Todd's Mischief Blog

Snippets from other conversations: There is a reason why the analogy is "slippery slope" and not "sheer cliff," because reaching the bottom is not inevitable on the slope. But if you only focus on the bottom, you are liable to not catch sight of the footholds you pass on the way down. If there is one thing I wish I could make more people realize, it is that Republican ≠ Conservative. I also wish I could get more people to realize that Conservative ≠ Right-Wing. Conservatism is the real centrism. "Moderate" just means taking liberal Republican ideas and throwing them in a blender with liberal Democrat ideas. Comparisons between Paul and Obama cannot be made too strongly. Both have run on a blank-slate platform claiming their pasts don't matter. The Ron Paul R ЭΛΘΓ UTION posters put me off before I knew anything about the man simply because they reminded me of Obama's HOPE and CHANGE posters. Those gut instincts seem to have borne out. Isn'...

Bachmann Wins Ames Straw Poll  Just announced, Michelle Bachmann has won the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa, taking first place with 4823 votes and becoming the first woman to do so. With 4671 votes, second place goes to Ron Paul while third goes to Tim Pawlenty with 2293 votes. Mitt Romney and Rick Perry did not participate (the latter being a little late to the game) but they took 567 and 718 votes, respectively. So what does it all mean?  Any discussion of the Ames Straw Poll should rightly start by pointing out that it has only been conducted five times in the past, so there’s not all that much precedent to rely upon. On the other hand, since the event began in 1979, the candidate winning the Iowa Caucus has placed first or second in the straw poll every time. And the Caucus, with a longer track record, is a pretty fair indicator of who gets the party nomination. So, if the Straw Poll changes anything, it is that it spells out definitely exactly what chances Bachmann has for the...