Last summer, the slew of wacky sitcom extras known as the GOP presidential slate realized their time was up. By summer, as normal people started going to the pool, Mitt Romney had the spotlight to himself and the other could-have-beens began fading into the background.
But just when you thought they'd lost all relevance, the GOP gang is back (minus Mitt, who just might be eating alone at Qdoba). Perhaps thinking that The Smurfs 2 was in fact an invitation to re-enter national consciousness, almost all of the losing candidates are suddenly getting new attention. There was the buzz after Herman Cain sent an erectile dysfunction ad to his mailing list and later as details emerged on a House ethics investigation into Michelle Bachmann's affairs. And Saturday, Rick Perry got in on the action. He gave his audience a dose of déjà vu when he forgot which state he was in. "There are many other states that embrace those conservative values, the approach we've taken over the years," he said at the RedState conservative blogger conference. "I'm in one today – Florida." He was in Louisiana.
Perhaps jealous of seeing his former rivals' names in print, this Sunday Newt Gingrich explained in an interview with The Washington Times that he was dumping his military philosophy because apparently interventionism doesn't always work. (Who knew?) Meanwhile, Rick Santorum is letting anyone who's interested know that he's open to running for president in 2016.
Even if he loses again, it's nice to know he'll have still be able to get some attention.
SO THEY SAY
"It's crazy pants-you can quote me."
-Will McCants, former State Department adviser on counterterrorism
DAILY MEME: OBAMA V. PUTIN
- Obama has decided to cancel his summer summit with September summit with Vladimir Putin, issuing a statement that they haven't made enough progress on their bilateral agenda to make the meeting worthwhile.
- And, ya know, that whole Edward Snowden thing.
- He will, however, still attend the G20 conference in Russia in September, so perhaps he will still be able to have a chance to look at Putin's soul.
- The White House appears to be putting Sweden on the travel schedule as a replacement.
- On Leno last night, Obama said of the whole spat, "there have been times where they slip back into Cold War thinking and a Cold War mentality. And what I consistently say to them, and what I say to President Putin, is that's the past."
- Senator Chuck Schumer thinks this was a good idea. "President Putin is acting like aschoolyard bully and doesn't deserve the respect a bilateral summit would have accorded him."
- Ben Rhodes, a national security advisor for the President, says, "Look, it doesn't mean we're pulling the plug. We just don't want to have a summit for the sake of having a summit."
- Perhaps Putin will now have time to do what he really wants to do-ride off into the sunset with "The Surgeon."
WHAT WE'RE WRITING
- Troy University is launching a faith-based dormitory. Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux writes that church-state separationists aren't big fans.
- Wendy Davis can help revive Texas Democrats with a bid for governor, but winning is a lost cause. Actually, Abby Rapoport writes, maybe it's not.
WHAT WE'RE READING
- The Arkansas Times takes a deep dive into Mayflower to find out how residents are doing after the oil spill (hint: not good).
- What triggered the massive shutdown of embassies this week? Turns out we were listening in on a al-Qaeda conference call that didn't bode well.
- Mitt Romney warned Republicans not to let the government shutdown over Obamacare.
- Obama has canceled the summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin due to Russia's decision to give asylum to Edward Snowden.
- Much has been made that Jeff Bezos paid a relatively low price when he bought the post for $250 million, but he actually paid its actual worth almost four times over.
POLL OF THE DAY
Newark Mayor Cory Booker has earned the favor of 54 percent of likely voters in next week's New Jersey Senate Democratic primary. Republican Candidate Steve Lonegan has an even larger lead in his primary, though he trails Booker 54-29 percent in likely general election voters. Booker is the favorite among both males and females, and among whites, blacks and Hispanics.
