August 11, 2026

The Never Ending Campaign

Is it me, or does it feel the campaign for President might never end? Especially when I see things like this:

Manufacturing Bad Ideas

Presidential elections invariably turn out half-thought economic proposals. One current hot policy ticket is lavish tax advantages for manufacturers, presumably in hope of priming employment growth (and votes). President Obama, for example, proposes to reward manufacturing companies with a mix of tax credits and subsidized loans (i.e., politically directed credit). On the other side, Rick Santorum would absolve manufacturers from federal income tax altogether (i.e., politically directed credit, but through the US Treasury’s back door). Mitt Romney vows that “getting tough” on China will bring more work back to the shop floor (i.e., diplomatic bluster punctuated by a few WTO arbitrations). Slick stuff. But none of the contenders bother to articulate why singling out manufacturing for special treatment makes economic sense, especially for the rest of us. [cont…]

I doubt Romney has ever approved more of Santorum’s word’s …[video]

“It’s not the campaign. This is Rick Santorum. I think everybody knows that nobody puts words into my mouth. The words out of my mouth were that, uh, if you want a conservative as the nominee of this party you must vote for Mitt Romney.” Rick Santorum, 2008.

Will Utah Matter in the GOP Race for President?

According to a Deseret News/KSL poll Utahns believe Mitt Romney alone can beat Barack Obama in November (surprise!). And yet, today, on Super Tuesday, as ten states hold primaries, Utah is not one of them. In fact, Utah casts its vote for the Republican nominee dead last. Even with a nomination battle likely to continue into the spring, the Republican nomination may be over before by then.

Maybe.

Remember when there were eight candidates in the field? [cont…]

National Polls: Romney trending up, Santorum trending down. [chart]

In a Real Clear Politics aggregate of national polls, Mitt Romney is trending up, while Rick Santorum appears to have peaked and come down. The peak is by no means assuredly Santorum’s last…yet.

Are we there yet? GOP Candidates Face-off for the Twentieth Time

With fingers crossed that this would be their last debate together, the final four Republican contenders for President faced off in Arizona on Wednesday night. The stakes were high—for some more than others. Without Governor Mitt Romney’s money, Senator Rick Santorum and Speaker Newt Gingrich knew that this might be their best chance to pick up undecided votes in the upcoming Super Tuesday primaries. For Romney, it was a chance to retake the lead in the race for President. Lest we forget, Ron Paul came along, too, but, despite a strong performance, is increasingly playing the role of side-kick to front-runner Romney.

So how did they do? [cont…]

Four down…forty-six more to go.

Newt lost Florida, and he lost big. He dissed Romney by not calling to concede. Guess what? There are still forty-six states left in the Republican nomination battle. We’re going to see a lot more of him and his antics.

Further, if you’re voting where I am, you’re voting last. Dead last.

But enough about Utah’s primary in the last third of June. I’ve already expended enough hot air on that else where. While there are some really interesting ideas for changing up the Primary process, we’ll deal with those on a later date.

Right now, we’ve got a primary battle, and it’s going to be long. Contrary to victory speeches and common sense, this race is going to continue for a while. Don’t believe me? [cont…]