With 'Friends' Like George Will GOP Doesn't Need Foes

Cranky old George Will is almost 71-years-old now.
But he still wants to be relevant, still wants to be meaningful.
Which means that now and then he needs to say something that he deems provocative.
But when he does this, it usually comes out as crusty and canteankerous -- the sort of thing you'd hardly expect from someone who once won the Pulitzer Prize.
Now, even though it's barely March (and even though Romney has edged ahead of The One in the latest polls) Will is declaring the White House lost for the GOP.
So, Will says that the primary goal of conservatives should be to retain control of the House and win the Senate so Congress can restrain President Obama while the GOP grooms its talent for 2016.
“Romney and Rick Santorum… are conservatives, although of strikingly different stripes. Neither, however, seems likely to be elected," Will says in an upcoming column.
“[T]here would come a point when… conservatives turn their energies to a goal much more attainable than… electing Romney or Santorum president. It is the goal of retaining control of the House and winning control of the Senate.." he adds.
Well, sure -- we want the House and the Senate.
But we also want the Big Prize. Let's not forget this: Republicans have won seven of the last 11 presidential elections. There's no reason why we can't win this one.
And we don't need the blessing of George Will (the man who called george H. W. Bush a "lap dog") to get it done.
Buzz off, George.

George Will Explains Why Christie Won't Run

Pulitzer Prize- winning columnist George Will has a beautiful piece in which he makes a compelling argument as to why New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will not run for President.
According to Will, there are several reasons: Christie doesn't feel he's ready; he won't abandon his family for the grueling national contest; he's got a lot more to do in New Jersey and, he likes being the nation's most powerful governor.
Anyway, here's an excerpt:

Christie was one of the first rocks on which President Barack Obama's overrated political potency crashed. In 2009, Obama campaigned for Gov. Jon Corzine and against Christie in July, October and the Sunday before Christie won handily. No one outside of Washington has made more political waves in the last 20 months than Christie, and no one inside Washington has been as successful.
But he has four children, ages 8 to 17, he will not abandon for presidential politics. When he visited a workaholic aide during her difficult labor before her daughter was born, he said, "Put away your BlackBerry, you are in the middle of a miracle."

Click here to read Will's column.

Read Us Now On REAL CLEAR POLITICS!

Our opinion piece from yesterday's Philadelphia Daily News is the lead item on the HUGE Real Clear Politics blog today.
We're right up there with George Will, E. J. Dionne, Karl Rove and (would you believe) Drew Brees!
Originally titled "The 5 things Obama ought to do now" the piece is bannered at RCP as "Obama Needs Big Changes Now."
This is a great thrill and we're most grateful.
Thank you everyone for your continuing support.

George Will Sees 'Historic Shift' For Congress

Pulitzer Prize winning columnist George Will doesn't usually make wild-eyed predictions.
So, when Will tells you that an "historic shift" lies ahead, you'd better pay attention.
Counting up the many Democrats in the United States Senate who are likely to be vanquished come Election Day, Will notes as follows:
Alaska's incumbent Lisa Murkowski, who the American Conservative Union ranks as the fourth-most-liberal Senate Republican and who already has been rejected by Republicans in the primary, might lose her sore-loser write-in candidacy. Arkansas incumbent Blanche Lincoln is behind by 20 points in the RealClearPolitics average of polls. Wisconsin incumbent Russ Feingold is behind by an average of 8 points. And Colorado incumbent Michael Bennet, appointed to the seat vacated when Ken Salazar became secretary of the interior, trails by a RealClearPolitics average of 4.3.
Click here to read Will's entire column at Investor's Business Daily.

George Will: Tea Party 'Enormous Help' To GOP

On ABC's This Week Sunday George Will urged Republican leaders to play nice with members of the Tea Party movement and declared the Tea Party "an enormous help" to the GOP.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist chastised Florida Governor Charlie Crist, Senators Murkowski and Bennett and Congressman Castle for not acknowledging their fate and continuing to act like sore losers in the face of a nationwide conservative tide. "Who's not playing nice, now?" he asked.
Will's never been known as some wild-eyed radical.
In fact he's considered one of America's most erudite, most responsible columnists.
So, when he recognizes Tea Partiers, pronounces them legit and urges other members of the establishment to "play nice," that says something.
Click here to read more about this story from Mediaite.

Dinner With Obama

So, Obama had dinner night before last with inside-the-beltway "conservative" pundits.
Let's be clear about this: Except for Charles Krauthammer none of the people at the dinner could be described as a "die-hard" conservative. Nor are they necessarily GOP loyalists. None of them.
George Will, the host of the dinner, has often led the criticism of President Bush and does nothing to hide his disdain for both Presidents Bush. Will is reaching Serious Senior status and he's increasingly desperate to stay in touch. He's never been a McCain fan either and he was probably happy that Obama won. I suppose he sees this as a chance to hang on awhile longer lest his dotage gets the best of him.
Peggy Noonan seems to be a gracious lady and a fine wordsmith. But she too has become disenchanted with the Republican Party and she did not hesitate to dump on both Bush and McCain. She has also been critical of Palin. Peggy has come to enjoy the east-coast "glamour" set. She too seems to feel a compelling need to remain "au-courant."
Bill Kristol always struck me as a curious figure -- a sort of picky, all-too-proper "conservative" who would prefer to engage in tedious debate with the country club set. Passion is not his strong suit.
And Larry Kudlow is more of an economic conservative than anything else. You can't really say that his conservatism is in any way whole or all-encompassing.
So, these are not exactly people who I'd want to be in a foxhole with.
As far as I'm concerned they are nothing more than convenient conservatives, if you know what i mean.
Now, on the same day that this dinner was being held Rush Limbaugh was in Washington as well. But Rush wasn't having dinner with anybody. Rush was having lunch with President Bush in the White House. You see, Rush is old fashioned that way. He believes in sticking. Rush is the sort of guy who leaves the party with the same date he arrived with. How quaint!
Now, that's my kind of conservative!

Did She Miss Something?

I know that we're not supposed to discuss Michelle Obama (yet another topic deemed "off limits" by the OH!man) but I can't resist passing along this question that Pultizer Prize-winning columnist George Will poses to Obama about Michelle and her recent comments:
Michelle, who was born in 1964, says that most Americans' lives have"gotten progressively worse since I was a little girl." Since 1960,real per capita income has increased 143 percent, life expectancy has increased by seven years, infant mo rtality has declined 74 percent, deaths from heart disease have been halved, childhood leukemia has stopped being a death sentence, depression has become a treatable disease, air and water pollution have been drastically reduced, the number of women earning a bachelor's degree has more than doubled, the rate of home ownership has increased 10.2 percent, the size of the average American home has doubled, the percentage of homes with air conditioning has risen from 12 to 77, the portion of Americans who own shares of stock has quintupled. Has your wife perhaps missed some pertinent developments in this country that she calls "just downright mean"?