The ‘Big-Mo’ is with Mitt Romney!

Tim Aker, Grassroots Co-ordinator for the British TaxPayers’ Alliance, believes Romney is the man with the momentum.

If you throw enough money at something, will the problem go away?  It will if you’re Willard Mitt Romney, the former Governor of Massachusetts and someone who is, clearly, the front runner for the Republican Presidential nomination.  The momentum is with Mitt Romney – and it could carry him through the primaries to the White House.

Look how far he’s come.  Romney’s campaign flagged at the outset.  His polling was risible – matched by his poor national standing.  Videos flooded YouTube with Romney’s sound-bites supporting abortion and extending gay rights.  Soon the self-appointed champion of social conservatism faced the ire of leading social conservatives horrified that he tried to out-liberal Ted Kennedy in his 1994 Senate race.  Pundits immediately coined the phrase ‘Mitt-flop’ and conservative pressure groups set out to demonize him as a liberal, a RINO (Republican in name only).

Yet after three debates, millions of dollars spent and a flood of polls, Romney is climbing.  Not only that, he has soared in the early primary states.  Recent polling in Iowa, New Hampshire, Utah and Michigan has Romney leading by 10% on average.  While his national polling may only hover above 10%, leading in the early primary states sets him up for surviving well into Super Tuesday.  Remember, most commentators say there are three tickets out of Iowa and only two out of New Hampshire.  Romney leads impressively in both.

So how has this turn around in fortunes come about?

The virtues of poodledom

Andrew Sullivan wrote an interesting piece for The Sunday Times this weekend about the advantages to Blair, and Britain, of being "a poodle" to Bush:

Poodles have a good life –
"Poodle owners are often passionate about their pets, catering to their every
whim, manipulated by their guile and tolerating their sometimes snippy
relationships with other dogs. In many cases – and this is not restricted to
poodles, of course – it’s hard to tell, after a while, who controls whom.
The master routinely finds his days wrapped around catering for the poodle:
walking it, grooming it, pandering to it. If the tail often wags the dog,
the dog can also wag the human."

British PMs accept that power comes with poodledom – "Most postwar British prime ministers have intuitively
understood this, however strongly their publics have sometimes balked.  The
global power of a British premier is nowhere near that of an American
president, but the Brits’ leverage over such power is arguably greater than
any other country’s – precisely because of their treasured, special,
pampered poodle status."

It doesn’t have to be an unquestioning relationship – "Recall Thatcher’s horrified response to what she saw as a breach of
international law in the seizure of Grenada, a member of the Commonwealth,
or her opposition to Reagan’s attack on nuclear deterrence theory at
Reykjavik – and compare it with Tony Blair’s take on international law with
respect to Iraq. Britain’s leaders – from Thatcher to Blair – do not seem to
be moving away from the American orbit, but more firmly into it."

Making Blair an envoy to the Middle East suits everyone – "But what makes this perfect for Blair is the combination of almost certain
failure, the patina of altruism and a sense of global self-importance… And that’s why, for all the pitfalls of such an appointment, it’s hard to see
why it would be bad for Britain, or bad for Gordon Brown. It gets Blair out
of the way and makes Britain seem more important on the world stage.
Poodling is a much more powerful tool in global power politics than preening
like the French or pouting like the Russians."

Sullivan’s definition of poodledom has its appeal. The common jibe that Blair is a poodle for signing up for Iraq out of slavish obedience to Bush is nonsense – he was a liberal interventionist when Bush was still an isolationist.

The virtues of poodledom

Andrew Sullivan wrote an interesting piece for The Sunday Times this weekend about the advantages to Blair, and Britain, of being "a poodle" to Bush:

Poodles have a good life –
"Poodle owners are often passionate about their pets, catering to their every
whim, manipulated by their guile and tolerating their sometimes snippy
relationships with other dogs. In many cases – and this is not restricted to
poodles, of course – it’s hard to tell, after a while, who controls whom.
The master routinely finds his days wrapped around catering for the poodle:
walking it, grooming it, pandering to it. If the tail often wags the dog,
the dog can also wag the human."

British PMs accept that power comes with poodledom – "Most postwar British prime ministers have intuitively
understood this, however strongly their publics have sometimes balked.  The
global power of a British premier is nowhere near that of an American
president, but the Brits’ leverage over such power is arguably greater than
any other country’s – precisely because of their treasured, special,
pampered poodle status."

It doesn’t have to be an unquestioning relationship – "Recall Thatcher’s horrified response to what she saw as a breach of
international law in the seizure of Grenada, a member of the Commonwealth,
or her opposition to Reagan’s attack on nuclear deterrence theory at
Reykjavik – and compare it with Tony Blair’s take on international law with
respect to Iraq. Britain’s leaders – from Thatcher to Blair – do not seem to
be moving away from the American orbit, but more firmly into it."

Making Blair an envoy to the Middle East suits everyone – "But what makes this perfect for Blair is the combination of almost certain
failure, the patina of altruism and a sense of global self-importance… And that’s why, for all the pitfalls of such an appointment, it’s hard to see
why it would be bad for Britain, or bad for Gordon Brown. It gets Blair out
of the way and makes Britain seem more important on the world stage.
Poodling is a much more powerful tool in global power politics than preening
like the French or pouting like the Russians."

Sullivan’s definition of poodledom has its appeal. The common jibe that Blair is a poodle for signing up for Iraq out of slavish obedience to Bush is nonsense – he was a liberal interventionist when Bush was still an isolationist.

Declaration of Annexing the British Isles as part of the USA

Last week we posted the famous "Petition to Revoke the Independence of the United States of America". As promised, here’s one of the most popular rebuttals:

"To the imperialist British colonizers.

In the light of your indecision over joining a common European Currency, your dissatisfaction with the European Union, your bickering with European Governments and the fact that you already almost speak our language and refuse to speak any other European languages, you are to be annexed as a State of America. Your state code will be GB. Zip codes will be assigned to replace your old postal districts. The state capital will be Stratford-upon-Avon which is a lot prettier than London. Princess Diana will be declared a saint. You have already assimilated so much American culture that you are unlikely to notice the transition. To aid in the assimilation, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. Look up "aluminum" in any good American Dictionary. Check the spelling and pronunciation guide. We discovered it, we named it, you are mispronouncing it. Learn to live with it. You are, of course welcome to your idiosyncratic and illogical place-names such as Edinburgh, if you wanted it pronounced ‘Eddinburra’ you have spelled it that way in the first place. You will quit using words such as "fortnight". The correct term is "a two week period". You will learn words such as "credenza", "intern" and "chad".

2. There is no such thing as "UK English". UK English is the relic of a defunct colonialist power which attempted to impose British English linguistic superiority on a nation which has a higher number of English speakers.

3. Your film-makers should learn to distinguish the American and Canadian accents. American accents are not limited to redneck drawls or New York accents. Mainland Americans have more than enough accents to cope with in our own country, so all British dramas will now bear subtitles, especially those made in impenetrable dialects such as Scottish, Scouse or Geordie. To make life easier for mainland America, all British films and TV programs must use American vocabulary and accents; Scotch characters will wear plaid, Irish characters will have shamrocks on them, Welsh characters will not be used since we don’t have Welsh Americans, and English characters will wear bowler hats and pinstripes.

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Bloomberg candidacy may hurt GOP most

A new Newsweek poll on the 2008 contest suggests that Mike Bloomberg might hurt the GOP candidate more than the Democrat.  If ‘Mayor Mike’ runs the Clinton lead over Giuliani in a two horse race of 7% (51%-44%) becomes a 9% lead (46%-37%-11%).  Clinton and Giuliani both lead their fields in the Newsweek survey.

Mayor Mike shakes up 2008 speculation

Samuel Coates writes:

"Mike" Bloomberg’s announcement on Tuesday that he was ending his brief membership of the Republican Party has fuelled speculation that he will run as an independent in 2008.

He has reportedly earmarked $500m for the campaign, a fifth of his estimated wealth, greatly increasing the likelihood of the election campaigns spending over $1bn between them.

London’s Daily Telegraph revealed in May that his special adviser Kevin Sheekey (who keeps insisting that Bloomberg isn’t running) had three meetings with the New York Chairman of the Independence Party. Bloomberg’s website was recently revamped as well, complete with Mike Updates and a red, white and blue colour scheme.

New York’s 108th Mayor takes pride in his non-partisan approach, a badge that could appeal to a lot of Americans who are tired of polarised politics. Having previously been an independent and a Democrat he’s now seen as a centrist in that he is fiscally conservative but socially liberal. As James Forsyth points out, a big worry for Democrats would be his pull in California and, of course, New York.

Of particular interest to this site would be his position on various foreign policy issues that he has been quite quiet about.

Comparisons are being drawn with when businessman and independent candidate Ross Perot secured Clinton’s victory by getting 19% of the vote in 1992. Could Bloomberg save the Republicans in the same way? Or would it be better for him to keep his money for what aides say will really be his next career, a full-time philanthropist?

Fred Thompson’s London Speech in Full

This is the full video of the speech Fred Thompson gave in London yesterday:

Town Hall has a text version.

Fred Thompson in London

Fred Thompson was in London today – the day on which one opinion poll made him the frontrunner in the Republican race for the White House.  BritainAndAmerica was present when he spoke at the Policy Exchange think tank.  TownHall.com has the full text.

Four video extracts from his Q&A are posted below:

• Video 1 is about his view of Iran – in which he suggests a blockage might be necessary.
• Video 2 focuses on Iraq and he warns against leaving without stabilising the country – because US forces might only have to return
• In Video 3 he identifies his American political heroes as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan.
• In Video 4 he pays tribute to Margaret Thatcher – who he’ll meet tomorrow.  He is also due to meet Tory leader David Cameron.

VIDEO ONE: THOMPSON ON IRAN

VIDEO TWO: THOMPSON ON IRAQ

VIDEO THREE: THOMPSON ON HIS AMERICAN POLITICAL HEROES – GEORGE WASHINGTON, ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND RONALD REAGAN

VIDEO FOUR: THOMPSON ON HIS SCHEDULED MEETING WITH BARONESS THATCHER

Fred Thompson in London

Fred Thompson was in London today – the day on which one opinion poll made him the frontrunner in the Republican race for the White House.  BritainAndAmerica was present when he spoke at the Policy Exchange think tank.  TownHall.com has the full text.

Four video extracts from his Q&A are posted below:

• Video 1 is about his view of Iran – in which he suggests a blockage might be necessary.
• Video 2 focuses on Iraq and he warns against leaving without stabilising the country – because US forces might only have to return
• In Video 3 he identifies his American political heroes as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan.
• In Video 4 he pays tribute to Margaret Thatcher – who he’ll meet tomorrow.  He is also due to meet Tory leader David Cameron.

VIDEO ONE: THOMPSON ON IRAN

VIDEO TWO: THOMPSON ON IRAQ

VIDEO THREE: THOMPSON ON HIS AMERICAN POLITICAL HEROES – GEORGE WASHINGTON, ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND RONALD REAGAN

VIDEO FOUR: THOMPSON ON HIS SCHEDULED MEETING WITH BARONESS THATCHER