Friday, September 11, 2009

"You Lie!"

Typically, FHQ tries to steer clear of this sort of thing (...unless it happens in the context of a campaign.*). Having been born and bred in the South, we also have an aversion to actors taking on southern drawls (They are usually missing some element of authenticity.). But on a Friday, after a long week, this one is too good to pass up.


Hat Tip to the folks at CQ's Politics (Un)seriously for the link.

*Of course, I have been making the argument to my intro classes this week that House members are constantly in the midst of a permanent campaign. In keeping with that, I should probably include a link to the Public Policy Polling survey that shows Wilson behind 2008 challenger, Rob Miller, in a hypothetical 2010 match up.


Recent Posts:
State of the Race: New Jersey Governor (9/10/09)

FHQ Reading Room (9/10/09): Redistricting

It's Never too Early for a 2012 (Value Voters) Straw Poll
at

3 comments:

  1. JackSeptember 11, 2009 at 6:46 PM

    Surprised that a small plurality of voters in South Carolina's 2nd think that Obama was not lying, and that a plurality support a public option. Wonder if this is the sample or the effect of a boost from the speech.

    Didn't think this would really endanger Wilson. Am still skeptical; elections are more than a year away, and it's an R+9 district that has been represented by Republicans since 1965. Let's put it this way: if Michele Bachmann can get away with all she says in an R+7 district, including a huge blunder days before an election, Wilson should be able to survive shouting sentiments half his district agrees with a year before an election in an R+9 district.

    ReplyDelete
  2. RobertSeptember 11, 2009 at 8:44 PM

    Jack, you may be right on Wilson as SC is a very conservative state. I am wondering if some S. Carolinians are getting a little tired of becoming the laughingstock of the country. It's hard to tell Alabama and Tennessee jokes when your governor uses "walking on the Appalachian Trail" as a euphemism of having an affair with a Hispanic-type foreigner and their Congressman becomes rowdy when being genteel is the state motto. It's one thing to misbehave within the state and quite another to air your dirty laundry for the whole country to see. S. Carolina takes their image quite seriously, and I expect these incidents to have some fallout.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Josh PutnamSeptember 11, 2009 at 9:05 PM

    Given the choice, Jack, I'll say the sample.

    The money is helpful to Miller's cause. That kind of money will go a long way in South Carolina. However, in a perverse kind of way this has been a profile-raiser for Wilson as well. Yes, PPP shows that the president is more highly regarded in the second district than he was in November, but as Tom Jensen said in a tweet earlier, (paraphrasing) "Let's see what this looks like in two weeks."

    Here's the thing and I suspect Wilson will turn in this direction if he maintains his current line: At some point, a South Carolina vs. Not South Carolina narrative is going to arise. "Where's Miller's money coming from? Not South Carolina." That is a powerful argument in the Palmetto state.

    I'm not going to call the poll a snap judgment, but I would like to see another round of this line of questioning further down the road. I still say this one leans red and is safely so (...unless Wilson decides to go the Sanford route).

    Also, Wilson's pulled in $200,000 of his own since Wednesday. That will help to get him out of the hole.

    Good to have you back, Jack. Hadn't heard from you in a while. And it looks as if you have visited the 2nd district's wiki recently too! I just don't see Wilson losing this one.

    ReplyDelete