I love this streak of petty authoritarianism that runs through some conservatives. Rick Santorum doesn't like decisions coming out of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals? Get rid of the entire circuit! What a wonderfully relativistic universe of law and order! I can play this game! I thought Citizen's United was a terrible decision, so let's get rid of the Supreme Court! I'll even meet you halfway and grudgingly agree to do so using a constitutional amendment even though my "state sovereignty" tells me I don't have to follow any judgment passed by that "court" in the first place.
Rhodes Cook: "When it comes to presidents and reelection, two things seem clear. If they appear to be in control of events, they win. If events seem to be controlling them, they lose." This is just another way of saying that the fundamentals matter, in this case the state of the economy. Whether they deserve credit for it or not, presidents are judged by the public by how they "handle" these things, so Cook's observation is correct from the point of view of voters, even though a great deal of "events" (e.g. foreign-policy crises) truly are out of a president's control.
Contrary to the blathering of some Republican hack, the Obama administration can "do" very little about the evolving situation in Egypt. Personally, I think the writing's on the wall for Mubarak, and probably in no small part because he knows his options for retaining power are increasingly limited to outright oppression, a little of which we're seeing today. And, as this so-so (do we really need paragraph-long reminder of the "3 a.m.
Needless to say, none of the five reasonsChris Cillizza gives for why John Huntsman "can win" the Republican nomination are persuasive. But that's what happens when pro/con lists are thoughtlessly applied to situations like this. I'm more curious as to why Huntsman himself thinks he could prevail (if he actually plans on running). Prepping for 2016? I'm not convinced. Crummy advisers whispering in his ear? Perhaps.
It's Friday, so time for some more irresponsible 2012 election blogging. Apropos of this Jonathan Bernsteinpost and Steve Kornacki's counterexample on the importance of Iowa and New Hampshire, I'd add a point. Since delegates are awarded proportionately in the Republican primaries, skipping the early contests makes little sense. But more to the point, Romney was actually leading McCain until Florida put the latter over the top. It was then Super Tuesday that gave McCain a lock on the nomination.
