The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

462 Days Until Jan. 20, 2013

Posted on | October 16, 2011 | 36 Comments

Inauguration Day, when four long years of endless misery known as the Obama presidency come to an end. And I’m counting the days.

It’s 79 days until Jan. 3: The Iowa GOP caucuses.

And it’s 107 days until the Jan. 31 Florida primary.

To give you a sense of proportion, it’s been 72 days since I departed from Reagan National Airport — where I set up the National Affairs Desk in the airport lounge —  for my 10-day trip to Iowa leading up to the Aug. 11 Fox News debate and the Aug. 13 Ames Straw Poll.

Yesterday I talked to Dan Collins, who gave me the name of his Rumanian friend who lives in Iowa City, about 30 miles from Cedar Rapids. A one-way ticket from Baltimore-Washington International Airport to Cedar Rapids departing the day after Christmas — Dec. 26, which is 71 days from today — would be $281 if I booked it now. So I’d have a full week in Iowa before the caucuses on Jan. 3.

And a flight departing Jan. 4 from Des Moines to Boston’s Logan International Airport would be $145 if I booked it now.

Pete Da Tech Guy could pick me up at Logan and then we’d head straight for New Hampshire, with six days to go before the Jan. 10 primary. (Assuming New Hampshire won’t change the date to December, screwing up everything that Florida hasn’t already screwed up.)

After New Hampshire, I’d probably want to spend a couple days at home here in the hills of western Maryland. Pete and I have talked about doing what we did last October, namely driving from Massachusetts to Maryland. And then after a couple days rest, say Jan. 14 or 15, hitting the road to South Carolina, where the primary is Jan. 21.

From there? Well, “The Radio Patriot” Andrea Shea King lives somewhere on the “Space Coast” in Florida, and has promised we can sleep on her floor. If we left Columbia, S.C., on Jan. 22, made a one-day visit to Atlanta (Herman Cain HQ, and my hometown), we could probably reach Cocoa Beach, Fla., sometime late on Jan. 24, and have nearly a week to cover the Florida primary. Total mileage — Fitchburg, Mass., to Hagerstown, to Columbia, to Atlanta, to Cocoa Beach — would be 1,650 miles. Add in all the driving around South Carolina and Florida to cover rallies, etc., and figure the return trip back, and it’s almost certain to exceed 4,000 miles.

Which is a lot of miles to put on Pete’s 15-year-old Buick LeSabre.

Well, Smitty has been trying to introduce me to a concept he calls “planning,” and maybe I’m getting a bit carried away with it. But the Iowa and New Hampshire itinerary is pretty firm, and my basic cost for air travel (BWI to Cedar Rapids, Des Moines to Boston) would be less than $500 if I booked it today.

But, of course, I can’t book it today because I haven’t hustled up enough cash yet, despite rattling the tip jar like an epileptic on methamphetamine — at the epicenter of an 8.2 earthquake.

Advance planning requires advance tip-jar rattling, and so I’m trying to think ahead: Ten weeks and one day until Dec. 26, when I embark on the 35-day expedition through Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina to Judgement Day in Florida. None other than Jim Geraghty of National Review took notice Thursday in his popular “Morning Jolt” e-mail newsletter:

Blame it all on those vicious RINO-hugging bastards in Florida: Catastrophic results, possibly leaving me with mere weeks to hustle up enough cash to be able to book travel for coverage of the 2012 campaign. A desperate crisis for the nation, and for my professional career.
Once more, I beg you: Hit the freaking tip jar!

That’s it, you see? Vengeance on the treacherous swine in the Florida GOP who inflicted this campaign cataclysm on us all! And once we’ve destroyed their crooked scheme for Mitt Romney’s coronation . . .

Well, that one-way flight to Vanuatu is only $1,600. But maybe it’s too early to be planning for that. However, my flight to Las Vegas starts boarding at Dulles in just 24 hours. Hit the freaking tip jar!
 




 
UPDATE: Ronald in Oakland sends $5 and includes the cryptic message: “Come to the dark side….Screw 9-9-9.”

What? “The Dark Side”?

But we’ve provided extensive coverage of Mitt Romney. Or could it be that Ronald has become a minion of The Sith Lord of Texas?

Either way, it’s disturbing — almost as if Ronald was questioning my professional journalistic neutral objectivity.

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Category: Debates, Election 2012, Fear and Smitty in Vegas, Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, Shoe Leather Fund, South Carolina

Comments

36 Responses to “462 Days Until Jan. 20, 2013”

  1. Anonymous
    October 16th, 2011 @ 2:00 pm

    Why is it that some of your posts send me e-mail messages but most don’t? There must be some logic here, but I don’t see it.

    While I’m at it….why is it that the number of comments listed under the title on the front page has absolutely no relation to the actual number of comments that the thread has recieved?

  2. Anonymous
    October 16th, 2011 @ 2:11 pm

    :%s/Rumanian/Romainian/g

    (ask Smitty, he knows what this mean.)

  3. Anonymous
    October 16th, 2011 @ 2:24 pm

    The problem with Disqus is beyond my ken. Perhaps Smitty could explain.

  4. ThePaganTemple
    October 16th, 2011 @ 2:49 pm

    The main thing I’m looking forward to is seeing that fucking Obama’s ass frog marched out of the White House to face the music. God I want to see that SO damn bad. I know he won’t really be exactly frog marched, but I bet from the look on the assholes face you would think that’s what was happening. Just think about that son-of-a-bitch having to sit in the stands while his rival is being sworn in. Just imagine the look on that bitch Michelle’s face Hahahahahahahaha Just thinking about it would make even voting for that damn Romney worthwhile. Almost.

  5. Anonymous
    October 16th, 2011 @ 2:50 pm

    “Inauguration Day, when four long years of endless misery known as the Obama presidency come to an end.”

    At this point, the only way that looks like happening is if he decides not to run again.

    That could change. But I’m not seeing any evidence that it already has.

  6. Anamika
    October 16th, 2011 @ 2:53 pm

    That much hatred is not good for your aging heart. Just a suggestion.

  7. Anamika
    October 16th, 2011 @ 2:55 pm

    I concur.

  8. Anonymous
    October 16th, 2011 @ 2:59 pm

    Every so often, Disqus here forgets who I am. Go away for an hour and come back, it’s fine….

  9. Richard Mcenroe
    October 16th, 2011 @ 3:06 pm

    Even money he moves out in the dead of night before, the departure illuminated only by the glow of shredded files being burned…

  10. Richard Mcenroe
    October 16th, 2011 @ 3:07 pm

    Ah, yes, Obama’s second term assured.  After all, when the 99% have embraced the CPUSA and the American Nazi Party, reaction aries must be doomed…

  11. Joe
    October 16th, 2011 @ 3:10 pm

    It is a mystery!  Sort of like how you are critical of Herman Cain but can’t admit allegiance to any other candidate. 

  12. Joe
    October 16th, 2011 @ 3:11 pm

    That is true Anamika.  Just like random promiscus sex with strangers after you get blind drunk is not good for your health. 

  13. Dianna Deeley
    October 16th, 2011 @ 3:13 pm

    Or you could think that righteous anger is clearing his arteries, and helping him stay alert and healthy.

  14. Joe
    October 16th, 2011 @ 3:14 pm

    I disagree.  Obama could be re-elected (it is definitely not going to be a cake walk to defeat him) but provided who ever the nominee is does a better job than Kerry did against Bush…they have a decent shot.   But to say Obama is inevitable is not correct.   McCain was not that far beind him and Obama is weaker now than he was in 2008. 

  15. Richard Mcenroe
    October 16th, 2011 @ 3:16 pm

    It’s not fair that Stacy has to rattle the tip jar!  Air Travel is a RIGHT!  It should be FREE!  And so should RESERVATIONS for Spring Break! — Demand #20, #OccupySpiritAirways

  16. Anonymous
    October 16th, 2011 @ 3:24 pm

    Can’t admit to what ain’t…….don’t know how I can say it any plainer than I said it here……

    http://kxm.209.mwp.accessdomain.com/2011/10/12/pundette-likes-herman-cain/#comment-332739865

    I do find it a little weird that you find it hard to believe that there are people who haven’t committed to a candidate over a year before the election.

  17. Anonymous
    October 16th, 2011 @ 3:34 pm

    And where do you think I said he is inevitable? I said that things could change, which is precisely the opposite of “inevitable.”

  18. Joe
    October 16th, 2011 @ 3:49 pm

    Not commiting is one thing.  But when you are especially critical of one who just went into the lead–without disclosing who your general pick would be–it suggests you are being partisan. 

  19. Joe
    October 16th, 2011 @ 3:50 pm

    That is true, but then again you said this:  “At this point, the only way that looks like happening is if he decides not to run again.

  20. Dianna Deeley
    October 16th, 2011 @ 3:55 pm

    “despite rattling the tip jar like an epileptic on methamphetamine – at the epicenter of an 8.2 earthquake.”

    You’re getting an extra little something from me, just for that simile.

    I expect a nice thank you note! *

    *Joke.

  21. Anamika
    October 16th, 2011 @ 3:58 pm

    You make a good point which seems counter-intutive but true in the context of anger and repression. You seem more correct here. I take back my previous suggestion with apologies to ‘The Pagan Temple’. Thank you.

  22. Anonymous
    October 16th, 2011 @ 4:25 pm

    It’s like I said…..”I’m looking to be convinced.”

    This is a Cain site. There is no point in my saying I think Romney has problems here ’cause I’ll just get a lot of “Yeah, Romney sux” responses. I won’t learn anything. But hopefully someone might come through with actual information about Cain.

    And believe me, I’m patient. He’s got a year to come up with a more detailed version of his goals, but he needs to do that.

  23. Anonymous
    October 16th, 2011 @ 4:36 pm

    Or let me put it another way, I’m like the twelve year old boy who keeps teasing your twelve year old daughter. YOU know he’s only doing it ’cause he really likes her, but she still thinks he’s an a**hole.

    At this point I would say that for me there are still three candidates……Cain, Santorum (if only to piss off Dan Savage) and Gingrich.

    And I haven’t given much thought to Gingrich yet as I don’t think he can win. I’ve only just started thinking about Santorum.

  24. Anonymous
    October 16th, 2011 @ 4:53 pm

    If you wait a few moments the number of comments indicated will usually self correct.
    Are you only getting emails about replies to your comments?

  25. Anonymous
    October 16th, 2011 @ 4:58 pm

    And dumpster loads of “obsolete computers” being “recycled” in the months between the election and the inauguration.

  26. Anonymous
    October 16th, 2011 @ 5:11 pm

    Your underling assumption (the stupidity of the voting public) may be correct, if so we’ll just have to deal with those consequences. That’s why I’ve taken a short position on civilization.

  27. Anonymous
    October 16th, 2011 @ 5:18 pm

    Right. I noted that at this point, there’s only one obvious way for him not to be re-elected.

    That could change.

    It’s a little late, but someone new might enter the GOP field.

    Or perhaps one of the candidates in the GOP field with the potential to beat him might extract cranium from rectum and get going on that.

    Neither of those things seem very likely — Cain apparently spent the morning doing the equivalent of jumping up and down on a desk in front of a camera, stretching his mouth with his fingers, waggling his tongue and screeching “I’m a moron” at the top of his lungs — but one of them, or something completely unexpected could happen.

  28. ThePaganTemple
    October 16th, 2011 @ 5:29 pm

    The thing I’ve noticed is it always starts off with a lesser number of comments than are actually on the posts, but then after the page gets through loading, it generally gives you the correct number. Not always, though, and here lately not as much. Once you click the comment link and go to the specific page, then it repeats the process, and then you get the right number of comments, but again not until after it finishes loading. I’ve always wondered about that myself, but figured its either showing the number of comments when you were last on the page before correcting, or maybe its initially counting comments with their replies as one comment before correcting. Who knows?

  29. ThePaganTemple
    October 16th, 2011 @ 5:33 pm

    I seriously wonder sometimes what he will do, even if he will try to put if off and hunker down and refuse to leave. This might be fun. If he loses can you imagine all the blogs that will show his face sitting in the stands as the new president is sworn in? And what kind of ex-President he will be after its all over. It can’t happen too soon to suit me.

  30. ThePaganTemple
    October 16th, 2011 @ 5:34 pm

    Oh believe me, there’s plenty of people that are just that stupid.

  31. Anonymous
    October 16th, 2011 @ 7:25 pm

    Kind of a colorful bit of imagery, eh? Never gonna see a phrase like that in the New York Times.

  32. Anonymous
    October 16th, 2011 @ 8:00 pm

    If I open a thread it will tell me the number of comments, I don’t generally check to see if that number is correct or not. But when I look at the front page I see “No Comments.” And I still see that on very old threads which have many comments. Occasionally I’ll see one or two comments on threads that have a lot of comments. But only on the front page. For instance, right now I see “6 comments” for the “Real Leader” thread. That’s the one that Instapundit linked and it really has lots of comments.

    As for e-mail notices, I always get them when someone responds. But sometimes I get a notice for a new thread and sometimes I don’t.

  33. Dianna Deeley
    October 16th, 2011 @ 8:09 pm

    Krugman?

    Actually, it’s usually a question of how bizarre the underlying premise is in his case, though.

  34. JeffS
    October 16th, 2011 @ 10:27 pm

    Tut tut, Anamika, tut tut!

    “Physician, heal thyself!”

    Tut tut, Anamika!  The pot beckons, the kettle calls, and you have a foot in each one!  Tut tut!

  35. Jiggity-Jig
    October 17th, 2011 @ 11:25 am

    […] should mention that Stacy’s rattling the tip jar ferociously, to fund his attempt to perform Acts of Real Journalism in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. […]

  36. LIVE FROM THE CNN VEGAS DEBATE : The Other McCain
    October 18th, 2011 @ 7:48 pm

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