OK, so today Florida voted to move its primary up to Jan. 29.  What does that mean for Michigan?  Well, MDP Chairman Mark Brewer has been quoted as saying:

“I have consulted with Michigan Democratic leaders and the consensus is that the MDP will hold its Caucus on Saturday, February 9, 2008 provided all other states abide by the DNC scheduling rules,” Brewer said. “There is also a consensus among our leaders that if any state schedules its caucus or primary in violation of the DNC’s rules, Michigan will move its Caucus to an earlier date. That earlier date may be on or before the date of the offending state’s caucus or primary.”

 ~March 1st 2007

Is he going to stand by his words? Only time will tell.

What about the Republicans?

Well according to this article, last month “Michigan Republicans….voted-to hold their presidential primary next Feb. 5, but agreed they would move up the date if Michigan Democrats go earlier.”

The main reason for the move according to MIGOP Chairman Saul Anuzis is to hold a primary on the same day and the Democratic party.

To make matter worse, the MDP is asking that municiplaties have their primary locations to them by June 1st.  There is only one problem with that…no one knows what date to reserve the sites for.

From my best guess, if MDP Chairman Mar Brewer hold true to his word, it looks like a joint primary or caucus on Jan. 29 for Michigan.

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Thoughts?

There have been some reports that moving up might not matter as much because states will be penalized by loosing delegates.  There has also been some reports that certain candidates will not participate in states that buck party rules. (Edwards)

Well, I have a couple thoughts on that.

1st – Florida and Michigan are both large states …if they are both penalized the combination of there two delegates will still be more the enough to entice candidates.

2nd – And this goes without saying, winning them will generate momentum for candidates going into Super Tuesday no matter what anyone tells you.  Candidates will not be able to pass that up…plain and simple.

Former Mass. Governor Mitt Romney will be speaking at the following GOP functions this week in Michigan -

FRIDAYLivingston

County
LDD7pm

Barnstormer
Banquet
Center9411 E.M-36

Whitmore
Lake 

SATURDAY 

Saginaw LD Breakfast830am
Germania Club
Saginaw 

Genesee LD Lunch12noon

Blue
Collar
Banquet
Center

Flint 

Eaton/Ingham LDD7pm
Summit Sportsplex

Dimondale

Politico has an interesting thought on  a part of Romney’s Iraq supplemental Vote press release.  Was he taking a jab at McCain…it sure sounds like it to me.

From politico.com

“Of course the DNC and Romney folks which much rather have us focus on the fact that McCain missed the supplemental vote today. The bill passed 51-46, so McCain’s presence would not have had an impact.  Still, the Romney campaign couldn’t help but to include the following not-very-subtle in the last sentence of their release:

“We must also thank those senators who recorded their support for our troops and voted against this timeline for withdrawal.”

It might not be a very good idea for Governor Romney to go after McCain, someone who has stood behind the troops at every stop, for not being on record to support them.

Especially considering his track record of attendance during his last term of office.

See below.

Romney left Mass. on 212 days in ‘06

Visited 35 states; built a national network

By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff  |  December 24, 2006

Laying the foundation of a presidential candidacy, Governor Mitt Romney has spent all or part of 212 days outside Massachusetts so far in 2006, an average of more than four days on the road each week, a Globe review of his public schedules shows.

Since announcing a year ago he would not seek reelection, Romney has been a one-man barnstorming show, traveling to 35 states and eight countries and logging well over 200,000 air miles.

Read the rest here.

Watching it now…thoughts after it is over.

Environmental activist Sheryl Crow  shocked the work recently when she called for a reduction in toilet paper use as a means by which the average person can save the planet.

“Crow said that in order to save the planet, people should be -in most cases – limited to one square of toilet paper.  I have spent the better part of this tour trying to come up with easy ways for us all to become a part of the solution to global warming,” Crow wrote.  “Although my ideas are in the earliest stages of development, they are, in my mind, worth investigating. “I propose a limitation be put on how many squares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting.”

In a story that you heard first at Swing State the recent discovery of pictures of Ms. Crow from a 1999 Halloween party dressed as a Mummy and covered from head to toe in the toxic pollutant have seriously called into question her statements calling for a reduction in toilet paper use.

While Ms. Crow has been unavailable for comment, a source who wishes to remain anonymous, has also cited Ms. Crow’s participation in numerous “TP”ing incidents at rival sorority houses while in college.  These reports are merely speculation at this point.

I just got off the phone with the Charmin Bears and they had this to say about the apparent hypocrisy in Ms. Crow’s statements in light of her behavior:

“We found it very disconcerting that Ms. Crow would dissuade others from enjoying the soft and fluffy delights that our products bring into the lives of consumers when she herself has apparently misused our products for recreational purposes.”

“We would also like to add that as far as we are concerned, after seeing pictures of Ms. Crow she is also under suspicion in our community for breaking into our house, sleeping in our beds, and eating our porrage.”

A new strategic vision poll has been released with some new 08′ numbers for the mighty mitten.

Click on the graph below for a nice breakdown of the Republican race from Michigan Cooler.

Here are the Dems numbers:

Hillary Clinton 29%
Barack Obama 24%
John Edwards 22%
Joseph Biden 3%
Bill Richardson 3%
Christopher Dodd 1%
Dennis Kucinich 1%
Undecided 17%

 Granholm numbers:

Do you approve or disapprove of Governor Jennifer Granholm’s job performance?
Approve 44%
Disapprove 41% 
                                                                                                      Undecided 15%

I also found this to be a very interesting poll question and I am still trying to figure out how the current crop of GOP Prez contenders numbers fit in with these responses.

 11. How important is it for the Republican presidential candidate to be a conservative Republican in the mode of Ronald Reagan?

Very Important 39%
Somewhat Important 19%
Not Very Important 9%
Not Important 15%
Undecided 18%

Not at his best (A message he left for his 12 year old daughter)

Almost his best

****Award winning****

Listen here

Michelle Malkin had a quick synopsis on her blog for those who are two lazy to listen to the whole thing.

“He said we are a violence obsessed culture. “We glorify it, we encourage it, we ignore it.” In what honestly was a very boring, dry, rambling speech, he then listed a litany of examples of how violent we are. He excoriated “verbal violence” and specifically mentioned Imus but, tellingly, not Ludacris. Then, he mentioned violent crime in Milwaukee, and other examples of how violent we all are. In one bizarre example, he said that he was also talking about the “violence” of men and woman who lose their jobs to other countries. HUH?And then he mentioned IRAQ…He started out by saying that our culture of violence is rooted in our supposed incapacity to understand we are all connected fundamentally as people (kumbayah!). We are still trapped in a belief that we can impose our wills on each other and differentiate ourselves and make ourselves feel better from one another because of the accidents of birth or race or gender, he said. We still think about our role in the world and foreign policy as if the children of Darfur are somehow less than the children here, and so we tolerate violence there. And then he said in that context:

“We base our decisions in terms of sending our young men and women to war not on the necessity of defending ourselves but the belief that somehow with military force we can achieve aims that should be achieved through diplomacy and alliances.”

Article.

“Michigan Republicans voted Saturday to hold their presidential primary next Feb. 5, but agreed they’d move up the date if Michigan Democrats go earlier.

“Our goal is to go Feb. 5, but I have the option to go earlier, if needed,” Michigan GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis said after a state central committee meeting he says grew heated at times.”

“Well, John Edwards’ campaign for president spent $400 on February 20, and another $400 on March 7, at a top Beverly Hills men’s stylist, Torrenueva Hair Designs.”

~Ben Smith’s Blog 4/16/06

“The former governor of Massachusetts laid to rest on Friday any rumors that he dyes his hair black. His sleek dark coif, with just a hint of gray on his sideburns, is completely natural, he told reporters following a fundraiser in Milwaukee.

“I don’t dye it. I don’t color it and you can take a real close camera shot and see there’s a lot of gray mixed in with all that black,” said a laughing Romney.”

~Boston Globe 3/23/07

I have not heard any of these in awhile and they are always good for a laugh – enjoy! 

1. Chuck Norris’ tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried.

2. When Chuck Norris plays Oregon Trail his family does not die from cholera or dysentery, but rather roundhouse kicks to the face. He also requires no wagon, since he carries the oxen, axels, and buffalo meat on his back. He always makes it to Oregon before you.

3. Rather than being birthed like a normal child, Chuck Norris instead decided to punch his way out of his mother’s womb. Shortly thereafter he grew a beard.

4. Chuck Norris recently had the idea to sell his urine as a canned beverage. We know this beverage as Red Bull.

5. Chuck Norris built a time machine and went back in time to stop the JFK assassination. As Oswald shot, Chuck met all three bullets with his beard, deflecting them. JFK’s head exploded out of sheer amazement.

6. Chuck Norris’s girlfriend once asked him how much wood a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood. He then shouted, “HOW DARE YOU RHYME IN THE PRESENCE OF CHUCK NORRIS!” and ripped out her throat. Holding his girlfriend’s bloody throat in his hand he bellowed, “Don’t **** with Chuck!” Two years and five months later he realized the irony of this statement and laughed so hard that anyone within a hundred mile radius of the blast went deaf.

7. Chuck Norris sold his soul to the devil for his rugged good looks and unparalleled martial arts ability. Shortly after the transaction was finalized, Chuck roundhouse kicked the devil in the face and took his soul back. The devil, who appreciates irony, couldn’t stay mad and admitted he should have seen it coming. They now play poker every second Wednesday of the month.

8. To prove it isn’t that big of a deal to beat cancer. Chuck Norris smoked 15 cartons of cigarettes a day for 2 years and aquired 7 different kinds of cancer only to rid them from his body by flexing for 30 minutes. Beat that, Lance Armstrong.

9. The original theme song to the Transformers was actually “Chuck Norris–more than meets the eye, Chuck Norris–robot in disguise,” and starred Chuck Norris as a Texas Ranger who defended the earth from drug-dealing Decepticons and could turn into a pick-up. This was far too much awesome for a single show, however, so it was divided.

10. Chuck Norris was the fourth Wiseman. He brought baby Jesus the gift of “beard”. Jesus wore it proudly to his dying day. The other Wisemen, jealous of Jesus’ obvious gift favoritism, used their combined influence to have Chuck omitted from the Bible. Shortly after all three died of roundhouse kick related deaths.

11. Chuck Norris lives by only one rule: No fat Chicks.

12. When Chuck Norris’s wife burned the turkey one Thanksgiving, Chuck said, “Don’t worry about it honey,” and went into his backyard. He came back five minutes later with a live turkey, ate it whole, and when he threw it up a few seconds later it was fully cooked and came with cranberry sauce. When his wife asked him how he had done it, he gave her a roundhouse kick to the face and said, “Never question Chuck Norris.”

13. Chuck Norris once shot a German plane down with his finger, by yelling, “Bang!”

14. A man once asked Chuck Norris if his real name is “Charles”. Chuck Norris did not respond, he simply stared at him until he exploded.

15. Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.

16. Chuck Norris can make a woman climax by simply pointing at her and saying “booya”.

17. Chuck Norris once went to a frat party, and proceeded to roundhouse every popped collar in sight. He then drank three kegs and **** on their floor, just because he’s Chuck Norris.

18. Before each filming of Walker: Texas Ranger, Chuck Norris is injected with five times the lethal dose of elephant tranquilzer. This is, of course, to limit his strength and mobility, in an attempt to lower the fatality rate of the actors he fights.

19. Chuck Norris took my virginity, and he will sure as hell take yours. If you’re thinking to yourself, “That’s impossible, I already lost my virginity.”, then you are dead wrong.

20. Chuck Norris found out about Conan O’Brien’s lever that shows clips from “Walker: Texas Ranger” and is working on a way to make it show clips of Norris having sex with Conan’s wife.

21. The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain.

22. Chuck Norris doesn’t have normal white blood cells like you and I. His have a small black ring around them. This signifies that they are black belts in every form of martial arts and they roundhouse kick the **** out of viruses. That’s why Chuck Norris never gets ill.

23. Chuck Norris frequently signs up for beginner karate classes, just so he can “accidentally” beat the **** out of little kids.

24. Chuck Norris once tried to sue Burger King after they refused to put razor wire in his Whopper Jr., insisting that that actually is “his” way.

25. One of the greatest cover-ups of the last century was the fact that ****** did not commit suicide in his bunker, but was in fact tea-bagged to death by Chuck Norris.

26. Chuck Norris punched a woman in the vagina when she didn’t give him exact change.

27. Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.

28. After much debate, President Truman decided to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima rather than the alternative of sending Chuck Norris. His reasoning? It was more “humane”.

29. If you can see Chuck Norris, he can see you. If you can’t see Chuck Norris you may be only seconds away from death.

30. Chuck Norris ruins the endings of Harry Potter books for children who just bought one for the hell of it. When they start crying Chuck Norris calmly says, “I’ll give you something to cry about,” and roundhouse kicks them in the face.

It appears that there is a growing trend of Mitt Romney’s
Michigan supporters who are questioning their support of the former Governor.

In an article from today’s Grand Rapids Press notable names like State Rep. Dave Agema and former State Rep. William VanRegenmorter are mentioned as possible defectors from Team Romney.

According to VanRegenmorter:

“I think I want to back up to a position of neutrality and weight some of the information that wasn’t very public then.”

Rep. Agema also notes that:

“I’m on the fence right now…”

Since the announcement of his campaign for the White House Governor Romney has been plagued by accusations of a shaky record on key conservative issues.

Eye on 08′ points out -

“He also struggles to keep his story straight on issues like abortion, gay-rights, taxes, guns, embryonic stem-cell research, Ronald Reagan, the Contract with America, immigration, and campaign finance reform.”

Unfortunately this is not the first time that Romney has had to deal with wavering support from some of his
Michigan backers.

Rep. Judy Emmons, who pulled her support for Governor Romney on the same day as his official announcement in
Dearborn said that:

“I should have done my homework first, for me, the bottom line is your record and where you’ve stood and what you’ve stood up for and what you’ve capitulated on.”

News of this nature must be very disconcerting for Team Romney as they no doubt must have thought that their impressive fundraising showing would jump start their campaign, which has never really managed to take off as far as poll numbers are concerned.  (Romney continues to trail fellow Republicans Rudy Giuliani and John McCain in most polls.)

Instead of touting their financial prowess the campaign was forced to deal with the publicity disaster surrounding Governor Romney’s ongoing hunting saga and now the loss of supporters in Michigan, which is shaping up to be a critical primary battle, and somewhat of a must win for Governor Romney considering the name recognition and family connections that he has in the state.

Michigan Cooler says of today’s Romney story:

“…this strikes at the heart of the Romney campaign and could send shockwaves across the state and across the country creating a domino effect of the loss of support.”

Hopefully the Governor will be able to button up his message in the near future to convince his supporters that he is the kind of candidate that he claims to be, or unfortunately, headlines like the one in this mornings Grand Rapid Free Press might haunt the rest of his campaign.

 ”If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.”
~ Mark Twain

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Romney retreats on gun control

By Scott Helman, Globe Staff  |  January 14, 2007

ORLANDO , Fla. — Former governor Mitt Romney, who once described himself as a supporter of strong gun laws, is distancing himself from that rhetoric now as he attempts to court the gun owners who make up a significant force in Republican primary politics.

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Romney Calls Himself a Longtime Hunter

 By GLEN JOHNSON

The Associated Press
Thursday, April 5, 2007; 2:36 AM

BOSTON — In boasting about his lifelong experience as a hunter, Mitt Romney may have shot himself in the foot.

————————————————————

Be vewy, vewy quiet…; Romney changes hunting story (again)

———————————————————–

Lifetime hunter Mitt Romney never had license

Mitt Romney’s hunting problem continues.

Earlier this week, Mitt Romney said he had “been a hunter all his life.” (see video here) But a reporter did some research, and Romney’s campaign admitted that Romney had only been hunting twice, once as a teenager and once for a fundraiser. Then Romney himself said that he was a “varmint hunter”, not a “big game hunter.”

————————————————————

“I dont even know what the fuck a quail looks like.”