Hmm, at the end there, I thought it said 'crotch'.

"Kaczynski ended up interning with the eventual winner, Republican Bob Turner, in his district office in Queens. When it comes to his impending graduation, however, he says he's leaning more towards journalism than a career as a political operative."

YOU'RE A YOUNG MAN! DON'T DO IT!

Organic Chemistry: Hmm, at the end there, I thought it said 'crotch'.

Yeah, which given the modern day GOP also fits.

So is the Unabomber's son, or what?

If he teaches folks that nothing is really lost from the Internet, then good on him...

hubiestubert: If he teaches folks that nothing is really lost from the Internet, then good on him...

That's the last lesson we want politicians to learn... I prefer them clueless, lest they become more careful about covering up their deceptions.

Ok, so this is something I don't really understand. I'm just Some Girl, I don't even have a shiatty blog, and yet I know that anything I ever say, write or do is probably recorded somewhere.

Someone has tagged me a terrible picture of me on facebook. Someone has an email I sent where I said something incredibly retarded. Someone has video of me doing something drunk and stupid*, and I am NOT a public figure.

I just do not understand how you can become a presidential candidate and NOT think things like your mistress of 13 years, tying your dog to your car, or the fact that you can't count to three will come out in the wash.

For fark's sake people- how many Congressman have we caught on craigslist/twitter?

*apparently, even if you have a broken foot and you can't find a cab, and you're really, really drunk, it is not ok to "borrow" a police horse in New Orleans. And this is why we'll never have a President What_Now. Because that video exists, and I do not have access to it.

what_now: I just do not understand how you can become a presidential candidate and NOT think things like your mistress of 13 years, tying your dog to your car, or the fact that you can't count to three will come out in the wash.

It's a generational thing which is a big part of the reason why Obama won the last election and why he will win this one - hes a geek and understands the internet.

Obama plays to the internet the way Reagan played to television.

I'm not sure whats going to happen when the FB generation starts running for office. It's sure to be entertaining.

what_now: Ok, so this is something I don't really understand. I'm just Some Girl, I don't even have a shiatty blog, and yet I know that anything I ever say, write or do is probably recorded somewhere.

I have absolutely no sympathy for the folks getting caught out on this shiat, but to be honest a lot of this is video from years ago. Today you know everything will be recorded and saved on the internet, but were you thinking about that in 2002? What about 1994? Again, no sympathy for Mitt or Newt, but some of what's coming out is 20 years old, and it doesn't seem totally implausible that one might think that that was sufficiently buried.

*apparently, even if you have a broken foot and you can't find a cab, and you're really, really drunk, it is not ok to "borrow" a police horse in New Orleans. And this is why we'll never have a President What_Now. Because that video exists, and I do not have access to it.

This sounds lie a totally awesome story that only makes me want to vote for you more*

_{*more than Rick Perry}

quickdraw: I'm not sure whats going to happen when the FB generation starts running for office. It's sure to be entertaining.

It actually seems to be a big meh so far, actually.

Krystal Ball had a minor fuss about pictures of her at a Halloween party (with her husband) licking a dildo or something. I don't think it impacted things at all... granted, she still lost, but it was 2010 so it was expected. There was a Republican candidate who had a lot of party pictures with drunk and/or high college students. Didn't seem to stick to him. The right tried to get traction with White House staffers playing shirtless beer pong at a bar. Nothing there.

As usual, it's hypocrisy and cheating that really sticks. To the extent that it will document both more readily, Facebook et al will hurt but any other stuff I think is going to not matter much in the big picture.

have to say i prefer Romney's flip to his flop.

sprawl15: hubiestubert: If he teaches folks that nothing is really lost from the Internet, then good on him...

You're forgetting sarcasm Poland.

FTFY

That's actually a pretty great thing. However, the one bit that really stuck with me was this:

His latest video ended up driving the day as Republicans leapt on it too: the Perry campaign put out a blistering statement saying Romney "pursued plenty of progressive policies as governor..."

Because, as we all know, progress is the worst fate that could ever befall us.

Organic Chemistry: Hmm, at the end there, I thought it said 'crotch'.

i did too. i'm glad it's not just me.

BMulligan: Koalacaust: I've never understood why "flip-flopping" on an issue is such a deal breaker for voters. Personally, I'd prefer a candidate who is willing to change his or her position on an issue in light of new information or circumstances.

That's the problem, though, isn't it? From a distance, changing one's position on an issue in light of new information or circumstances looks exactly like changing one's position on an issue because the previous position polled badly. Given the grand American tradition of hating and mistrusting all politicians, which do you think is more likely - a typical voter sees a candidate take a position contrary to said candidate's prior position and thinks, "my, this candidate certainly has engaged in some careful thought and serious soul searching!", or, a typical voter sees a candidate take a position contrary to said candidate's prior position and thinks, "the S.O.B. is pandering again."

In science, theories change (or support for various ones does) when new evidence shows the current theory to be untenable or the phenomenon it describes to be better explained by another theory. I try to look at it this way because I'm accustomed to it, but what I find in politics is increasingly that a position is changed not for these reasons, but because the new position is what polled well and will get more votes. I used to see a lot more of the former, but I'm seeing more and more of the latter. The more I look, the more bitter and cynical I get. I'd have respect for any politician who says "I used to think 'X', but now I believe 'Y'. There were several reasons leading me to this change of opinion, and I'd like to lay them out for you...", rather than just saying something in direct opposition to prior statements and hoping no one notices (q.v. Romney, Gingrich). Oddly enough (at least on the GOP side), these guys don't seem to understand that the internet never forgets, and end up blaming Jon Stewart for it.

CANT. STOP. STARING. AT. EYEBROWS.

In other news, I'm all for anyone driving Mittens crazy.

BMulligan: Koalacaust: I've never understood why "flip-flopping" on an issue is such a deal breaker for voters. Personally, I'd prefer a candidate who is willing to change his or her position on an issue in light of new information or circumstances.

That's the problem, though, isn't it? From a distance, changing one's position on an issue in light of new information or circumstances looks exactly like changing one's position on an issue because the previous position polled badly. Given the grand American tradition of hating and mistrusting all politicians, which do you think is more likely - a typical voter sees a candidate take a position contrary to said candidate's prior position and thinks, "my, this candidate certainly has engaged in some careful thought and serious soul searching!", or, a typical voter sees a candidate take a position contrary to said candidate's prior position and thinks, "the S.O.B. is pandering again."

I'm not sure your typical voter thinks at all. :-/

With that having been said, it seems to me a true flip-flopper is one who

a. changes his stance in the span of a few days, instead over a long period of time (enough time to gather new evidence, do soul searching, what have you), and/or
b. changes it back and forth over a period of time. I.e., flip. flop. flip. flop. Back and forth, just like it sounds. Kind of onomatopoeic.

xanadian: In other news, I'm all for anyone driving Mittens crazy.

Heh... it's been a bad few days for Mitt.

He picks a gay Vietnam Vet for a photo op and gets his ass handed to him. Looks like a complete imbecile in a debate (to be fair, all the GOP candidates look like imbeciles, though). And now, some college kid from New York is doing a better job of researching Mitt than the entire US News Media.

Mitt also has to reconcile with the fact that he is the GOP's best chance to beat Obama, but the GOP base apparently prefers a chubby little sociopath, who wouldn't know the truth if it divorced him while he was dying of cancer.

RandomExcess: Liberal mockery of leading conservative candidates by an unemployed 22-year old college student "working" from his couch. You cannot make stuff like this up. #OccupyElections

FTFA:

It wasn't a Democrat who dug up the video and pushed it into the AM news at all, but a 22-year old Republican amateur, Andrew Kaczynski, whose opposition research has been popping up all over the race in recent weeks.

You is gud reeder!