He’s Proud to Be a Merck-an

From PERRY Presidential:

AUSTIN — Although never mentioned by name, Austin lobbyist Mike Toomey’s presence was felt keenly at Monday’s Republican presidential debate when Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann harshly criticized Gov. Rick Perry for his 2007 executive order mandating that Texas teenage girls receive an HPV vaccine that would have been worth millions in sales to Toomey’s client, Merck Pharmaceutical.

Calling it “flat out wrong,” Bachmann noted Perry had received campaign contributions from the drug maker and questioned Perry’s motives. “Was it about life or about millions of dollars to a drug company?”

Perry’s response — that he was “offended” by Bachmann’s suggestion that he “could be bought for $5,000” in campaign contributions from the drug maker — belied the powerful role that Toomey, a Houston native who once served as Perry’s chief of staff, has played in the governor’s political career. From advising Perry on personal legal issues to paying $10,000 to help the Green Party siphon votes from Democrats, Toomey has been a loyal and constant Perry political ally throughout his career.

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(left to right: Mike Toomey, Grover Norquist, Governor Little Ricky Goodhair, Botox Batshit Bachmann, Dave Carney, Rick Man-on-Dog Santorum)

Schtick-on-a-Stick

From POLITICO:

Iowa Rep. Steve King called Michele Bachmann’s straw poll victory a testament to her “force of personality,” and predicted that newly-declared presidential candidate Rick Perry would have to work harder as a result of the outcome in Ames.

Asked if Bachmann’s win would make it harder for Perry to court tea party voters and other core Iowa activists, King told POLITICO: “It does to some degree. I don’t know how much. It’s hard to measure Rick Perry since he hasn’t been here.”

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Slaves to Stupidity

From THE IOWA INDEPENDENT:

Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson issued a formal campaign statement regarding a 2012 social pledge unveiled by Bob Vander Plaats, labeling it as “offensive to the principles of liberty and freedom on which this country was founded.”

From Johnson’s statement:

Government should not be involved in the bedrooms of consenting adults. I have always been a strong advocate of liberty and freedom from unnecessary government intervention into our lives. The freedoms that our forefathers fought for in this country are sacred and must be preserved. The Republican Party cannot be sidetracked into discussing these morally judgmental issues — such a discussion is simply wrongheaded.

 

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Creeps of Faith

From MinnPost.com:

WASHINGTON — Near the end of his speech before the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference Friday night, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty began to recite 2 Chronicles 7:14, the verse he said Ronald Reagan laid his hand on while taking the presidential oath of office.

Oy, it’s always What Would Ronald Reagan Do, isn’t it?

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He Wants to Have His Candy and Eat It, Too

FromPOLITICO:

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who said last month that he had reached the decision not to enter the 2012 race after intense prayer, says that doesn’t take him out of the veepstakes.

“Everything is still open. I haven’t closed doors. I found long ago that that’s not the smart thing to do,” Huckabee told reporters in Little Rock, after a speech at the Clinton Presidential Library.

Huckabee opted against a run for the GOP presidential nomination in mid-May, telling viewers of his Fox News show “My heart says no.”

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2 Idiots, No Waiting

From Bloomberg:

It was supposed to have been a big moment for Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota — headlining a Republican dinner in Des Moines, Iowa’s largest city, ahead of a potential presidential campaign announcement next month.

Then a late vote in Congress kept her in Washington last night and a political shadow appeared, as Sarah Palin announced a multiday East Coast campaign-style bus tour that will kick off with a May 29 appearance at a motorcycle rally for veterans in Washington.

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The Right’s Guff

From John Avlon at THE DAILY BEAST:

The cycle of over-reach and backlash is in over-drive these days—with significant implications for the 2012 presidential election. In pivotal swing-states where voters narrowly elected Republican governors in 2010—like Florida and Ohio (with 47 electoral votes between them)—evidence of buyer’s remorse is piling up fast.

The latest sign: on Tuesday, Alvin Brown became the first Democrat elected mayor of Jacksonville—Florida’s largest city—in 20 years.

Just seven months ago, Republicans swept the Sunshine State with Tea Party-backed candidate Rick Scott winning the governor’s office with a 1.2 percent margin of victory.

But instead of consolidating support by reaching out and winning over the reasonable edge of the opposition, as popular past Republican governors like Jeb Bush and Charlie Crist have done, Scott continued with his campaign posture of refusing to talk to the press. He canceled a $2 billion federal high-speed rail project and is seeking to delay (and functionally deny) implementation of an anti-gerrymandering reform ballot referendum overwhelmingly passed in 2010.

Now Rick Scott finds himself the least popular newly elected governor in Florida history. It’s not just a matter of the honeymoon being over—this looks like a drunken Vegas marriage heading for a shotgun divorce.

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The Chuckleberry Charade

All the factors say go, but my heart says no, and that is the decision I have made, and in it, I have finally found resolution.-Mike Huckabee

From Jennifer Rubin at POSTOPINIONS at The Washington Post:

I am not surprised in the least that Mike Huckabee is passing on the 2012 primary. He’s got a great lifestyle, wealth beyond his and his wife’s imagination, and no reason to lessen his speaking value by losing a presidential primary.It was cheesy to hype an announcement and then say, “Never mind.” But no one ever accused Huckabee of going light on the show biz presentation. (Former senator Chuck Hagel, who called reporters together to say he had no news about a 2008 presidential run, has now been bypassed in the “You hauled us out here for this?” category.)

I’m not surprised either. Chuckleberry was always in this just to make money. You get a lot more attention and get paid more for speeches when you make believe that you’re running for president. Chuckleberry was a grifter, and he’s still a grifter.
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