T-Paw pulls the plug on campaign.

Courtesy of the AP:

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty dropped out of the race for the GOP presidential nomination on Sunday, hours after finishing a disappointing third in the Iowa straw poll. 

"I wish it would have been different, but obviously the pathway forward for me doesn't exist so we are going to end the campaign," Pawlenty said on ABC's "This Week" from Iowa. 

The low-key Midwesterner, who had struggled to gain traction in a state he had said he must win, had told supporters on a conference call shortly before the broadcast interview that he was ending his White House bid. 

"I thought I would have made a great president, but obviously that pathway isn't there," Pawlenty said. "I do believe we're going to have a very good candidate who is going to beat Barack Obama."

Those last remarks still indicate that Pawlenty is delusional, but apparently not delusional enough to stay in this race. Still I am surprised that of all the GOP wannabes in this contest that he is the first to recognize that his chances are non-existent.

After all third place was not bad at all in the "nobody gives two shits about you but the media" Ames Straw Poll. I mean the only two to beat him were Michele Bachmann (I believe purely based on her corndog eating skills by the way), and Ron Paul who seems to ALWAYS place high in the early polling of the most wingnutty members of the GOP right before the more sober minds realize he might actually become their candidate and yank him of stage with a giant hook.

Hell he beat the eventual nominee, Mitt Romney, by FOUR places, you would think that might give him a boost of confidence going forward, but I guess losing to two of the most batshit crazy candidates in the field put the overall impact of this Iowa poll on the final nomination process into perspective for ole T-Paw.

I have to say that for me personally it is a shame, because right up until this morning I had a hell of a time differentiating between Pawlenty and Santorum. But as of right now I know that Pawlenty is NOT the guy who believes that a woman who has been raped should carry her rapist's child to term. 

Okay folks time to get out your crystal balls and let's see who YOU think will be the next potential loser to Obama in 2012 to come to their senses.

Here are the Iowa Straw Poll results. Try to act excited.

Courtesy of the LA Times:

1. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (4823, 28.55%) 

2. Congressman Ron Paul (4671, 27.65%) 

3. Governor Tim Pawlenty (2293, 13.57%) 

4. Senator Rick Santorum (1657, 9.81%) 

5. Herman Cain (1456, 8.62%) 

6. Governor Rick Perry (718, 3.62%) write-in 

7. Governor Mitt Romney (567, 3.36%) 

8. Speaker Newt Gingrich (385, 2.28%) 

9. Governor Jon Huntsman (69, 0.41%) 

10. Congressman Thad McCotter (35, 0.21%) 

Well Michele Bachmann won which should come as no surprise to ANYONE. She is the flavor of the moment and she is a fellow Iowan, which gives her an advantage.

And that was BEFORE everybody watched her eat her corndog.

I have to say that I am somewhat surprised that Tim Pawlenty and Rick Santorum (Or as I call them Dweedle dipshit and Dweedle Dumbass), came in third and fourth, right after Ron Paul's second place showing.

I find it amazing that the press gives this stupid poll so much attention when the top five winners don't even have a snowball's chance in hell of getting the nomination.  

What I think might be somewhat newsworthy is that Rick Perry, who was not an official name on the poll and only declared his candidacy this morning, was able to win a sixth place position as a WRITE IN. That should really cause the eventual nominee Mitt Romney some sleepless nights.

All of this media attention these candidates are getting must be driving Palin CRAZY, I wonder what she could possibly do to get them to look in her direction?  

 
Of course, what was I thinking?

CNN reporter Don Lemon manhandled by Marcus Bachmann. NO it's not what you think.

Courtesy of CNN:

After talking for about three minutes, Bachmann waded into the crowd filled with adoring supporters.

Moments later, as she tried to exit the area back to a waiting drive cart, Bachmann found herself in the middle of a mob of people: among them many supporters and members of the press including this reporter and CNN anchor Don Lemon. 

As both CNN staffers tried to question Bachmann, Lemon said he was pushed by two members of Bachmann’s staff. Lemon also said that Marcus Bachmann, the congresswoman’s husband, pushed him. 

“She came out, after speaking for just a couple minutes,” Lemon said. “There were other reporters and cameras there. And I asked her very respectful questions: ‘How do you think you did in the debate last night?’ and ‘How do you think you’re going to end up in the Ames Straw Poll?’ And her two campaign aides started elbowing me.”Lemon continued: “I told them, asked them not to elbow me. And then her husband Marcus started doing the same thing. And then he elbowed me into the cart. And I said, ‘You just pushed me into the cart.’ And he goes, ‘No, you did it yourself.’ 

“It was just, I don’t know, why they would choose to do that. We weren’t asking any ‘gotcha’ questions,” Lemon added.

Gee I wonder what got the Bachmann campaign so "wee'd wee'd up?"

Perhaps a reporter from Des Moines Register can clear this up:

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann was 30 minutes late to speak at her scheduled soapbox event and spoke for three of the 20 allotted minutes. 

She said she was going to shake hands, but left the makeshift stage quickly when 17-year-old Gabe Aderhold of Edina, Minn., loudly questioned her husband, Marcus, about counseling techniques at his clinic to “pray the gay away.” 

Uh oh, it looks like the unscientific, and potentially damaging, "therapy" sessions that the Bachmann's use in their "pray away the gay" clinics might be a sore spot for the campaign to deal with. Well gee if I were a reporter in Iowa I know exactly which question I would keep bringing up.  

She's back! Sarah Palin's fake political bus tour heads to Iowa. Well you did not think jury duty lasted forever did you?

Oooh, that made me red, white, and blue nauseous! I don't know what was more stomach churning, her voice, the over-saturation of patriotic imagery, or that hummingbird on crack editing job!

But wait, there's more!

From the depths of Mordor! (Or as you may know it, the Sea O'Pee):

Dear SarahPAC Supporter, 

We are very happy to jump back on the bus for another leg of our “One Nation Tour”! We accept with gratefulness an invitation to meet folks at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines this week. The heartland is perfect territory for more of the One Nation Tour as we put forth efforts to revitalize the fundamental restoration of America by highlighting our nation’s heart, history, and founding principles. 

In a grossly ("Grossly?") weakened economy – especially when recovery is thwarted by today’s Obamanomics (Yeah, NOBODY uses that term.) – prudent Americans make sensible decisions to live within their means. This includes seeking affordable participation in more community events, local patriotic parades, and traditional all-American venues like state fairs. State fairs hold a special place in our nation’s history and heritage, so my family is honored to highlight one of them on one stop along the One Nation Tour route – America’s historic Iowa State Fair! (I’m also excited to try some of that famous fried butter-on-a-stick, fried cheesecake-on-a-stick, fried twinkies, etc. I’ll enjoy them in honor of those who’d rather make us just “eat our peas”!) 

 (Yes, screw healthy eating and common sense!  "Rill Amerukans" eat deep fat fried, artery plugging heart attacks on a stick!  Because with health care costs so high, and after the Republicans killed the public option, it is better to die fast than to linger in a hospital somewhere running up bills for your loved ones.)

Unlike next week’s Obama Bus Tour, taxpayers aren’t funding our tour, which is why we so appreciate your support in allowing us to be out there on the open road to visit with you to highlight small towns, big-hearted people, and the important role they play in our most exceptional nation. 

 (That's right Sarah Palin would NEVER ask every day Americans to pay for her self aggrandizing, political prick teasing bus tour!)

You can participate with support for the “One Nation Tour” through SarahPAC.com and following virtually by bookmarking the SarahPAC website. (Wait! You mean she IS asking every day Americans for money to pay for her self aggrandizing, political prick teasing bus tour?) We’ll have updates from the road as our Constitution-draped bus travels to shine a spotlight on more of our nation’s fine history. 

Watch this video and let the American road inspire you!Thank you for your continued support of SarahPAC. Let’s stay committed to the worthy cause – restoring all that is good and strong and free in America! 

Thank you sincerely,Sarah Palin

So what, you're surprised?

Did any of you REALLY expect Palin to sit at home pulling her hair out while the Iowa straw poll was being conducted, Rick Perry prepared to launch his campaign, and Mercede Johnston was stealing her limelight by showing what a real Alaskan beauty looks like?

Well then you must be new here, welcome to the crazy world of Sarah "Me, Me, Me, it's all about Me!"Palin.

(By the way, I do still think she spent a little time sitting at home pulling her hair out first.)

It is possible that some of the Palin-bots have started to lose faith in their Queen?

Courtesy of Des Moines Register:

The grass-roots group Organize4Palin isn't organizing a campaign for Iowans to write in Sarah Palin's name on their straw poll ballots.

Peter Singleton, the Iowa leader of the grass-roots group, which is unaffiliated with the former Alaska governor, told the blog Conservatives4Palin: "We are not even sending an email out to our mailing list in the state encouraging people to do so. We are simply not focused on this."

Singleton said the Aug. 13 straw poll isn't a priority because Palin isn't a declared candidate. But the group predicts she will announce soon that she's running for president, so Organize4Palin's attention is on the Feb. 6 Iowa caucuses.

"At that point, the campaign will begin in earnest for Governor Palin's grass-roots supporters in this state, and we will be ready when that moment comes."

This sounds like another rationalization to me.

It is hard to believe that a group of people that would pimp Palin's propaganda film as hard as they did (Only to fail in their effort to make it some sort of sleeper hit by the way) would allow this straw poll to pass without putting out SOME effort to get Palin's name on it, unless they realized that it would once again be another example of their idol returning to her usual place on the bottom of the list of GOP Presidential hopefuls.

And it is not like they don't turn somersaults every time Palin miraculously does well on a poll, because they do. So why skip this one? Especially since many of her supporters are under the impression that Palin will announce her candidacy during her big Teabagger speech in Iowa this September.

Could it be that they are starting to fear that WE have been  right about Palin all along? Because eventually they will have to admit, at least to themselves, that we have.

Paul Revere to Sarah Palin: "Your poll numbers are dropping! Your poll numbers are dropping!"

From Politicususa:

Sarah Palin overall favorable rating is 24%. Her unfavorable rating is 54%. When the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll was last conducted in April, 9% of those surveyed had a very positive view of Palin. After Paul Revere that number is 7%. Her publicity blitz did cause people that have a very unfavorable view of her to drop from 41% to 38%, but this was offset by an increase in those who had a somewhat unfavorable view of her from 12% to 16%.

In a January 2011 CNN poll, Sarah Palin had a 38% approval rating. By March, a Bloomberg poll had her sinking to 28%. In an April Washington Post poll, Palin’s approval with tea partiers fell to 60%, and her disapproval rating overall shot up to 55%. Later that same month, the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll measured her approval rating at 25%.

To summarize, Sarah Palin’s approval rating when we began 2011 was 38%. It is now 24%. If the point of the bus tour was to make Palin more popular, then it was a gigantic fail on wheels. She may have been able to get something positive out of the bus tour until she was asked that gotcha question what did you do today? As soon as Palin answered with her revised history of Paul Revere’s ride, any shot at positive publicity was down the drain.

For the twelve people in the country who may not yet have seen it, here is Palin's rendition of the "Ride of Paul Revere."



And here she is doubling down on the stupid.



Wow, a 24% approval rating seems awfully generous after watching that.

And this was AFTER she tried to bring her number back up with this "educational" bus tour.

One can only imagine how much lower her poll numbers will sink after THIS thing scalds their eyes, and sears their brains in the movie theaters.

You know the funny thing is that Palin's plan to increase her popularity is exactly MY plan to destroy her popularity, and that is to simply let people learn more about her.  In her opinion, the more people know they better they will like her, and my opinion is just the opposite.

Gee who do you think has been right so far?