nice!

that he is the guest of honor at the up-coming convention "blanket party?"

i don't know. you expect a different nominee?

I have speculated on this previously.

Looking at the gop primaries, time is not a very good friend to gop candidates. Each of the gop candidates (with the exception of Huntsman) were all loved for about 6-8 weeks, before they they opened their mouths and the stupid fell out.

It would not surprise me, and it would probably be a good strategy, to replace romney at the convention with a conservative with high name recognition, to run the type of campaign that romney was attempting to run ... go everywhere and say nothing that'll offend the base.

Waiting until the convention will cut the time for the Democratic team to expose the new-comer; but limit the time for the candidate self-destruct.

Womanizer with smuggler wife and addicted, criminal children. Jeb needs 4 more years for clean up.

...to SBM...
I've also had that terrible thought. And, it was played out successfully in the recall of CA Governor Grey Davis. Do you remember that it was Darrel Issa (R-CA) who was the point man and presumptive nominee? He was pushed aside for Hollywood's own Ahnold! Every God-awful thing that was said about Schwarzenegger was dismissed as left wing conspiracy and gutter politics. All of it and worse turned out to be true, of course, but there wasn't enough time to corroborate the rumors. Davis was recalled on Oct. 7 and voted out Nov. 13. The repeat performance of the same story was Sarah Palin. Dick Cheney could have let us know what he was thinking in 2004. Again time was a factor in uncovering who she actually was. Worse yet, all of that took place before Citizens United. Nice hearing from you, but Jeeeze...

I rememba - LOL

I didn't vote for Arnie but a lot of Dems did and look what we got.

Any speculation on who they would pitch as the alternative?

Whether or not romney has announced his VP pick. If it is, post pick ... The alternative will be the VP candidate; If it happens before the VP announcement ... who knows?

I suspect that it'll be post announcement and after a very ugly convention.

Rmoney has never been that popular with the gop base, and I think the rethug power brokers are realizing that he is on the verge of self-destructing. Makes perfect sense that a split convention could be a reality.

Now, the question is: who might be the backup nominee? Enough time has passed the some of the former primary characters may still be eligible (much of voting public has forgotten about all the mud-slinging)...my thought is Santorum since he was giving mitt a run for his money throughout much of the primary. But I would put my money on a dark horse...jeb maybe, but I think he is waiting for 2016. Huckabee?? Definitely teabagger/conservative cred and didn't he kind of help orchestrate the chil-fil-a conservo-circlejerk? Hmmm...

The whole GOP machine has been turning on him.

As to Bush, I don't know.
I just know it will make it harder for Obama to win because the conservative leaning voters will be so glad to get rid of Romney they'll run out to vote in record numbers for just about anyone.

We may lose this one yet.

is going to step forward and voluntarily fall on their sword? It would be a career killer, which leaves out Jebby. It would have to be some complete attention whore like Newt or Ron Paul. The House would almost certainly turn over. I don't see it.

I don't think they could find both a this point.

He will soon find out how big of a mistake that was.

R&

about this because if he is wrong, it could come down hard on him. Good for you, Senator!!

If you read his full statement, he covered his ass beautifully. There is no blow-back on these remarks at all.

The only way Reid could be proven to be "wrong" is if Mitt releases those returns.

We already know the returns are so bad that Mitt does not WANT to release them.


Now, if I were a betting sort, I'd bet that the "businessman" that Reid talked to was a fellow he does "business" with on a regular basis....someone who had ACCESS to those returns. Someone who thought Sarah Palin was the better candidate.

Yes, I am talking about John McCain.

Don't tell me those old war horses don't talk across the aisle on occasion.

I think you've hit on it. Great insight.

ESPECIALLY since the Republicans have gone insane.

McCain walked out on a hearing where a Republican was advocating torture.

Damn, you're sharp.

I do the old Occam's Razor thing when I see something interesting happen.

You'd be surprised how much shit crosses the aisle, even in these "uncivil" days.

I was up there when Newt was screwing Calista on the Speeeekah's conference room table. It was VERY "uncivil" back then, too but people will chat--in the Senate cloakroom and elsewhere.

Did McCain invest in with Bain? That would be funny.

Is there a problem with business gossip as well? That would be a huge security problem. The article at HuffPo that first broke the story said that the Bain investor called Reid on the phone about a month ago.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/31/harry-reid-romney-taxes_n_1724027.html

Or Reid could have gotten the information from McCain, and confirmed it with someone else who has ties to Bain.

It is not uncommon for sourcing to be done thusly. One guy could be talking and giving an interview about some crapola going on about a political issue, and they could be cited in such a way as to make the reader think that the person is more than one individual.

Examples:

A Senior Administration Official

State Department sources

A Source Close to the Pentagon

A Former Military leader

All of those could be Colin Powell under Dubya's regime.

Similarly, these stories can be written to make several people look like one person (the most famous of whom was "Deep Throat"--most of his stuff came from Mark Felt...but not all).


McCain knows the game, and so does Reid. A "Bain investor" could be a guy who bought ten reams of paper at Staples--if you want to be very loose with the term!

Well said.

But, you know, Reid and Romney are Mormons and Mormons tend to stick together. So, it is possible that Mitt's handling of money was demonstrated, to a possible Mormon investor, through his own personal finances. The thinking would be that a fellow Mormon would be in-the-loop and could be trusted with such knowledge. This is all speculative. And as pointed out above, the term "investor" may be the least effective identifier of Reid's source.

There has to be another connection.

Like, say, a connection to John McCain, who looked at ten years' worth of Mitt's tax returns and found Sarah Palin a better VP candidate.

'Cuz you know all Grumpy saw was a stack of paper - but I'm sure he was told (Jeezus, Boss, you ain't gonna beleive this!), and it would'nt surprise me a bit if the staffer kept a few photocopies tucked away for insurance......

He ran OLA--which is how he got the idea that being on the Hill wasn't such a bad idea. OLA is nothing BUT paperwork, and the tracking of paperwork.

It would not surprise me if McCain vetted all of Mitt's tax returns himself--out of idle curiosity and a desire to have a "one up" on him should he ever need it.

It would also not surprise me if McCain told Harry what he saw in the Senate cloakroom, and pointed him to another "Wish To Remain Anonymous" source that the two of them knew for additional details.

It would also not surprise me if this other person was either a staffer (former or present/campaign or Senate office) or a LOBBYIST (with access to, and reason to visit, both sides of the aisle).

All of the possible people I've named would be known to Dana Bash, as she is the Senior Congressional Correspondent for CNN and knows a huge swathe of folks who do business on the Hill.

Holy shit, Boss! He did'n pay a friggin dime?

That would represent unparalleled mutiny in the Republican party.

You got it.

he was asked "is there any truth to your charges about your opponent?"
and he answered
"who cares? I just want the SOB to have to DENY it"

LBJ understood power.

the above story came from Robert Caro's latest book about LBJ.
The Passage of Power.
reading it now, it is extremely interesting.

They'll regard it as an imperative comment.

They'll think the FauxGawds are commanding them to read the sentence....as in

READ!!!! Mitt Didn't Pay Taxes for TEN YEARS!!!

Might as well put out "BEHOLD! The GOP CANDIDATE SUCKS!"

Hilarious!

think that's what it means.

you made my day!

LOL LOL LOL

look he has sometimes.
He is no dummy thats for sure.

Don't let that quiet demeanor fool you for a second. He's tougher than a box of nails.

Spot on post. He's as sly as they come.

priceless. To hear them go on and on about people not using facts and just making shit up was too much.

He insists that two wrongs don't make a right, then insists that Fox News is twice as wrong. He disses Reid for dissing Romney's dead father, then proceeds to diss Romney's dead father. I think Jon was actually paying Reid a backhanded compliment!


link


rocktivity

Or someone who was vetting VP candidates for him who is now angry with Romney.

He's really sticking it the Republicans now, but still maintains that calm demeanor.

that romney figured out how to avoid all his taxes; hell, maybe he'll make is so *I* don't have to pay taxes neither! Huh!

This is how it will play in teabag-land.

if not not at all.

No more Republican occultism, Willard.

Sure has the right name!

Didn't think they would touch the story with a 10 foot pole.

Took them long enough.

Is what they usually preface their Drudge Report manufactured rumors of Dems.

This was brilliant

This is one of those "Ten steps ahead" political games.

Harry throws down, Mitt expresses umbrage, only to be told that he can solve the problem in one fell swoop... because he's the guy that we all KNOW has got the definitive answers.

It's a no-win for Mitt!

It's "LBJ's pig," as it were...

And that is it is all a Rovian ploy, ie. Bush's military record & Dan Rather

Harry Reid and the Dems should be cautioned that if a story is too good (or bad) to be true...it probably is.

It smells like a typical Rove sleazeball setup. They let this story simmer for a bit, even having their mouthpiece FOX put it out there. In fact that part is crucial. Because then FOX can say that, gosh darn, they had no idea.

And that idea is this; Mitt's camp knows that the pressure will mount until there is no other way around it, and he does release his taxes for at least those 10 years. So he will, and it will reveal such things as paying only a 15% tax rate, and offshoring his money in the Caymans etc.....All those things that he would have gotten grief for a few weeks ago. But NOW, the stakes are raised....and all he has to do is to DISPROVE these outlandish allegations that were whispered into the ear of a gullible Reid who brashly took it straight to the media.

FOX News will have a field day. How the Lame Stream Liberal Media fooled even them into running with this story. How they were tricked along with their loyal viewers, and that finally now the press MUST lay off Mitt about his finances. And if history has taught us anything, the other networks WILL lay off. Sure a few small voices will try and point out that....hey, what about the other facts in the original story? The 15% and the Caymans? But just like the Rather fiasco, everything will go in the dust bin.

I hope I am wrong. I just think the Dems should tread very lightly and stop this trumpeting some rumour fed to them.

I'm sure they plan to sink Romney and install a different puppet in his place.

I don't think it'll happen. Any switches they pull now could potentially backfire real badly on them; Romney's no Reagan but he does still have supporters, some of whom are Teabaggers.......

If he had any bullets left after Shrub, John McCain would be President today.
Harry played this perfectly.

He's in trouble for phone hacking abroad--his major factotum in UK just got sentenced. He'll need friends in power if that shit floats over this way...and those friends are not likely to be Republicans, the way they're deconstructing and quitting. The Tea Partiers could give a shit about Faux--it's a means to an end; they'll talk OVER them if they must with their creepy little rallies and cadres of true believers.

Reid is not, nor has he ever been, gullible. He is one of the sharpest knives in the Senate drawer. So don't worry--you are wrong, and the Dems should continue to stomp loudly and shout this to the rooftops. It's a win-win for us.

The only reason the Republican channel would spread negative rumors about Romney is if they were told by the GOP honchos that it's okay to destroy his credibility.

They have a golden boy waiting in the wings and will trot him out the end of this month.
Who?
I haven't a clue but it's going to throw everything into a mad spin, which is just what they want since Obama is growing stronger each day.

Solves most of the GOP problems

Instant Latino credibility and vote gains

Instant Tea Party enthusiasm

Instant Mid West electoral gains

Instant Florida gain

Not much legislative record on either

Budget respectability will put focus on Obama and deficits

Instant Turnaround!

You read it here first. I hope it doesn't happen because
it would be a stronger ticket than Romney-Anybody

ROMNEY IS GOING DOWN!

Tonight on CNN AC360, Anderson Copper opened his 'keeping them honest' segment with Sen. Harry Reid's recent tax allegation about Mitt Romney.

Cooper had CNN Capitol Hill reporter, Dana Bash on to discuss the story, according to Bash, her source can confirm Sen. Reid's allegation. Bash went even further, she said this source also personally knows the Bain source who would have access to Romney's tax record. If this Bain source story is true, then, Mitt Romney is in serious trouble. I'll have more later.

(Even if they thought for many months of 'punishing' Obama by voting for Rmoney, but they'll sure 'reconsider' their options...)

That's what this 'tax hidding' series is all about.

I was at the gym without earbuds and only read the crawler. It was going after Reid- questioning 'What proof does Reid have?"

Well... Romney's returns would be proof!

Dumbasses

Propaganda Co., Ltd.

because he has to care for the ailing Rafalka.

[img]http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070225072429/uncyclopedia/images/archive/8/81/20070225072815!PWNED!.jpg[/img]

Mitt will be bad for ratings in the next couple years, and will tank the economy enough to hurt Rupert's wallet BAD.

nt