I’m just going to start a post and live-blog this Silver Elephant thing via comments…
Live-blogging, as well as I can
bradwarthen.com
All The News That Gives You Fits
I’m just going to start a post and live-blog this Silver Elephant thing via comments…
Mark Sanford — who got a standing O from this GOP crowd, after all the grief he’s given them — just called himself an “imperfect messenger.” I think that’s what he said. More of the self-aggrandizing, King David sort of rhetoric that we’ve grown so accustomed to in the past year.
Sanford just called an op-ed by Clemson President James Barker “insane” because it praised the impact of the federal stimulus.
Before Sanford got up, while I was trying to get my ax working, three gubernatorial candidates spoke.
First there was Andre, who peddled the brand of whack that he’s become known for — griping about lazy American workers and such.
Nikki Haley presented ideological purity in that way she has of making it sound almost reasonable.
But Henry McMaster got the biggest ovation. I forget what he said. Standard Henry.
Lindsey Graham said he serves in a Congress with a 17 percent approval rating. He says all he wants to know is, who are that 17 percent, and what the hell is it that they like?
Lindsey says he’s “proud of” Jim DeMint. “Let’s make sure that Jim DeMint wins by over 60 percent in November,” he says.
This GOP lovefest stuff is always a tad difficult for a reasonable man to take.
He’s talking energy. Speaking of nuclear power, he gets a laugh saying “Surely we can be as bold as the French.”
Doesn’t sound like a guy who’s going to back off his energy initiative to me…
“I want to help solve some of the hard problems in this country.” I like it when he says that.
Now he brings up immigration: “Aren’t you upset over borders that are broken?” Cites his effort to help Bush pass comprehensive immigration reform. He neglects to mention that’s the plan many in this room hated so much.
He just said he wants Hispanics to see the Republican Party as their home. He didn’t get any applause on that…
Interesting psychological approach… he tells them right out that he knows he can’t solve the problem until the people in this room are convinced the borders are secure. He basically tells them that he understands he has to humor them, and says it in a way that they cheer.
Now he’s lighting into Reid on immigration, as he did in that WashPost story I cited earlier in the day.
Basically, what’s bugging him is that he sees Reid et al. approaching immigration from a way that only appeals to Dems. He’s pretty ticked about it, as a guy who’s risked a lot to seek bipartisan solutions…
Karen Floyd says “our dear Sen. DeMint” can’t make it because he was “waylaid.”
One pictures him bleeding by the side of the road, having been set upon by brigands. She provides no details that would help us understand why he’s not here.
Interesting: The senator that some in this room love to hate for being insufficiently ideologically pure, the one some have censured, is here paying his respects. DeMint doesn’t show, and no good reason is given.
“One pictures him bleeding by the side of the road, having been set upon by brigands.”
It would not be nice to say something like “from your mouth to God’s ear.” No, it would not.
“Our dear senator”… Isn’t that the locution they use for their leaders in North Korea?
We’re building up to Karl Rove’s speech… You know Karl Rove. He’s that guy who writes op-eds for The Wall Street Journal. Presumably our governor wouldn’t call HIS op-eds “insane.”
Henry McMaster just told me that Rove told him he was exhausted, that he was just going to get up there and throw some stuff out and see how the crowd reacts…. ho, boy…
No, it wouldn’t, Kathryn. But I’ll share this with you… a few moments ago, Lindsey mentioned Joe Biden having eulogized Strom Thurmond, and said he (Lindsey) has told Joe he’d like to return the favor.
At that point there was a scattering of applause, and one guy out there went “Woo-hoo!”… before Lindsey could say he hoped that wouldn’t be any time soon…
Mind you, there was an open bar before dinner (and I’m assuming the “Woo-hoo” guy had taken full advantage of it — I hope). Although — not that I’m complaining, since I’m freeloading here — they closed it before I could get my second Yuengling…
Henry just got ANOTHER big cheer for saying Katon Dawson will be the next national party chair.
Henry’s good at this. Just ask him; he’ll tell you. I mentioned to him a few minutes ago that it sounded like he had gotten the biggest cheer among the gubernatorial candidates. He said it sounded that way to him, too. He said he’d planned it that way, and explained that the key was not to bore this crowd…
Sort of wish that I’d attended the Jefferson-Jackson dinner last night so that I could compare it to this one. But I was at the fish fry instead. One thing I can tell you, there’s no comparison between the fish fry and this. Might as well be happening on a different planet.
Not just because everybody I’m looking at is white and dressed up, and sitting quietly (except for the occasional “woo-hoo!”). Speaking of dressed up; the women are dressed to KILL. The younger ones are rather distracting in their tight little dresses and bare legs.
There are many nice things one might say about the Republican Party. I don’t say them very often, hating parties as I do, but there are some. I’ve just never associated the party with women dressing up to look as hot as possible. Must be some vestige of that “Total Woman” thing of a few years back.
David Wilkins is saying he’s “proud to call Karl Rove my friend”… and there’s the man himself.
Standing O. Much more enthusiastic than the one Sanford got…
Rove is acknowledging Andy Card as the longest-serving chief of staff… I didn’t realize that.
I spoke with Card earlier. He’s an old friend of my uncle’s. My uncle (my very young uncle, only 6 years older than I am) befriended Card in 1965 when he first came to USC. They were set to be roommates at one point but it didn’t happen, but they were buds. They hadn’t seen each other in 40 years until today, when my uncle dropped by a Henry McMaster gathering before tonight’s dinner. They had a nice time catching up.
Rove thanking South Carolinians for saving W’s bacon in 2000.
Rove just got the biggest cheer tonight saying it was essential to re-elect Joe Wilson.
He got a bigger one saying “Pratt” — he quickly corrected himself, “Spratt” — should be defeated.
Rove just said that, whether you voted for him or not, it said a lot about our country that it elected an African-American president in our lifetime…
He got polite applause on that. It was slow, and hesitant, but he got it.
He goes on to say Obama was elected not because of his qualifications, but because he was an inspirational, “aspirational” figure. People were willing to take a chance on him. I think Hillary Clinton would probably agree with him on that.
Says Obama ran as centrist who would cut taxes.
But his action since being elected have “given the lie” to that.
Brent Nelsen is live-Tweeting as I’m doing this, I just noticed…
“There is no Betty Ford clinic for former White House staffers” he says of his habit of reading policy documents obsessively. Got a laugh on that. Doubt anyone would have made that joke in front of Republicans 30 years ago.
Rove: “You cannot spend your way to prosperity. You have to work and save and invest your way to prosperity.” Nice pious applause on that one.
It’s interesting. Rove is so much more articulate, so much smarter-sounding, than the guy he worked for. Very smooth speaker.
It makes you wonder, when you hear a guy like this — Why doesn’t HE run for office? And the answer is, people won’t vote for a smartass. They’ll applaud him at a partisan dinner, but they won’t vote for him.
Rove says Obama economic policies will make us look like “Greece on steroids.”
Given the lack of U.S. news media coverage of what happens in foreign lands, I wonder how many people in the room didn’t get that.
Rove marvels that, with “jobs” being the first, second and third most important issues in the country, the president spent all that time and effort and capital on health care.
He gave the usual reason for his incredulity — that most people in the country were covered already.
He really doesn’t seem to get it, which is puzzling for a clever man. Does he really not get it, or is he just playing with these people. Does he really not get how vulnerable, how hobbled, an economy is when the great majority of people don’t dare leave their jobs and go out and take the risk of starting businesses on their own because they can’t risk losing their health care coverage. Does he really not get it?
When Joe Wilson rants about the “government takeover” of healthcare — talk about your hyperbole — you believe he really believes what he’s saying. But with Rove… he’s too smart to believe that.
The healthcare bill is going to drive us into bankruptcy, “and they knew it and they hid it from us,” but we’re not that dumb, says Rove. Gets applause on that one.
Hearing this kind of indignant rant reminds me of things the Democrats used to say to whip up their faithful against his boss. Different topic, same tone.
Wes Wolfe asks whether Rove just expressed concern about “Uncle Martha” having trouble paying for her medicine. Yeah, I think he did…
“I can rant and rave and hyperventilate like you’ve never seen,” says Rove.
Guy in the crowd: “Go for it!” I don’t think it was the “Woo-hoo!” guy, unless he moved across the room…
Wes Wolfe just ate my salad because I was at the other end of the room using Wesley Donehue’s laptop.
What’s with all the guys named “Wes” around here?
He said he “annexed an unused salad”… what is this, a salad Anschluss?
Lost the thread of what Rove was saying. I think he was extolling the virtues of people who work hard and save and make their OWN salad instead of eating somebody else’s…
“great majority of people don’t dare leave their jobs and go out and take the risk of starting businesses on their own”
When was this ever the case? Are you trying to say that the great majority of American workers would prefer to start their own little business? I don’t buy that for a second.
Start with all the government workers, union members, unskilled labor, nurses, etc., etc.
There is a very small percentage of people who are afraid to leave their “safer” corporate jobs to strike out on their own due to health insurance.
For a moment there, as he was trying to present good, conservative, Republican solutions to our healthcare problems (such things as “price transparency”), it sounded like we DON’T have the best of all possible healthcare systems. But he couldn’t possibly mean that…
Brian DeRoy just ate my dessert. But that was OK, I told him I didn’t want it.
Hey, I’m using somebody else’s laptop; I should be big about sharing my food that I didn’t pay for anyway…
Quotes Lincoln as saying “have the undecideds spoken to by someone they hold in confidence.” He’s telling them to go after the votes of us swing voters.
But how can you have “confidence” in anyone who is a True Believer of one of the main parties?
Rove just got a general, widespread snort of laughter by saying something snotty about the media.
Spiro Agnew lives!
Doug, people in this country who don’t worry about losing their employer-provided medical coverage — their increasingly more expensive, decreasing coverage — are just not very smart.
You may be right that that describes most Americans, but I prefer to think Americans are brighter than that.
Haven’t commented in a while because Rove is wrapping up with a long, inspiring story about a man who had lost one son to war, had a second son in the Marines and asked Bush for a waiver so he, too, could join the Marines at age 61.
His point seems to be about how what we need to be thinking about is having a country that produces more men like that.
He just finished…
Karen Floyd is enthusing…
I think we might wrap up soon…
She’s about to announce straw poll results…
Gresham Barrett narrowly won the straw poll for governor with 37 percent. Henry McMaster was right behind him with 34 percent. Nikki Haley got 19 percent, and Andre got 10 percent.
I missed the raw numbers.
Mick Zais got the most votes for superintendent of ed. Alan Wilson won for attorney general. Ken Ard got the most for gov lite.
I’m gonna blow this pop stand…
That means I’m outta here.
I lean Republican. I will say this. Jim DeMint and Andre Bauer will never get my votes. They are pudding heads, and by and large bigots. I will never forget Jim DeMint looking Inez in the face in 04 in a Senate debate in Florence saying, “gay people should not teach in sc public schools”…when he has a dozen gay people that have worked OR work for him. What an idiot!! Andre is just plain stupid, and can’t come to terms with anything about himself…so I sure as hell do NOT want him as my Governor.
1. Republican women dress ever so stylishly, thanks be to God. The fashionable, especially the tall ones, will find it hard to find things that are not “hot.” (I sing in the Trinity Cathedral choir, and get a great view of the good and the great and they dress so inspirationally wonderfully.)
2. You aren’t a freeloader if you are providing free editorial coverage.
3. Anyone might eat your food under the assumption you cannot, since you are allergic to water, right?
4. My husband, and therefore I, is insured under the state health plan. He is a university professor. Not a lot of call for that in the “open market” although private unis abound, and, unlike many academics, he actually has marketable skills outside academia. I am a believer in quality public education and am largely responsible for bringing my excellent husband here to teach, but if Doug wants us to go private–hey maybe Steve’ll get a raise!
Uh… confession time:
When I had relinquished the laptop I was using and was packing up mine (which for some reason was useless in that place), I noticed something: Wes had NOT eaten my salad; he must have eaten the one on the other side of him…
Good thing I was kidding protesting, huh?
Interesting blogging. So, Kathryn, you’re in the choir?
I have a silly question…how do you put a picture on here?
Ayup. I am usually on the south side, end of the front row at the 11:30 service. I used to sing years ago, but the former conductor, well, he knocked the joy out of it for me. I “retired” this January, so I thought I’d give the new guy a go, and he’s wonderful!
Hey, I asked before consuming that yummy dessert. You know us former TV people, never afraid to enjoy a free meal unlike you principled newspaper folks!!
@ Andrew–I registered with Word Press and there was a chance to upload a photo.
Thx, K Fenn!! I love this blog…you are a great ASSET to it also!! 🙂 Brad needs to pay you! LOL