. I don’t know about you, but as a middle class working man raising a young family, I can ill afford Barack Obama reaching deeper into my pockets, and I’ll bet just about every Kentuckian feels the same way. In the end, there is only one reason why Kentucky taxpayers avoided these tax hikes: Senator Mitch McConnell. For two months, well-intentioned allies in the fight for smaller government attempted to thwart President Obama’s plan. But it wasn’t until Leader McConnell took the reins that real progress was made. He showed the strong, disciplined and savvy leadership that only he can provide. And, in the end, he ensured that over 99% percent of Kentuckians will not pay higher income taxes. What’s also important to know is that he has put us on strong footing in the fight to cut spending. You see, the fiscal cliff was a two-part problem, one of both taxes and spending. Leader McConnell wisely separated the two to put us on stronger footing in both. First he fought off President Obama’s tax hikes for as many Kentuckians as he could. Now comes part two. In order to keep spending, Congress must raise the federal debt limit in two months. Through his leadership, Senator McConnell has not only ensured that your taxes will not go up, he has taken the threat of income tax hikes totally off table for debt limit negotiations. Now, President Obama and his allies will not be able to threaten every American with higher taxes as we fight for spending restraint and entitlement reform. And let me tell you, I know Senator McConnell will be as rock solid and resolute in that fight as he was in protecting our paychecks. Senator McConnell is a special leader and we can all be proud of what he just did for us. I hope you will stand with him now and in the coming months. If you are able, please help with a contribution of $50, $100, $250 or even $500 today. If we come together and stand with Leader McConnell, we can get this country back on track. So, make sure to forward this email to your friends and neighbors to let them know that Mitch McConnell just saved their paychecks. Help us spread the word Facebook and Twitter. And please, if you can, help us with your generous contribution right away.       Help make a difference Join the fight for real conservative change in Washington!

Let's Go Cliff Diving!

I have tried to ignore this story as part of my post-election funk, but now it can no longer be avoided. So here's my take.

I don't care if we go over the so-called Fiscal Cliff. In fact, I think it is preferable to many of the alternatives being kicked around.

Republicans need to hold fast to the first principle that raising taxes on anyone will hurt the economy
This is particularly true when the taxpayer is also an employer.

If taxes are to go up, they should go up on everyone.  Yes, even those making less than $250k.  While  we are at it, let's get rid of income tax credits that allow a large chunk of the population to pay nothing whatsoever.  Let the working poor pay some nominal amount so that they have some skin in the game.

This is the only way that Americans can internalize or even comprehend the true cost of the behemoth government that at present, somebody else is paying for.  Once big government is no longer free, smaller government will look better and better to more of the electorate.  This is the only way Republicans can win.

Going over the Fiscal Cliff, of course, has other consequences, but they are not insurmountable,

You don't like the price of milk doubling? Welcome to the world of government interfering with free markets.

Unemployment benefits would end.  That is certainly a frightening prospect for many.  But truth be told, unemployment is designed to be temporary; these benefits have been extended so many times that they have morphed into welfare. We need to be honest about this fact.

The military will face cuts. Republicans need to acknowledge that there is plenty of fat in the Department of Defense budget.  Our focus should not be on protecting the Pentagon from cuts but rather to make the cuts in the right places.

While we are at it, i like Sen. Rand Paul's idea of cutting aid to countries who want to destroy us. And it's time to resurrect Ronald Reagan's idea that whole federal departments need to be cut, from the cabinet level on down; just abolish them.  Reagan singled out the Departments of Energy and Education; we should look critically at each department to make sure that it serves a function that only the federal government can do.

This will hurt the booming housing market in the District of Columbia -- as with the Hunger Games, things are different in the Capitol --but for most of America, the absence of these bureaucracies will make little difference.

Will going over the Fiscal Cliff hurt?  Yes, it will be brutal.  So is having one's wisdom teeth removed. The pain we will experience if allow taxes to go up on everyone is nothing compared to the pain we can forestall by finally reducing the size of government.

Sen. Roy Blunt Gives Weekly GOP Address

Sen. Roy Blunt n (R-MO) gives this week's Republican address. (Click here to watch.)  His tone on the Fiscal Cliff -- and the possibility of real reform -- is somewhat upbeat, certainly more so than I am.

Here's a sad little factoid from Blunt's speech:  if Obama gets to raise taxes on the top two percent of Americans, that additional revenue will only fund the government for eight days.

The Vanquished

Many Republicans these days are whining and moaning about the way things are going.  They have been defeated and they just do not know what to do.

Republicans should be elated!  In times of old, the victors would have done really bad things to us.  All the Democrats are going to do is raise our taxes and take some of our guns.  We should be thankful that they haven't pillaged our homes, plundered our possessions and put us into slavery.  Cheer up Republicans, it's not so bad.

R.I.P. Robert Bork

I was sad to hear that Judge Robert Bork has died.  What a brilliant jurist and legal scholar. Our country lost out when the Left denied him his rightful seat on the Supreme Court.

The smear campaign that Democrats turned against him was a turning-point for us as a country. The Senate hearings on Bork's nomination and the ensuing spin and coverage,  this was the moment when honor ceased to matter, when any personal attack no matter how baseless became acceptable to Democrats.

What must that have felt like to him, that campaign to keep Bork off the Court at all costs?  What did it feel like to see one's last name become a verb?

Though he never got to sit on the Supreme Court, Bork continued to influence a generation of conservatives.  He was a frequent presence at Federalist Society events and always happy to sign a pocket constitution. Many of his former clerks from the D.C. Circuit carry on his legacy today as conservatives scholars in the Academy, out-numbered but holding their own by sheer intellect.

His books, Slouching Toward Gomorrah and The Tempting of America are must reads for anyone who cares about the rule of law, even non-lawyers.  His many law review articles reminded and encouraged conservative law students that the dribble we were taught by so many left-wing ideologues was not Gosepel; Bork pointed out the weaknesses in liberal legal orthodoxy and gave us the counter-arguments.

As Hot Air notes, the ultimate irony about the timing of Bork's passing is that had he been confirmed to the Supreme Court, Obama would have had the opportunity to nominate a liberal to replace a conservative, thereby shifting the Court to the left.

As we give thanks for the life of this great patriot, let's also pray for the health and safety of Justices Scalia, Thomas and Kennedy.  Live long and prosper!

Barr. Massie Get Committee Assignments

The newest members of Kentucky's Congressional Delegation, Andy Barr and Thomas Massie, just received their assignments to Committees for the House of Representatives.

Congressman-elect Barr will sit on the House Financial Services Committee.  This is considered a top tier committee and is a good fit for Barr's legal background. Barr indicated that he will focus on this committee on freeing from community banks from regulations that inhibit job creation.

Congressman-elect Massie will sit on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, the Committee on Government Reform and the Committee on Science, Space and Technology. The first committee, Transportation and Infrastructure, makes sense given that the bridge across the Ohio River on which Obama did his big photo op is located in Massie's district.  The later committee suits Massie's background as an MIT grad; I'll bet he has lots of sources to draw upon for Science, Space and Technology.

The 113th Congress convenes on January 3, 2013.

Run, Ashley, Run!

NRO is right:  Ashley Judd can fulfill the Christmas wish of Kentucky Republicans by running for U.S. Senate against Mitch McConnell.

The draft Ashley for Senate is the brain-child, to use the term loosely, of Congressman John Yarmuth, who has taken passive-aggressiveness to a new low.

Recall when McConnell spoke at the Kentucky Farm Bureau Ham Breakfast at the State Fair; the entire Kentucky delegation stood up for McConnell -- except Yarmuth.

Yarmuth, back when he was a Republican, was once friends with McConnell.  And his father was one of McConnell's early backers. Over the passage of time, however, Yarmuth has lurched to the left and McConnell has become Leader of his party.

Yarmuth's envy is palpable.

He is desperate to see McConnell defeated, but doesn't have the guts to run himself (because he knows McConnell would clobber him).

So he's looking for a proxy:  Ashley Judd.

NRO lists all the zainy things Judd has said over the years.  The political ads practically write themselves.

Take her stance on coal, for instance:

“It’s important that those of us fighting the coal companies stick together,” she said, according to the Washington Examiner.  “Because they make me feel absolutely and totally crazy.” She also touted The Green Collar Economy, the book written by none other than former Obama administration official Van Jones.

Yarmuth and Judd don't seem to notice that Democrat Congressman Ben Chandler, after January, will be called former Congressman.  He lost because of his opposition to the coal industry.  That was the issue that turned around Andy Barr's campaign and propelled Barr to a comfortable victory.

As a result, Yarmuth is now the only Democrat in Kentucky's Congressional delegation.  A run by Ashley Judd will assure that his status as the lone Kentucky Democrat in Washington will not change -- unless Republicans can find someone to run against him.

Rand Paul on DeMint

For Sen. Rand Paul, Sen. DeMint's leaving the Senate must be particularly poignant:  DeMint was an early supporter or and mentor to Paul, and even backed Paul in the Republican primary.

Paul and DeMint (with Sen. Mike Lee) also have the bond of founding the Tea Party Caucus in the U.S. Senate.  That was no easy thing to do.  Aside from grumbling within their own party, the Tea Party Caucus faced institutional challenges the likes of which one would associate with Junior High.  As Sen. Paul told me at the Louisville Federalist Society luncheon last February, the Democrats literally locked the door on the conference room so that the Tea Party Caucus could not meet.

Here's Paul's statement:

I want to congratulate Senator Jim DeMint on becoming president of Heritage.  We will miss his strong voice for the Constitution in the Senate, but I believe that his voice will still resonate throughout the country. He leaves the Senate with more constitutional conservatives than when he came, and those of us he helped are forever grateful. Because of Senator DeMint’s tireless efforts there now is a significant voice for Liberty in the U.S. Senate. 

McConnell on Jim DeMint's Resignation

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell had the following reaction to the resignation of Sen. Jim DeMint, who is leaving to head the Heritage Foundation:

I thank Senator DeMint for his uncompromising service to South Carolina and our country in the United States Senate. Jim helped provide a powerful voice for conservative ideals in a town where those principles are too often hidden beneath business as usual.  There is no question in my mind that he raised the profile of important issues like spending and debt and helped galvanize the American people against a big government agenda. I am confident that he will continue to advocate for conservative principles in the next chapter of his service to the American people.


Conservatives are losing the battle of ideas, pure and simple.  This is not just a question of messaging (although we could do much better there, as well).  Conservative think-tanks, writers and citizens need to get creative about how to offer real alternatives to government dependency.  We need to make the case for market-based alternatives to hand-outs and paternalism. 

DeMint brings the creativity and energy to once again make the Republican Party the party of ideas.  

As for the Senate, someone else will be appointed to take over his job, but he will not be replaced. 

Too Many Bureaucrats to Count

This past weekend at the Federalist Society National Convention in Washington, I became aware that some (who knows how many?) political appointees from the Bush administration are still on the government payroll.

One man, who works for one those cabinet-level departments that many conservatives would abolish, was appointed as Schedule C political appointee. After Obama's inauguration, this Republican expected that someone would thank him for his service and show him the door.

It never happened.

Four years later, the Obama appointees assume that he is a fellow "progressive" -- because he has been there so long.  Consequently, he hears candid discussions among Democrat political appointees.   For example, he knew, in advance, that the labor statistics before the Election would understate unemployment by not counting California's numbers.

That's the back-drop for the Fiscal Cliff negotiations:  we have so many people on the Federal payroll that people can get lost, for years.

Post Mortem

It is one week since the re-election of Barack Obama and an increase of Democrat numbers in both houses of Congress.  While many seemed shocked at the result, many of us knew in our gut that Mitt Romney and other Republicans did not stand a chance.  It does not take a political genius to figure out the cause of the defeat: the allure of European socialism was just too great for a majority of the electorate.

The notion that a beneficent government will protect us from all hazards of life, financial or otherwise, is an appealing one.  It is especially appealing to those of limited resources or opportunity, and those having greater resources and opportunities need to understand that appeal.  With its many and growing entitlement programs, the country has been trending in the direction of European socialism for decades, but in the last few years that trajectory has accelerated.  The people have spoken and they like that trend.

The tragedy of course is that  a government can only tax or borrow so much in an attempt to provide the protections that socialism pretends to provide.  Once the money is gone, the populace will face far more hardship and poverty than they would have with a more limited, less "compassionate" government.  Europe provides a textbook example of the failure of socialism.  Unfortunately, we have a significantly large portion of our population whose greatest concerns are saving money for a new tattoo or catching the next reality TV show.  Such people have little concern for social or economic history.

America is still a rich country and it will take awhile to kill the golden goose of limited government and free enterprise, but the goose may get to the oven sooner than we think.

Many dream of a European vacation.  Save your money, Europe is coming to you!

Kentucky Secession Signatures Double Since Yesterday

Yesterday, we noted that 4,573 Kentuckians had signed a petition to secede from the United States.  The petition, at Whitehouse.gov, now has 12,656 signatures.  It's half-way to the point where the White House will respond  to the petition, under its own rules. Voters from a growing number of other states, meanwhile, are filing their own petitions.

Here's the link if you want to sign.

At this rate, there will be enough signatures to require a White House response by the end of the week. What form might that response take?  I am reminded of when my son wrote to Obama last year with serious concerns about the amount of federal debt that the administration is saddling his generation with.

Obama's response:  a photograph of his dog, Bo.

All you signatories of the secession petition should be on the lookout for something similar, paid for with your tax dollars.

Still, the beauty of the secession petition is to give a grassroots, organic reminder to the Obama administration that despite reelection, it has no mandate.

No Worries About McConnell Going Wobbly

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell gave a must-read interview to Stephen Moore from the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board over the weekend. It is blistering. Some of McConnell's tone might be attributed to a bad week, first the election and then his beloved Cards love to Syracuse. The interview is well-worth reading as the closest thing we have to a crystal ball on how the next two years will play out -- particularly for your taxes.

Some highlights, quoting McConnell:

• "Let me put it very clearly," says the five-term Republican senator from Kentucky. "I am not willing to raise taxes to turn off the sequester. Period." 
• 
  
•  The smart way forward, Mr. McConnell says, "is pretty simple. Let's extend the current rates for another year for everyone—a bridge—and get busy working on the comprehensive tax reform that we need to do. There's bipartisan support for that."
• 
  
• "The speaker and I spent an endless amount of time in the first half of 2011 trying to get the president to do what we all know has to be done if we're going to save the country," Mr. McConnell says. "Until we adjust the entitlement programs to fit the demographics of today's America, you can't fix the problem. You can't tax your way out of it. You can't cut health-care providers as a way out of it. But Democrats laughed at those ideas even when we offered a quarter-trillion of higher revenues largely taken from high-income people."
• 
  
• The senator's top priority is long-term entitlement reform. "Changing the eligibility for entitlements is the only thing that can possibly fix the country long term." He wants means-testing for programs like Medicare. "Warren Buffett's always complaining about not paying enough in taxes," he says. "What really irritates me is I'm paying for his Medicare."
• 
  
• The other unresolved mega-issue is what to do about the scheduled sequester cuts of $110 billion for 2013, half coming from defense and half from discretionary domestic programs. Much like the president, he wants to shut it off, but with a caveat: "I don't think we should just forget about the spending reductions we promised. We ought to achieve exactly the same amount of spending reductions," with targeted cuts that the two parties have already agreed to. When pressed on whether he could live with the sequester, as some Republican budget hawks have suggested, the senator dismisses that drive-off-the-cliff option as "Thelma and Louise economics."
• 
  
• But don't Messrs. Obama and Reid think they've just been given a mandate to raise those tax rates? "Yes, well, we Republicans in the House and Senate think we have a voter mandate not to raise taxes."

Sign Your Kentucky Secession Petition?

The Daily Caller reports that citizens from 20 states -- including Kentucky -- have launched  secession petitions on the White House's web-site.

It gets even more bizarre:  as of this writing 5,373 people have signed the Kentucky petition -- since November 10.

That leaves 19,627 signatures needed before the petition triggers an "official response" from the White House, and only one month to compile the signatures.  This is not a constitutional provision but rather something that the White House web site "We the People" program invented. (Hey, this administration invented a fake presidential seal in 2008, so coming up with rules for seceding from the Union is nothing.)

The text of the Kentucky petition essentially tracks the Declaration of Independence.

It seems you cannot sign the petition without creating a Whitehouse.gov account, which I declined to do for fear that unmanned drones would start circling my house.

 I could not see who had signed the Kentucky petition. If someone wants to sign it and let me know whether you can view who else signed, let me know. The website apparently does not reveal last names, but we're a small state, we can figure out who's who.

We need to make sure that people from other states aren't signing our petition for us, to get rid of us! That could be how California and New York finally escape their mortifying association with  us flyover states, although frankly, it would be their loss.

Sure, many of us are disappointed with the election. But I'm not so certain that Kentucky should secede.  If we do, who will pick up the tab when our state pension plan goes bust?

It's Subpoena Time

House Republicans initially requested David Petreaus and Hillary Clinton to testify before Congress voluntarily. It is clear that they will not come voluntarily, but no matter:  Congress has the authority to issue subpoenas, and should do so here.

That's the only way the public has a chance of learning the truth about what happened in Benghazi.  And even with the testimony, under oath of Petraeus and Clinton we may still never know the entire truth.

The Petraeus affair is giving rise to all sorts of conspiracy theories. I do not think that Petraeus was falling on his sword for the administration by resigning.  To the contrary, he has more freedom to speak the truth about Benghazi now that he has admitted to the affair.  Had he not, he could have been subject to blackmail.  We know that the FBI has been investigating this for months, and if the information had made it to Eric Cantor, it probably made its way to various people in the administration, as well.

The timing is, to say the least, peculiarly coincidental.

Regardless of his testimony about Benghazi, Petraeus and his family need our prayers. He has served his country brilliantly for many years, like another David who lived three thousand years ago and fell subject to the same sin.

I'm not condoning the affair, but just putting it in context,  He is a patriot.  He deserves our thanks, particularly on Veteran's Day.

But he really needs our prayers.

It's Not All Bad

Andy Barr won; that's a good thing.  I found him to be smart yet humble, and he is a true conservative.  He will be a great addition to the Congress. And the House of Representatives has never been more important; it will save us from God knows what.

Republicans picked up five seats in the State House.  That, plus the exit of David Williams, give us an opportunity to accomplish some things that could really improve the standard of living for Kentuckians.  We can revisit gaming, and perhaps stop losing out on tax revenue that now flows to every state surrounding us.  We can simplify the tax code so that we stop missing out on companies relocating here. We can reform state pensions before it's too late.

Kentucky Democrats, meanwhile, are on the ropes. It's hard to see how they can survive another four years with Obama as their titular head.

Chris Christie is Toast

Chris Christie did more to reelect Barack Obama than even Bill Clinton's help on the campaign trail. We saw a peek of this side of Chris Christie in the convention:  it was all about Chris Christie.  The man's ego, and self-absorption, interferes with his ability to play nicely with others in the Republican Party.

What was particularly upsetting about his bromance with Obama, and his endorsement of Obama's handling of the hurricane, is that Romney had been campaigning for weeks on bipartisanship, based on his record as governor of Massachusetts.  The strategy was working ; Romney was closing the gender gap.  Until Chris Christie undid all that hard work, all those inroads, with strolling arm and arm with Barack Obama down the beach. (Kind of reminded me of Barbara Streisand and Robert Redford in The Way We Were.)

 He is a traitor.

He is also up for reelection this coming year, one of the very few national elections in 2013.

Chris Christie needs a primary challenger. And I will donate to whoever steps forward to take on that role.  Frankly, I don't care if this means that Republicans lose the governor's race in New Jersey, because Chris Christie is no Republican.