PopConservative: the Obama-bashing edition

It's been more than two weeks since I wrote anything; anyone miss me? Not enough to get a comment about it. Let's get back to it.

A lot has happened in the presidential races since my last post. Fortunately, Town Hall summarizes what I missed for me.

Not only did Barack Obama make the same mistake for a second time when he said he would meet with any world leader the dictator's convenience, but his staff was allowed to view the very question that caused him to stumble before the debate. Had he just come up with the answer on the fly, it would not have been too bad; watching it live, I didn't think twice about his response until Hillary Clinton responded with a more measured answer. But he didn't come up with his answer on the fly; he had every chance to respond, and thought that a jab at the Bush administration was more important than good foreign policy.
Michelle Obama has also made headlines for an errant comment about a candidate's home life affecting his or her presidency, which seemed targeted at Hillary. So now Barack has to worry about his wife doing her best Elizabeth Edwards impression while also campaigning with a second-rate staff.
And the Obama blunders just keep coming. He has played the race card, all but threatening other Democrats into making sure he is on the ticket no matter what happens. While it is probably true that a black candidate would do well among black voters, I think a 30% rise in turnout is a bit of an overestimate.
Oprah's fundraising event for Obama is gong to ban cameras and all recording devices. Nothing suspicious there.
Finally, somebody who was glad to hear from Obama. Too bad it was Cuba's foreign minister.

Mitt Romney's record on abortion has been the biggest obstacle in his run for the White House. So it is even more confounding that he is still struggling to express his stance on abortion rights and Roe v. Wade. I used to think that Rudy Giuliani had allowed this to hurt him more than Romney; after Romney also tried to apply the Federalism approach to an issue based almost entirely on when life begins, I'm not so sure who has made a bigger mess of it.

I was just wondering why Bill Richardson is not a higher-profile candidate in the Democratic race. He has a lot going for him: proven management as a governor; foreign policy experience as a Clinton-era ambassador; instant liberal cred as a minority; and he may be the most moderate candidate in the race. Well, NRO wonders why he is doing as well as he is. After rolling off a list of his blunders, including calling Al Sharpton a governor (and despite what Sharpton may have told you, he has never been elected governor of anything), they discuss his success. He has good ads, and they may outweigh his lackluster debate performances, something we may be putting too much stock in.

The initiative to split California's Electoral College votes seems to have legs. The Peddlers doubt it will pass, but could be close.

What do you know: England's single-payer health care system has resulted in a mediocre cancer survival rate. Number one on the list? The for-profit American system.

Louisiana Democrats want you to believe that the Republican candidate for governor hates protestants. Too bad their argument falls apart as soon as you read his paper from which this accusation is drawn.

And what do the open-minded netroots-types want done with the Blue Dog Democrats? They want them out of office. Welcome to the Big Tent Party, folks.

Stephon Marbury doesn't think that Michael Vick should be severely punished for participating in the "sport" of dogfighting. Thanks, Starbury. Maybe you and Clinton Portis can start your own "Free Vick" campaign.

The New Republic's handling of the Scott Beauchamp fiasco keeps getting worse. He made stuff up; admit it and move on.
Of course, it's not so easy to move on when publications that have spent years screaming about Bush exaggerating evidence about Iraq's WMD capabilities are found to be exaggerating themselves.

What does the BBC spend UK tax dollars on? Changing President Bush's middle name to "Wanker" on Wikipedia.

Two-thirds of Americans oppose new gun control laws. See, people are smart.

Glenn Reynolds points out that the rich are getting richer: Harvard's endowment grew $5 billion in the past year. Should their investment profits be taxed the way people want oil companies to be?