2008

Republican Sam Brownback will drop out of the 2008 presidential campaign on Friday, people close to the Kansas senator said Thursday.

Trouble raising money was a main reason for his decision, said one person close to Brownback, who requested anonymity because the candidate had not yet announced his plans.

  Politico

That’s a pretty important reaon, to be sure. Maybe he should go for a name change, if he wants to run again in the future. Whitefront. Or maybe Redneck.

Fox asked [Ron] Paul about a study showing he is the candidate with the most support from members of the US military, even though he is calling for immediate withdrawal from Iraq. "We take the traditional position that you should only go to war under a declaration and win and get out," Paul explained. "It's protecting the troops ... and the fact that we get the money from the military more than all the other Republicans put together is a pretty darn good endorsement."

  Raw Story

Maybe Fox has the wrong approach to the question. Maybe Paul is the candidate with the most support from members of the US military, because he is calling for immediate withdrawal.

The defense industry this year abandoned its decade-long commitment to the Republican Party, funneling the lion share of its contributions to Democratic presidential candidates, especially to Hillary Clinton who far out-paced all her competitors.

  Huffington Post

That should alert you to two things: Hillary is considered by the defense industry to be the likely next president, and they are expecting she will act favorably toward them. And at least the latter expectation is a safe bet.

At a breakfast with political reporters, [Mark Penn, the pollster and senior strategist of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign] said his internal polling shows Clinton would win over some 24 percent of Republican women in the 2008 general election because of the “emotional” appeal of electing the country’s first woman president.

  Atlanta Journal

Sure, because women can only vote on an emotional basis. That comes from Hillary’s own campaign strategist. He doesn’t think she’s got a good enough platform to win over Republican women, but the emotion thing scores points.

Mitt Romney wants you to look at him and think: strong leader, successful businessman, good father, faithful husband.

He does not want you to look at him and think: Mormon.

  Politico

Why?

Gallup polls found 37 percent of churchgoing Protestants saying they would not vote for a qualified Mormon candidate for president. Churchgoing Protestants did not show similar opposition to voting for either a Catholic or a Jewish presidential candidate.

[...]

Also, a recent Newsweek poll found that 28 percent of Americans would not vote for a Mormon for president.

I have a very sinking feeling that if Romney were Protestant, they wouldn’t object to voting for him.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.