Beer Track
by digby
USA Today gives us a little preview of the Tea Partier’s dream debate October 2012:
First, Obama on his overall approach:
Everything we’ve done over the past year has been not only to right our economy, to break the back of this recession, but also to restore some of the security middle-class families have felt slipping away for over a decade now.
The Republicans:
Some of the steps we took were done without the help of the other party, which made a political decision all too often to jump in the backseat, let us do the driving and then critique whether we were taking the right turns. That’s okay. That’s part of what it means to govern.
On Washington:
Folks are out there working hard every day, trying to meet their responsibilities. But all around them during this last, “lost” decade, what they’ve seen is a wave of irresponsibility from Wall Street to Washington — they see a capital city where every day is treated like Election Day, and every act, every comment, every gesture passes through a political filter. They’ve seen the out sized influence of lobbyists and special interests, who too often hijack the agenda by leveraging campaign money and connections.
On reports that he’s prepared to accept defeat on health care:
So just in case there’s any confusion out there, let me be clear. I am not going to walk away from health insurance reform.
On national security:
We have begun to leave Iraq to its own people. We’ve charted a new way forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and made good progress in taking the fight to al Qaeda across the globe.
And here’s Palin (from her Nashville appearance) on:
The Obama agenda:
How’s that hope-y, change-y stuff workin’ out for you?
The Tea Party movement:
This is about the people, and it’s bigger than any one king or queen of a tea party, and it’s a lot bigger than any charismatic guy with a teleprompter.
On national security:
Treating this like a mere law enforcement matter places our country at great risk because that’s not how radical Islamic extremists are looking at this. They know we’re at war, and to win that war we need a commander in chief, not a professor of law standin’ at the lectern.
Her own future:
My plan is quite simple. To support those who support the foundation of our country when it comes to the economy. It is free market principles that reward hard work and personal responsibility.
On Obama and recent Democratic election losses in Massachusetts, Virginia, and New Jersey:
When you’re 0-3 you’d better stop lecturing and start listening.
It seems obvious to me that she’s a mess, but then I thought George W. Bush sounded just as vapid and he served eight years. After that, I lost my confidence that the American people couldn’t possibly find that kind of empty folksiness to be a sign of leadership. Indeed, I suspect there are quite a few people for whom George W. Bush is the prototype president, so this might make them feel all warm and comfortable. Never say never.
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