Back in February, Scott announced his acceptance of the expansion of Medicaid for his state. Or in plain English, he finally decided to accept the implementation of Obamacare:

“I want every Floridian to have access to high-quality healthcare they can afford.”

This announcement stunned just about everyone, including his fellow Tea Partiers. It was especially surprising considering that he ran for governor on an anti-Obamacare platform. His support for the program that has led to lower premiums may be linked to the apparent success of the Affordable Care Act.

His opponents in the 2014 election are both Democrats and both support Obamacare. It may be an advantage for Scott personally seeing as he is the acting governor who will actually be implementing the law, but that will in no way hurt his Democratic challengers. The 2014 strategy for Democrats will be to fully support Obamacare, and once these two challengers are narrowed down to one, they can firmly state their support of the law. Rick Scott and Chris Christie are proof that Republicans may follow the Democrats’ strategy, so don’t be surprised when other Republican Governors facing re-election in 2014 start hopping on the Obamacare bandwagon.

If you can’t speak English, you shouldn’t seek permanent residence in this country, and you certainly can’t become a citizen.

That’s the way U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio sees it, and that’s a requirement he’s trying to inject in the bipartisan immigration bill being debated in the Senate…

Rubio introduced an amendment to his own bill…to bolster its language requirement by saying it cannot be met by simply taking an English class. Those who want to become permanent legal residents would have to demonstrate proficiency in English, just as you must do now to become a citizen.

Alas, if you are born here, there is no such requirement. Seems to me Republican/Tea Party folks should be first in line for any class that teaches  “proficiency in English”:

Like the lady who wants

for anyone; or as some would say,

And the one who demands we

Or those demanding that immigrants

like the mayor of Crestwood, Illinois, who declared

But these Teapublicans aren’t just English-challenged when it comes to immigration; they sound just as uneducated about everything they protest, like when they call President Obama

See, they believe his election was

They keep repeating the mantra

though they seem to be outraged with just about everything. Like healthcare

and the deficit

and gay marriage

among other things. Ironically, these are the folks who believe

are always better than public education. Teapublicans even chose an English-challenged nominee because he claimed he’d give them

If Rubio wants proficiency in English, he needs to start with his own party- they’re an absolute embarrassment. I mean seriously,

Listen to Miss Utah respond to a question Sunday night at Trump’s Miss USA pageant when asked what it says about our society that women make less than men.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sounds very similar to a response by a Miss Teen USA 2007 contestant from South Carolina when asked why 1/5th of Americans can’t locate the U.S. on a map.

Click here to view the embedded video.

And then there’s this Miss Alaska 1984 contestant. To this day, her statements make her sound mentally challenged. Pay attention as the announcer describes her future goals.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Seems that dreams do come true if you pray hard enough.

I can certainly say I’ve lived in interesting times. I’ve compiled this exhaustive list of some of the important events that occurred in my lifetime. And since I’m a Democrat who follows politics, they’re grouped by the presidents who were in office since I was born. Its interesting to skim through them and be reminded of these events.

John Kennedy

• JFK elected in 1960.
• JFK establishes Peace Corps.
• Bay of Pigs invasion.
• Alan Sheppard first manned space flight.
• Berlin Wall is erected.
• JFK sends military advisers to South Vietnam.
• JFK sets goal for a man on the moon.
• John Glenn first man to orbit Earth.
• Cuban Missile Crisis.
• Racial struggles at universities in the deep south.
• JFK visits Berlin.
• MLK dream speech.
• JFK ratifies Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
• South Vietnam coup.
• The assassination of JFK in Dallas.

Lyndon Johnson

• LBJ sworn-in.
• LBJ signs “Great Society” legislation: Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, HUD, Head Start.
• LBJ signs most the important progressive legislation in history: Voting Rights Act, Water Quality Act, Immigration Act, Higher Education Act, Freedom of Information Act, Dept. of Transportation, Public Broadcasting Act, National Product Safety Commission, Air Quality Act, Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Wilderness Act, Gun Control Act.
• LBJ elected.
• LBJ escalates Vietnam War, military draft, anti-war protests.
• Civil Rights movement, L.A. Watts and Detroit race riots.
• 6 Day War in the Middle East.
• MLK assassinated.
• LBJ signs Civil Rights Act of 1968.
• RFK assassinated.
• Soviets invade Czechoslovakia.
• LBJ signs the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Richard Nixon

• Nixon elected.
• Nixon orders secret bombing of Cambodia, orders FBI wiretaps when mission is leaked.
• Stonewall Inn LGBT arrests, riots.
• Apollo 11 first moon landing.
• Supreme Courts ruling ends school segregation.
• Kent State massacre.
• Nixon establishes the Environmental Protection Agency, Clean Air Act of 1970 is passed.
• Nixon installs taping system in White House.
• Nixon lifts embargo on communist China.
• NYTimes publishes leaked “Pentagon Papers”, White House “plumbers” break into Ellsberg’s office.
• 26th Amendment to Constitution ratified, lowers voting age to 18.
• Nixon takes U.S. off gold standard.
• National Cancer Act for cancer research passes.
• Nixon visits China.
• Attorney General Mitchell pays G. Gordon Liddy to run secret intelligence operation against Democrats.
• Watergate break-ins to plant bugs at Democratic National Committee HQ. Arrests made on second attempt to re-position bugs.
• Washington Post’s Woodward and Bernstein publish details of Watergate cover-up.
• Palestinian terrorists kill 11 Israeli athletes at Olympics.
• Nixon re-elected.
• Roe v. Wade legalizes abortion.
• Peace treaty with Vietnam signed in Paris.
• Nixon creates Drug Enforcement Agency.
• Senate investigations on Presidential Campaign Activities reveals White House tapes. Nixon refuses to release tapes. Supreme court orders them released.
• VP Spiro Agnew resigns amid corruption charges, Gerald Ford takes his place.
• Arab oil embargo of U.S. begins.
• Congress passes War Powers resolution.
• Nixon sets highway speed limit to 55 mph.
• 7 presidential aides indicted, Nixon named as un-indicted co-conspirator.
• House Judiciary Committee begins impeachment hearings.
• Nixon resigns the Presidency.

Gerald Ford

• Ford sworn-in.
• Ford pardons Nixon.
• Ford is hit with legislation and inquiries related to Nixon’s activities and pardon.
• Emergency evacuation of Saigon, South Vietnam as it falls to communists.
• Ford survives two assassination attempts.
• The NeoCons first appear in the White House: Ford makes Donald Rumsfeld Secretary of Defense, George H.W. Bush Director of the C.I.A., and Dick Cheney White House Chief of Staff.
• Ford beats Ronald Reagan for the presidential nomination.

Jimmy Carter

• Carter is elected.
• Carter pardons Vietnam draft evaders.
• Department of Energy established.
• Carter signs Camp David Peace Accords between Egypt and Israel.
• Carter signs International Covenant on Human Rights.
• Three Mile Island nuclear accident.
• Carter normalizes relations with China.
• Department of Education established.
• Iran hostage crisis begins, lasts 444 days, failed rescue attempt.
• Soviets invade Afghanistan, U.S. boycotts Moscow Olympics.
• Carters signs Superfund toxic waste cleanup bill.
• Carter negotiates final release of hostages (not Reagan, as many think).

Ronald Reagan

• Reagan elected.
• Iran hostages are released.
• AIDS virus is discovered.
• Lech Walesa forms Solidarity trade-union in Poland, first in a Soviet bloc country.
• Reagan survives assassination attempt.
• Egyptian President is assassinated.
• Expanded Cold War spending, arms race heats up, Reagan calls Soviet Union the “Evil Empire”.
• U.S.S.R leader Brezhnev dies, Andropov becomes leader.
• Beirut embassy bombed.
• U.S. invades Grenada.
• MLK holiday signed into law.
• Drinking age is raised to 21.
• Reagan is re-elected.
• Gorbachev becomes Soviet leader.
• Reagan visits Berlin Wall.
• U.S. places economic sanctions on South Africa.
• Space Shuttle Challenger explodes.
• Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident.
• Immigration legislation passed.
• Iran-Contra scandal exposed – Reagan Administration funded Contras by illegally selling arms to our enemy Iran.
• Reagan Administration officials testify before Congress. Most receive no punishment.
• Stock market crash.
• INF missile treaty signed with Soviets.
• Canadian-US Free Trade Agreement signed.
• U.S. Forces in Honduras.
• Medicare is expanded.

George Bush Sr.

• Bush Sr. elected.
• Hungary disables Berlin Wall defenses and thousands flee to Austria, creating a domino effect throughout Eastern Europe until East Germany allows border crossings. On November 9, 1989 the Berlin Wall effectively comes down. German reunification begins. [Author's note: I was in Europe in October, 1989, running-out of  my "trip money" and deciding between last trip to Brussels or West Berlin. Chose Brussels. Ugh!]
• U.S. invades Panama to capture dictator Manuel Noriega.
• Bush signs Americans with Disabilities Act.
• Iraq invades Kuwait.
• Bush signs Clean Air Act Amendments.
• The first Gulf War begins.
• Bush and Gorbachev sign Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, START I.
• Gorbachev resigns, Soviet Union dissolves.
• Bush signs  North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) but runs out of time in his term to ratify and sign into law.
• Bush signs START II treaty.

Bill Clinton

• Clinton is elected.
• First World Trade Center terrorist attack.
• Branch Davidian Compound stand-off in Waco, TX.
• Don’t Ask – Don’t Tell implemented in the military.
• Clinton signs National Service Program for student loan repayment.
• U.S. troops land in Somalia.
• Clinton signs Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act.
• Clinton signs NAFTA into law.
• Clinton lifts trade embargo against Vietnam, later normalizes relations.
• Rwanda civil war begins and leads to genocide.
• Kenneth Starr begins GOP hunt for evidence to end Clinton Presidency.
  [Author note: This is the beginning of the GOP strategy to compile minor mistakes, or in many cases anything that can be spun as such, and label them as "scandals", a strategy that continues today.]
• Mid-term elections give GOP control of Congress.
• Oklahoma City bombing.
• Dayton Peace Accord takes place for ongoing Bosnian War.
• Government shutdown over failed budget agreement.
• Clinton signs welfare reform legislation.
• Clinton signs Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
• Clinton signs DOMA, Defense of Marriage Act.
• Clinton re-elected.
• U.S. brokers Northern Ireland peace agreement.
• Clinton orders cruise missiles at Afghanistan and Sudan targets after Bin Laden threat.
• Rise of the internet, Y2K computer issue.
• Budget surplus for the first time in years.
• House impeaches Clinton, Senate acquits.
• NATO bombs Kosovo into peace talks.
• Clinton convenes Camp David Summit, peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. No agreement reached.
• Columbine school shooting.
• U.S.S. Cole terrorist attack.

George Bush Jr.

• Gore wins election, Supreme Court sides with Bush Jr.
• Bush signs first tax cut, Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act.
• In first televised speech, Bush announces limiting stem cell research.
• Cheney’s secret energy task force, fracking immunity leads to natural gas boom and contaminated drinking water.
• September 11 terrorist attacks.
• War in Afghanistan begins.
• Bush signs USA PATRIOT act.
• Bush signs No Child Left Behind Act.
• Bush Administration and CIA fabricate intelligence to invade Iraq.
• Bush Administration officials spread war rhetoric and phoney WMD story on talk shows, media enables.
• Congress passes authorization for use of military force against Iraq.
• Department of Homeland Security formed.
• Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates on re-entry.
• Colin Powell pressured into presenting fabricated intelligence to United Nations in the form of cartoons and drawings.
• Weapons inspectors announce they have found no WMDs, need more time.
• Bush refuses to wait, orders invasion of Iraq to begin.
• Bush signs the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act, accelerating first tax cut signed.
• Bush expands Medicare to include drug plan.
• 9/11 Commission releases report, fails to blame anyone.
• Bush Jr. is re-elected.
• Rise of the liberal blogosphere as a political force.
• Bush nominates conservative John Roberts to be Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Chief Justice William Rehnquist dies; Bush renominates Roberts as Chief Justice. Confirmed.
• Hurricane Katrina destroys New Orleans. Over 1,800 died in storm and floods while government officials seemed paralyzed and Bush continued his vacation in Arizona.
• Bush nominates Harriet Miers for Associate Justice of Supreme Court. She withdraws after media coverage shows she’s not qualified.
• Bush nominates Sam Alito for Associate Justice of Supreme Court. Confirmed.
• Democrats take control of Congress in 2006.
• Rise of social media as a political force.
• U.S. torture and abuse programs uncovered, pictures released by media.
• Bush announces troop surge in Iraq.
• NSA spying uncovered (first time).
• U.S. and world markets collapse at end of housing bubble, reports that banks and Wall Street gambled with mortgages, mortgage-backed securities, and predatory lending.
• Close campaign races between Clinton and Obama, Obama is nominated.
• McCain picks Sarah Palin of Alaska as running mate.
• Action taken by the Treasury and Fed to avert crisis. First Congress refuses, then agrees to financial package to save economy.
• Bush signs Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.

Barack Obama

• Obama is elected, conservatives meet on his inauguration to plan obstruction.
• Obama works immediately to undo the damage of the Bush era, at home and abroad. Suspends latest Bush executive orders.
• Obama bans use of torture and closes secret Eastern Europe prisons.
• Obama eliminates Bush restrictions on stem cell research.
• Hillary Clinton becomes Secretary of State.
• Obama’s stimulus and economic plans, auto bailout legislation are passed.
• Obama signs legislation for the largest tax cuts in history.
• Government programs slow housing foreclosures.
• Increased infrastructure spending, school construction, investments in green technologies and nationwide broadband to K-12 schools
• Increased funding for student loans and grants for college.
• Signed legislation that made it a federal crime to assault someone based on sexual orientation.
• Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize.
• Obama advances policies to help military veterans: Increased VA funding, ended stop-loss policy, increased pay and benefits, ended media blackout on casualties, family expenses covered to pickup body at Dover AFB, better body armor, reform and restructure (smarter) military,
• Rebirth of the radical right: formation of the Tea Party, increase in armed militia groups, record number of racial death threats to president.
• Arizona passes “papers please” law.
• Citizens United ruling allows unlimited funds for political campaigning through use of  SuperPACs (political action committees).
• Obama signs Wall Street reform, Fair Sentencing Act.
• Palin targets Gabby Giffords on her website with rifle sites – assassin shoots Giffords and kills others.
• Ted Kennedy dies.
• Obama’s Affordable Care Act passes.
• BP oil rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor confirmed to the Supreme Court.
• Republicans win back House in 2010.
• Bush tax cuts extended one year.
• Obama repeals DADT in the military.
• Obama directs Pentagon to move on Bin Laden compound. Bin Laden killed.
• Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qaddaffi is killed.
• Syrian rebels seek to overthrow government.
• Private company SpaceX first to dock with International Space Station.
• GOP nominates Mitt Romney for Republican Presidential candidate, followed by a long series fatal problems: Romney’s “corporations are people, too” quote, Rick Perry’s “vulture capitalist” description of Romney, and the release of the infamous “47%” tape.
• Hurricane Sandy. Obama directs government agencies to act immediately [unlike Katrina].
• Super-collider scientists discover Higgs boson, the “God particle”.
• Obama re-elected [1 of only 6 presidents re-elected with at least 51% of the vote]
• Credit card reform is passed.
• End of combat operations in Iraq and set timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan.
• Newtown massacre. NRA helps stop gun legislation.
• Boston Marathon Bombings.
• IRS non-scandal. [let's be real]
• Breaking news: the NSA is spying on us, again.
• Oklahoma towns devastated by tornadoes.

And then there are stories that will be ongoing for many more birthdays:

• North Korea nuclear capability.
• Iran nuclear capability.
• Syria conflict.
• Pakistan versus India.
• China: American jobs, debt, growing military, space race.
• Whistle-blowing versus security leaks.
• House investigations of anything involving Democrats
• More stupid sexist remarks by Teapublicans

The firing of several US attorneys during the 2nd Bush administration is a very recent example of an administration instructing an independent department to attack political opponents.   When some prosecutors declined to use their positions to attack Democrats,  despite pressure from the Bush White house, they were fired.  The investigation into those dismissals also uncovered an institutional politicization of the Justice Department in which applicants thought to be liberal were not allowed to take civil service positions.

By the end of the scandal 9 senior staff members of the Justice Department, including Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resigned.

Republicans would like nothing better than to make the IRS troubles a sort of scandal mirror image of the Bush administration’s Justice Department scandal.  So far they are making a miserable failure of the attempt, despite the comparisons to Watergate and the overblown rhetorical descriptions of this being the worst abuse in our lifetimes.

One aspect of the Justice Department scandal which received very little notice is speculation that there were prosecutors who did use their positions to attack Democrats when they were pressured by the Bush administration.  Since there never was much focus on this aspect there is little official proof of these types of political prosecutions.  But there are two cases that stand out from my perspective.

First is the case of Alabama’s onetime Democratic governor Don Siegelman.   In 2006 he was convicted of bribery and mail fraud, for appointing Richard Scrushy to a non paying position on the state hospital regulatory board, a position which Scrushy had served for 3 terms under previous Republican administrations.  The supposed bribe was a donation Scrushy made to a fund for universal education which was supported by Siegelman.  Siegelman did not receive one penny of that donation to his campaign or in personal renumeration.  It would be as if someone donated half a million dollars to Planned Parenthood and then was appointed to a non paying oversight position, and whoever made that appointment (presumably being a supporter of Planned Parenthood) was considered to have taken a bribe.

Karl Roves fingerprints are all over this case.  He expressed an interest in using the Justice Department to bring Siegelman down very early in the Bush administration, and he had close ties to the prosecutor in Alabama.  I suspect that the Siegelman case provided a template for the Bush administrations use of prosecutors to attack political opponents.

The case of Don Siegelman is an absolute travesty of justice in which an innocent man was railroaded through the legal system and his life ruined, simply because of politics.   President Obama should pardon the man immediately, if Siegelman would be willing to accept it.

Next is the case against New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez.   Put simply, conservatives really have it in for Senator Menendez.  The most recent example of this grudge is the false allegation that he used prostitutes in the Dominican Republic.  Running with the story proved embarrassing to the Daily Caller’s Tucker Carlson who wound up having to fend off allegations that he had paid the prostitutes to make their claims against Menendez.  It may not have been Carlson handing out cash, but someone who really does not like the Senator was paying to smear him, and failed at the job.

But that recently debunked “scandal” was not the first brush Senator Menendez has had with Republicans bringing spurious charges against him.  This is where the Bush  Justice Department scandal, and speculation that some prosecutors buckled to administration pressure to attack Democrats comes into play.

During the Justice Department scandal a list of prosecutors that were targeted for firing came to light.  One of the names on that list was US Attorney Christopher J Christie of New Jersey.

In the heat of the 2006 mid term election word leaked to the press that Senator Menendez was under investigation by the US Justice Department,  and that subpoenas had been issued for a non profit organization with ties to Menendez.  At the time this was a bombshell, and Republicans did not spare the rod while beating Menendez with it.  Menendez won the election because it was a Democratic wave year, but the relationship between Menendez and Christie has been ice cold since then.  The timing of the subpoena’s directly contradict Justice Department guidelines that “[A]ny criminal investigation by the Department must be conducted in a way that eliminates, or at least minimizes, the possibility that the investigation itself will become a factor in the election.”

The timing of the Menendez subpoena was opportune for Republicans to say the least.   Christie had previously charged Republican officials with corruption (which may be why his name was on the list of attorneys to be canned) so any sort of question that the Menendez subpoena was politically timed was not considered seriously.   Yet several years later the prosecutor given the case when Christie was elected governor took the unusual step of publicly clearing Menendez of any wrongdoing in the affair, leading many who had once championed Christie’s handling of the issue to reconsider.

The curious timing of the Christie-Menendez investigation makes me (and others) wonder if Christie didn’t play a part in the Justice Department scandal that bears more scrutiny.  Despite his name being on the list for termination, Christie kept his job.  That scandal and pressuring prosecutors to make politically motivated prosecutions is a real world example of an overbearing and corrupt administration going off the rails to attack their political opponents.   Obama’s tone setting and atmospheric signals do not compare to that, but I’m certain Issa and the rest of the right would like to prove otherwise, if only they could.

Democrats may be enjoying the spectacle of Christie pissing off the Republican base, but he is only doing it because it is good for him politically.  That is really what motivates Christie at the end of the day.  His decision to hold a special election within a month of a scheduled statewide election is the latest example.  It may be to the benefit of Democrats so we think it’s ok, and Republicans are steamed about it, but he is on tape talking about what would happen if Senator Frank Lautenberg died.  Christie specifically ruled out a special election due to the cost, but the prospect of having Cory Booker on the ballot with him was enough motivation for Christie to completely backtrack on that.

Christie is primarily motivated by what is best for his career, and right now his interests are best served by being a bit irritating to the Republican base.  Christie turned down the Freedom Values Confab, or whatever they called it, to go buddy up with Bill Clinton in Chicago this year.  But I will be positively shocked if we do not see Christie veer sharply to the right after the coming election.  He is following a tried and true formula to win the Republican nomination.  Early on be centrist, then when the race for the nomination starts go full on caveman conservative on the base to win their support.

I just hope that New Jersey Democrats who are thinking of voting for him in November are not too bitterly disappointed when he turns into a raging conservative a-hole as we start to approach the 2016 primary season.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Back in December, President Obama nominated John Kerry to be the next Secretary of State, and he was easily confirmed by the Senate. Prior to this, Obama wanted to nominate Susan Rice, but Republicans vowed to block her due to her response to the Benghazi “scandal”. In reality Republicans believed that Scott Brown, who lost his Senate election to Elizabeth Warren a month prior, would run for the seat and easily win. When that didn’t work out the GOP had no choice but to nominate a candidate with absolutely no experience.

Before he announced his campaign, Gomez originally made a request to Governor Deval Patrick to be appointed to the vacant Kerry seat. He even promised to uphold President Obama’s agenda. After Patrick refused this request, Gomez began his campaign to fill the seat, and suddenly he flip-flopped on his promise. He must’ve gotten someone’s attention after getting some nice campaign contributions:

Among those who contributed tens of thousands of dollars to the fund are executives from Mitt Romney’s former private equity firm Bain Capital…

Let’s face it, this special election is Romney vs. Obama round two. The re-elected President describes Markey using his own campaign slogans and promises such as a “champion of the middle class”, “supporter of families and small business”, and someone who “wants common-sense gun laws”. On the flip-side, the biggest endorser of Gomez is Scott Brown who describes him as “a husband, father, and baseball coach with real world business and military experience”. Obama’s was a winning message in 2012, and only 7 months later few people will listen to failed Senate Candidate Scott Brown’s opinion. But Gomez seems to believe otherwise:

‘‘I’m a Navy guy, and my army is the people of Massachusetts”…

Unfortunately for the guy that many on the left have called “Mitt Romney Jr.”, Massachusetts does not have short term memory loss. Gomez now struggles with the same problems Mitt Romney had, mainly not being able to connect with voters and lack of meaningful experience. This is truly another election that comes down to someone who cares about 21st-century problems vs a flip-flopping businessman who rejects progress.

Donald Trump is convinced that Romney lost, in part, because the campaign did not run an ad featuring Trump and an Obama look-a-like on the set of the apprentice, in which Trump ostensibly fires Obama.   Trump thinks the Romney campaign did not run the ad because it was “controversial” and “not politically correct”. 

Newsflash Mr. Trump.  The Romney folks did not run that ad because you are an embarrassment.   You are a national joke.  Your freaking hair (or whatever the hell that thing is) is the subject of worldwide mirth.  You sued Bill Maher for speculating that your father was an Orangutan, but then dropped the suit,  some say out of concern that Maher had a legitimate point.  The most damage you could have done to the president would have been an ad featuring yourself sincerely talking about how much you liked him and chanting 4 more years.

To prove what a disaster Mr. Trump is to his political associates consider what happened when he endorsed Romney.  According to the N.Y. Daily News, 41% say it negatively affected their opinion of Romney while only 9.6% thought the endorsement was positive.  CNN reports that 20% of REPUBLICAN voters say Trump’s endorsement is a net negative with only 13% saying it makes them more likely to vote for the recipient.

 If the Trump ad had run with any sort of widespread coverage it would have been a national tragedy.  One of the most ironic facts from the last campaign is that Romney received 47% of the vote.  That percentage would have dropped to 46% or less if the Trump ad had run!  Thank goodness the Romney campaign shelved that ad, so Democrats could chortle and guffaw about Romney getting 47%.

Oddly enough, there is the barest kernel of truth to Santorum’s take on this particular issue but he fails to recognize that truth (a real problem on the right) showing why Republicans will continue to fail in nationwide campaigns. 

For Santorum the “you didn’t build that” quote from President Obama should have been the cue for the Romney campaign to feature the working people in  various companies, instead of focusing on the rich entrepreneurs that founded those businesses.   Bring the janitor and the line worker onstage with the fat cats, and say “we DID build that”… instead of focusing on the upper crust as the aggrieved parties by President Obama’s socialist rhetoric. 

Santorum’s tactic may have provided for an interesting dynamic between the two campaigns as to who really cared about the middle/lower class working man, which debate I am confident would (still) have been carried by Obama.  After all, Romney hardly failed to bring working folks front and center in his campaign appearances on a regular basis, even if those workers had to be coerced a bit to make the appearance.  

The trouble with Santorum’s take on “you didn’t build that” is that it was a wholly fabricated controversy.  Anyone who honestly looked at it immediately realized that there was no there there.  

Conservatives jumped all over “you didn’t build that” as soon as the president said it.  It was heavily featured in the Republican National Convention.  The Romney campaign focused on the quote, time and again claiming that President Obama had disrespected business owners and did not understand how the economy worked. 

All of it was a lie.  To take the President’s meaning as an attack on small business owners and entrepreneurs, one had to take the quote entirely out of context and twist his meaning beyond recognition.  Once the entire quote is heard it is immediately obvious that the president is referring to the nations infrastructure and national institutions that make small business possible.  Obama specifically mentions teachers, road and bridges, the internet, and the entire American system when “you didn’t build that” is listened to in context. 

Santorum is right.  Focusing on this particular quote was a mistake.  The part he gets wrong is acting as though pushing a different angle on the lie would have returned better results.  This is why conservatives will have a hard time in national elections, until they  make some very fundamental changes. 

Trying to sell a blatant lie as the truth, no matter what approach you take to the subject, will not get Republicans more votes.  What are the chances that anyone who believed the Republican line on “you didn’t build that” would ever vote for President Obama, even if he had never said the line.  Anyone who believed their take on the quote was going to vote against Obama anyway.  

Frankly the Romney campaign really took a beating on the issue of veracity.  Early in the campaign they announced that they would not “be dictated by fact checkers” and late in the campaign they ran a completely dishonest ad claiming that Jeep was moving jobs to China.   Those lies and all the distortions in between were, and still are, gospel truth to the righties but  in reality  Republicans did themselves no favors by being so transparently dishonest. 

With all due respect to Mr. Santorum, thinking of new ways to approach old lies is not what the GOP needs to win going forward.   I for one welcome them to continue to keep trying though.

Click here to view the embedded video.