Remember those “shadowy groups” the president said were infiltrating our democracy? The political action committees created by the Supreme Court decision liberals love to hate, Citizens United ? The ones that can take bottomless contributions from the 1 percent? Well, Barack Obama’s campaign will use super PACs. CNN reports “that senior campaign and administration officials who participate at fundraising events for the president’s campaign will also appear at events for Priorities USA Action, the PAC supporting Obama.” Naturally, they blame the success of Republican super PACs for this decision, saying they will not “unilaterally disarm.” Unilaterally disarm? This is a campaign that once talked about raising $1 billion on its own and, failing that, has raised more money than all the Republican candidates combined. At the end of December, Obama had four times as much cash on hand as Mitt Romney. Super PACs are the only thing keeping it even. Now, I don’t object to the president’s supporters having super PACs. But give me a break.
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Obama Flip-Flops on Super PACs
Putting aside politics for a moment, I hope we can send our collective thoughts and prayers to the Santorum family. Rick Santorum’s 3 ½ year old daughter, Isabella, is seriously ill — she suffers from the genetic disorder Trisomy 18, also known as “Edwards Syndrome.” I understand very little about the malady, but it’s caused by a chromosomal anomaly and she exists “on the margins of life.” Santorum has been incredibly candid about young Bella’s illness, but his decision to temporarily suspend his campaign in Florida speaks to the gravity of her condition. She’s been admitted to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for treatment — arguably the best pediatric hospital in the country, and I’m not just saying that because I was born there. Like I said, I don’t know bupkis about extra chromosomes or autosomal disorders, but I know this little girl has already put up one heck of a fight. The median lifespan for this condition is 5-15 days, and only 8% of infants born with this syndrome live to see their first birthday. One percent of children make it to ten years old, but that small percentage who survive birth and infancy often live to adulthood. Fingers crossed for the latter. I don’t have kids, and I can’t begin to imagine how difficult this must be for the Santorum family. All I know is, I hope this little girl gets better, and soon.
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A Prayer for Isabella
In 2008, the Democratic party had one of the longest, one of the most expensive , and one of the most bitter primaries in American political history. It was a drawn-out, unpleasant affair where Hillary Clinton, the expected front-runner, was eventually beaten – despite the fact that she won almost all of the top Democratic-leaning states , arguably won the popular vote , and nobody actually won enough pledged delegates to win outright . Insurgent candidate Barack Obama then, of course, proceeded to win the general election handily, pretty much none the worse for wear for the grind. Please note that I am not directly comparing any of the Republican candidates* for President to Barack Obama; such a thing would be incredibly cruel to President Obama, who has under-performed in office in precisely the way that one would expect of a liberal academic with no executive experience whatsoever and a legislative ‘record’ that consisted of faithfully voting where, when, and how he was told. What I am doing is noting that I for one am not terrified of having a long, drawn-out, and expensive Republican primary. Admittedly, I may end up being in the minority in this one – it wouldn’t be the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last – and, honestly, the decision isn’t mine to make. If the candidates don’t decide to fight it out, there’s not much I can do in response. But if they do decide to fight it out, then I have a heartfelt suggestion for anybody inclined to pout: suck it up and walk it off . Nobody’s entitled to a nomination. And certainly nobody’s entitled to use ‘shut up, he explained’ as a debate tactic. Particularly since trying that trick doesn’t in fact work , anyway; it merely annoys the folks who are the target of it… Moe Lane ( crosspost ) *Note that I do not consider Ron Paul a Republican. Then again, neither does he, really.
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A reminder on long primaries.
Full frontal lobotomy a plus. Via Newsbusters: The blog Inside Cable News noticed new job notices at MSNBC.com. “One was more of a support position for Up with Chris Hayes and another that seemed more like a general editorial position” for the NBC/MSNBC Decision 2012 team. Both had a line that stuck out: “Must have thorough knowledge of political and progressive news.”
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MSNBC Online Job Applications Demand “Thorough Knowledge of Progressive News”…
